Every person born on this earth bears some physical and mental characteristics, which usually sticks on throughout his/her life. Such characteristic traits acquired by birth is called "Prakrukti".

Ayurveda describes human constitution from different angles. Primarily the human constitution has been considered as a psychosomatic entity. Genetic and acquired aspects influence the constitution. The acquired constitution develops in relation to environmental factors like age, sex, caste, familial set up and the climate etc. The genetic constitution depends upon the condition and doshik involvement in the zygote (fertilised egg).

Prakruti is defined as the group of characters inherited by an individual from the sukra (spermatozoon) and sonita (ovum) of the parents depending upon the predominance of Dosha or Doshas prevailing at the time of sexual intercourse and influenced by the acquired causes like environment, age and sex.

Prakruti will be formed in the zygote depending upon the doshic dominance at the time of fertilisation. The following are the four determining factors:

• Sukra Sonita Prakruti (Prakruti determined in accordance to the condition of the sperm and ovum): Characters inherited from Sukra (sperm) of the father and from Sonita (Ovum) of mother in accordance to dominance of doshas at the time of conception. In other words this is determined by hereditary factors in the sperm and ovum.
• Kaala Garbhasaya Prakruti (Prakruti determined by the condition of the uterus): Characters will be formed during the intrauterine life (life in the womb) and this will be influenced by the (Kala) doshik predominance during the pregnancy period and condition of the Uterus (Garbhasaya).
• Maturahara Vihara Prakruti (Prakruti determined by the diet habits of the mother): The diet taken by the mother and her behaviour during pregnancy can increase or decrease a particular dosha. Therefore, some changes are possible after the influence of the uterine dosha at the time of conception. The diet taken by the mother and her behaviour during pregnancy can increase or decrease a particular dosha. Therefore, some changes are possible after the influence of the uterine dosha at the time of conception.
• Mahabhuta Vikara Prakruti (Prakruti determined by the five elements): The five basic elements (Pancha Mahabhutas) namely the air, fire, water, earth and sky, also influence Prakruti. These combine with the influence of mother and father, nutritional element (Rasa) and self (Atman) to form the constitutional structure or Prakruti in every individual.

The various factors mentioned above determines the nature of a person.

Prakruti is of two types:  

1. Physical (Deha) Prakruti
2. Psychic (Manasika) Prakruti

Prakruti is divided into seven types depending on the predominance of dosha. 

• Vata Prakruti
• Pitta Prakruti
• Kapha Prakruti
• Vata-pitta Prakruti
• Vata-kapha Prakruti
• Pitta-kapha Prakruti
• Sannipata (mixed) Prakruti

Satva, Rajas, Tamas are the three basic qualities of Mind (Manas). Psychological Prakruti is classified according to these three qualities.  

• Satwika Prakruti
• Rajasika Prakruti
• Tamasa Prakruti

Knowledge about the body constitution will be useful to prevent and treat diseases. Health, according to Ayurveda is the state of equilibrium of the Tridosha. So once you have knowledge about your constitution, you can choose your diet, living style and activities, which will not create an imbalance of doshas.

The Tridosha controls all the body activities. These three doshas cannot be visualised, but can be perceived by their activities. For the gross understanding of this concept, it may be stated that the entire solid structure of the body including body cells, fibres, and the biological fluids constitute the Kapha system of the body. The entire hormones, enzymes, co-enzymes and other agencies responsible for the physiochemical activities constitute the Pitta system of the body. 

The entire spectrum of actions, reactions and responses, including the mechanics of neurotransmission (impulse travelling through nerves) form Vata system - a co-ordinated and balanced functioning of all these three elements, maintain the life of an organism and keeps it healthy. Any loss of these three basic biological constituents, which may occur due to a variety of reasons leads to ill health.Knowledge of Prakruti helps to diagnose and treat diseases.

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