Pitta Sub-Doshas

The sub doshas of pitta are energies that transform and interact in specific ways to help the body maintain balance and function properly. There are five main ways that pitta is transforming:

• Pacakapitta digestion of food and information
• Ranjaka pitta production of red blood cells
• Alocakapitta function of the eyes and digestion of images
• Bhajakapitta body temperature and production of skin pigment
• Sadhaka pitta spiritual self, capable of understanding the truth about ourselves

Pitta sub-doshas are all of the ways that pitta is manifesting in the body. The way that it works alongside the other doshas to bring us the human experience. The fire element is how we experience life, directly related to rajas, outward energy that allows us to experience the world and bring it back to us. It is the action and passion that we give towards people, projects, and the way we approach life. Pitta allows us to digest the outside world, but how do we make meaning of it? How do we categorize it in the filing system of our life? We will learn that that is how the other doshas intertwine and work together to make all of life make sense.

Pacakapitta

Pitta is responsible for the transformation of something into sustenance for the body. If pacakapitta fails at its job in the digestive tract, then the energies within the rest of the body will not get the nutrients and support that it needs to perform this same function in the rest of body. Kind of a like the domino effect, one falls and they all surely follow.

Pacakapitta is located in the small intestine and duodenum, the last part of the stomach and first part of the small intestine. It creates contentment, clarity, energy, it is also where we get the sensations of hunger and thirst. It works hand in hand with samavayu, a sub-dosha of vata, to digest food. Samanavayu stimulates the secretion of digestive juices. The acidic food passes through the duodenum and then stimulates pacakapitta to finish digesting the food. If samanavayu is not working properly, then it effects how pacakapitta does its job. The both work together to digest food, one slacking off will potentially lead to the disturbance of the other; which will inevitably lead to the disturbance of the other doshas and sub-doshas in the body.

Ranjakapitta

Ranjakapitta is housed in the spleen and liver and is responsible for the creation of red blood cells and plasma. The liver is a pitta organ, it is where anger is located and produced. Anger is a fiery emotion housed in a fire base location. When more fire pours in, say a night of drinking (alcohol is also fire), which will inevitably lead to a disturbance and affect the production of red blood cells. 

Alocakapitta

Alocakapitta is the function of the retina. It converts light rays into images, making the eyes a pitta organ. We digest the light into images, but it is the mind that makes meaning of them and organizes the information into categories. This is the job of pranavayu, taking sensory stimuli from the outside and internalizing it, making it a part of ourselves.

Bhanjakapitta controls the body's temperature and the production of normal or discolored skin, it also contributes to "the luster of the body [and] the absorption and conversion of substances applied to the skin." These are outcomes contingent on the body's metabolism, nutrition absorption, and the functioning of the other pitta energies.

If there is a disturbance on the inside of the body, it will reflect on the outside via the skin's complexion. If bhanjakapitta is out balance, making the body temperature unstable, then that will weaken the skin's ability to absorb.

To have radiant looking skin, is to have a well functioning inner body and organs. The skin is a pitta organ, but the sensation of touching and feeling is a vata function. I like to think of a really good song that makes the hairs on the back your neck rise up, sending shivers all over the body. That is the sensation of vata; the touch feeling is being activated, but nothing is touching us, nor are we touching anything.

Sadhaka pitta is the spiritual self, capable of understanding the truth of ourselves and the world. It's the energy that governs thinking and the rapid relaying and conversion of information. Imbalance looks like mental deficit, or delay of mental absorption along with feelings of despair. It is also the activation of hormones that regulate the way the body adapts to stress, both mental and physical stress. These hormones are known as adaptogens, they help the body calm down and regulate to the stressors afflicting the body.

When sadhakapitta is balanced, we experience a clear mind and able to analyze a difficult situation. We grow a little more compassionate and loving towards the world. We step away from the pitta critical mind and develop new lenses through which we see and appreciate other people and their self-discovery journey. We see the world as a place of sincere love and unity; where we help each other instead of opposing and competing with one another.