Mental Constitution
Vedic philosophy classifies human temperaments into three
basic qualities: satva, rajas and tamas. relative predominance
of either satva, rajas, or tamas is responsible for individual
psychological constitution.
Satvic Mental Constitutions:
The people in whom satvic qualities predominate are religious,
loving, compassionate and pure minded. They have good manners,
behavior and conduct. They do not get easily upset or angry.
Although they work hard mentally, they do not get mental
fatigue. They are creative, humble and respectful of their
teachers. Worshipping God and humanity, they love all and
care for people.
Rajas Mental Constitutions:
The people in whom rajas qualities predominate are egoistic,
ambitious, aggressive, proud, competitive, and have a tendency
to control others. They like power, prestige, position,
and are perfectionists. They are hard working people, but
are lacking in proper planning and direction. Emotionally,
they are angry, jealous, ambitious. They have a fear of
failure, are subject to stress, and soon lose their mental
energy. They are loving, calm and patient only as long as
their self interests are served. They are good, loving,
friendly and faithful only to those who are helpful to them.
Their activities are self- centered .
Tamas Mental Constitutions:
The people in whom tamas qualities predominate are less
intelligent. They tend towards depression, laziness, and
excess sleep, even during the day. A little mental work
tires them easily. They like jobs of less responsibility,
and they love to eat, drink, sleep and have sex. They are
greedy, possessive, attached, irritable, and do not care
for others.
Body Constitution
Every individual has a unique combination of the three dosha's -
Vata, Pitta and Kapha. To understand individuality is the
foundation of Diagnosis and Treatment in Ayurveda.
Vata Qualities:
vata is dry, light, cold, mobile, active, clear, astringent,
and it is dispersing. All of these qualities can manifest
in an individual. For example, if a person has excess vata
in his or her constitution, because of the dry quality,
he or she will have dry hair, dry skin, tendency towards
constipation. Because of the light quality, the person will
have a light body frame, light muscles, thin and underweight.
Because of the cold quality, the person will have cold hands,
cold feet and poor circulation. They hate the cold season
and love summer. Because of the mobile quality, these people
are very active. They like jogging and jumping and don't
like sitting in one place. the subtle quality is responsible
for the emotions of fear, anxiety, insecurity and nervousness.
Pitta Qualities:
It has hot, sharp, light, liquid, sour, oily and spreading
qualities. Because of the hot quality, the pitta person
has a strong appetite and warm skin. The body temperature
is a little higher than the vata person. The second quality
of pitta is sharp, therefore the pitta person has a sharp
nose, teeth, eyes, mind and while talking uses sharp words.
They also have very sharp memory. Because of the oily quality,
they have soft warm oily skin, straight oily hair, and the
faces are oily and liquid. They have a tendency to gray
prematurely, a sign of early maturity. Pita girls get earlier
menstruation and reach puberty earlier. Because of the light
quality, pitta people are moderate in body frame, and they
do not like bright light. Because of too much heat in the
body, they tends to loose his hair in early youth and have
a receding hair line, or bald head. The next quality of
pitta is strong smell. When they perspires, under the arm
pit there is a typical sulphur smell, and if he doesn't wash
his socks, they will have a strong smell. They are often
wise, brilliant people, and can have a controlling, dominating
personality. They have a tendency towards comparison, competition,
ambition, and they have a quality of aggressiveness, so
naturally they criticize. Pitta people tend to get inflammatory
diseases, while vata predominant people tend to get neurological,
muscular and rheumatic problems.
Kapha Qualities:
kapha will have heavy, slow, cool, oily, liquid, dense,
thick, static and cloudy qualities. Because of the heavy
quality, these people have heavy bones, muscles and fat.
They will have a tendency to put on weight. Because of the
slow quality, they have slow metabolism and digestion. They
walk slowly and talk slowly. They don't like jogging and
jumping. They love eating, sitting and doing nothing. Kapha
is cool hencekapha people have cool, clammy skin. Kapha
people have thick wavy hair, and big, attractive eyes. They
have slow but prolonged, steady memory. Kapha people are
forgiving, loving and compassionate. thekapha person has
a sweet tooth and loves candy, cookies and chocolate.
Your constitution can be determined by an Ayurvedic physician
or in the absence of an Ayurvedic physician, you can diagnose
your own tendency towards a particular constitution. You
can discover if your constitution leans towards vata (wind),
pitta (fire) or kapha (water). This can help you to know
how an imbalance is likely to occur in yourself.
Suppose you have a kapha (water) dominant constitution
then you may have a tendency to overweight, over-emotional
nature or suffer congestion in the chest. So you should
modify your diet, life style, daily routine and other activities
accordingly, for example, avoid sleeping too much in the
day or eating too many sweets, to maintain your health and
also to cure the diseases .
Thus it is very important to know the personal Ayurvedic
constitution.