Ayurveda, the most ancient Indian medicinal science, the origin of which can be traced back to more than 5000 years. The main concept of Ayurveda is that it personalizes the healing process. According to Ayurveda the human body is composed of four basics

• dosha
• dhatu
• mala
• agni

These are called the Mool Siddhant or the basic fundamentals of Ayurveda.

Dosha

The three vital principles of doshas are vata, pitta and kapha, which together regulate and control the catabolic and anabolic metabolism. The main function of the three doshas is to carry the byproduct of digested foods throughout the body, which helps in building up the body tissues. Any malfunction in these doshas causes disease.

Dhatu

Dhatu can be defined, as one, which supports the body. There are seven tissue systems in the body. They are as follows:

• Rasa (Plasma)
• Rakta (Blood)
• Mamsa (Muscle)
• Meda (Fat tissues)
• Asthi (Bone)
• Majja (Marrow)
• Shukra (Semen)

Dhatus only provide the basic nutrition to the body. And it helps in the growth and structure of mind. It is a chain system where each dhatu is developed or transformed out of the previous tissue layer, starting with the first dhatu i.e. plasma (rasa). So it is important that the first tissue, plasma should be healthy if it is not it will affect the other dhatus or tissues also. The main tissue Rasa is derived from food and is composed of vata, pitta and kapha molecules. It supplies nourishment to all the tissues. It does not contain cells. Dhatus mainly provide the nourishment to all the tissues. It contains no cells.

Mala

Mala means waste products or dirty. It is third in the trinity of the body i.e. doshas and dhatu. There are three main types of malas, e.g. stool, urine and sweat. Malas are mainly the waste products of the body so their proper excretion from the body is essential to maintain the proper health of the individual. There are mainly two aspect of mala i.e. mala and kitta. Mala is about waste products of the body whereas kitta is all about the waste products of dhatus.

Agni

All kinds of metabolic and digestive activity of the body takes place with the help of the biological fire of the body called Agni. Agni can be termed as the various enzymes present in the elementary canal, liver and the tissue cells. That's why Ayurveda is called the "science of life" or longevity

Ayurveda is the eternal Vedic science of life, the traditional natural healing system of India. The concept of Ayurveda is not just medical treatment or diagnosis of a diseased condition but much more than that. Ayurveda is a set of practical, simple guidelines, for long life and good health. Using them you can bring your body and mind to perfect balance. Ayurveda has a theoretical basis but is overwhelmingly practical in nature. It includes the total concept of life both man and environment. Ayurvedic science is referred to as 'science of life' as the word Ayurveda is composed of two words Ayu and Veda where Ayu means life and Veda means science. Thus Ayurveda means 'science of life'. It teaches us how an individual can stay in harmony with nature, and enhance their health. The content of Ayueveda has developed over thousands of years of human evolution. Today, Ayurveda is at the forefront of mind-body medicines. Ayurveda has spread far beyond its traditional base and is gaining attention throughout the world. Ayurveda with its understanding of life and consciousness becomes the medicine of the future.

Ayurveda literally means knowledge of life. Ayurvedic medicines are based on the principle that every individual has a unique constitution that related to his vital energies translated into Ayurvedic nosology as dosha or humors. Ayurveda mainly composed of eight clinical specialties. They are as follows:

• General medicine ( Kaaya cikitsaa)
• Pediatrics (Baala cikitsaa),
• Psychiatry (Graha Chikitsa),
• Treatment of head and neck (S`aalakya tantra),
• Surgery (S`alya tantra),
• Toxicology (Agada tantra),
• Rejuvenation therapy (Rasayana tantra) and
• Reproductive medicine (Vajeekarana cikitsaa).

The main aims of Ayurveda are to

• To prevent diseases
• To treat and cure diseases

And both these are aimed towards the promotion of health on three levels:

• Mentally
• Physically
• Spiritually

As we refer to Ayurveda as a holistic system of medicine and health native to ancient India. Ayurveda has not restricted itself as the path, which treats diseases but being the science of life has covered all the aspects necessary to maintain health and to restore it when inflicted with a disease. There are certain rules and regulations of Ayurveda, which are nothing but guidelines, which are to be followed to remain fit, refrain from diseases and lead a healthy life.

