CONCEPT OF AGNI AND AMA

Dr.Akhila SomanJR, Dept of Integrative Medicine

CONTENTS

▪ What is Agni?

▪Functions

▪Action at various levels of digestion

▪Types

▪ How to assess

▪ Causes of Impaired agni

▪ Importance

▪ Ama

▪ Properties

▪ Sama state of doshas

▪ Applicability

▪ General treatment

• अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रित: |प्रािापानसमायुक्त: पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम ्|| 14||(Bhagvad Gita)

What is Agni?

• The term ‘Agni’ literally means movement, transformation or change (Agni, ‘Gatau’).

• Pitta and agni are different

• Pitta is unctuous, liquid and tends to flow downwards

• Agni is dry, rough, subtle and tends to move upwards

Functions

• Digestion

• Metabolism

• Intelligence

• Complexion

• Vision

• Essential for all life activities

• Shanthou agni mriyathe

Agni at different levels of digestion

Samana vata stimulates jataragni

Jataragni ignites panchabhutagni

Panchabhutagni acts on respective bhouthika portion

General circulation of ahara rasa by vyana vata

Nutrients accepted by respective dhatus through khalekapota nyaya

Dhatvagnis convert these substances into poshya dhatus

Components that aid in digestion

• Samana vata – neuro-hormonal influences of digestion including

role of parasympathetic NS and ENS (Auerbach’s plexus and

Meissner’s plexus)

• Pachaka pitta – Enzymatic GIT functions concerned with digestion,

from breaking down of ingested food, absorbing nutrient

portion(sara) and eliminating the waste portion(kitta)

• Kledaka kapha – Mucus from pyloric glands and surface mucous

cells of stomach help to lubricate food movement and helps to

protect stomach wall from auto-digestion

TYPES OF AGNI

1

• Jataragni

5

• Bhutagni

7

• Dhathvagni

Jataragni

• Jataragni is supreme among all the other types of agni

• Increase & decrease of bhutagnis & dhatvagnis are dependent on it.

• The functions of Jatharagni include the digestion of all types of food i.e., carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals etc.

• Helps in Sara-kitta vibhajana i.e., separation of nutrients from waste products after digestion.

Bhutagni

• Five bhutagnis bring about paka of the 5 respective attributes in the food ingredients(ie. predominance of earth, water ,fire, air, ether elements)

Dhatvagni

• Dhatvagni are components of jataragni that help in transformation of dhatus

• These agnis are responsible for the chaya(increase) & upachaya(decrease) of dhatus as well as formation of upadhatus and malas(waste products).

Based on dosha :

• Samagni

• Vishamagni

• Tikshnagni

• Mandagni

Samagni

• equilibrium of all the 3 doshas

Vishamagni

• Influenced predominantly by vata

• contrary to samagni

• Fluctuates between normal and abnormal

• may result in bloating(adhmana), colic(sula), heaviness(gourava), retrograde movement of vata(udavarta), diarrhoea(atisara), borborygmus(antrakujan)

Tikshnagni

• Influenced predominantly by pitta

• In pitta prakruthi persons when aggravated pitta affects the site of agni it would result in tikshnagni

• Excessively increased state – ATYAGNI

Mandagni

• Influenced predominantly by कफ • That which gets impaired in its functioning

even with small amount of irregular food and has opposite features to that of teekshnagni

• takes long time to digest even small amount of food

• cough(कास) , breathing difficulties(श्वास ), heaviness of head and abdomen

How to assess?

Effect of season & age

• Hemanta rtu (Late Nov-Dec), youth – Agni

• Varsha rtu (July-August), old age – Agni

CAUSES OF IMPAIRED AGNI

Mental Causes

• Fear

• Envy

• Anger

• Sadness

• Greed

• Misery

• Harbouring enemity/hatred

Physical Causes

• Skipping meals

• Indigestion

• Excess / Irregular intake of food

• Non-conducive food esp. heavy to digest, cold, dry or stale food

• Drinking excess water

• Erratic sleep pattern

• Improper shodanaprocedures

• By diseases

• Place, age, season

• Suppression of urges like micturition, vomiting,etc

Agnivaishamya

Importance of agni

• शमप्रकोपौ दोषाणाां सवेषामग्निसांश्रितौ|तस्मादग्निां सदा रक्षेग्निदािानि च वर्जयेत|्|

• Equilibrium or provocation of all

the dosha depend upon the condition

of agni (digestion and metabolism), hence one

should always take its care and avoid such causes

which disturb it

• तस्मात्तां ववश्रिवद्युक्तैरनिपािेनििैर्हजतैैः|पालयेत ्प्रयतस्तस्य ग्स्ितौ ह्ययुर्जलग्स्िनतैः||४०||

• An individual should take utmost care to maintain the agni by

providing fuel in the form of food and drinks which should be taken

as per the rules mentioned, because life and strength of an

individual depends on agni

• यो र्ह भुङ्कक्ते ववश्रिां त्याक्त्वा ग्रहणीदोषर्ाि ्गदाि|्• If an individual indulges in food without following the rules and

regulation of diet intake, then he quickly suffers from diseases

caused by the vitiation of grahani

Gut Microbiome

• The concept of the brain-gut axis, a bidirectional channel of

communication between the “big brain” in the cranium and the “little

brain” (i.e.,ENS) in the abdomen → linked by neurons of the

sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, as well as by

circulating hormones and other neuromodulatory molecules.

