The word ‘pancha’means five and ‘karma’means procedure. So Panchakarma is a set of five treatments or procedures .These five are meant to remove ‘doshas’ or bio toxins from the body through five different routes.
Vamana
Elimination of toxins from the upper part of the body by inducing emesis.
Elimination from the middle part by inducing purgation
Elimination from the lower part by means of decoction enemas
Anuvasana Vasti
oil enemas
Nasya
Elimination from head , neck and sense organs by means of nasal oil/powder pulling
One can fully fathom the depths of these treatments only after one has personally experienced them.
The above explanation is just for a layman to get a basic idea, it’s by no means complete.
Among the above, ‘Basti’ is a dual treatment as it cleanses as well as nourishes. It is the most widely used and the most powerful one.
Every patient need not undergo all the treatments. The required treatments will be chosen after a detailed consultation, keeping in mind the patient’s strength and the time duration available.
Three step process
We cannot jump to Panchakarma directly, there are some preparatory procedures. Once Panchakarma is done with, we cannot jump back to normal lifestyle, so there is a post Panchakarma regimen.
Hence Panchakarma is a three step process:
- Preparatory procedures(Poorva karma)
- Panchakarma proper (Pradhan karma)
- Post Panchakarma (Pashchat karma)
Pre Panchakarma (Poorva karma)
There are a variety of procedures in this category. They mostly act as preparatory procedures for main Panchakarma but many a time they become treatments on their own.
They can be divided into two types
- Drying
- Oiling
Drying treatments improve metabolism and open up the channels. These open channels can then be used to transfer oils / fats to the deeper tissues. Dryness can be brought about by powder massages; powder bolus massages (pottali) etc.
Oiling is both external and internal.
External oiling is induced by oil massage (abhyanga), shirodhara ec. For internal oiling the patient is given medicated ghee (clarified butter) to drink. These oils then bind to oil soluble toxins and can be easily removed from various parts of the body by the main Panchakarma procedures (pradhan karma).Along with the oiling, herbal steam baths are given to loosen up the toxins bound to oils.
The pre Panchakarma procedures are very important for achieving results from Panchakarma and also removing the risk of adverse effects.
Main Panchakarma (pradhan karma)
These are the five main procedures as discussed above. They are used to eliminate fat soluble toxins already bound to the oils given during the oiling process.
Five different routes.
- Vamana
- Virechana
- Asthapana Vasti
- Anuvasana Vasti
- Nasya
Basti has special healing properties of its own as discussed above.
These procedures are physically and mentally demanding and require a level of and faith and self discipline on the part of the patient. It cannot be done in very weak or acutely sick. In weak patients the pre panchakrma procedures themselves become the main treatment along with dietary regimen.
