ŚODHANĀRTHA SNEHANA:

IMPORTANCE AND METHOD OF DĪPANAPĀCANA

Dīpana and pācana: – importance of digestives and carminatives before
snehapāna:
स्नेहस्य पानात् पूर्वं च दातव्यं मृदुभेषजं हुताशस्य उत्तेजनं कोष्ठलाघवकारि च॥
अजीर्णेवर्धथेग्लानी: विबन्धच्छपिजायॆत्
पीतंसंशोधनंचैवविपरीतंप्रवर्तते – Ca.Si 6/14
सर्वदेहप्रविस्रुतानसामान्दोषान्ननिर्हरेत्लीनान्धातुषुअनुत्क्लिष्टान्. -Ah. Su 13/28-29
Agni is very essential to get the optimum results from therapies. The drug absorption takes
place through the gastrointestinal tract which is the main seat of Agni. For proper absorption
of the given drug, the properly functioning of agni is very important. This optimal
functioning of Agni is achieved by the employment of Pācana cikitsā. Since this particular
mode of treatment augments the Agni, this therapeutic measure is also called Dīpanapācana
cikitsā.
Āma is the main causative factor for numerous diseases. This pācana cikitsā helps to cook the
āma and converts the apakva doṣa into pakva which is later eliminated through śodhana
chkitsa with the help of sneha and sweda.
1) दीपन -carminatives
दीपन अन्थरग्ने: संदूक्षणंतस्मैहितं – यो.र
यदाग्निकृत्पचेन्नामंदीपनंतद्यथाघृतं – अ.ह्र.सु
पचेन्नामंवन्हि: कृच्चादीपनंतत्यधामिशी: – शा.पू.४
दीपनीयंवह्निरुध्दीपनायहितम्। -च.सू.४ गङ्गाधरसेन्
The drug which enhances the qualities of Agni is said to be Dīpana. Because of their agni
vardhaka qualities they enhance drug absorption.
Examples: Panchakola Cūrṇa, Bhallathaka, Hingu etc.
Mode of action of dīpanadravyaa’s:

DīpanaDravyas stimulate the Vagus and glosśopharyngeal nerves and also stimulate the
fundus and pylorus of the stomach. These phenomena stimulate the Agni Dīpti and enhance
āma Pācana.The DīpanaDravyas due to their bitter and pungent tastes promote gastric juice
and facilitate digestion. These drugs sensitize oral taste buds thus facilitating saliva secretion.
They also induce gastrin secretion, a hormone which stimulates HCL production.
2) पाचनं-Digestant
पचति आमं न वह्नि: च क्रियाततत्: पाचनं – भ.प्र
पचन्तंमन्ग्निप्रतिपक्षक्षपनेनबलदानेनचयत्पचतितत्पचनं|| – च-द
पचेन्नामंवह्निकृत्यत्दीपनं -व.से
प्राक्पाचनंस्नेहविधिस्ततश्चस्व्दस्ततः स्यद्वमनंविरेकःअ.ह-सू-१६/१
The drug (or) drug compound which digest the aāma but does not increase the agni of an
individual is known as pācana. Examples are पिप्पल्यादिगण and मुस्तादिगण.
Mode of Action of Pācana Dravyas
1. Pācana Dravyas stimulate Vagus nerve, which in turn stimulates gastric secretion.
2. Pācana Dravyas stimulate duodenum which in turn secrete digestive enzymes &
hormones which are responsible for digestion and metabolism.
3. They stimulate the liver to enhance bile secretion.
4. Pācana Dravyas stimulate the pancreas to secrete pancreatic lipase etc
सम्यक्लङ्घन / पाचनलक्षणा:
सहोदयषशुद्धहृदयाउद्गारकण्टता
व्याधिमार्धवमुत्साहस्तन्द्रानासश्चलङ्गिते || – As.Su.24/16
पाचनचिकित्सा is a part of लङ्घणाचिक्त्सा, hence सम्यक्लङ्घनलक्षणा’s can be taken into
consideration for proper पाचनचिकित्सा. सम्यक्लङ्घनलक्षणा’s are विट्मूत्र, पुरीषविसर्गम्,
गात्रलाघवम्, हृत्कण्ठोद्गारशुद्धि and रुचि. So, if the patient develops the above symptoms
then पाचनचिकित्सा can be stopped.

