aṣṭavidha-parīkṣā: what the term means and how it is translated
aṣṭavidha-parīkṣā अष्टविधपरीक्षा is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 2 different ways across 4 sources, which is the reason this page exists: the renderings do not agree, and the difference between them changes what the term is taken to mean.
| Transliteration | aṣṭavidha-parīkṣā |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | अष्टविधपरीक्षा |
| Also written | aṣṭasthāna-parīkṣā (WHO 2022 and several reviews), aṣṭasthāna-nirīkṣaṇa (section title in the Nirnaya Sagar Yogaratnakara), ashtavidha pariksha, ashtasthana pariksha |
| Category, as gathered | pariksha (eightfold clinical examination scheme, Yogaratnakara) |
| Grouped here under | Examination and treatment |
| Classical citations | 2 |
| Citations checked | 2026-10-07 |
How it is translated, and whether the translation holds
Each rendering is given with the source that uses it. The assessment is ours.
Eight methods of clinical examination (aṣṭasthānaparīkṣā): 'Clinical examination of eight domains: 1. pulse ; 2. urine; 3. excreta; 4. tongue; 5. voice and other body-sounds such as breathing and heart; 6. tactile examination; 7. eyes and eyesight; 8. build and appearance.'
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-4.7.4, p.115 (PDF page 133) · comparator
WHO uses the head-word aṣṭasthāna, not aṣṭavidha; glosses śabda broadly as 'voice and other body-sounds such as breathing and heart' and sparśa as 'tactile examination'.
Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda, which is what that licence permits. It is deliberately absent from the downloadable dataset, which is offered under CC BY 4.0 and invites the modification a NoDerivs licence forbids.
Shekhawat, JVWU BAMS e-notes · https://www.jvwu.ac.in/documents/Book%20Chapter%20by%20Dr%20suman%20-Ashtavidha%20pariksha.pdf · textbook/teaching
The source's rendering runs to a full definition and is not reproduced here, because this project has not cleared that source for quotation.
Ashtavidha Pariksha- An Ancient Useful Diagnostic Tool; 'Eight-fold examination'
Indian review-journal titles (IJPRA, IJARSCT, IJNRD) found via web search · journal reviews (non-indexed)
'Eightfold examination' is the dominant textbook rendering.
Uikey & Kar, Ayu 2015 (PMID 27011711) · peer-reviewed review
The source's rendering runs to a full definition and is not reproduced here, because this project has not cleared that source for quotation.
The classical passages
Each citation gives its address so a reader can check it in a printed edition, our account of what the passage establishes, and the result of reading it against its source.
YogaratnakaraPūrvārdha, section 'atha rogiṇām aṣṭasthāna-nirīkṣaṇam' Nirnaya Sagar Press edition (ed. Krishna Sharma Navre); text pp. 2-3 per OCR page headers (running header reads 'अष्टविधपरीक्षा'):verse 1 of the section (OCR shows '॥ ३ ॥' but sequence ४,५,६,७,८ follows the next verses २,३..., so this is '१'); the pulse-first instruction is verse 2 and the vīṇā simile verse 3 · checked against the source
रोगाकान्तञ्मरीरस्य स्थानान्यष्टौ निरीक्षयेत् । नाडीं मूं मलं जिह शब्दं स्पश दगाङरृती ॥ ३ ॥ दोषकोपे घनेऽष्पे च पूर्वं नाडीं परीक्ष्य च । अन्ते चाऽऽदौ स्थितिस्तस्या विज्ञेया भिषजा स्फुटम् ॥ २ ॥ यथा वीणागता तच्नी सवात्रागान्प्रभाषते । तथा हस्तगता नाडी सकौ्रोगान्प्रकाश्चयेत ॥ ३ ॥
The eight sites (sthāna) to be inspected in the diseased body: nāḍī, mūtra, mala, jihvā, śabda, sparśa, dṛk, ākṛti; pulse is to be examined first. The text's own title for the scheme is aṣṭasthāna-nirīkṣaṇa.
YogaratnakaraPūrvārdha Nirnaya Sagar Press edition, text pp. 3-7: section headings in order:headings only · checked against the source
अथ नाडीपरीक्षा । ... अथ मूत्नपरीक्षा | ... अथ मरपरीक्षा । ... अथ रखब्दपरीक्षा । ... अथ स्पशपरीक्षा । ... अथ रूपपरीक्षा । ... अथ टक्परीक्षा । ... अथाऽऽस्यपरीक्षा | ... अथ् जिहापरीक्षा
The actual section sequence in this edition differs from the enumeration verse: tongue examination comes last (after an āsya/mouth-taste section), and the 'ākṛti' item is headed rūpa-parīkṣā.
Not to be confused with
- trividha-parīkṣā (darśana, sparśana, praśna)
- Three METHODS of examining (Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya Su. 1/22); aṣṭavidha lists eight SITES/objects. Not a subset relationship.
- ṣaḍvidha-parīkṣā
- Sushruta's examination by five senses plus interrogation (WHO ITA-4.7.3; Bhishagratna Su. 10: 'the five sense-organs of hearing, sight, etc. and oral enquiry'); methods, not sites.
- daśavidha-parīkṣā
- Caraka Vi. 8/94: ten attributes of the PATIENT (prakṛti, vikṛti, sāra ...) assessed to gauge strength, not eight sites of disease signs.
- aṣṭasthāna-parīkṣā
- Same scheme, different head-word; WHO 2022 and the Yogaratnakara section title use sthāna (site), modern Indian literature uses vidha (kind). Record both as names of one scheme.
- roga-parīkṣā (pañca-nidāna)
- WHO ITA-4.3.1 'rogaparīkṣā' is disease assessment by nidāna, pūrvarūpa, rūpa, upaśaya, samprāpti; the eightfold scheme belongs to rogī-parīkṣā (patient examination, ITA-4.7).
Renderings that do not hold
- Eightfold diagnosis. The Yogaratnakara verb is nirīkṣayet (inspect); it lists what to look at, not a diagnostic algorithm.
- Shabda = speech. Several teaching notes render śabda as 'speech'; WHO reads it as 'voice and other body-sounds such as breathing and heart', and the Yogaratnakara śabda-parīkṣā verse (OCR) speaks of heavy/clear/hoarse voice by dosha. 'Speech' (content/language) is too narrow and misleading.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Standard verse numbering for the Yogaratnakara parīkṣā sections across editions (Nirnaya Sagar vs Vidyotini vs Suresh Babu).
- Whether the lexicon's head-word should be aṣṭavidha or aṣṭasthāna given WHO uses the latter.
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, aṣṭavidha-parīkṣā
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/ashtavidha-pariksha/, CC BY 4.0.
The whole lexicon is downloadable from the index.
Machine-readable source: Markdown.
Data exported 2026-10-08.
Educational reference only. A term entry explains what a word means and how it has been translated. Nothing here is advice, and nothing here describes how any condition should be treated.