Desha in Ayurveda (आयुर्वेदे देश:)

The term 'Desha' (देशः) literally means country, site, location, land or region. In Ayurveda, 'Desha' refers to the site, area of residence or location of a person. It also refers to the body and mind of a person which are the sites of diseases. Ayurveda scholars have deeply studied the effects of the climate and other environmental factors of the region where a person resides on his/her health. Therefore, Desha has been considered as an important concept in Ayurveda which is taken into accounts while making a diagnosis, assessing strength and planning a treatment.

परिचयः॥ Introduction

Desha is one of the very important criteria used in the assessment of any patient in Ayurveda. In Ayurveda this term Desha has been applied and described in two dimensional way. Bhumi Desha (भूमिदेशः। Specific part of land or geographical part) and Atura Desha (आतुरदेशः । the site of disease  body  and  mind) are the 2 different entities referred by the term Desha.  In  reference  of  place of residence, architecting, collection of  drugs,  quality  of  river  water, property of air etc. Bhumi Desha is indicated.  Whereas, in terms of examining a patient, locating the sites of assessment of patient, Atura desha is indicated. Hence Desha is the concept in Ayurveda which is used when a specific area needs to be located or identified since, it shares a definitive relationship or association with the disease under investigation or the health of the person.

निरुक्तिः॥Etymology

The term Desha is derived from the root term Disha (दिश). Disha  is  further described as ‘Dish  Nirdesh’ (दिश निर्देशे) . It  has been  considered  in  nine ‘Karana Dravyas’ (कारण द्रव्याणि) in the Bharatiya Shastras, Darshanas and Ayurveda.

दिश्यते निर्द्दिश्यते इति । दिश निर्द्देशे + कर्म्मणि घञ् ।) भूगोलभागविशेषः । (Shab. 2.747)

Disha (direction) denotes Desha also which is directed or divided from one part to other.

देशः पुनः स्थानं; स द्रव्याणामुत्पत्तिप्रचारौ देशसात्म्यं चाचष्टे (५)|२२| (Char. Samh. 1.22)

भूमिदेशभेदाः ॥ Classification of Area of residence/ geographical land

Bhumi desha or the geographical area in which a person resides significantly affects the overall health and strength of the person. Grossly this land is categorized into 3 types by Ayurveda scholars.

त्रिविधः खलु देशः- जाङ्गलः, आनूपः, साधारणश्चेति| (Cha. Samh.. 1.8)

Jangala desha (arid and dry land), Anupa desha (marshy, humid land) and Sadharan desha (land with everything in moderation) are the 3 types of desha. Each of the 3 has peculiar characteristics in terms of sun exposure, heat, dryness, humidity, rains, type of trees and animals residing in it etc. The weather and environmental factors affect the health and well being of the person, the details of which discussed briefly hereafter.

जाङ्गलदेशः ॥ Jangala Desha ( Dry/arid land )

देशविशेषाः॥ Characteristics

• Dry land or arid land. land surface is rocky,  sandy  with  full  of  stones. Mirages  can be seen on such land in  summer,.
• Water bodies like ponds,  lakes are small. Rainfall is scanty.
• Open spaces are abundant. Dry winds and arid desert are seen predominantly. Weather is hot.
• Plants are less and mostly  thorny bushes.  Trees  like  Khadira  (Acacia  catechu), Aswakarana  (Dipterocarpus  alatus),  Sallaki  (Boswellia serrate),  Aswatha  (Ficus  religosa),  Vata  (Ficus benghalinses),  Amalaki  (Emblica  officinalis), Sami (Prosopis  cineraria),  Arka  (Calotropis  procera),  Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna), etc. are common.
• Abundant crops like Cotton  (Gossypium  herbaccum),  ground  nut,  Bajra (Pennisetum  glaucum),  etc are  prevalent. 
• Plenty of antelopes, deer’s, bucks and donkeys are found in this region

मनुष्यविशेषाः॥People of Jangala desha

• Humans residing in such Desha have Vata and Pitta dominant constitution.
• They are harsh, strong and rough in nature and are more prone to Vata- Pitta dominant diseases.

