Abstract

REVIEW ON THE CONCEPT OF NIDRA: ONE OF THE THREE UPASTAMBHA

Vijay Kumar, Anupam Srivastva, Rajesh Kumar Mishra* and Abdul Muhith

Abstract

Āyurveda the eternal science considers the three pillars of life as Vāta, Pitta and Kapha and considers Nidrā as one of the three Upastambha, the three sub-pillars along with Āhāra and Bramhacarya. Along with the Tridoṣa, the three Upastambha coequally fulfils the prayojana of Āyurveda, maintenance of the health of the healthy and cure of diseases. Any disturbance in doṣa and upastambha leads to the causation of diseases. Āyurveda defines the Nidrā (sleep) as the physiological state of rest for the Śarīra (body), mana (mind) and indriya (sense organs). Literature of Nidrā can be traced even in the Vedic era which was mentioned by various synonyms as Kālāgni, Rudrapatnī etc. In Āyurveda, Nidrā has been given special position in maintaining the healthy state of the individual. It helps in providing sukh (happiness), dukh (unhappiness), puṣṭi (good physique) etc. The reason behind the causation of Nidrā has been considered as Klānta (exhaustion) and Tamoguṇa. Nidrānāśa (insomnia) one of the major pathological state in the modern era is well described along with the Cikitsā (treatment). An attempt has been made to compile the literature available on the different āyurvedic classical texts.

Keywords: Trido?a, Upastambha, Nidr?, Tamogu?a, Nidr?n??a.