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Ayurveda > Ayurveda Case Notes > Ayurvedic Anatomy and Physiology: Dhatus By Dr. Satish Kulkarni Agni plays a vital role in the creation and maintenance of body tissues (dhatus). The human body is made up of seven basic tissues or vital substances called dhatus. The meaning of the sanskrit word dhatu is ‘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. Ayurveda believes that there are seven dhatus in all. They are: life sap (rasa), blood (rakta), muscles (mansa), fatty tissue (med), bones (asthi), bone marrow and nervous tissue (majja) and semen and reproductive system (shukra). Each dhatu has its own agni i.e. dhatu-agni. Our food intake is converted into life sap by agni of rasa dhatu and rasa dhatu is produced. Likewise, agni of rakta dhatu prepares rakta out of rasa and so on. Every dhatu is a precursor of the next dhatu. Rasa is transformed into rakta, rakta prepares mansa, mansa is further transformed into meda, meda is used to make asthi, asthi forms majja and majja produces the ultimate dhatu i.e. shukra. Ayurveda researchers must have observed that food is the starting point of life. Food enters the body from the inlet— the mouth and the end products come out of body through the outlet— the genitalia and anus. The second important observation must have been that any living creature (including human beings) survives and grows with food and dies without it. They must have seen that starvation retards growth of the body and destroys the body in the end. Thus, this theory of dhatus must have arrived from these observations. Dhatus protect our body from external encounters. They are responsible for our immune mechanism. If there is wasting (kshaya) of dhatus then the body construction collapses and ultimately life ends. Ayurveda recognises shukra as the most important dhatu. It states that one needs a hundred drops of blood (rakta) to produce one drop of semen (shukra). Shukra is the essence of all the body tissues and is that creation of mother nature which has the capacity to produce new life. In any case, it should not be wasted without substantial reason (i.e. reproduction). Disorder in doshas (vaat-pitta-kafa) affects dhatus. These affected or defective dhatus hamper the quality of life. Proper diet (ahar) and proper life style (vihar) help in maintaining the balance of doshas and in producing healthy dhatus. 
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.
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