The dhatus of the body are the basic or fundamental tissue of the body that compose human body. They dharan(support) & nourish the body.They are 7 in number so, called saptadhatu.
1. Rasa(chyle/plasma)
2. Rakta(blood)
3. Mamsa(flesh/muscle)
4. Meda(fat)
5. Asthi(bone)
6. Majja(marrow)
7. Sukra(semen)
The dhatus are formed from & nourished by ahar rasa.
According to Ayurveda, from rasa dhatu blood is produced, from blood flesh is produced and from flesh, produced fat & so on till sukra is formed.
Upadhatu are secondary dhatus, in addition to the 7 dhatus in the body which are responsible for the maintainence (only dharan not poshana) of certain organs & regions of the body
The malas, excretory material (urine, faeces, sweat) are the result of the various stage of metabolism in the body. the respective upadhatus and malas of dhatus are enumerated below:
Dhatu | Upadhatu | Mala | Quantity | Function |
Rasa | Stanya(breast milk), artava(mens. blood) | Kapha(mucous) | 9 anjuli | Nourishing |
Rakta | Shira(veins), kandara(tendons) | Pitta(bile)
| 8 anjuli | Life supporting |
Mamsa
| Twacha(skin), vasa(fata) | Khamal(waste from nose, ear, eyes etc) | 500+(20in female) | Adhering |
Meda
| Snayu(ligaments) | Sweda(sweats) | 2 anjuli | Lubricating |
Asthi |
_ | roma(hairs), nails | Charaka-360, Sushruta-300 | Supporting |
Mazza | _ | Akshimala, twakshlesma | 1 anjuli | Filling |
Shukra | _ |
| ½ anjuli | Embryo production |
