Introduction

There are multiple small pathogens which spread airborne infections are very small in size and may cause various diseases. The most common airborne infections are: common cold, influenza, measles, mumps, tuberculosis, chickenpox etc. while the least common include: adenovirus and coronavirus. These pathogens which cause most common infections have a size smaller than 5um, but the pathogens causing less common infections have their size greater than 5um. So now the need for Dhupan Karma (fumigation) is more because of the rapid transmission of these coronaviruses causing the deadly disease COVID-19, which is a basic need for the current health status of the world.

Since this coronavirus has a size greater than 5um gets to drop down on the floors, clothes, metallic surfaces, and many such other places, and remains alive at the surfaces for a specific duration. As a result, there is a need for Dhupan Karma/ fumigation /sterilization of the surrounding which will help in killing this pathogen and helps in prevention.

Through this paper novel efforts are done to review matter about various fumigation techniques narrated by the ancient Acharyas in air ancient sciences to prevent pathologies occurred due to such type of airborne infections.Various Dhupan yoga and its role in airborne infections are highlighted through this paper.

For this article, an extensive search for review is done through various Ayurvedic compendium including Bhruhattrayis (Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, AshtangSanghraha, AshtangHridaya), Laghutrayis (KashyapaSamhita, Nighantus), various research articles from databases such as Pubmed ,google scholars, etc. In all the above resources, there are scattered references about these special Dhupan Yogas have been mentioned for Dhupan in different thanas or Vastu which is beneficial for discarding pathogenic contamination.

Dhupan Karma is also beneficial for the prevention of internally which method is classically known as Dhumapan Vidhi. As per recent condition, there is a need of this Dhumapan Vidhi which can be used for two purposes, one for preventive aspect and another one for curative aspect. Acharyas have explained it as follows

• Shirovirechanik Dhumapan- This is a preventive aspect just like that of Nasya which means inhalation of the medicated fumes with the help of Dhumavarti prepared with Dravyas such as Aparajita, Hartals, Manashila, Agaru, Tejpatta and Gandhavarga Aushadhis.

• Kasaghna Dhumapan- This is a curative aspect which is helpful to relieve the symptoms such as Shwasa, Kasa, Swarabheda etc.

Observation and Result

Information regarding this topic is collected and narrated under headings as follows-

Concept of Dhupan Karma (Fumigation)

Dhupan Karma i-e fumigation is one of the ancient classical remedy of sterilization in which medicated herbal fumes, animal products fumes etc. are used to maintain a healthy biological environment all over the world. InAyurvedathe term Krimi is correlated with pathogens which are responsible for causing airborne infections such as COVID-19. This includes both pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms. To get prevention from such krimi (causative pathogens), Rakshoghna Vidhi is indicated in our classics. For this human Karma ( fumigation), varieties of are uniquely told by our A charyas.

Various uses of Dhupan Karma

• Preventive Aspect: It includes fumigation for creating an aseptic environment for healthy beings, so that no infection can develop especially forwards and mess area fumigation i-e Kumaragaradhupan, Vranitagaradhupan, Sutikagardhupan (Ahlavati & Sharma, 2019).

• Curative Aspect: Useful for curing or preventing both pathogenic and non-pathogenic diseases especially in Jwara, Vrana etc (Ahlavati et al., 2019).

Preparation of Dhupa

The preparation of fumigation material and their collection is done in Pushya / MaitrayaNakshatra from southeast/north direction. The desired Dhupan Dravyas are taken in required quantity and are coarsely powdered and then the homogeneous paste is formed. Then required a number of cow dung cakes are taken and burnt in S arvasamput and on the burnt cakes mixture is poured which produces smoke and as a result, the Dhupan is produced which initiates Dhupan procedure (fumigation).

Various kalpa of Dhupan from different Samhitas

Various Kalpa of Dhupanaccording to different Acharyas and collected from different Samhitas are described in a tabular manner (Shreshtra, Bedarkar, & Patgiri, 2017).

Acharya Charaka has mentioned DhupanKarma( fumigation) of Vastra and Vranitagara in Jatisutriyaadhayay and Dhupan Karmaof Vranain VranachikitsaAdhyaya.Various Dhupana Yoga given by Acharya Charaka is mentioned in Table 1.

