Agni & the Sapta Dhatus
Agni is the the principle of nature that governs all digestive and metabolic functions within our human body. It involves the production of heat within us in order to efficiently digest and assimilate the food we consume, and the nutrients we absorb. Because of it’s need for heat, and due to the fact we as humans live in symbiosis with nature, it is therefore also associated with the energy of the sun — and universal growth. In total, the body houses 40 different types of agni, every thing from the digestion of food ( jataragni ), to the digestion of of our senses and everything in between. This article will focus primarily on Jataragni and Dhatu agni.
When our agni is functioning at an optimal level, we will experience a well sustained supply of energy, have an even complexion, circulation of blood and lymph will be sufficient, there will be strong resistance to disease etc etc. It is believed, in Ayurveda, that all pathology (cause/effect of disease) has its roots in low agni. Further more, the dosha Pitta is what governs agni, therefore if you have an imbalance in pitta, you will also have an imbalanced / impairment to your agni.
When our agni is not functioning properly, we begin to experience symptoms of poor digestion — changes in: bowel movements, energy, tissue quality (hair, skin, nails), disease tolerance etc. In the absence of food (ahara), for example, skipping a meal, our body will then digest ama (toxins) in order to give the body some form of energy. In the absence of both food AND ama, the body will begin to digest or tissues (dhatu’s). This is when we see a breakdown in muscle, loss of fat, low bone density etc. This is also most commonly when the development of disease begins (between the breakdown of ama and the breakdown of tissues). This is because the body cannot live off stored toxins in the body, and definitely not off our own tissues. All other systems become compromised when we aren’t consuming adequate food.
The Dhatus are our 7 tissues fires. They are what, when combined, given structure and function to our body, the place we call home. They work together and feed off each other to provide us with stability and the ability to get through our day to day life. Without the 7 tissues, we would not function as a human being. And without agni, our 7 tissues would not function to serve us as a human being. The 7 tissues are:
Rasa Dhatu | plasma, Rakta Dhatu | blood, Mamsa Dhatu | muscle, Meda Dhatu | adipose / fat, Asthi Dhatu | bone, Majja Dhatu | marrow, Shukra Dhatu | reproductive
When our agni is working at full capacity, the panchamahabhuta agnis (the 5 elemental agni’s) transform the external forms of energy and nutrients into recognisable forms for the body. It is then the body’s role to transfer these into a tissue form. The 7 tissues have the ability to recognise different forms of nutrients and chemicals in the body, and can decipher the difference and select which ones they need (for example, there are varying make-ups of magnesium, one that the bone will absorb, one that the muscle will absorb.)
Our tissues form a flow map in terms of how they feed and are formed. Essentially, what this means is that one tissues absorbs nutrients, followed by the next, followed by the next and so on. In this way, we can understand how if we aren’t adequately feeding our body on a whole, it is likely that our tissues aren’t being sufficiently fed. Perhaps the first one or two of the tissues in the flow map may receive nutrients, but without adequate intake, the others may become depleted. Again, this is how we see the formation of disease rooting from the tissues (for example, osteoperosis).
The flow chart is as follows: (let the arrow represent ‘feeds’)
Rasa (plasma) → Rakta (blood) → Mamsa (muscle) → Meda (adipose) → Asthi (bone) → Majja (marrow) → Shukra (reproductive system).
Looking at this flow chart, you can begin to understand how one tissue feeds the next. This sheds light on how disease can form. For example, if you were *eating half of what is considered the ‘baseline’ for nutrition, you may feed the first 4 tissues with vitamins, nutrients and minerals, but then your asthi / bone tissue, may not be fed, which means neither will majja or shukra. This can lead to things such as low bone density, osteoarthritis, loss of menstruation etc.
This is why it is essential that we are not only eating adequate amounts of food, with variety in each meal, but also why it is important that our agni is functioning at an optimal level. Without adequately functioning agni, the food we consume cannot be properly absorbed, and therefore cannot sufficiently feed our tissues.
*Note: the phrase ‘eat half of what is considered the baseline’ is merely an example here, and is not entirely relevant. This was used to serve the purpose of explaining how the feeding system works in simple terms.