अतिलङ्घीत / पाचनलक्षण:
पर्वभेदोअङ्गमर्दश्चकासःशॊषोमुखस्यच
क्षुद्प्रणाशॊ अरुचिस्तृष्णादोर्बल्यंश्रोत्रनेत्रयो:
मनसःसंभ्रमोअभीक्षणमूर्ध्ववातस्तमोहिरदि
देहाग्निबलनाशस्चलङ्घने अतिकृतेर्भवेत् || – Ch.Sa.Su 22/34
Cracking of skin, tiredness, cough, thirst, dry mouth, loss of appetite, impairment of the
power of hearing and sight, loss of memory, frequent upward movement of vāyu, emaciation
of the body and loss of strength are the symptoms of excessive laṅghana lakṣaṇa.
Vagbhata has suggested that persons who are muscular, fatty, having imbalanced Kapha,
vishamāgni, who are accustomed to fats and who need oleation therapy should be made to
become dry first – by use of foods, drugs etc. and then be administered oleation therapy
followed by purification therapies.

RŪKṢAṆA IN ŚODHANARTHA SNEHANA

Rūkṣaṇa is the Vishishta Pūrvakarma before the administration of Śodhananga Sneha in
specific conditions like:
मांसला मेदुरा भूरिश्लेष्माणो विषमाग्नयः ।
स्नेहोचिताश्च ये स्नेह्यतान् पूर्व रूक्षयेत्ततः ।। (As.Hr.Su. 16/37)
Māṃsala (Upachita Māṃsa)
Medura (Medasvina)
Bhurishleshma (Excess of kapha)
Vishāmagni (Altered state of digestive strength)
Rūkṣana should be done before the administration of sneha except Vishāmagni. If it is not
performed then it results in Snehavyāpad. In Sneha Sātmya condition if Snehapānais
administered then there will be Anuthkleśana of Doṣa. Here Pācana is indicated i.e. nothing
but Rūkṣaṇa.

SAMYAK RŪKṢAṆA LAKṢAṆA

वातमूत्रपुरीषाणां विसर्गेगात्र लाघवे।
हृदयोद्गारकण्ठास्यशुद्धौ तन्द्राक्लमे गते ।।
स्वेदे जाते रुचौ चैव क्षुत्पिपासासहोदये।
कृतं लङ्घनमादेश्यं निर्व्यथे चान्तरात्मनि (Cha.Su. २२/३४-३५)
Samyak Vāta, Mutra, Udgara Shuddi
Mala Pravrutti Hridaya Shuddi Kanta Shuddi
Asya Shuddi
Tandra Nasha
Sveda
Kshuth Pipāsā Sahodaya
Utsaha
Gatra Laghuta
Indriya Prasannatha
Klāma Nasha
Ruci
Vyādhi Mārdava
Nirvyathe Antharatma
पुरीषं ग्रथितं रूक्षं कृच्छ्रादन्नं विपच्यते ॥५१॥
उरो विदहते वायुः कोष्ठादुपरि धावति ।
दुर्वर्णो दुर्बलश्चैव रूक्षो भवति मानवः ॥५२॥. सु.चि. ३१/५१
In persons who are dry, faeces will be hard, solid and dry, food gets digested with difficulty,
there will be burning sensation in the chest, vāta moves upward from the abdomen, the
person will have discolouration, debility and dryness of the body.

