Prana, Tejas, Ojas

Deconstructing the contemporary Ayurvedic concept of prana, tejas, and ojas.

Ayurveda is a medical system rooted in "three" and thus most of its conceptual paradigms revolve around trinities. However, we have to always discern whether one conceptual trinity is a correlate of another trinity or not. In most cases, the common trinities in Ayurvedic philosophy do correlate and have the value of articulating a multi-dimensional worldview. For example, the cosmic energies of soma, agni, and vayu[1] are said to flow in the human body in the form of the three doshas of vata, pitta, kapha. These are two halves of a single paradigm where soma becomes kapha, agni becomes pitta, and vayu becomes vata. In Sanskrit, these terms are all very close in meaning, but the difference in terminology also helps distinguish the context of their reference­­­­ (macrocosm or microcosm).

In, contemporary Ayurvedic education, another conceptual trinity has emerged, known as prana-tejas-ojas. This trinity is described as the subtle form of the doshas and is used clinically to evaluate the mental-emotional balance of the patient. This teaching appears to have originated in a Pune lineage of Ayurveda that is associated with Dr. Vasant Lad and his contemporaries (Robert Svoboda, David Frawley, etc.). I was taught this concept during my studies at the California College of Ayurveda and it appears to be a standard teaching in the Ayurvedic curriculum of the United States.[2]

The logic of the prana-tejas-ojas trinity is that the subtle form of vata is prana (since vata governs all movement); the subtle form of pitta is tejas (since pitta is associated with heat); and the subtle form of kapha is ojas (since kapha is associated with fluids). However, the presentation of prana-tejas-ojas as subtle correlates of the doshas creates a fair amount of conceptual and clinical confusion.

The question we need to ask is why the three doshas require new nomenclature when they are being described at the subtle level? It is not uncommon for new nomenclature to be adopted when a resonant concept is discussed on a different level (such as my earlier example of soma-agni-vayu and vata-pitta-kapha). Thus, it could be argued that the subtle form of the doshas deserves its own nomenclature. However, in this case, it is problematic as this particular terminology overlaps with overarching Ayurvedic concepts that are not reducible to doshic manifestations while displacing the corresponding paradigm of the three gunas (sattva, rajas, tamas) to evaluate the balance of the mind. This distinction is evident in the following passage from Caraka Samhita:

Pathogenic factors in the body are vayu[3], pitta, and kapha while those in the mind are rajas and tamas.

—Sutrasthana, I, verse 57

In his commentary on this verse, Vaidya Bhagwan Dash writes:

Out of the three qualities (gunas) of mind viz., sattva, rajas, and tamas, it is only the latter two that cause vitiation of the mind, the former one being non-pathogenic.

In my view, students and practitioners will find greater clarity using the existing nomenclature of vata-pitta-kapha alongside rajas and tamas to diagnose all levels of imbalance in the patient––physical, energetic, emotional, and mental. Once we grasp these classical paradigms, it becomes harder to locate the relevancy of prana-tejas-ojas as subtle doshas.

Shortly after graduating from the California College of Ayurveda, I began studying with Vaidya R.K. Mishra, who introduced me to a classical stream of Ayurvedic medicine preserved in his family lineage. I had been contemplating the inconsistencies of the prana-tejas-ojas model at the time and wondered if there was some resonance with his lineage concepts of soma-agni-maruta. My original question and his illuminating response are reproduced below. Vaidya's response is an insightful and inspiring commentary that is a window into the heart and mind of an Ayurvedic master. He not only answers my question but elucidates the nature of prana, marma, and the very spirit of Ayurvedic medicine. I hope it inspires all of us to study the classical texts and connect with the sources of Ayurvedic knowledge in our own body, mind, and spirit.

NEESHEE PANDIT: In modern Ayurvedic writings from authors such as Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. David Frawley, as well as the textbook for the California College of Ayurveda, there is reference made to the three subtle energies (or three mental humors) of prana, tejas, and ojas.

In contemplating prana (and soma, agni, marut), I wondered how the concept of prana, tejas, ojas is understood in the SVA[4] lineage. There are some obvious parallels of course. One limitation here is that "prana" is described, more or less, as a subtle aspect of Vata dosha. In reference to tejas and ojas, prana is understood in similar to terms as "marut", it has that circulating/movement/intelligence-giving aspect. Tejas seems similar to agni and is even described in this context as flowing in the pingala nadi. And ojas seems to mirror soma and is described in reference to ida nadi. The three subtle energies are also described as subtle forms of the doshas.

However, one point that is made in the California College of Ayurveda textbook is that the three subtle energies are managed relative to each other. This is different from how SVA understands that soma, agni, and marut give rise to the doshas in the body.