आनुपदेशः॥ Anupa Desha (Marshy land)

देशविशेषाः॥ Characteristics

• Marshy land is moist & humid. Mostly such land is evident in coastal areas and regions with heavy rainfall for most of the period of year.
• It is the land where many rivers reach the sea. Sea coasts or river banks  are  full  of  trees. 
• The mountains are densely covered with the trees or forest. The land is deeply covered from above with the trees so that barely sunrays can penetrate and reach the ground. In  between  the  forests  many flowering climbers  are  found. Plenty  of  trees with  more flowers,  green vegetation full of fruits, yield of different kinds of paddy, plantains, sugarcanes
• Trees like Hintal  (Date  palm),  Tamala  (Garcinia  sps.),  Narikela (Coconut tree), Kadali (Banana tree) are abundant in this region.
• Reservoirs  of  water  (ponds, lakes  etc.) have abundance of lotus flowers, swan, crane, goose, lark , duck  and other such birds. Animals like the rabbit, bear, buffalo, deer etc are found.
• Cold wind blows in this region which is moist.

मनुष्यविशेषाः॥People of Jangala desha

• Humans residing in Anupa  Desha  exhibit Kapha and Vata  dominance in overall health. 
• They are usually delicate, beautiful and gentle in nature and are more prone to Kapha and Vata dominant diseases

साधारणदेशः॥ Sadharana  Desha  (Moderately Dry  and  Marshy  land)

The term Sadharana is described as the one with no extremes of cold, heat and rains.

साधारण इति अनतिशीतोष्णवर्षः| (Char. Samh. 8. 125)

That means where heat, cold and rains all are in moderation that land or part of the country is known as Sadharana desha. Such type of land is said to be most desirable or ideal for residence since it keeps bio-energies in balance.

देशविशेषाः॥ Characteristics

• In this region, Mixed characteristics of both Jangala and Anup Desha are found .
• Proper balance of dry land and moist season, open spaces & forests is seen
• The animals and crops have the combined characters of Jangala and Anupa Desha.

मनुष्यविशेषाः॥ People of Sadharana Desha

Since all the environmental factors are in balanced proportions in this region, they lead to balance of doshas or bio-energies in human body. Hence health and stregth of people in this region is usally good.

• People have steady balance of bio-energies
• They possess moderate strength and tolerance.
• Complexion, strength and endurance is steady and moderate.

Other subtypes or combination lands like Anupa-Sadharana and Jangala-Sadharana desha are also discussed at relevant places by Ayurveda scholars.

पञ्चमहाभूताधिष्ठिताः देशभेदाः॥ Classification  of  Desha  on  the  basis  of Panchamahabhuta

Panchamahabhutas are the basic elements from which the entire nature is created. Each of them have specific characteristic which is reflected in the properties of the matter which has dominance of that mahabhuta. Acharya Susruta has categorized desha on the basis of dominant mahabhuta (element) in the environment. This is done and explained on the basis of overall appearance of that area. The 5 types are as follows,

1. Parthiva  Bhumi  Desha (पार्थिवभूमिदेशः)Dominant Prthvi mahabhuta. Rocky area, greyish  or blackish soil and huge trees are present.
2. Apya Bhumi  Desha (आप्यभूमिदेशः)-Dominant Jala mahabhuta. Multiple water reservoirs and grass, delicate trees and whitish soil are present.
3. Agneya Bhumi Desha (आग्नेयभूमिदेशः)-Dominant Agni/Teja mahabhuta. Soil of varied colours, smaller  trees  are  present. 
4. Vayaviya Bhumi Desha (वायवीयभूमिदेशः)-Dominant Vayu mahabhuta. Rough land, ash coloured stones, plenty of dry small trees with holes/ uneven surface? are found.
5. Akashiya Bhumi Desha (आकाशीयभूमिदेशः)- Dominant Akasha mahabhuta. The land is even with holes in it and is having tasteless huge trees and mountains. The colour of the soil is greyish black in colour.

