What is Oja???

As we are discussing controversial and unclear topics on this blog, after agni I felt it right to understand ojas so as to get a clearer idea as we move ahead to discuss and dwell upon aspects of ayurveda in further blogs and discussions.

At first ojas seemed a very abstract concept and to pinpoint such a substance in the body, seemingly difficult.

There are varied opinions concerned with this highly accepted yet little known entity. Let me put forward some of the opinions that i have encountered.

We shall discuss these opinions one after another to understand more about what our preceptors tried to point out at.

1.         1. Some scholars of ayurveda say that it is the energy present in the body produced during destruction of shukra dhatu responsible for anabolic changes in the body.

2.       2. Some say it is nothing but the antibodies and WBCs present in the body

3.       3. Some say that it is no different from shukra, just that old shukra should be counted as oja

4.         4. Some say it is an upadhatu of shukra

5.         5. And others say it’s the mala of shukra

6.             6.Others, well, say that science is not good enough to figure it out or explain such concepts….???

Now, taking into account these opinions of various schools of thoughts, we need to list out the pros and cons to aid us in our search of what exactly is oja.

1.       In the first opinion,

Pros: It is by far the best attempt made to explain oja in terms of science of energies. It shows the intimate relation of shukra and points out at its function very clearly.

Cons: It does not point out what oja is, but points out the function of oja. For eg. describing a knife as something that cuts things is only a function not the knife itself. If this were to be accepted assuming that oja is energy and not a substance then the description of oja as having yellowish colour, resembling clarified butter(ghee) etc, seems useless as only physical substances can have such explanations.

2.       In the second opinion,

Pros: It is a good attempt to substantiate the oja by relating it in modern medicine by comparing it to WBCs and antibodies.

Cons: This explanation of oja does not really suffice as the intimate relationship with shukra is totally overlooked and the formation of it depending on the quality of shukra dhatu and its increase by conserving shukra in processes of bhramacharya etc are totally ignored. Hence to accept this does not seem complete.

3.       In the third opinion,

Pros: This explanation goes out of its way to show how intimately it is connected to shukra and how it is an upadhatu of the same. (I do not want to get into whether it is an upadhatu or mala of shukra, but we have a separate blog for it, if requested)

Cons: The cons are quite a few because this reason is rarely accepted due to the obvious fact that there are no definite parameters that differentiate it from shukra, if it really was nothing but shukra, then why is it even considered as another dhatu in itself? Hence this argument does not satisfy our intellectual needs.

4.       &     5.            These points on whether it is an upadhatu or mala and why need not be discussed here, but a blog can be specifically to clear that doubt if need be.

6.  In the sixth opinion,

Well, there is a good amount of truth in this statement as it is difficult to understand ayurveda which goes deep into layers of sukshma shareer and karan shareer on which modern medicine has not reached as yet. Quantum physics for that matter has definitely reached and is probing the manomaya kosha, hence trying to use it to understand those concepts should prove beneficial.

Hence, all the explanations provided to us individually seems a bit hazy and tough to grasp. But when put together and thought upon, the eventual answer could seem ridiculously obvious.

If any one of you would like to share your thoughts on this subject or have an opinion about my writings, please do comment, I shall try to better myself in each attempt.

In the coming blogs I will try and put my point of view trying to elaborate and understand oja, while showing how to tap it and use it for a complete transformation of life and psyche for the good.