Netra Tarpana for the Eyes

Netra tarpana is the classical Ayurvedic eye therapy in which warm medicated ghee is held over the open eyes within a small wall of dough, to soothe, nourish and strengthen the sight. The name says plainly what it does: netra is the eye, and tarpana means to satisfy, nourish or contentedly fill. It is one of the most distinctive of the traditional eye procedures, a treatment that literally bathes the open eye in nourishing ghee.

Where it belongs

Ayurveda gives the eye a set of its own dedicated procedures, gathered in the classical texts under Netra Kriyakalpa, the operations for the eye. Sushruta, in the Uttara Tantra on the eye, and Ashtanga Hridayam set these out. Among them are Seka (a stream of liquid over the eye), Aschyotana (eye drops), Pindi and Bidalaka (poultices and pastes over the closed lids), Putapaka, and Tarpana.

Of these, tarpana is the nourishing procedure. Where the others cleanse, cool or draw out, tarpana fills and satisfies the eye, and it is classed as the treatment of choice where the eyes are tired, dry, strained or in want of nourishment and strength. It is chakshushya, good for the eyes, and tarpana in the fullest sense, nourishing.

What it is used for

The tradition reaches for netra tarpana where the eyes are dry, tired, overworked or strained, and where the sight wants supporting and strengthening. In classical terms it settles the Pitta and Vata that disturb the eyes: the heat and dryness of Pitta that can leave them burning and fatigued, and the dryness and depletion of Vata. The nourishing, cooling, unctuous quality of medicated ghee answers both.

It is also valued as a rejuvenating measure for the eyes, a way of keeping them well and rested, and it is often included in the eye-care regimens of the traditional therapies. It is offered as classical eye care and strengthening rather than as a treatment for any diagnosed disease of the eye, and serious eye conditions belong with an eye specialist.

How Ayurveda reads the eyes

The logic of tarpana rests on how the tradition understands the eye. Ayurveda regards the eye as a seat of Alochaka Pitta, the form of Pitta that governs sight, and as a tejas-predominant organ, that is, one in which the fiery element is strong. Being fiery, the eye is held to be sensitive to heat and dryness, and easily tired by them, whether from strain, glare, wind, smoke, late nights or long close work. At the same time the delicate tissues of the eye need nourishment and moisture to stay well.

This is why a cooling, nourishing, unctuous therapy suits the eye so well. Ghee is sheeta, cooling, and deeply nourishing, and bathing the eye in warm medicated ghee answers exactly the heat, dryness and fatigue the tradition sees troubling it. Tarpana, in other words, is the measure of care that matches the eye’s own nature, which is why it stands as the nourishing centrepiece of the eye procedures.

How it is performed

The procedure is precise, and it is worth describing because its careful method is exactly why it must be done by trained hands.

The person lies comfortably on their back. Around each eye a small wall, or pali, is built from a stiff dough, usually of black-gram flour, moulded to form a snug ring on the face that will hold liquid without leaking. A suitable chakshushya medicated ghee, such as Triphala Ghrita, is gently warmed to a comfortable temperature, tested so that it is pleasantly warm and never hot.

The warm ghee is then poured slowly into the dough wall until it covers the open eye, so the eye is bathed in a small pool of ghee. The person opens the eye and blinks gently within the ghee for the set time, so the eye and the surrounding tissues are nourished. The duration is measured by the practitioner and varies with the purpose and the state of the eye. When the time is complete, the dough wall is broken, the ghee is drained away, and the eyes are gently wiped and rested. A period of rest, and protection from bright light, wind and strain, follows.

The duration and the course

The classical texts do not leave the timing to guesswork. They give the retention of the ghee in measures of matra, counts, that differ according to the part of the eye being treated and the state of health, with a healthy, strengthening tarpana held for a shorter measure and other purposes for longer. A practitioner draws on these classical measures, adjusting them to the person before them. Tarpana is also usually given not as a single sitting but as a short course of days, with rest between, and it is timed to suit the season, the tradition favouring cooler, milder conditions over the height of heat or cold.

After the procedure

The care that follows is treated as part of the therapy. The eyes are rested, and the person is advised to avoid the things that strain or heat them: bright light and glare, wind and dust, long reading or close work, and looking at anything that tires the eyes. A gentle, cooling, unctuous regimen supports the nourishing aim of the tarpana. Because the eyes have just been bathed in oil and are momentarily more sensitive, this quiet after-care matters as much as the procedure itself.

The ghee

The choice of ghee is central, and it is the practitioner’s decision. Medicated ghees prepared for the eyes are cooked with cooling, eye-friendly herbs; Triphala Ghrita, made with the three fruits, is among the best known, valued in the tradition for the eyes. Different ghees carry different actions, and the right one is chosen to suit the person and the condition of the eyes, which is one reason the procedure is not a matter for self-treatment.

Why ghee, rather than an oil? In the classical understanding ghrita, clarified butter, is uniquely nourishing and cooling, and it is held to carry the strength of herbs into the finest tissues without adding heat. The eyes are regarded as a seat of Pitta, sensitive to heat and dryness, so a cooling, nourishing ghee suits them far better than a warming oil. This is why tarpana, the nourishing eye procedure, uses ghee where a Vata massage of the limbs would use sesame oil.

Tarpana among the eye procedures

It helps to see tarpana beside its companions in the Netra Kriyakalpa. Aschyotana, the instilling of drops into the eye, is the lightest and most everyday. Seka pours a gentle stream of medicated liquid over the eye. Pindi and Bidalaka apply herbal poultices and pastes over the closed lids. Putapaka, closely related to tarpana, follows it and delivers a specially prepared liquid to the eye. Within this sequence, tarpana is the deep nourishing step, the one that bathes the open eye in ghee, and it is often the centrepiece of an eye-care regimen with the lighter procedures arranged around it. A practitioner selects among them according to what the eyes need, whether cleansing, cooling, drawing out or nourishing.

Who it is suited to

The tradition offers tarpana both as care for eyes that are dry, tired, overworked or strained, and as a strengthening, rejuvenating measure for the eyes in general, in keeping with its place among the chakshushya, the eye-benefiting practices. It is particularly associated with easing the effects of strain and fatigue on the eyes and with settling the Pitta and Vata that disturb them. It is not, however, undertaken in every state: certain acute eye conditions and other unsuitable circumstances call for it to be withheld, which is precisely why the decision rests with a qualified practitioner and, where a complaint is present, an eye specialist.

Precautions

Netra tarpana is a delicate therapy. It involves warm ghee held directly over the open eye, and the temperature, the fit of the dough wall, the choice of ghee and the timing all have to be judged with care. For this reason it is always a therapist-administered procedure, carried out at a qualified Ayurvedic centre, and never done casually or at home. The tradition also avoids it in certain acute eye conditions and other unsuitable states, which is a further reason for professional assessment first.

Anyone with an eye complaint, whether dryness, strain, redness or any change in vision, should see an eye specialist, and should undertake netra tarpana only under qualified Ayurvedic guidance and where it is appropriate.

This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of netra tarpana and is not medical advice. Speak to a qualified practitioner and an eye specialist before undertaking any eye therapy.