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Introduction

Ayurveda is the oldest medical sciences of the world. It perceives and defines the basic and applied aspects of life ,health, disease and its management  by various  principles and approaches. Acharya Charaka has described the concept of the "Ashta Nindit Purusha"(eight despicable personalities).[1] Ashta-Nindita as the name suggests, it is a group of eight such disorder that are non-acceptable in Society along with this these disorders are not at all easy to treat thus they are Nindita (can be explained as despicable or non-acceptable) and Ashta indicates the number of disorders that are eight. When these diseases are called as non-Acceptable that is not just according to the Society View but also, they are non-acceptable for treatment purposes and when said non-acceptable means they are difficult and approximately non-treatable conditions. If treatment is done, then these disorders are extremely time-taking.[2]

OBJECTIVES:

1. To review the Ashta–Nindita purush according Ayurveda .

2. To interpret its correlation with its  modern prospective.

METHODOLOGY:

Method of the collection of the data:

Literary and conceptual study was on the data compilation from the Brihatrayees, Laghutrayees, and other classical books including journals,  Samhitas, Books, internet materials.

Ashta – Nindita :[3,4,]

Eight types of physical abnormalities were explained by Ayurveda. People with these malformations are considered to be difficult to treat, and they are prone to a wide range of diseases.

1. Ati-hrasva (Dwarfism/ short- statured), Excessive tall person

2. Ati-dirgha (Gigantism and Acromegaly), Excessive small person

3. Ati-loma (Hairy body)

4. A-Loma (Hairless body)

5. Ati-krishna( Tanned body)

6. Ati- Gaur (Albine body)

7. Ati-sthula (Obesity)

8. Ati- krusha (Emaciated body)

As has been already mentioned, these diseases are extremely difficult to treat, the main reason of them being difficult to treat or non- treatable are that these disorders are basically hormonal disorders and are most probably a result of genetic alteration, even in today’s comparatively modern society that has various new findings regarding the mentioned disorders and various new theories even after all of this the disorders are extremely difficult to treat or non-treatable, thus proving the name given ashto- nindita as acceptable. It is not as if only these eight types of bodies are non-acceptable but these are many others that are socially non- acceptable and thus are a part of this group but being the eight major body types that are non-acceptable these are said to be ashto-nindita. The other body types can be as follows- if there is a hump on body or if any one or more body parts are non- working or absent, as in a person missing a leg (lame) or so on, now, if we see absence of a leg does not make person an essentially socially non-acceptable person but this type of body can have mobility or functional restrictions also it is not as if by any way the missing leg/arm can be regrowth in its natural form thus making it a non-treatable condition, so if we see closely, all the body types are not classified on only one basis but varies from one type to other, the variation can be from the range of socially unacceptable to difficulty in treatment/untreatable to functional restrictions and many more.  But one point being common in all is that all the diseases are equally close to untreatable.

Now, moving on, we are going to understand, the different types of Ashta-nindita and get to know more about them.

1. ATI-DIRGHA:

Just as the name suggests, Ati-dirgha is the disorder in which the body is over- grown as compared to normal dimensions of the body.in this over- growth the main reason is  considered as vata since for growth and movement purposes in body vata is held responsible, thus such as person is also called as “vatal pursh”.  we see there is no treatment for this disease as there is no way for shortening the overgrown bones in human body with the use of medicines, and the only way of treatment is using surgery but our Acharya’s did not believe in disturbing natural body anatomy unless and until it is essential. Thus, this disease belongs to the category.

Modern perspective- ati-dirgha this disorder can be related to gigantism according to modern sciences.

Gigantism-

This disorder is a result of over-production of growth hormone from anterior- pituitary. This is a result of hyperpitutarism, the main reason of which being a hormone producing benign tumor(adenoma) in the anterior pituitary and this tumor grows in excess and independent to the feedback system. In this case the cell that is responsible for excess production of growth hormone is somatotroph, if a tumor produces it leads to overproduction thus leading to over growth of bones of forelimbs and hind limbs also leading to disproportionate growth of facial features.[5]

The treatment procedure advised as follows-

• Surgery- the main purpose of surgery is the removal of tumor to stop the overgrowth of hormone.

• Medication- in case surgery is non- advisable, there medications for lowering the hormone levels are used.

• Gamma- knife radiosurgery- in case the normal surgery is not possible due to any reason, this surgery is advised for the same purpose of removal of tumor.

1. ATI- HRASVA

As the name suggests, the person suffering from this disorder has short body proportions as compared to normal. This, also does not have any treatment and is socially unacceptable. Some complications that are normally faced by ati-hrasva person are as follows-

• Any work that needs strength, these people will not be able to perform it.
• Due to small body proportions, these people will also not be able to consume and tolerate the teekshna virya aushadh.
• Their mental and physical growth may be hindered
• May suffer from manda-agni.