• Consequently, the microbiome has emerged as a potential diagnostic

and therapeutic target in disorders as diverse as Parkinson’s disease,

Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autism, stroke,

depression, and drug addiction.

AMA

Due to hypo-function of agni, the fraction of

Aahara rasa which is not properly formed, gets

accumulated in stomach - partially digested non

nutritious material-AMA

• The initial phase of dosha dushti ie. interaction of vitiated vatha, pitta, kapha is also considered as ama

• Liquid• Heavy to digest• Unctuous• Slimy and sticky• Putrid and foul smelling• Cause for all diseases

Sama Stage….From bad → worse

• Blockade of body channels• Loss of strength • Heaviness • Blockade of Vata• Laziness• Indigestion• Excessive salivation• Constipation• Anorexia• Weakness

Sama Dosha Lakshanas

VATA PITTA KAPHA

ConstipationDecreased agniLassitudeRumbling SwellingPainPain and discomfort aggravates on oleation as well as in the early morning, night and cloudy conditions.

Foul smellBlackish discolourationSour tasteHeavinessAcid refluxBurning sensation in the throat and chest region

TurbidStickyCoats the throatSlimyFoul smellImpairs appetite and normal belching

• ‘Ama’ is a collective term for the products of faulty

digestion and metabolism, which refers to some such

intermediate byproducts of digestion and metabolism,

which have a tendency to accumulate and block the

micro channels i.e., Srotovarodha.

• These deviant byproducts act as foreign material or

antigens (Visha), ensue a series of reactions →

autoimmune disorders.

Ama

GIT Systemic

GIT Level• All amylolytic, proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes secreted by various

kinds of exocrine glands in the gut i.e., breaking down of different macromolecules into their constituent units.

• Agni vitiation /malfunction of digestive enzymes and hormones →incomplete transformation → peptones, peptides, polysaccharides → not properly absorbed and thus leading to putrefaction and fermentation in GIT

• Sometimes, some of its protein content as a macromolecule itself can escape into general circulation and → antigen, causing serious immunological disturbances

• e.g. Alasaka, Visuchika.

Systemic Level

• The major site where the absorbed nutrients undergo biochemical

transformation is in the liver, which plays an important role in metabolism,

wherein several processes such as trans-amination, de-amination, beta-

oxidation of fatty acids, glycolysis etc. take place.

• Overall intermediary metabolism (involving fats, carbohydrates and

proteins) can be understood as the functioning of the bhutagni.

• Prolonged accumulation of variety of unwanted and incompatible

metabolic products in the system → auto immune and metabolic

disorders.

• Eg. Amavata (~RA)

• Dhatvagni acts at tissue-level (in fact, at cellular level) upon

the products of bhutagni paka

• Common product of intermediary metabolism (involving fats,

carbohydrates and proteins) is Acetyl-Co-A → Kreb’s cycle

(mitochondria of a cell). This is followed by electron transfer

and oxidative phosphorylation.

• Kreb’s cycle → ‘final common pathway’ in the process of

catabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Ama at Dhatvagni level

Manda Dhatvagni

Ama at Dhatvagni Level

MandaDhatvagni

• For the entry of amino acids, glucose and fatty acids into the cell, certain

other factors such as hormones (eg. Insulin) too are needed.

• Thus, all these hormones (such as insulin, GH, thyroid hormones,

testosterone etc.) that promote the transportation of various nutrients

into the cells, along with the enzymes participating in the Kreb’s cycle are

to be included under the term dhatvagni.

• The wide range of natural intracellular anti-oxidant mechanisms involving

several enzymes like super oxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase

operating at molecular level appear to have been considered in Ayurveda

under Dhatvagni vyapara, the deficiency of which will lead to increased

virulence and production of free radicals causing various diseases.

Treatment

Apatarpana (Depleting therapy)

• Langhana (Lightening therapy)

• Swedana (Sudation)

• Rukshana (Drying)

Langhana →Alpa dosha

Langhana+Pachana→ Madya Dosha

Shodhana (Panchakarma)→Bahu dosha

Agni for thought…

1. Agrawal AK, Yadav CR, Meena MS. Physiological aspects of Agni. Ayu.

2010;31(3):395–8.

2. Wallace RK. The Microbiome in Health and Disease from the Perspective

of Modern Medicine and Ayurveda. Medicina (Kaunas) [Internet]. 2020

Sep 11 [cited 2020 Dec 10];56(9). Available from:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7559905/

3. A cross comparison between Ayurvedic etiology of Major Depressive

Disorder and bidirectional effect of gut dysregulation [Internet]. [cited

2020 Dec 10]. Available from:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6470311/

4. https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php?title=Grahani_Chikitsa

Rogah Sarve Api Mandeagnau

Impaired agni is the route cause of all diseases