I do understand that ojas is well-elaborated in SVA, and I believe I have seen you mention that "tejas" can be seen as synonymous with "agni". I am curious to know how and if the prana/tejas/ojas model fits into SVA or not in light of the lineage's unique understanding of prana.

VAIDYA MISHRA: Dear Neeshee: excellent question! This model of the prana/tejas/ojas does not fit into the SVA frame of teaching; in fact, neither does it fit into the ayurvedic frame as we read and study it in the original texts. When I first became aware of this teaching, of the concept of this cosmic trinity of “prana, tejas, and ojas,” I was surprised because I had never come across it in any of the Ayurvedic texts, nor had I heard of it in my personal training with my father. It was further confusing because I was taught and I had read in the Vedic texts that prana itself is made up of 3 cosmic energies, soma, agni, and marut; and I had studied tejas and ojas in totally distinct contexts. Upon hearing of this approach, needless to say I tried to locate the actual Sanskrit textual or source references that would explain it. As of today, I have not come across any material to substantiate this approach in any of the prominent samhitas, except for the mention in Dr. Lad’s book - I have personally not read the CCA textbook. Much of the teaching, as well as the curricular activities in the United States peruse Dr. Lad’s book(s) / teachings, so I think they use his material as a source instead of going to the actual original Sanskrit.

The relationship between prana and its constituents, soma, agni, and marut, become very clear when you look at them from the perspective of a marma point. When, in general, Ayurvedists speak of prana, they speak of it as either that breath, that “abstract” life-force that animates us; or as a vata subdosha. But when you speak of prana as having its seat in a marma point, and how that marma point welcomes the cosmic energies of the universe that make up that same universe, soma, agni, and marut, it concretizes things and allows you to do something with the knowledge.

As you’ve seen in the first chapter of our course, I have supplied the following verse from Bhav Prakash that explains how a marma point is the seat of prana:

मर्माणि तेषु तिष्ठन्ति प्राणाः खलुः विशेषतः। भावप्रकाश गर्भप्रकरण -२२३

marmani tesu tisthanti pranah khaluh visesatah

In the marmas, prana lives; prana is established in the marmas.

—bhavaprakasa garbhaprakarana, verse 223

Prana is established in a marma point, it enters it, resides there, and flows out from it throughout the body through the vibrational nadi-s or channels.

You must keep in mind, that this SVA approach or explanation, is not a SVA thing! I always quote verses to illustrate that what is taught in the SVA lineage, in terms of the relationship between soma, agni, marut, and the marma points in this context, is actually derived from the source texts. It is only unique to the SVA lineage in the sense that we use the knowledge. But it is not unique in the sense that it was created in or originated by the SVA lineage. Here is the actual verse from the sushrut samhita:

सोममरुत तेजांसि रजःसत्वतमांसि च।

मर्मसु प्रायशः पुंसा भूतात्मा चावतिष्ठते॥

somamaruta tejamsi rajahsatvatamamsi ca
marmasu prayasah pumsa bhutatma cavatisthate

Soma, vayu, tejas, sattva, rajas, tamas and life (jivatman) have their seats generally in the marmas.

This verse illustrates how soma, marut, and agni, are the primary components of prana. Prana is made up of these 3 elements. And in our bodies, marma points are the seat of prana.

After I started teaching my marma workshops more than a decade ago, I was approached by several ayurvedic practitioners wondering why I was spending so much time on this aspect of Ayurveda, and how there was very little in the ayurvedic texts about marma, and even that little material did not have any practical applications such as acu-pressure does, for example, in the Chinese tradition. That is why, many teachers, have opted to couple the Ayurvedic and the Chinese tradition to complement for the apparent lack of the knowledge of the science of marma.[5]

The Ayurvedic science of marma is a vast field. And I have only just started giving out its practical applications and knowledge. In any case, over the past decade, there has been a general growing tendency to speak of 3 cosmic energies that cross the marma points, and those 3 energies go by different names depending on the teacher. Usually, they are referred to as: prana, tejas, and ojas. Of course, one could say that these are just another way of saying soma, agni, and marut, so what’s wrong with calling them by these names, instead of soma, agni, and marut? It is true that in some texts, Agni is referred to as tejas; then there even other contemporary ayurvedic texts that refer to ojas as kapha and/or soma (sic!); and since prana is one of the vata subdoshas, it can actually be a stand-in for marut. Right? This is, however, very wrong, and for many reasons.

You see, the point is not that there are different schools that use different names for the same thing. Ayurveda is very particular about giving specific names to different specific entities, but all these terms that are seemingly the same thing but go by different names can not even be equated because they result from different processes and appear in the body at different times. In addition, when we read that prana, tejas, and ojas, are the constitutive elements of a marma point, it just makes no sense, because tejas and ojas are the results of specific digestive and metabolic activities that emerge in the body as a result of the good flow of prana! They cannot both be at the beginning and at the end. They cannot be the subtle energies that get transformed into the doshas, because they, with the exception of prana, are the final end-result of transformation themselves!

