Deshabheda - types of environment

The verse mentions three terms to describe climate.

The first is Jangala desha (jungle). The climate is dominated by movement. For example the jungle, the savannah, the central part of India, the desert etc., where the climate is dominated by Vata. This category includes also Tibet and Mongolia -these countries have no jungle, but a cold wind dominates them throughout the year. Jangala desha is to be found in Africa as well, where it is not cold but hot air that dominates almost the whole year. Vata predominates in such a climate.

The second is Anapa desha, i.e., a climate with sufficient water and therefore a lot of green vegetation and humidity. This climate supports Kapha. For example the regions in the foothills of the Himalayas, most of Europe, Brazil, North America, etc.

The third is Sadharana desha, the climate with rather flat regions where, throughout the year, all kinds of weather alternate. Warmth, wind, rain, cold. Something like Central America, the Mediterranean, etc. This climate supports all three Doshas and is very balanced and mild.

The space of the human body (Deha desha) is also divided into three spaces. The lower part of the torso, including the rectum, colon, ovaries, bladder and genitals, is the Vata region. The space between the umbilicus and the diaphragm, which includes the liver, spleen, pancreas, stomach etc., is the Pitta region. The space between the diaphragm and the neck, which includes the lungs and heart, is the Kapha region. This categorization does not include the extremities (legs, arms and head) which are considered motor organs.

Desha means geographic feature or location, a land. There is only one planet, the globe, but desha is a spatial concept. We give different names to things depending on the different happenings there - something different happens in America compared to Africa, which is why we give these parts of the globe different names. It is all the same space, but there is diversity within it. Greenland is a space with a lot of ice, so we call it a different name than North Africa, which has a lot of sand. Where there are forests and powerful rivers, jungles, we call it Brazil. Each space is typical and unique and we give it a unique name to identify it. In English we have the term "land", which can have more than one meaning, either the soil or a country as a political idea. The term "state" also has more than one meaning, depending on whether it is a noun or a verb. The Sanskrit term desha means location, a section of space, but we must remember that this is a false concept, like when we call somebody "my husband". There is only one space, but in order for us to communicate with each other we invent all of these different words. This is the distinguishing faculty of the human mind at work.

Ayurveda involves the particular concept that there are two kinds of space, bhumi, the land where we stand, and deha, a body (any body, not just human). These two spaces have different sets of gunas. The wind, water and sun that are external to us are all one separate system, and a body is its own separate system. The temperature of a body is different, for example, from the external space around it. When we say there are two kinds of space, it means they differ from each other. These two unique sets are on the same level. That means there are two kinds of space, bodies and the environment surrounding them - like a fish in a fishpond. The reason we discuss these as separate in Ayurveda is because each has a different core. Human beings identify with their bodies, not with the places where they are. There is also the difference between what we know and what we do not know, our mind is constantly distinguishing different identities - in the body itself we name the different parts and kinds of uniqueness. Naming (sankhya) requires the existence of a specific characteristic that distinguishes it from everything else and defines it, gives it meaning.

Even though there are many similarities between the fish and the fishpond, there are also differences - for example, the fish moves about on its own while the fishpond remains relatively stable and fixed, and for that reason our mind sees the difference and names this difference. The landscapes of America and Czech Republic are not that different, but we have given them different names despite their having the same essence. We are interested in difference, that is how our mind works, and from that we develop the idea of first, second and third person, etc. So if there is no reference point, there would be no difference - the mind is inventing these differences. There is just one sameness, where there is no difference, and this is what Vedanta calls the divinity of everything. Our minds make these distinctions. Here in Ayurveda, we are differentiating between a body and its external environment. Our perception of the world exists in our minds. Without the existence of typical, unique characteristics perceived by us, there would be no need to give things different names. The root of differentiation is in the gunas. That is where we see how the agni in something has fluctuated so much that it deserves a new name. 

A body contains something active, it is a specific, discrete space, separate from the surrounding environment. What makes something an individual, discrete, self-contained unit and what constitutes the rest of the environment external to it depends on our ability to distinguish and perceive. Anything that differentiates is a kind of disorder, a disruption of the sameness that is the basis of all. Our minds don't even have a word for that sameness, because they focus so much on difference. There is nothing to be done about this but to be aware of it. 

These external environments can be Jangala desha (wild climate), Anupa desha (climate with an abundance of water and rainfall) and Sadharana desha (regular climate). The wild climate is one with a predominance of Vata, the humid climate is one with a predominance of Kapha, and the regular climate is more balanced. The way the human body has developed over time is in response to these different environments. In the Sadharana climate there is a little bit of everything. Individual bodies adapt to their environments, so if we know a particular environment we can easily create an image of the kind of individual that will come from that environment. Of course there are variations - the environment of a fishpond is home to both reeds, fish and swans. Each of those bodies has a different kind of force behind its life. They all exist together with the fishpond, but their bodies involve different characteristics. Therefore, even though they all come from the same environment, they differ. We must know what the characteristics are of both the external and internal environments in order to understand what is going on. Mud, for example is merged with all of the characteristics of the fishpond, while the swan is less merged and differs more - it is able to locomote and even to leave the environment altogether. What makes an individual separate and what makes an individual part of the environment is what we must identify and understand. When we know what environments people live and work in, including all of the sensory input there, then we are able to understand the influences they are under. Every creature who lives in a watery environment adapts to it. Similarly, our friends, our faith, our interests, our desires shape us.

Once we begin to draw conclusions in advance we are able to seek things out, but this means our perception of reality ends. We just look for what we expect to find and do not see what is actually there. People who are over the age of 30 tend to do this, they tend to be unable to be open to what is. People who are intelligent do not attach themselves in advance to anything, they leave themselves open. This means they are much more likely to observe reality. In all of the Vedic works the message is that we should live with equanimity, simply and harmoniously, that there is no need to be extreme. There is no need to self-promote. When there is harmony, then nothing sticks out, nothing is disruptive. Simplicity is never a problem, but to promote oneself, to seek fame, to emphasize one's uniqueness is a wild characteristic, like the jungle, where everything is growing into everything else. When we imagine a meadow, everything has its own place and every plant respects the space of every other plant - this is a Sadharana environment.

The surface of the earth knows how to receive water, light, seeds and heat and then allows vegetable growth to break through that surface. The different kinds of qualities in these environments then affect the creatures in them. The "wild" environment includes deserts, not just jungles, and the related aspects of Vata (driness, roughness, harshness, etc.).

When the jivatma leaves the body, the corpse becomes part of the surrounding environment and is a living, self-contained body and entity no more.