Law of Irrigation
The first law of tissue nutrition; the process by which the end-product of digested food (ahara rasa) is carried throughout the body via the circulation.
The Law of Irrigation
Kedara kulya nyaya describes how the end product of digested food, known as ahara rasa, is carried throughout the body via the circulatory system, just as a field is supplied with water through an irrigation network. This law covers the initial digestive process up to the point where the bhuta agnis break food down into its biological elements, which then circulate in the ahara rasa.
This first law of nutrition is governed by prana and jathara agni. It represents the foundational stage where nutrients become available to every tissue in the body, setting the stage for the subsequent processes of selectivity and transformation.
Source: Textbook of Ayurveda: Fundamental Principles, Chapter Nine: Digestion and Nutrition
Definition
Kedara kulya nyaya, the law of irrigation, is the first principle of tissue nutrition. It describes how ahara rasa—the end-product of digested food—is distributed through the body's channels like water flowing through irrigation canals to crop fields.
Source: Textbook of Ayurveda: Fundamental Principles, Glossary
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