6 Rasas (Tastes):
- sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent
- determined by the predominance of two elements (sweet = water and earth, e.g.)
- the gustatory response to physical and chemical properties rasa is known by its contact with the oral cavity (mouth and tongue, etc)
- manifest and subtle (anurasa, uparasa)
- karya dravya (effects)
- produces direct / immediate action -- quick and short acting
- implies a feeling response – affects emotions, etc.
- affects the mucus and synovial membranes, and skin (via the nerves) -- affects rasa dhatu
- weakest of categories of action
- used locally in the therapeutic measures of snehana, svedana, nasya, basti, etc.
- acts on accumulation (sancaya) stage of samprapti
- while taste is subjective experience there are numerous interfering considerations:3
- different plants are used under one name
- different parts of the plant are used
- different place and season of collection and storage
- plant as green versus ripe
- taste as an inference by observed actions in the body
- as a category of drug action there is much correspondence with modern notion of ionization
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