Ayurvedic Body Type: Prakriti and Vikriti

According to the Charaka Samhita, the constitution is formed at the moment of conception, determined by which dosha predominated at that moment. The text names several factors:

• Heredity. The state of the father’s sperm and the mother’s ovum.
• Conditions of conception. The state of the womb and the timing, including the season.
• Pregnancy. The mother’s diet and lifestyle.
• The elements. The proportions in which they came together in the embryo.

After that, according to the texts, prakriti doesn’t change. A person with a kapha constitution won’t turn into vata through diet or by moving house. Its expressions may look different with age and circumstances, but the foundation remains. Hence the practical conclusion: the task is not to “fix” your constitution but to live in harmony with it.

Vikriti is no longer a portrait but a diagnosis in the ayurvedic sense. The doctor works out which dosha has deviated, how far and why. The Charaka Samhita includes the assessment of vikriti in the general examination of the patient. The deviation is weighed on several grounds: the cause, the dosha involved, the tissues affected, the constitution, the place of residence, the season, the person’s strength.

Importantly, vikriti does not have to match prakriti. Here is a common picture. A person is kapha by constitution: sturdy, calm, a good sleeper. A year of work with flights, meals on the run and too little sleep — and now they have insomnia, dryness, bloating and anxiety. These are signs of aggravated vata. An internet quiz will tell them “you’re vata”. A doctor will say something else: kapha with a vata vikriti. And the prescription will differ from that for a person whose vata is inborn.

The strength of the deviation matters too. With a pronounced vikriti, according to the texts, intensive measures are indicated, up to and including cleansing ones — such as those of panchakarma. With a mild one, gentle measures are enough: diet, routine, light fasting.

In ayurveda oil is not just there to help the hands glide. Every oil has qualities: warming or cooling, heavy or light. The general rule is that the oil is chosen against the dosha that needs calming.

• Vata. Warm sesame oil: heavy and warming. Gentle, warm treatments with plenty of oil.
• Pitta. Cooling oils — coconut, sunflower. No overheating.
• Kapha. Light, warming oils, above all mustard. Less oil, more vigorous strokes. This is also where dry powder massage belongs — udvartana, which the classical texts recommend specifically for kapha conditions.

This is the basic scheme from Vasant Lad’s textbooks. In a clinic it is more complex. The doctor chooses the oil by vikriti and adjusts for prakriti. For abhyanga the usual choice is not a plain oil but a taila, an oil cooked with herbs to a classical formula. The formula is chosen to suit the patient’s condition. Season and age are taken into account too. So the same treatment can look different for two people on neighboring tables.

This is also why prescriptions are made by a doctor. The therapist performs the treatment, but the oil, temperature, duration and course are decided by the person who has assessed prakriti and vikriti. This article does not replace a consultation.

In the classical approach the constitution is determined by a doctor, who relies on what has always been true of the person, not on how they feel today. In the chapter on examining the patient, the Charaka Samhita lists the signs of each constitution: build, skin and hair, voice, appetite and thirst, sleep, stamina, memory, temperament. The doctor asks what the person was like in childhood and youth, examines them, reads the pulse — and only then separates the inborn from what has built up over recent months.

Hence a simple rule for checking yourself: answer for “my whole life”, not “the last few weeks”. If you are troubled by insomnia and dryness now, but have always slept soundly and put on weight easily, the insomnia says more about vikriti than about prakriti. Questionnaires give a pointer, not a diagnosis.

Constitution is taken into account in food too: outside of illness, diet is chosen by prakriti, and in imbalance — against the dosha that has gone out of balance. What this looks like for vata, pitta and kapha is covered in The ayurvedic diet, in the section on eating for your constitution type.

To see which doshas are prominent in you, take our dosha test: 21 questions based on the classical texts, your shares of vata, pitta and kapha straight away, and a detailed breakdown with diet and routine sent to you on Telegram.