Abstract

Dr. Rakesh Kumar*, Dr. Subhash Upadhyay and Dr. Sakshi

ABSTRACT

The heart is an important organ of the human body, it is situated in middle mediastinum in thoracic cavity, enclosed within the pericardium. The circulation of blood throughout the body is maintained by the heart so it plays an important role in appropriate nutrition, excretion, gaseous exchange, thermoregulation etc., heart is a vital organ for life in the body. This fairly explains the importance of this organ in our body and its vulnerability to any kind of disturbances in the body. It is important to understand this organ thoroughly for better understanding and management of the cardiovascular diseases. In Ayurveda hridaya is considered under trimarma and dasa prana ayatana which indicates the importance of this organ in causation. However, the term Hridaya mentioned in Ayurveda is denoting an organ which controls the passage of prana by collecting, distributing in a rhythm. This definition indicates that in Ayurveda the term hridaya is uses for heart and brain as both. Hridaya, is considered as the kosthanga by Acharya Charak and kostha by Acharya Susruta. This article covers the concept of heart in Ayurveda i.e., hridaya in Ayurveda; including its nirukty (etymology), sharira rachana (anatomy), sharir kriya (physiology) with modern visions.