Abstract

AN ANATOMICAL CONCEPT OF MARMA

Behera Sunita* and Chanana Amrish

Abstract

Marma science is one of the important aspects of Ayurveda. Marma are vital & vulnerable spots or areas present all over the body. The term Marma is derived from “Mri” dhatu that means which causes death or deformity on injury. These areas are formed by the confluence of five important structure ie Mamsa (muscles), Sira (vessels), Snayu (ligaments, tendons and other fibrous structures), Asthi (bones) & Sandhi (joints). Tridosha, Triguna along with Aatma (Soul) also reside in Marma areas. The knowledge of Marma is very essential for surgeons because any mistake during surgical procedure at Marma areas can cause death of the patient. In modern anatomy, an extensive description regarding course and relations of each artery, vein and nerve is given which protects the surgeon from any unwanted damage of structure during surgical procedure. The anatomy described in Ayurveda is devoid of such information but the extensive description of Marma areas fulfills this lacuna up to some extant for Ayurvedic surgeons. Ancient scholars of Ayurveda have described a total of 107 Marma sites over human body classifying them under various categories based on position, structure, effects of injury & measurement. It is pertinent to mention here that the areas of marma which are advised to protect from any kind of injury in Ayurveda are also used for treatment of various diseases by Indian practitioners from a very long time. When these points are gently stimulated, bring energy directly into our body. This contrast approach of these marma areas gives it a scope of research.

Keywords: Marma, Mamsa, Sira, Snayu, injury.