Srotas — The Channel Systems
Srotas are the channels through which all substances flow in the body — from the gross digestive tract to the subtlest neural pathways — whose health determines the unobstructed flow of nourishment and the clearance of waste.
Ayurveda describes 16 major Srotas (channel systems) through which food, water, air, metabolic products, and consciousness flow through the body. These include Pranavaha Srotas (respiratory channels), Annavaha Srotas (digestive channels), Ambuvaha Srotas (water channels), Rasavaha Srotas (plasma channels), Raktavaha Srotas (blood channels), and so on for each tissue. The concept of Srotodushti — channel obstruction, excessive flow, abnormal flow, or channels opening in wrong places — underlies Ayurvedic pathology. Disease begins when the flow through any Srotas is disrupted. Panchakarma therapies are specifically designed to cleanse and restore proper flow through all channel systems. The concept anticipates modern understanding of vascular, lymphatic, neural, and digestive tubular systems as the organizational substrate of bodily function.
When the Srotas flow freely, health is maintained; when they are obstructed or disturbed, disease arises.
Interoception research — the study of how the brain monitors and regulates internal bodily channels — has confirmed that the coordinated flow through vascular, lymphatic, digestive, and neural pathways is fundamental to health maintenance, validating the Ayurvedic channel-systems framework.
Charaka Samhita