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Ayurveda > Ayurvedic Treatment > Ashtang-Ayurved: Kayachikitsa By Dr. Satish Kulkarni We saw in the article on pathology that Ayurveda follows two ways of treatment: shaman and shodhan. Shaman is soothing. It provides cooling to the irritated body and mind. It gives internal and external peace to both the body and the mind. It is a method aimed at achieving a status of health with some rest and/or mild medicines. Shaman walks by the side of the body on the path of treatment. It does not interfere with the functions of the body aggressively but provides necessary lubrication. Shodhan is a stronger way of treating the diseased body, especially aggrieved doshas (basic body elements) and dathus (body tissues). It is a group of therapies, which are basically cleansing procedures. They help in cleansing the body in every possible way. Shaman and Shodhan constitute one way of classification. Shaman includes snehan and swedan. Snehan is oiling of the body internally and/or externally. Swedan is induced sweating, preferably to be done after snehan. If shaman is not sufficient to tackle the dysfunction of the body, shodhan is considered. Shodhan is used to wash out inflammation in dosha-dhatu-mala and to establish a state of health again. Shodhan includes vaman (artificially induced vomiting), virechan (bowel cleaning with the help of mild/strong herbal laxatives), basti (medicated enema), nasya (administration of medicines through nasal route) and lastly raktamoksha (‘impure’ blood letting). There is another way of classifying treatments. It divides chikitsa (treatment) into three parts. These are purva-karma (pre-procedures), panch-karma (five main procedures which are executed when thorough cleansing of the body is necessary) and pashchat-karma (follow-up treatment). Snehan and Swedan are said to be purva-karma; vaman, virechan, basti, nasya and raktamoksha come under the heading of panch-karma and treatments like balya or bruhan (strengthening the body), santarpan (nurturing the body), rasayana (rejuvenating therapy) and vajikaran (improving sexual performance) are pashchat-karma. To summarize, pancha-karma is purification therapy, introduced by Ayurveda. It is done after purva-karma and followed by pashchat-karma. All these are scientific and systemic procedures. They are used when the body is unable to cope up with its situation. These procedures help in bringing aggrieved dosha-dhatu-mala back to normal status. They also help in eradicating accumulated ama (toxins) from the body.  Kaya Elimination of unwanted or toxic substances is a basic tendency of the body. If the body fails to do this on its own, then milder procedures like shaman can help. If shaman too does not work, then complete cleansing is achieved through one or more procedures of the panch-karma.
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