bṛṁhaṇa: what the term means and how it is translated
bṛṁhaṇa बृंहण is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 5 different ways, 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 | bṛṁhaṇa |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | बृंहण |
| Also written | bṛṃhaṇa, brimhana, brmhana, bṛṁhaṇa-cikitsā, Vring-hana (Kaviratna), santarpaṇa (related, not identical) |
| Category, as gathered | chikitsa |
| Grouped here under | Examination and treatment |
| Classical citations | 7 |
| 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.
Bulk-enhancing
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-9.1.43 bṛṁhaṇam/bṛṁhaṇacikitsā: 'One of the six types of treatment modalities: a procedure which is nutritive, nourishing, increases body weight, promotes growth or enhances bulk.' Listed in ITA-9.1.42 ṣaḍvidhopakramāḥ. Separate ITA-9.1.40 santarpaṇam 'Nourishing therapy' under the twofold scheme ITA-9.1.39. · comparator-standard
WHO's headword is 'Bulk-enhancing', with 'nourishing' reserved for santarpaṇa; this is a deliberate separation of the two-fold and six-fold schemes.
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.
All procedures and treatment which increase body weight and strength is called Brimhana. This therapy is indicated for emaciated, weak and debilitated and for those in convalescence from chronic illness like mal-absorption, tuberculosis, and anemia. Is reverse of reduction.
NIA Jaipur / WHO-APW draft terminology (2011) · entry SV0070 bṛṁhaṇa · comparator-draft
Draft gloss; adds indications not in the Charaka definition.
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.
Vring-hana: 'That which promotes nutrition and bulk of the body'
Kaviratna, Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana Lesson XXII · archive.org BIUSante_47357 OCR, his printed 7-9 (standard 22.9-10) · public-domain-translation
Kaviratna transliterates as 'Vring-hana' (Bengali-influenced), which makes the term hard to find by search; his gloss is accurate to bṛhattva.
nourishing therapy / nourishment / Brimhana (nourishing)
PubMed usage: PMID 23723649 'Brimhana (nourishing therapy)'; PMID 27833368 'Brimhana (nourishment) effect'; PMID 36329776 'brimhana (nourishing)'; PMID 35370376 'Brimhana Nasya (nourishing nasal drop)' · textbook-usage
'Nourishing' dominates modern usage and overlaps WHO's rendering of santarpaṇa.
bṛṃhaṇo laṅghanaś ca as synonyms (paryāya) of santarpaṇa and apatarpaṇa
Vāgbhaṭa, Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya Sutrasthana 14.1-2 (GRETIL e-text; Sanskrit only, no English quotable) · GRETIL sa_vAgbhaTa-aSTAGgahRdayasUtra, chapter 14 verses 1-2 · classical-sanskrit
Vāgbhaṭa explicitly equates the two pairs that WHO keeps apart.
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.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 22 (Laṅghanabṛṁhaṇīya):10 (carakasamhitaonline numbering; the number closes the verse whose first half defines bṛṁhaṇa). Kaviratna prints 7-9 for the block containing it. · checked against the source
बृहत्त्वं यच्छरीरस्य जनयेत्तच्च बृंहणम्| रौक्ष्यं खरत्वं वैशद्यं यत् कुर्यात्तद्धि रूक्षणम्||१०||
Definition: whatever produces bṛhattva (largeness/bulk) of the body is bṛṁhaṇa.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana Lesson XXII:Kaviratna's printed 7-9 (standard 22.9-11 per carakasamhitaonline; he is two behind here and aligned at 18) · checked against the source
Any thing that lightens or attenuates (the aggravated humours and altered constituents) in the body has been said to be a Langhana. That which promotes nutrition and bulk of the body is known as Vring-hana.
