Kapha is strong, supple and smooth it gives immunity to the body and also protects the body from different diseases and problems due to the other two Doshas. Where Vata makes the body brittle due to dryness and Pitta is corrosive and sharp to burn and digest the body, in these conditions Kapha is a Dosha that protects the body well!
Characters of The Kapha Prakriti
There are certain characters of the Kapha prakriti, which helps in making decisions about this Prakriti. These are physical as well as psychological characters. With help of these characters, assessment of the Prakriti becomes easy. Therefore we need to know all about these traits-
Physical Traits of Kapha Dosha
- Heavy and bulky body
- White and pale tint of the body
- Excess and over body weight
- Body weight once increased will be hard to reduce
- Slowness in all body activities
- Closed and proper teeth
- Slow and sluggish body movements
- Thick and shiny hairs
- Always sleepy
Psychological Traits of Kapha Dosha
- Completely introvert in nature
- Good in learning
- High in patience
- Gets hardly but recalls and restores knowledge well
- Stubborn and confused
- Calculates excessively and unnecessarily everything before doing something
- Lack of zeal for life
- Totally self-centred
Just like Vata and Pitta Prakriti, Charak Samhita explains all about different traits of the Kapha Prakriti. This explanation is according to the Gunas.
Guna Based Characters of Kapha Prakriti
Kapha body type is because of the Kapha Dosha thus whatever characters are there in the Kapha Dosha, will represent on the Kapha Prakriti too. Here are the characters of the Kapha Dosha.
श्लेष्माहिस्निग्धश्लक्ष्णमृदुमधुरसारसान्द्रमन्दस्तिमितगुरुशीतविज्जलाच्छः|
Kapha is full of shleshma and this Shleshma is unctuous, full of smoothness. Kapha is soft in nature. Because Kapha is full of Prithvi and Water Mahabhuta, these make this dense, high in viscosity, heavy, slimmy and full of stability. Even this is muddy in nature but it is clear too.
Kapha body type due to unctuousness and smoothness
स्नेहाच्छ्लेष्मलाःस्निग्धाङ्गाः, श्लक्ष्णत्वाच्छ्लक्ष्णाङ्गाः
These two Gunas are similar to each other. This is the reason, the impact of these gunas is similar on the body-
- Smooth and unctuousness in nature.
- Skin will be smooth
- The skin and hair will be smooth.
- All organs are smooth in Kapha body type.
Kapha Prakriti character due to Mridu Guna
Mridu is a Guna, which shows the character of softness and the guna of the softness causes the following-
मृदुत्वाद्दृष्टिसुखसुकुमारावदातगात्राः
- Pleasing appearance.
- Delicate and fair organ
- The person will decline towards – luxury.
- Fair complexion of the person.
Characters due to Sweet and Saar Guna
These two Gunas represent in the following characters-
माधुर्यात्प्रभूतशुक्रव्यवायापत्याः, सारत्वात्सारसंहतस्थिरशरीराः
- Due to sweet guna of the Kapha-
- This patient will have good fertility rate.
- The libido is good
- They have good progeny
- Saara guna brings-
- Stability to the body.
- Ensures proper strength of the body.
Characters due to Manda, Staimitya and Guru Gunas
Here are the characters of the Kapha prakriti because of these three Gunas-
मन्दत्वान्मन्दचेष्टाहारव्याहाराः, स्तैमित्यादशीघ्रारम्भक्षोभविकाराः, गुरुत्वात्साराधिष्ठितावस्थितगतयः,
- The Manda guna brings lowness in the body and leads to –
- Slowness of behavior
- Slow activities
- Eats very slowly
- They talk slow
- They start the work very slowly
- Staimitya ensures-
- slow irritation due to anything
- delayed initiation,
- Slowness in everything.
- Any disease or problem appear very slowly.
- due to heaviness
- Person walks very slowly
- Walk will be afirm.
- Very poised walking
Characters because of Cold, Sliminess and Clarity
शैत्यादल्पक्षुत्तृष्णासन्तापस्वेददोषाः, विज्जलत्वात्सुश्लिष्टसारसन्धिबन्धनाः, तथाऽच्छत्वात्प्रसन्नदर्शनाननाःप्रसन्नस्निग्धवर्णस्वराश्चभवन्ति|
- Coldness causes-
- Less appetite
- Low thirst
- Less sweating
- Lower temperature of the body.
- Sliminess leads to-
- well formed joints
- Strong ligaments
- The character of clarity brings-
- Clarity in eyes
- Clearness on the face
- Clear complexion
- And affectionate voice
These are the characters of the Kapha body type by Charaka Samhita and these help us to make to clearly understand which character of the dosha is prominent. Therefore these help us to make a proper decision about a person.
Eventually these characters, decide a lot about the person. And help in the treatment. But not always. Thus these characters should be understood in a better way only.
Body Systems controlled by the Kapha Dosha
Respiratory System
Kapha resides in the lungs and upper body parts. Not just lungs. The upper respiratory tract represents the areas of Kapha. Therefore all the diseases which occur in these areas are associated with Kapha. So when it comes to Kapha, we relate it to the mucus of Kapha mostly. But this is not a perfect match.
Kidneys and Urinary System
Kapha regulates the buffer system of the body. So it can disturb the way the body retains water and minerals. Obviously, when this shift is on the negative side, it brings many diseases related to the kidney and urinary systems.
Immune system
Kapha controls immunity. And because of this allergies, hyper response of the immune system, or low immunity- in every condition, Kapha is involved.
Metabolic System
Kapha looks at the anabolism part of the body. Once Kapha is increased it will shift the metabolism towards anabolism. Therefore the body will keep on storing things in the body.
Body Weight
Kapha works for storage and loves the sweet taste so there will be always some issues with the body weight. Not necessary that if you are Kapha and your body weight is high so you will be prone to diseases in terms of BMI, you need to understand this in detail.
Psychological Disturbances
Self centred and introvert at same time surely cause some behavioural problems with Kpaha Prakruti
Diseases of Kapha Body Type
| Respiratory system | Kidneys | Metabolic system | Skin and Hairs | Psychological |
| Repetitive Cough and cold Rhinitis Tonsillitis Bronchial Asthma Seasonal Respiratory allergy Weak lungs | Urinary stones Excessive urination Water retention Body edema Nephritis | Diabetes Obesity Malabsorption Excessive storage of energy Rheumatoid Arthritis Gout SLE | Hypersensitivity Skin Allergy Hives and rashes on the skin Low immunity Autoimmune diseases Celiac disease | Excessive sleep Laziness Introvert nature High Depression Anxiety Behavioral problems Problems in socialization |
Avoid these diseases easily by using the right Diet, Lifestyle, and Yoga, prevent them before these attack you!
