Srotas

What is srotas?

Srotas is the collective term for the channels of the body: the routes along which substances and energy travel. It covers the obvious ones, the digestive tract and the blood vessels, but it is a broader concept than anatomy. Any pathway by which nourishment reaches a tissue or waste leaves one counts as a srotas.

Blockage as an explanation

The reason the concept matters so much in practice is what it makes possible to say. When ama, the undigested residue left by incomplete digestion, adheres to a channel and impedes its flow, the state is called srotorodha, obstruction of the channels. This is one of the system's central accounts of how disorder develops: not something arriving from outside, but something accumulating and blocking from within.

When Ayurveda talks about improving circulation or getting things moving, this is what is meant: restoring flow through channels that have become obstructed.

Channels and tissues

Each of the seven dhatus is said to have its own associated channel. That is how the same underlying cause can present so differently from one person to the next: what is obstructed determines what is seen.

It also explains the sequencing of panchakarma. The preparatory oiling and sweating are there to loosen what has settled in the channels so that it can be moved, before any elimination is attempted.

This entry introduces a traditional system of thought and general information. It does not guarantee any specific effect and is not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any condition. For health concerns, please consult a qualified medical professional.