Panchakrma is very popular word in todays world especially in people who are fond of Ayurveda. Along with that Panchashodhana is simillar sounded word which is moreover confused and intermixed with the base word. In both the term word Pancha is common which means five as per the Sanskrit, so remaining two words karma and shodhana are different. The term Shodhana means which eliminates the morbid dosha (those who manifest the disease) from the body; whereas the term Karma is any procedure to performed to the body with helps of medicine or it can also be assumed as the physical work which not only evacuate the morbid dosha but also imparts many of the good effects to the body.
So the basic difference in these two is that Panchakarma has a very wide range of action whereas the Panchashodhana will work on small scale. If we count up the procedure included among them, then we found they are moreover same as
1. Vamana
2. Virechana
3. Niruha Basti
4. Anuvasana Basti
5. Nasya
1. Vamana
2. Virechana
3. Niruha Basti
4. Nasya
5. Raktamokshana
Here Vamana is the process of expulsion of moribid Kapha dosha from that oral route and also the medicine is administered through oral route. Virechana is the process of expulsion of moribid Pitta dosha from that anal route and also the medicine is administered through oral route. In Niruha basti the Vata dosha is expelled out through the anal route whereas the medicament is administered through the anal route, but the speciallity of this is that it contain honey, rock salt, fat (medicated oils or ghee), paste (prepared out from medicnes) and decoction (preapared from medicines). The main ingredient of this Niruha Basti is the decoction which is accounts nearly to the 40% of the total content. But in Anuvasna Basti it is formed out of the fat i.e. animal or plant based which is again medicated or processed as per the need of the patient. In Nasya the medicines is instilled through nasal passage and the morbid doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) expelled out through nasal and oral route. Raktamokshana is the process in which vitiated blood is letted out by multiple means like; leeche therapy (appliction of medicated leeches over the affected body part), Siravedhana (punturing of the vein) and sringa (application of the horns of domestica animal to remove the vitiated blood by creating negative pressure).
The reason why Anuvasana Basti is not considerd in Panchashodhana is that it is sneha pradhan (fat predominant) which gives the unctous effect to the body. Because the Ayurvedic theory of treatment is based on the Gunas (qualities of the drugs or procedure), so it is not that much harsh to the body as compare to the other shodhana karmas. As per another theory explaine about Raktamokshan is that the blood letted is done by creating an artificial opening or route from the body whereas Panchakarma is done with the natural oriffices present in the body. One more theory regarding the same is that Panchakrma is for the treatemnt of doshas i.e. Vata, Pitta and Kapha whereas Rakta i.e. blood is noty considered under that cateogary.