Kaviratna's rendering and spelling 'Vring-hana'; the parenthesis is his gloss.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 22 (Laṅghanabṛṁhaṇīya):28 (carakasamhitaonline numbering); Kaviratna prints 26 for the sentence that ends with sugar, milk and ghee · checked against the source
शर्कराक्षीरसर्पींषि सर्वेषां विद्धि बृंहणम्||२८||
Sugar, milk and ghee are bṛṁhaṇa for everyone.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana Lesson XXII:Kaviratna's printed 26 (standard 22.27-28 region; the half-verse ending in bṛṁhaṇam is numbered 28) · checked against the source
Baths, gentle rubbing of the body (with medicated oils), sleep, honey and other sweets, oily enemata, sugar, and milk and ghee, know, are Vring-hanas for all persons.
Kaviratna's list of universal bṛṁhaṇa measures, including the oily enema.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana Lesson XXII:Kaviratna's printed 24 (standard number not independently established; the Sanskrit 22.26 ends 'बृंहणीया नराः स्मृताः') · checked against the source
Those that have lost their vitality, those that have received Wounds, those that are lean or emaciated, those that are old, those that are weak, those that walk long distances every day, and those that indulge in sexual congress and drink (stimulants) every day, have been said to deserve Vring-hana.
Indications (bṛṁhaṇīya persons).
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 14 (Dvividhopakramaṇīya):1-2 (GRETIL e-text numbering; chapter confirmed by '14.14cv' variant markers in the same block) · checked against the source
upakramyasya hi dvi-tvād dvi-dhaivopakramo mataḥ | ekaḥ saṃtarpaṇas tatra dvitīyaś cāpatarpaṇaḥ || 1 || bṛṃhaṇo laṅghanaś ceti tat-paryāyāv udāhṛtau | bṛṃhaṇaṃ yad bṛhat-tvāya laṅghanaṃ lāghavāya yat || 2 ||
Vāgbhaṭa makes treatment twofold (santarpaṇa/apatarpaṇa) and names bṛṁhaṇa and laṅghana as their synonyms, defined by bṛhattva and lāghava.
Sushruta SamhitaCikitsasthana 35:19 (sa.wikisource, Hari Sastri 1980 edition) · checked against the source
निरूहः शोधनो लेखी स्नैहिको बृंहणो मतः / :निरूहशोधितान्मार्गान् सम्यक् स्नेहोऽनुगच्छति १९
Sushruta applies bṛṁhaṇa as the action of the unctuous enema, contrasting it with the cleansing nirūha.
Not to be confused with
- santarpaṇa
- The nourishing half of the twofold scheme (WHO ITA-9.1.40); Vāgbhaṭa calls bṛṁhaṇa its synonym (AH Su.14.2), WHO keeps them as separate entries.
- snehana
- Oleation is one of the six upakramas with its own definition (Ca.Su.22.11); it is often bṛṁhaṇa in effect but defined by unctuousness, not bulk.
- balya / rasāyana
- Strength-promoting and rejuvenative categories of drug action; bṛṁhaṇa is defined only by increase of body bulk (Ca.Su.22.10).
- laṅghana
- Its defined opposite (lāghava vs bṛhattva, Ca.Su.22.9-10).
- guru (guṇa)
- Heaviness is a property of substances; Ca.Su.22.13-14 lists guru among the properties that make a substance bṛṁhaṇa, the therapy is the effect.
Renderings that do not hold
- weight gain therapy / fattening. Bṛhattva covers bulk and strength in the indications (emaciated, wounded, aged); Kaviratna's 'excessive Vring-hana results in corpulency' shows corpulence is the overdose sign, not the aim.
- tonic. Victorian pharmacological category; it does not map to the six-fold upakrama scheme and is also used for rasāyana and balya.
- nutrition / nutritional therapy. Biomedical nutrition is about intake; bṛṁhaṇa includes sleep, baths, massage and oily enema (Kaviratna's printed 26).
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- The standard verse numbers for Kaviratna's printed 23-24 (bṛṁhaṇīya persons) were not independently established; carakasamhitaonline shows 22.25-26 ending in बृंहणमुच्यते / बृंहणीया नराः स्मृताः, which suggests his offset here is two behind, but this was not confirmed line by line.
- WHO's reason for separating bṛṁhaṇa (9.1.43) from santarpaṇa (9.1.40) is not stated in the entries read.
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, bṛṁhaṇa
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/brimhana/, 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.