The confusion starts with the prana vata subdosha. It is true that this is one of the sub-doshas of vata. This subdosha governs the top portion of the scalp/head. It is so called, because prana enter the body primarily through this point of the head. It does not just sit there, it flows in, from the cosmos. The Ayurvedic texts explain very clearly that prana already exists outside of our bodies. Prana makes up life in the entire universe. It is the pulsation of life in the cosmos. Once we understand this, then we can understand better how it could not be put in the same dimension with tejas and ojas which only occur in the body as the result of good metabolism.

What is tejas? It literally translates into glow, or lustre. It is the glow that you can see on somebody’s face. It results from great metabolic activity. Even though it is sometimes used interchangeably with agni, it is not agni.

Same thing for ojas. I have spoken at great length about ojas being the very fine end-product of great metabolism. But not just that. The ayurvedic texts teach us how there are different types of ojas: ojas that we are born with, 8 drops of it, residing in our heart lotus, and that acts as an anchor for our souls; and ojas that is made as the by-product of great digestion.

When we put prana, tejas, and ojas, all in one bag, to make up the cosmic energies, or to be residing in a marma point, it becomes confusing.

The vague notion of the 3 elements is there, the 3 factors of soma, agni, and marut, but replacing those with the words of prana, tejas, and ojas, leads nowhwere. The point about managing these 3 energies in relation to each other is a given. It is not only a given but a precondition of Ayurveda––the good Ayurvedist will know how to pacify vata without aggravating pitta and/or kapha. Everything is in relation to everything else, and most of the time, the problem with inexperienced or young ayurvedic practitioners is that in the efforts to balance one thing, they unsettle the balance on another level. So the point about prana, tejas, and ojas, having to be managed relative to each other is not really pertinent. The SVA lineage teaches, based on the ayurvedic shastras, that the universe contains the raw materials of soma, agni, and marut, that make up everything, every cell, every micro or macro living entity in the universe. The 5 elements derive from these 3 primordial raw energies. They are held in balance by natural cosmic law (otherwise no universe would exist). They flow into our bodies as constituents of prana. We can handle and manage the flow of prana in our bodies, and that is what the teaching of SVA is all about in a nutshell. So it is really not a matter of managing each one in relation to the other. When they appear as the expression of the doshas in our bodies, and the doshas, by nature, are meant to go out of balance, then we have to address each one individually without imbalancing the other one.

In the end, the most important point to remember is that this knowledge is not from me, nor is this a concoction of the SVA lineage. It is all there, in the Ayurvedic samhitas. The only difference is that, in the SVA lineage, we have kept the knowledge alive and close to the source, by keeping the verses alive on the tongues of the practitioners. That is also why I always highlight the knowledge of the sutras and encourage all those who want to learn Ayurveda to do so with the recitation and close knowledge of the Sanskrit sutras. The verses should be alive in our physiology, not just gather dust between the covers of a book on a shelf.

Ayurveda is a vast ocean of knowledge, and I am sure Dr. Lad, and all the others, must have their source(s) of knowledge,[6] upon which they base their own approach and understanding, drawing parallels with ancient Chinese medicine. As you keep reading, you will see for yourself the pieces of the puzzle come together to form the larger image, and it is very simple and beautifully structured––as truth should be and always is! You will understand the relationship between the macrocosm, or the universe, and the microcosm or the details of creation, through your own self, as we are, just like other sentient creatures in our world, the intersecting point at which the “magic” of pranic creation materializes.

Footnotes

[1] The term vayu is synonymous with maruta. In the context of Vaidya Mishra's Shaka Vansya Ayurveda lineage, the term maruta is the standard nomenclature. Both words refer to the principle of "air" (or "ether"), the fundamental context and intelligence of the other elemental energies.
[2] Whether this concept is taught in Indian Ayurvedic Colleges is currently unknown to me.

[3] Here, the term vayu is used instead of vata. In Sanskrit classics, terms are interchangeably and are not as contextually delineated as in English. Different texts will also adopt different usages. This makes the reading of classical texts all the more challenging when distinct concepts share the same terminology.

[4] Shaka Vansya Ayurveda, the name of Vaidya Mishra's Ayurvedic lineage.

[5] Vaidya's comment appears to refer to the conceptual parallel between prana-tejas-ojas and the Chinese medical concept of jing-qi-shen.

[6] This is also to note that the sources of Dr. Lad's prana-tejas-ojas paradigm is unknown. It may be from oral tradition or it may be a contemporary concept or it may be borrowed from Chinese Medicine. This does not make it invalid in any way, but as practitioners, we should always critically consider clinical concepts as our goal is to assist the well-being of our patients above all else.