Abstract

ARE RASAPANCHAKA PHYSICAL EFFECTS OR PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECTS- A DETAIL REVIEW

Dr. Sonal Bhola* and Dr. M. Paramkussha Rao

Abstract

The study of natural drugs comes under the main branch of Ayurveda- Dravyaguna: - which deals with the knowledge of dravya-. Each dravya consists of five properties- Rasapanchaka. Rasa-Taste,Guna- Predicament, Vipaka- Post –digestive taste, Virya- Potency, Prabhava- Achintaya (which is unexplainable). Out of five, the four properties- rasa, guna, vipaka and virya (rasachatushtaya) are the perceptible property of a dravya. All these days rasapanchaka is intended at explaining pharmacological activity. The properties which are present in rasapanchaka are mostly physical in nature as they are made up of the physical entities i.e. panchamahabhuta. The thing which is physical in nature is bound to be perceived through our indriyas. So anything which is made up of panchabhutas is perceivable through indriyas (senses). In this study an effort is attempted to explain that rasapanchakas are physical effects and have pharmacological effects as well.

Keywords: rasa, guna, vipaka, virya, prabhava, indriya grahya, panchamahabhuta etc.