darśana: what the term means and how it is translated
darśana दर्शन is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 6 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 | darśana |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | दर्शन |
| Also written | darśana-parīkṣā, dṛṣṭi (in some modern lists), pratyakṣa (by eye) in Caraka's framework |
| Category, as gathered | pariksha (method: inspection/observation; first of trividha parīkṣā) |
| Grouped here under | Examination and treatment |
| Classical citations | 5 |
| 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.
observation (within 'Standard three-component examination': 'Examination of the patient by observation (darshana), palpation (sparshana) and interview (prashna).')
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-4.7.2, p.114 (PDF page 132) · comparator
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.
Vision (darśanam, ITA-2.1.2.10, as a physiological function)
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-2.1.2.10, PDF page 53 · comparator
Different sense of the same word (the faculty of sight), useful for disambiguation.
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.
'1. Looking at, seeing, observing 2. Inspection / examination' (darśana, SK0056)
NIA Jaipur / WHO-APW 'Standardization of Non-Clinical Terminologies of Ayurveda' draft (2011) · entry SK0056 · comparator (draft terminology, NOT the 2022 WHO book)
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.
'the physician should view the body of his patient' (viewing = darśana); 'inspection' in the parenthesis '(inspection, touch and questioning)'
Bhishagratna, Sushruta Samhita (1907-1916) · Sutrasthana ch. X · public-domain translation
Observation (for pratyakṣa, which Caraka applies through all senses; 'should be examined by the eye' for the visual component)
Kaviratna, Charaka-Samhita · Vimanasthana Lesson IV, pp. 494-498 · public-domain translation
Caraka does not use darśana as a term of examination; Kaviratna's 'Observation' translates pratyakṣa.
inspection
common textbook rendering (e.g. parenthetical in Bhishagratna; teaching notes) · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words
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.
Aṣṭāṅga HṛdayaSutrasthana 1 (Āyuṣkāmīya):22 (as numbered on Sanskrit Wikisource 'वाग्भटसंहिता/सूत्रस्थानम्'; the Aṣṭāṅga Saṅgraha parallel is numbered अस1.44 on the Wikisource Aṣṭāṅga Saṅgraha page) · checked against the source
दर्शनस्पर्शनप्रश्नैः परीक्षेत च रोगिणम् रोगं निदानप्राग्रूपलक्षणो पशयाप्तिभिः २२
The locus classicus for darśana-sparśana-praśna as the three means of examining the patient (rogin), paired with examining the disease by nidāna, prāgrūpa, lakṣaṇa, upaśaya, āpti.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 10 (Bhishagratna ch. X); Sanskrit verse number not established · checked against the source
the physician should view the body of his patient, touch it with his own hands, and enquire (about his complaint). Several authorities hold that these three, (inspection, touch and questioning) largely form the means of our ascertaining the nature of a disease. But that is not correct, inasmuch as the five sense-organs of hearing, sight, etc. and oral enquiry materially contribute to a better diagnosis.
Sushruta records the three-method view (darśana-sparśana-praśna) as the opinion of 'several authorities' and expands it to five senses plus questioning (the ṣaḍvidha scheme).
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 10; Sanskrit verse number not established · checked against the source
Fullness or emaciation of the body (cachexia), state and indications of vitality, strength, complexion, etc. are perceived by the sense of sight.
What visual inspection yields according to Sushruta.
Caraka SamhitaVimanasthana 4 (Trividha-roga-viśeṣa-vijñānīya):standard 4/7 (Sanskrit). Kaviratna spreads this prose unit over his aphorisms printed '7', '9' and '10' (pp. 497-498), so there is no one-to-one mapping here. · checked against the source
वर्णसंस्थानप्रमाणच्छायाः शरीरप्रकृतिविकारौ, चक्षुर्वैषयिकाणि यानि चान्यान्यनुक्तानि तानि चक्षुषा परीक्षेत
Caraka's content of visual examination (colour, shape, measure, lustre, normal/abnormal state) framed under pratyakṣa, not under a term 'darśana'.
Caraka SamhitaVimanasthana 4, Kaviratna Lesson IV, printed p. 497:Kaviratna's aphorism 7 (printed after); part of standard 4/7 · checked against the source
Colour, form, measure (of the body), lustre, the normal or abnormal state of the body, and all other things whatever that are objects of vision, should be examined by the eye.
Public-domain English for the visual component of Caraka's pratyakṣa examination.
Not to be confused with
- pratyakṣa
- Caraka's epistemic category (direct perception by any sense plus mind, Vi. 4/4); darśana in Vāgbhaṭa is one clinical method (looking). WHO keeps them apart: pratyakṣam ITA-1.8.1.1 vs darśana in ITA-4.7.2.
- dṛk-parīkṣā
- In the Yogaratnakara dṛk is the patient's EYES as an object of examination; darśana is the physician's act of looking.
- darśanam as 'vision' (WHO ITA-2.1.2.10)
- Physiological faculty of sight, a different lexical sense.
- darśana (philosophy)
- The six darśanas (schools of philosophy) share the word; irrelevant to clinical use but a frequent search-collision.
Renderings that do not hold
- visual diagnosis. Darśana is inspection; diagnosis in these texts arises from combining the three methods with the fivefold disease examination (AH Su. 1/22b).
- Treating 'darśana-sparśana-praśna' as Caraka's or Sushruta's scheme. The triad as a formula is Vāgbhaṭa's (AH Su. 1/22); Sushruta mentions it as 'several authorities hold' and rejects it as insufficient; Caraka's triad is āptopadeśa-pratyakṣa-anumāna.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Sushruta Su. 10 Sanskrit verse number for the darśana-sparśana-praśna passage (Bhishagratna prints none).
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, darśana
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/darshana/, 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.