The word dhatu comes from the root DHA meaning basis or foundation. The purpose of metabolism is to create proper dhatus together with the intelligence with which they carry out their role as the field of physiological activity. Dhatus are created through the action of catalysts that convert one tissue to another. In this way, progressively refined tissues are created from their grosser precursors. The catalyst for this is another type of agni, a dhatu-agni or metabolic fire. According to Ayurveda dhatus are the basic tissues, which maintain and nourish the body in other words it can be defined as one, which supports the body. There are mainly seven types of dhatu according to Ayurveda. The seven dhatus are composed of five mahabhutas. These dhatus remain inside the human body in a proper equilibrium so that the body can function properly but any disturbance in their equilibrium causes disease. The seven dhatus are as follows:

• Rasa: (Plasma)
• Rakta : (Blood)
• Mansa : (Muscles)
• Meda : (Fat)
• Asthi : (Bone)
• Majja : (Bone marrow)
• Shukra : (Reproductive fluid or Semen)

In Sanskrit the word dhatu means 'that which binds together'. Dhatu is the element, which constructs our body. Dhatu is the base of growth and survival. Dhatus take different forms in our body to maintain life. Different organs (sharir avayavas) and different body systems (strotasas) are made out of dhatus. Our nourishment and development is fully dependent on dhatus. They support the mind. To summarize, dhatus account for the Ayurvedic explanation of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Our body processes consumed food and transforms it into life sap, which in turn creates a chain of further body tissues i.e. dhatus. Their gain gives quality to our life and their loss destroys life. The Quantity and quality of each dhatus and it's balanced functioning is very important for perfect health.

According to Ayurveda there are three vital principles, which regulate and control the biological functions of the body. They are known as Vata, Pitta and Kapha. They are the subtle forms of the three bhutas -air, fire and water. Doshas play a vital role in the basic foundation of Ayurveda. They are responsible foe coordinating and directing all the substances and structures of the body. Doshas are referred to as 'dynamic energies' and 'vata dosha' are kinetic energy. Vata doshas initiate all forms of activity and motion in the body. It acts as a network of communication from tissue to tissue and cell to cell. It is responsible for perception, assimilation and reaction. Vata doshas is the basis of all communication process in the body. All motions, transportation and electromagnetic activities are controlled by vata. 'Pitta dosha' is responsible for all types of transformations in the body. Pitta controls digestion of food as well as conversion of light rays that fall on the retina to electric impulses. It is mainly associated with the chemical reaction and changes taking place in the body. Pitta controls emotion like anger, fear and boldness. Pitta controls digestion of food, it is responsible for hunger, appetite and thirst. The functions of pitta are more physical compare to vata. There are mainly five types of pitta dosha. The quality of Pitta dosha' is most predominant during youth and adulthood. 'Pitta' reflects the dynamics of youth. Kapah dosha is the third important part of dosha. It is the cohesive energy in the body, it smoothes out problems, lubricates and provides support when needed. If 'vata' is kinetic energy then 'kapha' is potential energy. Kapha is the principle of water and earth is heavy and moist. It is said that carbohydrates and fats can increase 'kapha' There are five types of kapha dosha, based on both anatomy and body function. 'Kapha' abnormalities lead to respiratory disease, feeble mindedness, weakness and lethargy.

It is seen that the dead body and the other inanimate objects have none of the three doshas. Which proves that all the three doshas are invariably connected with life. Each of them has it's own significance and qualities, which are contrary to each other so as to maintain the equilibrium.

Mala are the substances or waste matter to be thrown out of the body. The waste produvts are called mala. Mala are excretory by-products formed as a result of various physiological activities going on in the body. Purish (stool), Mutra (urine) and Sweda (sweat) are considered as main excretory product of the body. These are also known as Dushya as these tend to be influenced to cause pathology or disease by imbalanced doshas. These are known as Mala due to its principle property of Malinikaran i.e. Toxification. Malas are the third in the trinity of the body; the other two are doshas and dhatus. According to Ayurveda only a balanced condition of doshas, dhatus and malas is Aarogya (good health or disease free condition) and their imbalance causes ill health or disease.

Significance of Mala:
As a result of metabolic processes being carried out in the body, essence of ingested food and waste products are constantly formed. If waste products are not being formed besides the essence i.e. beneficial products that nourish tissues, then metabolic process would be impaired ultimately leading to the formation of malformed tissues. So, there needs to be an appropriate segregation of essence of ingested food and waste product and excretion of the waste matter on appropriate time for maintaining health. Malas are actually the waste products of the body and their proper excretion from the body is essential, so that the proper health of the individual can be maintained because if the waste products are not thrown out it can toxify. Waste products:

There are mainly three types of Malas:

• Purish: Stool.
• Mutra: Urine.
• Sweda: Sweat.