Importance of agni in snehana:
जटर अनल शक्तिमनपेक्ष्य स्नेहमात्राः प्रयुज्यमाना अनर्था एव ||

Aruna Dutta on A. H. Su-16/18
Administering snehapānawithout considering the patient’s agnibālais irrational and will not
yield any desired results. Hence it is important to assess Agnibālaof the patient before
Snehapāna. If the agni is not functioning properly, it will ultimately result in formation of
āmai.e. undigested or half-digested un-metabolized food product that circulates in the body as
toxins.
ऊष्मनो अल्पबलत्वेन धातुमाध्यमपाचितं
दुष्टमामाशायगतं रसमामम्प्रचक्षते|| As.su
Formation of āma is influenced mainly by hypo functioning of agni or maṇḍa agni. Maṇḍa
agni is unable to digest food properly and thus an unripe, uncooked, immature and undigested
substance is formed which is known as āma. The āma formed as a result of maṇḍa agni
manifests various symptoms in the body
Assessment of agni before fixing the dose of snehapāna:
Knowing or understanding the strength of Agni Is very important before administering
snehapāna. Because mandāgni or atyagni is contraindicated in snehapāna. Moreover,
assessing agni of the patient is maṇḍatory to fix proper dose of sneha so that it doesn’t create
any complications to him
Ācārya Charaka portrays, assessment of Agni depends upon three components viz.
अभ्यवहनशक्ति (capacity to eat), आहारजरणशक्ति (capacity to digest) and Ruci (appetite).
In order to assess Agni, आहारजरणशक्ति and अभ्यवहनशक्ति must be assessed before
commencing snehapāna. By understanding Sneha जीर्यमान and जीर्णलक्षणा, the person’s
अग्निबला can be assessed. By assessing the agnibālathe physician can know what kind of
अग्निबल that person possesses i.e. अवर, मध्यम or प्रवर. Depending on this, the exact
amount of sneha dravya can be administered from the next day. According to Vagbhata,
Snehapāna Mātrā can be classified into हृस्वमात्रा, मध्यममात्रा, उत्तममात्रा and the digestion of
given Sneha occurs in two, four and eight Yāma’s respectively. This classification of
Snehapānais based on the assessment of अग्निबला of the patient.
अग्निबल and जरणशक्ति are inversely proportional i.e. when अग्निबल increases, the जरणशक्ति
decreases, in both cases where the same dose is administered or when the dose is increased.

During पाचनदीपनकर्माs, उष्ण, कटुतिक्तकषायरसप्रधान and उष्णवीर्यद्रव्याs are employed to
correct the presence of Āma and to increase the agnibālawhich are important prerequisites for
Śodhananga Snehapāna.
If the patient is having बहुश्लेष्म or he is स्थूल or if he suffers from विषमाग्नि, before
administering snehapānato him, use of रूक्षद्रव्याs which has laghu, khara tīkṣṇa and uṣṇa
guṇa’s and possess कषाय, कटु, तिक्त Rasa is advised (e.g-Hinguvachadi cūrṇam) in order to
get proper samyak snigdha lakṣaṇas. (These drugs remove क्लेद and बहुकफा which is
common in stoola, vishāma agni etc)
In extreme वात condition administering वस्ति Karma along with फलवर्ति must be
administered to correct Agni (usually agni derangement is seen in excessive वात conditions)
prior to the administration of Snehapāna.
IMPORTANCE OF KOSTA IN SNEHANA:
What is कोष्ठ?
The term koshtha is explained in 2 senses in Āyurveda. Anatomically koshtha means the
space or hollowness of the body for accommodation of organs including stomach, liver,
spleen, pancreas intestine etc and pelvic cavity for accommodation of uterus, urinary bladder,
lower part of bowel etc called koshtha. Physiologically the koshtha is defined as bowel
movement according to the basic constitutions of the per
It comes under Abhyantara Roga Marga (internal pathway of diseases).
Types of koṣṭha
कोष्टः क्रूरोमृदुर्मध्योमध्यः स्यात्तै: समैरपि|| – As.su.1/24
There are three types of कोष्ठ based on the dominance of दोषा.
1) क्रूरकोष्ठ 2) मृदुकोष्ठ and 3) मध्यमकोष्ठ.
1. क्रूरकोष्ठ – Hard Bowel
क्रूरकोष्ठ is vāta predominant. Since vāta is rūkṣa and khara in nature it produces hard and dry
faeces. The person will pass stools with difficulty and often will suffer from constipation.
· Sometimes he will pass stools after straining.
· Regular bowel movements will not be there.

