Siddha: Theoretical Scaffold, Ennvagai Thervu and Pharmacy
Siddha, the Tamil system attributed to the 18 Siddhars, is examined in AIAPGET through its theoretical scaffold, its eight-fold diagnosis and its pharmacy. Questions usually ask you to translate a clinical picture into mukkutram terms rather than to list herbs.
Theoretical scaffold
- 96 thathuvams enumerate the constituents of body, mind and soul.
- Panchabootha to mukkutram: vatham = aakayam + kaatru; pitham = thee; kabam = neer + nilam. Health is their balance.
- Seven udal thathukkal in order: saaram, senneer, oon, kozhuppu, elumbu, majjai, suklam. Each nourishes the next, so earliest signs appear in saaram.
- Siddha counts 4448 diseases, classified by humour and site.
Diagnosis: ennvagai thervu
The eight limbs are naadi (pulse), naa (tongue), niram (colour), vizhi (eyes), sparisam (touch), malam (stool), moothiram (urine) and neikuri. Neerkuri reads colour, smell, froth and sediment; neikuri floats a drop of oil on urine and reads its spread - fast, wide spreading indicates pitham.
Pharmacy
Materia medica is grouped as 32 internal (agam) and 32 external (puram) forms: chooranam, kudineer, parpam, chendooram, mathirai, mezhugu, thailam. Metals and minerals pass sudu (purification/calcination) with herbal juices before use; parpam is the calcined product, muppu the catalyst.
Worked example
A man of 40 reports burning micturition, deep-yellow urine with heavy sediment, coated tongue and heat intolerance. Burning, yellow and heat point to thee, hence vitiated pitham. Neerkuri confirms deep colour and sediment; neikuri shows rapid, wide spread. Because saaram is the first thathu, the disturbance is read there before senneer. Plan: cooling kudineer, no pungent or sour food, repeat neikuri.
Traps that cost marks
- 96 thathuvams are not 96 diseases or 96 herbs.
- The five boothas are not the seven thathus; the humours are bootha combinations, not elements themselves.
- Naadi alone is not diagnosis - all eight limbs are examinable.
- Vatham, pitham and kabam are not interchangeable with Ayurveda's vata, pitta and kapha; the element pairing differs.
- Never describe a parpam without its sudu step.