The person suffering from this disorder cannot be treated or helped much and the only one hope for attaining the height for such a person remains is mechanical method only, thus this disorder comes in this category.[6]

Modern perspective- Ati-hrasva this disorder can be correlated with dwarfism. This disorder is a result of low-production of growth hormone from anterior- pituitary. This is a result of hypopituitarism; the underlying causes of hypopituitarism can be any as follows-

• Ischemic necrosis of pituitary (Sheehan syndrome)

• Nonfunctional tumor in pituitary that leads to compression of pituitary

• Iatrogenic causes, If due to above reasons hypopituitarism develops then the production of growth hormone from somatotroph reduces leading to dwarfism.

The treatment options provided by modern doctor(s) are as follows-

• Surgical- can be helpful in correcting the direction of growth of bones, stabilization and correction of shape of spine, increase the size of vertebra by opening and reducing the pressure on vertebral bones.

• Hormonal therapy- since the main reason of absence of growth is absence of responsible hormone then the artificially created growth hormone is administered in the body of patient to induce growth

• Surgery for limb lengthening.

1. ATI-LOMA

Ati-loma as the name suggests, a person suffering from this disorder has more body hairs(loma) on body than normal this excess can be in many forms such as thicker than normal or presence of more than one loma from single lomakoopa. The normal amount of loma that is assumed by acharyas are three and a half crores of loma, more than this is called as atiloma.the complications faced by a person suffering from this disorder are as follows-

Since loma koop are the minute openings on skin that becomes the passage for the mala “sweda” or sweat so that it can escape the body, now in case of ati-loma the sweat that releases cannot dry off properly and becomes sticky and thus can lead to skn disorders or bad smell etc.

If more than one loma comes from a lomakoop then in such a condition, the lomakoop will be blocked and being blocked it will not be able to perform its normal function of letting out sweat from body properly as in a way it will be blocked.

In dincharya, there is mention of doing abhyanga on a daily basis, in the condition of ati-loma, if the person does abhyanga on a daily basis then there are chances that from pressurized movements the heir may break off that can lead to formation of vrana there.

These become the reason of presence of this disease in the lst of ashta-nindita.

Modern perspective- Ati-loma in modern sciences can be correlated with the disorder named as hyper-trichosis.this disease also has a name of werewolf syndrome; it is a condition where excessive of hair can be found on whole body or a part of body. Tis can effect men and women equally but is an extremely rare condition. The causes of this disorder is not well known, it is congenital and hormonal issue. Treatment for this disorder is not available in modern sciences as well, temporary treatments like waxing, shaving etc are some options only.

1. A-LOMA

A-loma as the name suggests, this is a condition where body is devoid of hair follicles throughout the body, in this condition the person suffering has to face many complications as-

Due to less amount of loma on body there is low amount of loma-koopa on body as well, which results in blockages/presence of low amount of outlets for sweda, thus creating a complication as this means that due to reduced amount of loma-koopa the sweda and thus the mala-bhaga that excretes out of body through this pathway is not able to excrete properly that can lead to various complication in body. Other than that, these loma are responsible for perception of temperature on body or any other sudden touch, thus reducing the sensing ability of sparshendriya as it is also a part of twacha (aashraya of sparshendriya).[7]

These hairs are also responsible for preventing body from various foreign microscopic organisms or pollutants thus plays a role of protecting the body but its absence marks the absence of that protection that can lead to various infections.

These factors and the fact that this disorder is non-treatable becomes the reason of presence of this disorder in this list of ashtanindita.

 Modern perspective- Aloma in modern sciences can be correlated with alopecia universalis. This disorder is believed to be of auto-immune in nature and may have genital origin as well.

The treatment options provided by doctor(s) are –

As such, no standard treatment is decided for it.

Some hormonal therapies as administration of  corticosteroids may be administered but their success rate is not really known.

1. ATI-KRISHNA

As the name suggests very clearly, person suffering from this disorder basically has a very dark complexion of skin(krushna varni) and basically in society the fair complexions are defined are beautiful while the darker complexions are marked as the opposite and thus this disorder does not have any other consequences when seen from a medical point of view but such a person has to face many degrading remarks etc on  the social basis and since this complexion is not socially acceptable this comes under the category of ashta-nindita. Modern perspective- when the body has higher amount of melanin pigmentation then it has a darker complexion.

1. ATI-GAUR

Ati-gaur as the name suggests, when a person has this condition the person’s skin is of unnaturally white complexion . such a skin that has such unnatural complexion is basically found to be extremely sensitive, such a person is pitta Pradhan, is very much prone to pitta Pradhan diseases and prone to rakta dushti. Is unable to tolerate sunlight, has less loma and thus lomakoopa on body. In summer season such a person suffers a lot due to sensitiveness. Also during treatment the options are limited as being pitta Pradhan these people cannot tolerate tikshna and ushna aushadh and thus only sheeta virya aushadh can be used for treatment purposes. Due to all the above reasons this disorder is put under the list of ashto-nindita.[8] Modern perspective- atigaur can be correlated with albinism. Albinism is a condition in which body is devoid of melanin pigmentation, thus is very sensitive to sunlight or heat etc. Treatment for this condition is not possible, only external care can be given to skin by using sunscreen and covering skin.