· He will pass stools once every two or three days.
· Hardly any water content will be seen in the stools.
2. मृदुकोष्ठ -Soft bowel
It’s a pitta predominant koṣṭha. It possesses the characteristic features of pitta such as सारं,
द्रवं and सस्निग्धं. Hence a mṛdu koṣṭha person will have oily loose stools sometimes with
foul smell.
· Most days, they will have bowel movement twice a day.
· Rarely, they will have solid stools.
· They don’t have to strain for the normal bowel movement.
3. मध्यमकोष्ठ – Moderate bowel.
It's kapha koṣṭha. Madhyama koṣṭha is also seen in sāma doṣa prakṛti.
Predominance or increase of kapha causes soft, solid stools and gets eliminated without any
strain.
· Solid banana stools.
· Maximum – once daily
· No strain or bit strain is necessary to pass stools.
Importance of Koshtha Pariksha in Śodhana Cikitsā
· We can understand the prakṛti by koshtha parikshana, Example – mṛdu koshtha person
having pitta prakṛti.
· To understand where the disease is koshtha gata or shakhagata or Madhyama.
· It helps to decidesamprāptiof disease, either doṣas going koshtha to shakha or vice versa.
· In śamanaa and śodhana cikitsāassessment of koshtha is important to decide Aushadhi
dravyas and Aushadhi mātrā. E.g. Mṛdu koshthapersons require soumya aushadhi in
minimum dose. Krūra Koṣṭha requires Teeksha aushadhi in large doses. Same as krur koshtha
requires tikshna dravya virecana.

· Before Śodhana Karma, Snehapānais one of Pūrvakarma. Sneha-dravya and snehāmātrā
(dose) can be decided by Koshtha-Pariksha. eg. Duration of snehapānain mṛdu koshtha is 3
days.
· After Pañcakarma observation of doṣas, is doṣas going shakha to koshtha or not.
· koshtha pariksha also helps To understand the Ahara Vihara
Dose of medicine according to koṣṭha
Importance of कोष्ठ in snehapāna
पिबेत्त्रियहं चतुरहं पञ्चाहं षडाहं तथा
सप्तरात्रात्परंस्नेहंसात्मीभवतिसेवितः श.स. उ.१/५
Oleation is administered for 3, 4, 5 or 6 days and after 7 days of continuous consumption, it
becomes accustomed to the body of the स्नेह्या:
मृद्वीस्यादिहसंमृदावतितरांक्रूरेचतोष्णामता
मध्याक्येअपितथैवसाधूनिपुनै: मध्यातुमात्राकृता – Kalyaana karakam-२२/45
The मृदुकोष्ठ patient gets oleated within three days and क्रूरकोष्ठ person gets samyak snigdha
lakṣaṇas within 7 days. In between these two, there are other categories like मृदुतर, मृदुतम,
मध्यमतर, मध्यमतम and क्रूरतर, क्रूरतम in terms of digestion and metabolism. According
to Kasirāma Vaidya, ghee becomes homologues within 3 days of continuous consumption, oil
within 4 days, vasā -5 days and bone marrow becomes used to the body after 6 or 7 days of
continuous usage- Aadāmalla.
Mṛdu koṣṭha person will purge by the intake of jaggery, sugar cane, milk, curd, ghee, juice of
Triphala, grape and peelu or even by warm water or fresh wine. The hard bowel person will
not purge by the intake of the above items. Practically koṣṭha can be assessed by the
following method.

