Ayurvedic Marman
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Table 1 illustrates five marman groups that are affected by trauma, according to Susruta. For example, if a group 3 (vishalyaghna) marman is traumatised, the elements of Air and Ether will produce pain or death, depending on how accurately placed the impact is to the anatomical centre of the marman. Depth of penetration into the site of a marman will also determine any pathological outcome (Thatte, interview, 7/10/98). The early Ayurvedic physicians believed that the elemental balance of the human body could be affected by any loss of constitution. When pierced by a projectile, the outcome for group 3 marman is believed to be death, because the elements of Air and Ether are able to escape from the body quickly. It is noted that similar ideas were prevalent in early Chinese medicine, especially concerning the loss of qi through inappropriate needling techniques (Unschuld, 1985, p 583).

According to Ayurvedic and Dravidian philosophy each marman group is ruled by one or two of the Five Elements and has a constitution of up to five types of tissue at the anatomical site of the marman, viz. muscles, vessels, ligaments, bones and joints (trans Thatte, 1994, p 114). These elemental and constitutional components, along with the total number of marman within each group, are listed in Table 2.