AcharyaSushruta has mentioned Dhupan Karma (fumigation) of ShalyaMnadir in Vranitoupasniyaadhyaya. Various Dhupana Yoga given by Acharya Sushruta is mentioned in Table 2.

AcharyaVagbhattahas mentioned Dhupan Karma (fumigation ) of Vastra, Shayya in S utrasthana. Various Dhupana Yoga given by Acharya Vagbhata is mentioned in the Table 3.

AchayraKashyapa has mentioned 40 dhupanyogas in Dhupakalpaadhyaya. In this various medicinal plants are burnt on fire and the smoke generated from plants is used for Dhupan of the surrounding or infected areas. Various Dhupana Yoga given by Acharya Kashaypa is mentioned in Table 4.

Discussion

Dhupankarma (fumigation) is an Ayurvedic procedure which helps in the prevention of airborne infections by ceasing the growth of pathogenic as well as non-pathogenic organisms on various surfaces and surroundings. Description of some Dhupan Dravyas and their properties are given in Table 5.This Dhupan Dravyas posses the quality of killing both gm+ve and gm-vebacterias, viruses and fungi few drugs mentioned are: Guggulu (Commiphoramukul), Nimba (Azadiractaindica), Sarshap (Brassicacompesteris), Vacha (Acoruscalamus), Haridra (Crucumalonga), Lavana (Sodiumchloride), Agaru (Aqualariaagollacha)etc.

Mode of action of dhupandrvayas

Guggulu

It posses properties such as Tikta, Laghu and Saugandhit. Also, it extracts has antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. The most effective extract of Guggulu is ethanol which works more efficiently and I used in Dhupan Karma (fumigation) (Gadkari, 2018).

Neemba

The main active component is azadiracthin which possess antimicrobial properties. And also Neemba is Vayu and Akash Mahabhuta Pradhan because of TiktaRasa this Vayu and Akash Mahabhuta along with Laghuand Vishad Guna of the Neemba helps azadiracthin to dry up the intracellular fluid present inside the bacterial wall. As a result, this hampers the growth of the bacteria and Neemba acts as an antibacterial and antifungal agent in DhupanKarma (fumigation) (Rajesh, 2012).

Vacha

This contains volatile oils, Asaryl aldehyde, Eurganol. It is Laghugunatmak and also acts as Krimighna and excellently works as an antibacterial agent, so it is used for Dhupan Karma (fumigation) (Ahire, Ahire, Hastak, & Wankhedkar, 2019).

Sarshapa

This contains a contrasting profile of glucosinolates which have the biocidal action on different pathogens. Hence it is useful in Dhupan Karma (fumigation) (Pandurang & Nita, 2018).

Haridra

The active component is curcumene which acts as resins and possess antibacterial properties against gm+ve and gm–vebacterias and is useful in DhupanKarma( fumigation).

Sarjarasa

It is a resin of Shorear Obusta Garten which is Tikta and Kashaya Rasatmak, Sheeta in nature and most importantly it is Grahanashaka. And hence it is useful in Dhupan Karma (fumigation) of operation theatres (Shekokar & Borkar, 2013).

Devdaru

Wood of Cedrus deodar is used for air purification which has anti microbial potential this acts as a disinfectant and prevent from various infectious diseases (Yadavi, Rani, Bhat, Shrikanth, & Padhi, 2010).

Ela

It contains camphenecyaniol which is a volatile oil and shows antibacterial activities against pathogens (Khedekar, Goel, & Ojha, 2016).

Agaru

It contains agarospirol which acts as volatile oil. The properties such as Katy and Laghualso helps in killing microbes. The Dhupanis specially used in human karma ( fumigation) of the Sutikagara because of its anti-inflammatory nature in Dhupan karma ( fumigation) (Kanade & Deshpande, 2016).

Conclusion

The above Dhupan Dravyas mentioned poses properties such as antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral and helps in fumigation of the entire surrounding with the help of DhupanKarma. This Dhupan Karma (fumigation) can prove the best method for protection against the worldwide deadly pandemic disease COVID 19.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding Support

The authors declare that they have no funding support for this study.