History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c39.s6.21

c39.s6.21

The food we eat contains five kinds of *penta-bhautic* organic compounds From their radicles or predominant elements, the substances are named *earth-compounds*, *ap-compounds*, *tejas-compounds*, *vayu-compounds* and *akasa-compounds*. The *earth-compounds* supply the hard formed matter of the body, the *tejas-compounds* give the animal heat (or the metabolic heat), the *vayu-compounds* are the sources of the motor force in the organism, the *ap-compounds* furnish the watery parts of the organic fluids, and the *akasa-compounds* contribute to the finer etheric essence which is the vehicle of the conscious life. Roughly speaking, the *earth-compounds* answer to the nitrogen compounds in the food, the *tejas-compounds* to the hydrocarbons (heat producing), and the *vayu-compounds* to the carbohydrates (dynamic). The *ap-compounds* are the watery parts of food and drink. The flesh, for example, is a tissue composed principally of *earth-compounds*, the fat, of the *earth-* and *ap-compounds*, the bones of *earth-*, *vayu-* and *tejas-compounds*. The *tejas compounds* predominate in the composition of the blood. For purposes of digestion it is stated that different operations of the metabolic heat (perhaps different digestive fluids are also meant) are required to digest the different substances in the food.