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Guna (Quality) >>

Sartha Guna
The five sartha gunas are as follows:

Shabda (sound)
It is the property of Aakasha (space) mahabhoota.
There are three following things that are responsible for the production of sound:

• Sanyog
• Vibhaga
• Shabda

Sound producing instruments like trumpet etc are the causative factor and Sanyog, Vibhya, and Shabda are the imitate factors. ·

• Sanyog
  Sanyog means meeting of two things. An example of sanyog is the production of sound when something is hit.
  
  
• Vibhaga
  Vibhaga means separation or division. For example when any paper is torn in two parts it produces sound.
  
  
• Shabda
  It means the production of sound by the means of another sound. The theory of sound production through this method in ayurveda is known as Vichitaranga Nyaya. The example of ripple formation in a pond of water when a pebble is thrown in it explains the theory of sound also. As the waves produced in water give rise to another wave and round circles or number of ripples are visible in water, the sound also when produced in the space (akasha) it reaches to us in the same way.

In ayurveda Shabda is categorized into two groups:
Dhwanitmak or sound
Vanitmak or letters, alphabets
Sparsha (touch)
The guna (property) of sparsha (touch) is received or felt by tvak indriya (skin) and is the main Guna (quality) of Vayu Mahabhoota. The sparsha (touch) is categorized into following three types:

Shita (cold)
Ushna (hot)
Anushnashita (Neither cold nor hot)
It is notable that all the mahabhootas except Aakasha have the Guna (property) of Sparsha (touch).

Rupa (vision)
With the exception of akasha and vayu all other mahabhootas have the guna (property) of rupa (vision). The guna of rupa or vision is the main guna of teja mahabhoota and is of seven types:

• Shukla or white
• Nila or blue
• Pita or yellow
• Harita or green
• Kapish or brown
• Rakta or red
• Chitra or spotted

The jala mahabhoota has Abhaswar shukla (dull white) whereas prithvi mahabhoota have all the seven types of rupa and Teja mahabhoota has Bhaswar shukla (glazing white).

Rasa (taste)
The guna felt or received by rasna (tongue) is known as rasa (taste). This guna has the following six type:

• Madhura or sweet
• Amla or sour
• Lavan or salt
• Tikta or bitter
• Katu or chilly
• Kashaya or alum like taste

Only jala and prithvi mahabhoota have these six rasa gunas. The causative factors for rasa (taste) are the different mahabhootas.

Gandha (small)
The guna received by ghran (nose) only is known as gandha. This guna is only present in the prithvi mahabhoota. There are two types of gandha:

• Surbhi or good smell
• Asurbhi or bad smell