Meaning of 'Doshas' and 'Prakruti' in Ayurveda

According to Ayurveda, there are 3 types of Doshas and depending upon these, multiple types of prakrutis. These Doshas when in stable condition maintain the overall health of a person and when in imbalanced state lead to many diseases. So if a person get diseased, the dominant Dosha in his body gets affected. Every individual has all the 3 Doshas in his body which maintains the balance. But the Dosha which is dominant in his body decides his Prakruti. This Prakruti remains with the person throughout his life. Simple definition for Prakruti will be one’s own nature. Scientifically, Prakruti is defined as the group of characters inherited by an individual from the sukra (spermatozoon) and sonita (ovum) of the parents depending upon the predominance of Dosha or Doshas prevailing at the time of sexual intercourse and influenced by the acquired causes like environment, age and sex. The dominant Dosha in the body will give one, the dominant characters of the Dosha like physique, character, color of his hair, eyes, etc .

Prakruti is basically of 2 types, one which is known as DEH PRAKRUTI and the other one which is MANSIK PRAKRUTI.

DehPrakruti is the physical Prakruti and it is of 7 types depending upon the Dosha dominance.

Mansik prakruti or Pshychic Prakruti is of 3 types.

Whilst recommending the treatment Ayurvedic physician give more emphasis on the physical Prakruti.

The seven types are Vata Prakruti, Pitta Prakruti, Kapha Prakruti, Vata-Pitta Prakruti,
Vata-Kapha Prakruti, Pitta-Kapha Prakruti, Sannipata (mixed) Prakruti .