Introduction

Open your heart for every entity that exist on earth such as humans, their relations, feelings, emotions, intelligence, happiness, health and heartaches to have a blessed life because if we ignore them they start ignoring us. This particular fact is proved by the newton's third law of motion “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Have you ever imagined like this before that this law is applicable in our lives also. No! but yeah that's true, it is also related to our health, envision that you are enjoying your favourite dish and gradually you develops over eating and soon becomes a habituate of it. What will happen...? You will definitely have to pay for it in terms of uneasiness, ill health, ailments and missing peace within. To overcome these types of situations ayurveda blessed us with panchakarma that departs of the sufferings from our physical existence and also helps to recreate, revive and rejuvenate ourselves. Basti is one of the cardinal method of panchakarma that provides us a vision to know the greater meaning of our life in context of salubrity. Basti is method that purifies your body and retrieve fitness thus we perceive that everyone elation at regaining his health is everlasting. By basti order the ailments to bugger off from your lives so that you can share every single moment and every single breath with your loved ones.

Gubbins for basti

Basti yantra (बस्ति यन्त्र)

Basti yantra is an instrument which is used to administer the basti dravyas (drugs) to execute the basti karma. It is composed of 2 parts basti netra and basti putak.

1. Basit netra (बस्ति नेत्र): The word netra in general means ”eye” but in sense of basti it signifies a tube like structure which is made up of either gold, silver, copper, glass, tin or bronze etc but nowadays iron, stainless steel, copper, brass and rubber are often practised.
   Basti netra praman (बस्ति नेत्र प्रमाण): Basti netra is a long hollow pipe i.e a tube wider at the base while narrow from the top. Its length, breadth as well as the hole varies according to the age of the person. Exemplar
   

   S.no	Age of a person	Length of basti netra	Hole size of basti netra
   1.	till 6 years	6 angul	mudag/मुद्ग vigna mungo size
   2.	6 - 12 years	8 angul	matar/मटर pea size
   3.	12 - 20 years	12 angul	karkandu ber/बेर size (ziziphus mauritiana)

   The basti netra contains 3 karnikas/कर्णिका, 1st karnika is present at the base while from here at the distance of 2 angul the 2nd karnika exists. At ¼ th part of the total length of basti netra the 3rd karnika is available i.e at the fore part of basti netra.
2. Basti putak (बस्ति पुटक): Basti putak is an elastic bag for collection of basti dravya before giving the basti. In olden days the urinary bladder of ox, fox, buffalo, deer, pig or goat are used as putak/पुटक but now a days plastic bags or football bladder are practiced.

Preparation of basti

Preparation of basti dravyas is a unique task therefore for this a proper technique is mentioned in ayurveda. Acharya Vagbhata in his Samhita Ashtang Hridayam said that

माक्षिकं लवणं स्नेहं कल्कं क्काथमिति क्रमात् II यावपेत निरुहाणामेष संयोजने विधिः II अ.हृ.सु १६/४५

This shloka indicates that all the dravyas like honey, salt, fat (oil), paste (herb) and decoction are to be mixed in consecutive order i.e one after another.

Procedure of administration of basti

1. Instruct the patient to acquire the left lateral position.
2. Afterwards direct him to keep the left leg straight, leisurely flex the right leg from the knee point in between the left hip and knee joint because in this position anus is easily exposed to the physician.
3. Subsequently smear the tip of the basti netra accompanied by anus of the patient with oil.
4. Now hold the basti putak in the palm and close the tip of the basti netra with the index finger to prevent the entrance of the air in the basti putak.
5. Slowly insert the basti netra in the guda(anus) of the patient approximately at 4 ½ angul or upto the 1st karnika. Eventually press the basti putaka with the palm of the other hand with uniform pressure.
6. Ask the patient to breath deeply through mouth, when little quantity of basti dravya is left inside the basti putaka slowly remove the the basti netra from the rectum and keep the patient in the same position upto 30 matra (½ minute).
7. Then command the patient to sit in the utkatasana and wait for basti prtayagman (outcome) up to 1 muhurta ( 48 minutes), if it happens then it indicates the procedure of basti is accomplished. If samyak symptoms appear then send the patient to the ward for rest and later on ask the patient to go for bath with lukewarm water. After seeing the doshas give milk, meat soup etc accordingly.

Precautions:

1. Basti should be given in the morning when bowels and bladder are completely evacuated.
2. Snehana and swedana should also be performed prior to the basti treatment
3. If the purifying basti doesn’t come out in the above period it can cause pain in abdomen, genitals or cardiac region.
4. Treatment: Then give the second basti with yavakshar, cow urine, acidic drugs (amal dravyas/अम्ल द्रव्य) and teekshan-ushana/तीक्ष्ण-उष्ण drugs either suppositories (varti’s/वर्ति) like phala (फलवर्ति) or guda varti (गुदावर्ति).
5. If there is bulging of the stomach then do perspiration in the pelvic region, buttocks region, and on the abdominal area.

Extricate illness

Basti is basically a medicated enema that removes the exacerbated vatta dosha from the body. It not only shows its effects on vatta but also on vatta associated pitta and kapha i.e this therapy treats you differently plus makes you feel different from others via improving your physical and mental health. So make the difference in your life not just by talking about it though by exerting it. Spend more time in nature and implement more therapies those are nigh to nature and gift yourself a present of health because it is rightly said that

To keep the body in good health is a duty otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. Mahatma buddh