Anjali

How do you measure out medicine without a measuring cup or a scale? Classical Ayurveda has an answer that every person carries with them: the human hand.

Anjali is a traditional Ayurvedic measure of volume. It is the amount that fits in your two hands when you cup them and join them side by side to form an empty bowl.

Because every pair of hands is different, an Anjali varies with the individual. That is not a flaw in the system. It means the measure is tied to the person who will take the medicine, and it is one of the units used in classical dosing.

Anjali is a simple idea, but a few principles explain why it appears in classical Ayurvedic dosing.

The Body Is the Measuring Tool

An Anjali is defined by the body, not by a container. It is the volume held by two cupped hands joined together to form a bowl. Anyone can produce it anywhere, with no equipment at all.

It Measures Volume

Anjali is a volumetric unit. It tells you how much space a substance fills, which suits loose materials and liquids that are scooped or poured rather than counted.

It Belongs to the Individual

The size of an Anjali varies with the person. Larger hands hold more, smaller hands hold less. Measured with the patient's own hands, the quantity follows the person rather than a fixed standard.

It Is Part of Classical Dosing

Anjali is used in classical dosing. When you meet it in a traditional preparation, it is telling you a quantity, not describing a ritual.

In practice, Anjali turns up when a classical preparation calls for a quantity of material. To take one Anjali, you cup your two hands together, palms up and edges touching, so they form an empty bowl, then fill that bowl.

The key thing to understand is that the result depends on whose hands are used. Because the measure varies with the individual, two people following the same instruction will not measure out exactly the same amount. That is the nature of a body-based unit.

For you as a reader, Anjali is mostly something to recognize. If you see it in a description of a traditional recipe, read it as "a double handful." It is not a precise modern dose.

If you are taking Ayurvedic herbs today, follow the dose on the product or the one your practitioner gives you in grams or milliliters. Use Anjali to understand the classical texts, not to work out your own dosing.

Anjali is a unit of measure, so the concepts most worth reading next are the ones that deal with how medicines are given and how Ayurveda expresses quantities.

Anupana (Carrier Substances)

Anupana refers to the carrier substances a medicine is taken with. Where Anjali tells you how much, Anupana tells you what the medicine is taken in or with.

Prakriti (Constitution)

Prakriti is your individual constitution. Like Anjali, which varies with the person, it reflects Ayurveda's habit of starting from the individual rather than a fixed standard.

Para Ojas (Supreme Ojas)

Para Ojas is the refined, stable form of vital essence (Ojas), seated in the heart. It is another example of a quantity in Ayurveda: it is described as measuring eight drops.