देशदुष्टिजनितः जनपदोध्वंस ॥ Relation  between  Janpadodhwamsa  (epidemics)  and Desha

In Janpadodhwamsa chapter, Desha is considered as one of the important environmental factor  responsible for the  causation  of  epidemic  diseases which  inflicts  the person having dissimilar constitution, food, body, strength, suitability, mind and age simultaneously. 

Since normal or abnormal status of Desha's properties is responsible for emergence of Epidemics, residents of that desha should responsibly look after the environmental factors in that desha and put efforts in preserving its normal status. When Desha gets contaminated/ polluted, environment is altered, large number of people residing in that Desha get affected by disease with simlar in nature although the people affected by them are not similar. Such diseases spread rapidly, cause epidemics and are very powerful. They cause significant mortality and morbidity because it is very difficult to change the Desha which is the root-cause of that disease. Some well known examples are, the impact on health of incident in Hiroshima and Nagasaki of Japan and Bhopal gas tragedy in Indi. People of these regions are still suffering from various genetic disorders.

वैगुण्यमुपपन्नानां देशकालानिलाम्भसाम्| गरीयस्त्वं विशेषेण हेतुमत् सम्प्रवक्ष्यते||९||

वाताज्जलं जलाद्देशं देशात् कालं स्वभावतः| विद्याद्दुष्परिहार्यत्वाद्गरीयस्तरमर्थवित् ^[१] ||१०||

वाय्वादिषु यथोक्तानां दोषाणां तु विशेषवित्| प्रतीकारस्य सौकर्ये विद्याल्लाघवलक्षणम्||११|| (Cha Samh. 3.9-11)

Meaning: Contaminated desha (land), kala (season), vata (air), jala (water) are causes of Janapadodhwansa. Among these causative factors, there is a hierarchy that shows increasing level of unavoidability and difficulty in management. Thus, Jalam (water) is difficult avoid than Vata (air), Desha is even more difficult to avoid that JAlam (water) and Kala (time/season/weather) is the most difficult thing to avoid above all these factors. Therefore vayu, jala, desha and kala are worse to handle in an ascending order. Those which are comparatively easier to handle or manage are considered as better ones in this order. Hence Desha is one of the difficult to manage causative factor as compared to air and water when it comes to epidemics management.

देशविशिष्ट आहारः तथा रोगाः च ॥ The specific Desha, dietitic culture and specific diseases

There are few examples in Classical Ayurveda texts where, acharyas describe how people residing in a particular desha have certain tendencies in their diet patterns and how this makes them more prone to suffer from particular diseases that develop due to excess consumption of certain rasas. Example of desha of Eastern sides is given. Acharyas mention that people residing in eastern regions have excess consumption of ksharas (strong alkali dominant). Ksharas are said to be very harsh and penetrating in nature as well as aggravating Pitta and vitiating rakta dhatu. Thus soft tissues and organs like eyes , heart, reproductive tissues are predominantly affected. As a result they suffer from blindness, impotency, baldness, grey hair and heart disease in lage numbers as compared to people residing in other deshas. This could be the observation of acharyas in the period when the texts were written. Similarly one more such example is mentioned wherein excess salt intake by people residing in deshas like Balhika, Saurastrika, Saindhava and Sauviraka is mentioned. Excess lavana rasa is diet thus make these people more prone to develop health conditions like fatigue, lassitude and weakness. Therefore Desha is considered as one of the important criteria in 10 fold clinical examination in Ayurveda diagnosis. Because it helps physician understand the possible cause and plan treatment effectively.

In Kashyapa samhita, Acharya Kashyapa has highlighted the importance of Desha in development of a disease known as Amlapitta (equivalent to Hyperacidity). He states that people living in Anupa desha often suffer from Amplapitta due to specific environment in this region. Therefore such condition should be treated with medicines growing in Jangala desha (having properties opposite to anupa desha). If this doesnt help, relocating to a different place remains the last measure of treatment.