INDICATION OF DIFFERENT MĀTRĀ:
VARIOUS DOSE SCHEDULES FOR SHODANA

TABLE SHOWING DOSE OF SNEHAPĀNAAND ITS INDICATIONS
ACCORDING TO SUSHRUTA:
Dose Time required
for digestion

Action Indication

Sadhārana Mātrā (1/4
day)

3 Hrs. Agni Dīpti Alpa Doṣa Ataura

Brahmana Mātrā (1/2
day)

6 Hrs. Bṛṃhaṇa,
Vṛṣya

Madhya Doṣa
Aātura

Prabhala Doṣa Mātrā
(3/4 day)

9 Hrs. Bahu Doṣa Aātura

Shrestha Mātrā (Full
day)

12 Hrs. Glaani, Moorcha
and Mada

Uttāma Mātrā (Day &
Night)

24 Hrs. Kuṣṭa, Viṣa,
Unmāda, Graha
doṣa, Apasmara

Hraseeyasi, Hrasva, Madhyama and Uttama Mātrā
द्वाभ्यां चतुर्भिरष्टाभिर्यामैर्जीर्यन्ति याः क्रमात्॥१७॥
ह्रस्वमध्योत्तमा मात्रास्तास्ताभ्यश्च ह्रसीयसीम्।
कल्पयेद्वीक्ष्य दोषादीन् प्रागेव तु ह्रसीयसीम्॥१८॥ अ.हृ.सू.१६/१७-१८
The quantity of Sneha which gets digested in two, four and eight yama, is the Hrasva,
Madhyama and Uttama Mātra respectively. Even among them, the minimum quantity should
be administered in the beginning, after considering the dose etc.

आरोहणशोधनाङ्गस्नेहपानम्
The word आरोहन means rising or ascending. Arohana snehapānacan be defined as an oral
administration of sneha in a prescribed dose every day with increase in the quantity of Sneha
Dravya in every successive day.
Classical reference for आरोहनशोधनाङ्गस्नेहपानम्

There is no clear, direct evidence or classical reference of aarohanakrāma for śodhanaanga
snehapanna. But there is an indirect reference in Aruna Dutta commentary under Ashtanga
Hrudaya, Sutra stana 16 th chapter, 17-18 th sloka. This interpretation is my personal opinion on
which others may or may not agree. Here, I would like to quote the famous quotation of-
त्र्यहावरम् सप्तदिनं परम् तु स्निग्धो नर: स्वेदयितव्यः उक्तः |
नातः परम् स्नेहनमादिशान्ति सात्मि भवेत् सप्त दिनात् परम् || – च.सि-१/६
The oleation therapy should be administered to a person continuously for a minimum period
of three days to a maximum period of seven days. Oleation therapy is not recommended to be
continued after the seventh day because the person’s body gets sāturated with it by then.
Oleation therapy can be administered continuously for a maximum period of seven days
Because, the body of a person will be sāturated with fats within 7 days of fat administration.
After the 7th-day fat administration is not possible because, The body has already become
sāturated with ghee. This is a normal phenomenon. A person with kroora koṣṭha gets oleation
in seven days without any doubt, only if a proper and sufficient dose is given. If the dose is
less than what is required for kroora koṣṭha, then the person will not get oleated properly
even in seven days.
Kalyanakakara is the first person to explain this Arohana method very clearly
स्वयंनरस्नेहनतत्परोघृततिलोद्भववाक्रमवर्धितंपिबेत् ||
त्रीपञ्चसप्ताहमिहप्रयत्नतःततस्तुसात्म्यप्रभवोन्निषेवितं| – Kalyana karaka-uttaratantram 22/7
The person who is interested in snehapānamust take either Ghee or Taila, starting from a
small dose and should gradually increase (क्रमवर्धितंपिबेत्) the dose either for 3 days or 5 days
or 7 days. Snehapāna must not be continued beyond 7 days as Sneha dravya will be
accustomed to the body.