The concept of Prakriti is central to Ayurveda. Prakriti is defined as the state of an individual in its natural form. Ayurveda classifies people on the basis of Prakriti as every person is supposed to have a fixed Prakriti that is formulated by the condition of Tridosha at the time of union of sperm and ovum inside the uterus. Predominance of any one, two, or all the three Doshas determines the Prakriti of an individual. So Prakriti refers to genetically determined anatomical, physiological and psychological constitution of an individual. Prakriti also determines the response of an individual to environmental factors, drugs and susceptibility to diseases making it one of the earliest known concepts of preventive and personalized or genomic medicine. Prakriti emphasizes on the individuality and plays an important role in diagnosis, preventive medicine, and therapeutics.
The Tridosha elements and their combinations give rise to seven classifiable groups of Prakriti viz., Vata, Pitta, Kapha, Vata-Pitta, Vata-Kapha, Pitta-Kapha and Vata-Pitta-Kapha types based on the relative dominance of the basic constituents. Assessment of Prakriti of an individual takes place through a series of evaluations in terms of body features and mental disposition. This site provides an easy method to make an assessment of Prakriti subtype of an individual based on percentages of Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Based on a sound mathematical theory, the following class limits have been arrived at for Prakriti classification.
| Prakriti type | Shape of the area | Intersections defining the area (Percentage of V, P, K) |
|---|---|---|
| Vata | Triangle | (100, 0, 0), (62.2, 37.8,0), (62.2,0,37.8) |
| Pitta | Triangle | (0, 100,0), (37.8,62.2,0), (0,62.2,37.8) |
| Kapha | Triangle | (0,37.8,62.2), (0,0,100), (37.8,0,62.2) |
| Vata – Pitta | Trapezoid | (62.2,18.9,18.9), (62.2, 37.8, 0.0), (37.8,62.2,0), (18.9,62.2,18.9) |
| Vata – Kapha | Trapezoid | (62.2,18.9,18.9), (18.9,18.9,62.2), (37.8,0, 62.2), (62.2,0, 37.8) |
| Pitta – Kapha | Trapezoid | (18.9, 18.9, 62.2), (18.9,62.2,18.9), (0, 62.2,37.8), (0, 37.8,62.2) |
| Vata – Pitta – Kapha | Triangle | (62.2,18.9,18.9), (18.9, 62.2,18.9), (18.9,18.9,62.2) |
The following interactive dialogue utilizes the above class limits for identification of Prakriti type of an individual based on the percentages of Vata, Pitta and Kapha obtained through any Prakriti Assessment Questionnaire.