One more disease known as Shlipada (equivalent to Filariasis or elephantitis) is said to be predominantly originating in Anupa desha where there is always a collection of stagnant water dampness throughout the year. One can find that such conditions are usually not commonly found everwhere but in specific region that is Desha as mentioned in Ayurveda, number of cases suffering from this are observed. This is the effect of land on health of the individuals residing on it.

देशसात्म्यम् ॥ Deshasatmya

The concept of Deshsatmya discussed in Ayurveda is important to understand the desirable diet and lifestyle for people residing in that region. Whatever diet and lifestyle help in maintaining the balance of doshas and dhatus in a person residing in the desha having particular properties, is known to be Desha satmya for him/her.

देशसात्म्येन च देशविपरीतगुणं सात्म्यं गृह्यते; यथा- आनूपे उष्णरूक्षादि, धन्वनि च शीतस्निग्धादि, ओकसात्म्यं तु उपयोक्तृग्रहणेन गृहीतम्|| (Chakrapani commentary on Cha. Samh. 1.22)

Meaning: Deshasatmya refers to having used to or accustomed to the diet which is opposite in properties to that of Desha. e.g. Diet in ushna( Hot) and ruksha (dry) properties is satmya in Anupa desha, shita (cold) and snigdha (unctous) in Janhgala desha.

Eating local?

देशविरुद्धम्॥ Deshaviruddha

The equilibrium of Doshas is known as health. The first and foremost principles of disease treatment is avoidance of the cause of diseases. Therefore if someone takes substance (diet/ medicine) of similar quality of Desha, Doshas will be aggravated leading to diseases. The scholars of Ayurveda have directed to use Ahara (diet) and Vihara (life style) opposing to Desha. There is a specific concept in Ayurveda entitled Viruddha Ahara which indicates 18 types of Ahara (diet patterns) that are incompatible for health. One of them is Desha Viruddha according to which the Ruksha (dry) Ahara in Jangala Desha is Desha Viruddha because if natures of both are similar it will aggravate Doshas. The quality of drugs are also described according to Desha.

प्रशस्त औषधी ग्रहणार्थे देशगुणाः ॥ Collection of herb from type of desha

Desha is also one of the important factor to be considered while collecting herbs for preparing medicines. In order to obtain potent herbs for medicines, Ayurveda scholars have provided a guideline for collecting herbs. The time/season of collection, region of collection, method, direction, area are the important aspects of collection method discussed in guidelines.

तत्र देशे साधारणे जाङ्गले वा यथाकालं शिशिरातपपवनसलिलसेविते समे शुचौ प्रदक्षिणोदके श्मशान-चैत्य-देवयजनागार-सभा-श्वभ्राराम-वल्मीकोषरविरहिते कुशरोहिषास्तीर्णे स्निग्धकृष्णमधुरमृत्तिके सुवर्णवर्णमधुरमृत्तिके वा मृदावफालकृष्टेऽनुपहतेऽन्यैर्बलवत्तरैर्द्रुमैरौषधानि जातानि प्रशस्यन्ते||९|| (Char. Samh. 1. 9)

• The ideal region for collection of medicinal herbs is said to be sadharana desha or janagla desha.
• In that herbs growing on land as described below are desirable and said to be effective.
• Pants that are nourished timely with cold, sun (heat), air and water, on even, clean ground with facilities of water are good.
• Medicinal plants growing on land of cremation ground, sacred place, temple, meeting place, ditch, orchard, ant-hills and barren land should not be collected.
• Plants growing on land covered with kusha and rohisha plants, having unctuous, black, sweet or golden sweet soil, soft, un-ploughed and unaffected by other stronger plants are recommended.

चिकित्सायां देशविचारः ॥ Desha and the principles of management of disease

Acharya Susruta stated that is a certain disease is originated in Anupa Desha (marshy place) and then if the person is shifted to Jangala Desha (arid zone or Vice versa) the disease severity may also reduce naturally.

The Doshas, accumulated in its native place may not aggravate in another. If appropriate regimen is followed, there is no fear of disease caused by place. In spite of innate qualities of the place, one should take precaution in diet, sleep, activities etc.