Ojas: Vitality Essence in Ayurveda
Ojas is the final essence of the seven dhatus, the tissues: the refined product left when food has passed through every stage of digestion and each tissue has been fully formed. It is the body's reserve of vitality, the material basis of immunity and strength, the glow of a healthy face, and the steadiness of a contented mind. Ayurveda holds that the whole chain of digestion exists to produce it, and that a person lives as long as ojas lasts. The Charaka Samhita describes ojas as the first thing formed in the embryo and as the essence on which life depends; the Sushruta Samhita identifies it with bala, strength.
Its qualities
Ojas is described as unctuous, cool, heavy, soft, and sweet, like ghee in consistency, the colour of ghee tinged with red and yellow, and sweet with a slightly astringent aftertaste like honey. It is the opposite of ama, the sticky residue of poor digestion, which is heavy but foul, and the opposite of Vata, which is dry, light, and cold. Kapha in its healthy state is the dosha closest to ojas in quality, which is why a Kapha constitution generally has the strongest ojas and why measures that build Kapha, milk, ghee, sweet taste, rest, also build ojas when agni, the digestive fire, is sound.
The tradition distinguishes two kinds. Para ojas is the superior form, held in the heart in a measure the texts give as eight drops, and its loss is death. Apara ojas is the inferior form, distributed through the body in a measure of half an anjali, the hollow of two cupped hands, and it rises and falls with health and conduct. Everything said about building and losing ojas refers to apara ojas.
How ojas is depleted
Ojakshaya, loss of ojas, is caused by what the texts group as physical and mental exhaustion: anger, grief, worry, and fear held over time; overwork and exertion beyond strength; prolonged fasting and under-eating; excess of sexual activity; loss of blood, semen, or other tissue; wasting diseases; dry, rough, and stale food; excess of pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes; too much wind, sun, and travel; and the wounds and shocks of accident or illness. Vata is the dosha that dries and scatters ojas, and most depletion is a Vata process.
The signs of depletion are fear without cause, weakness of body and voice, worry and restlessness, dullness of the senses, a rough and lustreless complexion, dryness, emaciation, loss of appetite, and susceptibility to every passing illness. The Sushruta Samhita distinguishes three degrees: visramsa, displacement, in which ojas slips from its seat and the joints loosen and the limbs feel heavy; vyapat, corruption, in which it is disturbed by the doshas and there is stiffness, swelling, and dullness; and kshaya, loss, in which it is diminished and the signs above appear.
How ojas is built
Ojas is built by the same things that build the tissues, taken at a pace agni can manage. The sweet taste in its wholesome forms leads: milk, ghee, rice, wheat, sweet fruits, dates, almonds, and honey. Milk is the closest food to ojas in quality, and warm milk with a little ghee at night is the plainest ojas-building measure the tradition has. Sleep at the proper hours, since ojas is replenished in rest; moderation in sexual activity; the company of what is calm, loving, and generous, since the mind's contentment is both a sign of ojas and a cause of it; and the steady practice of dinacharya, the daily routine, which spares the body the friction that scatters it.
The rasayanas, the rejuvenating preparations, are the medicines of ojas. Chyawanprash, built on Amalaki, Phyllanthus emblica, is the classical one for the chest and the young and the old. Ashwagandha, Withania somnifera, warm and building, is the rasayana for Vata depletion, wasting, and sleeplessness. Shatavari, Asparagus racemosus, cool and sweet, is the rasayana for Pitta depletion and for women. Bala, Sida cordifolia, Guduchi, Tinospora cordifolia, and Yashtimadhu, Glycyrrhiza glabra, are others. A rasayana is given after the body has been cleared of ama, on a sound agni, and over weeks, because ojas is the last product of digestion and takes as long to form as the tissues before it.
Ojas, tejas, and prana
Ojas is one of three subtle essences. Prana is the subtle form of Vata, the life breath that moves everything; tejas is the subtle form of Pitta, the fire of intelligence and metabolism; ojas is the subtle form of Kapha, the substance that holds and protects. In health the three are in proportion. Too much tejas burns ojas, which is why the driven, sharp, overworking person is the classic case of depletion; too much prana scatters it; too little of either leaves ojas heavy and dull. Chinese medicine's Jing, the stored essence held in the Kidneys and spent through life, is the closest parallel in another tradition.