1. ATI-STHULA:

Aati-sthaulya, it is a condition well explained along with its treatment procedure in ayurvedic texts. When the weight of body is found to be more than normal and the shape o body is found to be comparatively round than normal then such a condition is called as sthoulya. The complications faced by such people is as follows-

• Reduction of life-expectancy

• Lack of excitement

• Difficulty in sexual intercourse

• Weakness

• Bad-odour from body

• Excessive sweating

• Excessive hunger

• Excessive thirst

All these complications that are faced by person along with the fact that it’s treatment is extremely difficult due to the dushit kapha, that leads to dushti of vata that further leads to dushti of agni by the increase of agni with the help of dushit vayu and this way the agni is aggravated leading to increased appetite. So here basically there is dushti both kapha and vata and there is already aggravation of agni that makes all the opposites to come together as lapha has opposite guna to vata and vis-e-versa but in both the conditions mandagni is expected due to which deepen and pwachan aushad could be used but here the vitiated vayu travels to aamashaya leading to aggravation of agni thus the treatment of this condition is difficult thus, this comes in the category of ashta nindita. Treatment Siddhant (principle) used in Ayurveda for it’s treatment is as follows- in such a condition the person is advised to consume guru guna Pradhan aahar and practicing apatarpan/ langhan etc.[9,10]

Modern perspective-  Ati-sthoulya in modern is correlated with obesity, which is a condition where the body’s fat content is increased by far much and leading to a condition where body becomes flaccid and does not have the will to work etc. This condition in today’s world is put at the level of epidemic as due to the complications of obesity daily many people lose their lives.  Some of the many complications of obesity are as follows-

• Heart diseases and stroke

• Type 2 diabetes

• Digestive problems

• Sleep apnea

• Osteoarthritis

These are some of many complications that can be caused by obesity, thus it should never be taken for granted. Treatment includes exercise, Diet along with need of medications.

1. ATI-KRUSHA:

Aati-krusha, it is a condition well explained along with its treatment procedure in ayurvedic texts. When the weight of body is found to be less than normal and the shape of body is found to be comparatively lean than normal then such a condition is called as krusha. The  complications faced by such people is as follows-

• Such a person is unable to cope up with any kind of stressful situations

• They are not able to handle strong aushadh

• Are not able to have proper sex

• May also suffer from following diseases- pleehavruddhi, kshaya, shwas, udarrog, arsha, gulma etc.

Due to these reasons and the fact that it’s treatment also is not easy is the reason why ati-krusha comes under the ashtonindita also it is socially not seen as a very good body type due to above reasons. Treatment principle that is used in this is as follows- the foods and vihar that is to be chosen should be bruhan, laghu and su-pachi(easy to digest) and santarpaniya.

Modern perspective-

Ati-krusha can be correlated to mal-nutrition as it is a condition where due to absence of essential nutrients in daily diet leads to loss of weight or this may as well be related to eating disorders as well, that depends on the condition. For treatment purposes, if the condition is of mal-nutrition then required treatment should be administered but if the condition relates to an eating disorder then this may not be fully resolved only basis of supplements or nutrient rich food but also needs to be treated on mental basis as these eating disorder may be a result to the insecurities of the person suffering from the condition. Thus, we have seen an overview of all the Ashtonindita, their probable reasons of involvement in the list of ashto-nindita and various other aspects as well.

Discussion

If a person with a balanced proportion of muscles, compactness of the body, and solidity in sensory organs is easily not get any infection s as his immunity power is much better. Such people can withstand hunger, thirst, the sun's heat, cold, and physical activity. Their digestion, food absorption, and muscle metabolism are all in balance. However, as we have seen all the Ashta nindita, their basis of being in this list of Ashta nindita, how they are difficult to treat/ non- treatable, their modern correlations. It can be seen that as compared to how Ayurvedic texts mentions it, the modern findings have improved to some level giving the hope that maybe on continuing these type of work some solution for these conditions can be found out also if the two pathies work together on the subject and use their vast knowledge all together, share their ideas with each other there is a big chance that maybe some solution for the betterment of people suffering from such conditions can be improved and can be given a chance to live the life in a comparatively normal situations.

Conclusion

Ashtanindita is a collective of eight such disorders that are declared to be difficult to treat or un-treatable, they have been classified on a very valid and scientific basis as to why the name that also has a deep meaning to itself. About the modern correlations and developments into the treatment of these nindita body types also how each disease has many aspects to be seen to it.