Pancamahabhuta, Pancendriya - five elements and five senses as a systematic basis for healthy living from an Ayurvedic point of view

A very interesting chapter of the Caraka-Saṃhitā, (ch. 8 of the Sūtrasthāna titled Indrīyopakramaṇīya-adhyāya) offers recommendations for psychosocial health referring to the five senses and the five elements (without mentioning the three Doṣa-s only once!). The five senses are the only means of human beings to perceive the world around them and so they fundamentally influence our life. But sensory stimuli also affect health and social behaviour. Colloquial idioms like “I do not want to hear that” or “I smell a fault” show that intuitively we realize the importance of sensory perception for our social life. Hence it should not come as a surprise that recommendations for psychosocial health are formulated on the basis of the five senses. In this presentation these recommendations will be presented and their importance for the present practice of Āyurveda in Germany discussed.