INTRODUCTION Panchakarma therapies and treatments in Goa, India
Panchakarma comprises of two words namely pancha menaing five and karma meaning therapy. This age-old science of purifying the body is an ancient branch of Ayurveda, The treatment in Ayurveda consists of two main types. One is Shaman Chikitsa, used to subdue the vitiated Doshas, due to which any ailments may be produced. It is administered by using various medicinal herbo-mineral preparations. However, if the Doshas are vitiated beyond a particular level, they give rise to various endotoxins, which have a tendency to be accumulated in the minute channels. These are beyond the level of pacification and hence need to be eliminated or removed from the body. In such cases, the second type of treatment, which is Shodhan Chikitsa or cleansing therapy, is indicated. Since it consists of the five types of main therapies, it is known as the Panchakarma Chikitsa. Panchakarma has been given a special place in all the ancient Ayurvedic texts. Aacharya Charak, the author of the most important ancient text on internal medicine, has described a wide use of Panchakarma therapy for almost all the major diseases. Two separate sections, Kalpa Sthanam, and Siddhi Sthanam in Charak Samhita describe the details of special decoctions and other preparations used for Panchakarma therapy.
Panchakarma includes two main parts namely:
Poorva Karma (Preparatory Methods) which includes :
- Paachan (Digestion)
- Snehan (Internal and external oleation)
- Swedan (Fomentation)
Pradhan Karma (Main methods) which includes :
- Vaman (Induced vomiting)
- Virechan (Induced purgation)
- Basti (Medicated enema)
- Nasya (Nasal medicine)
- Rakta Mokshan (Artificial bloodletting)
Pashchat Karma (Post-Therapeutic Measures) which includes :
- This includes Sansarjan Krama (Specific dietetics), DhumaPana (smoking of medicinal
cigars) and some rules to follow specific activities.
