Abstract

Dr. Vandana Rawat*, Dr. Arun Kumar Tripathi, Dr. P. R.Tiwari and Dr. Neha Joshi

ABSTRACT

In Ayurveda agni is basic principle of life and is said to be the reason for existence and it is compared to God. Agni is the factor responsible for digestion and metabolism. It is considered as the cause of life, strength, health, complexion and lusture. Acharya Charaka mentioned that if functions of agni become inactive, then the individual dies. If agni is in normal state, then person lives long healthy life and if the agni is vitiated, the whole metabolism in the body would be disturbed which leads to ill health. In Ayurveda there are 13 types of agni in the body- 1 jatharagni, 7 dhatwagni and 5 bhutagni. Among all these, Jatharagni plays the most important role and nourishes the other Agnis. Any malfunctioning of Agni will lead to formation of Ama which is the root cause of production of diseases. To understand the physio-pathology of the disease, the concept of Ama is the most important fundamental principle of Ayurveda. Ama is undigested food which occurs due to Agnimandhya. This study aims to explore the concept of agni, its physiological and pathological states and role of ama in the production of diseases.