Nadi Pariksha In Ayurveda(Pulse Assessment)

Pulse assessment is one of the most valuable skills an Ayurvedic physician can cultivate, giving the physician information about each organ, each tissue, the stage of pathogenesis of any disease, the general state of the doshas, and even emotional and mental states. Pulse assessment is a matter of technical skill, subjective experience and intuition. Accuracy depends upon the individual’s persistent practice and quality of sensitive awareness. Even though simplified descriptions of various conditions of the pulse are found in the standard Ayurvedic texts, the methods of examination are not given in detail. The concept of nadi in the ancient Vedas is much more than the physical arteries. The concept of nadi includes the flow of prana that is moving through the body. The physio-pathological changes of these pranic currents can best be felt through the radial, brachial, axillary, carotid, temporal, femoral, dorsalis pedis and posterior tibial arteries, and these are the locations where we try to feel the pulse. It is possible to learn these subjective methods of pulse examination that reveal the characteristics of the individual’s prakruti, vikruti and various doshic disorders and to verify their accuracy objectively.