daśavidha-parīkṣā: what the term means and how it is translated
daśavidha-parīkṣā दशविधपरीक्षा is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 4 different ways across 5 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 | daśavidha-parīkṣā |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | दशविधपरीक्षा |
| Also written | daśavidha ātura-parīkṣā, dashavidha pariksha, dasavidha pareeksha, daśavidha-parīkṣya-bhāva (a DIFFERENT tenfold list, see distinguishFrom) |
| Category, as gathered | pariksha (tenfold examination of the patient, Caraka Vi. 8) |
| Grouped here under | Examination and treatment |
| Classical citations | 4 |
| 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.
Ten domains of clinical examination (daśavidhaparīkṣā): 'Tenfold clinical examination: 1. individual constitution; 2. morbidity; 3. excellence of structural components; 4. compactness of tissues or organs; 5. measurement of body constituents; 6. homologation; 7. psychic condition; 8. power of food intake and digestion; 9. power of performing exercise; 10. age.'
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-4.7.5, p.115 (PDF page 133) · 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.
'the patient should be examined in respect of his normal constitution in health, of the abnormal condition that has set in, of the predominance of some particular element in his constitution (such as blood, or flesh, &c., of his compactness or otherwise, the make of his proportions such as stature, &c., of what things are suitable to his constitution, of his mental disposition, of his power of eating of his power of exercise, and of his age.'
Kaviratna, Charaka-Samhita · Vimanasthana Lesson VIII, printed p. 592, his aphorism 110 · public-domain translation
Kaviratna does not use the phrase 'tenfold examination'; he paraphrases each item.
Agrawal et al., J Clin Diagn Res 2017 (PMID 28273996) · 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.
Ten-fold examination / tenfold examination of the diseased
carakasamhitaonline.com (Charak Samhita New Edition wiki) and common textbooks · textbook/online · our paraphrase of the source, not its words
Standard modern rendering.
Prakriti (constitutional nature), Vikriti (current pathological state), Sara (tissue excellence), Samhanana (structural compactness), Pramana (body measurements and proportion), Satmya (adaptability and compatibility), Satva (mental strength), Aharashakti (digestive capacity), Vyayama Shakti (exercise capacity) and Vaya (age)
web search summary of clinical websites (e.g. ayurvaid.com) · popular/clinical web · 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.
Caraka SamhitaVimanasthana 8 (Rogabhiṣagjitīya):standard 8/94 (Sanskrit, carakasamhitaonline). Kaviratna prints '110' AFTER the corresponding passage (p. 592); his numbering here is 16 ahead of the standard. Both read directly; not converted. · checked against the source
तस्मादातुरंपरीक्षेतप्रकृतितश्च, विकृतितश्च, सारतश्च, संहननतश्च, प्रमाणतश्च, सात्म्यतश्च, सत्त्वतश्च, आहारशक्तितश्च, व्यायामशक्तितश्च, वयस्तश्चेति, बलप्रमाणविशेषग्रहणहेतोः||९४||
The ten items and their stated purpose: 'for the sake of grasping the particular measure of strength' (bala-pramāṇa-viśeṣa-grahaṇa-hetoḥ).
Caraka SamhitaVimanasthana 8, Kaviratna Lesson VIII, printed pp. 592-593:Kaviratna's aphorism 110 (printed after) = standard 8/94 · checked against the source
Hence, the patient should be examined in respect of his normal constitution in health, of the abnormal condition that has set in, of the predominance of some particular element in his constitution (such as blood, or flesh, &c., of his compactness or otherwise, the make of his proportions such as stature, &c., of what things are suitable to his constitution, of his mental disposition, of his power of eating of his power of exercise, and of his age.
Public-domain English for the ten items.
Caraka SamhitaVimanasthana 8, Kaviratna Lesson VIII, p. 593 (text immediately following):introduces his aphorism 111 block · checked against the source
For ascertainment of the measure of strength (of the patient), these (ten) incidents beginning with (prakriti) the normal constitution in health, we shall explain here.
Kaviratna's statement of the purpose (measure of strength) of the ten-item examination.
Caraka SamhitaVimanasthana 8:standard 8/79 and 8/84 (Sanskrit) · checked against the source
एतद्दशविधमग्रेपरीक्ष्यं, ततोऽनन्तरंकार्यार्थाप्रवृत्तिरिष्टा| ... ||७९|| ... इहकार्यप्राप्तौकारणंभिषक्, करणंपुनर्भेषजं, कार्ययोनिर्धातुवैषम्यं, कार्यंधातुसाम्यं, कार्यफलंसुखावाप्तिः, अनुबन्धःखल्वायुः, देशोभूमिरातुरश्च, कालःपुनःसंवत्सरश्चातुरावस्थाच, प्रवृत्तिःप्रतिकर्मसमारम्भः, उपायस्तुभिषगादीनांसौष्ठवमभिविधानंचसम्यक्| ... ||८४||
The OTHER tenfold list in the same chapter (kāraṇa, karaṇa, kāryayoni, kārya, kāryaphala, anubandha, deśa, kāla, pravṛtti, upāya), which WHO codes separately as daśavidha-parīkṣya-bhāva; the two are routinely confused.
Not to be confused with
- daśavidha-parīkṣya-bhāva (Vi. 8/68-84; WHO ITA code at PDF p.49)
- Ten factors of therapeutics (kāraṇa, karaṇa, kāryayoni, kārya, kāryaphala, anubandha, deśa, kāla, pravṛtti, upāya) discussed earlier in the same chapter. Same chapter, same number ten, different list.
- aṣṭavidha/aṣṭasthāna-parīkṣā
- Eight sites of disease signs (Yogaratnakara) versus ten attributes of the patient gauged for strength (Caraka).
- dvādaśavidha-parīkṣā
- Sushruta Su. 35 (Bhishagratna: 'the nature of the disease, the country and season ... state of digestion, age, body, strength, disposition, habit, previous medicine, natural temperament and the power of endurance') is a different, longer list often called twelvefold; not Caraka's ten.
- prakṛti-parīkṣā
- Only item 1 of the ten; popular usage sometimes treats 'dashavidha pariksha' as a constitution test.
- vaya vs āyu
- Item 10 is vaya (age); āyu (lifespan) is assessed separately (Indriyasthana, Su. 35) per PMID 28273996.
Renderings that do not hold
- Ten-fold diagnosis. The stated purpose (Vi. 8/94) is to gauge the patient's measure of strength (bala), to calibrate treatment, not to diagnose the disease.
- Satmya = 'homologation' (WHO) / 'suitability' (Kaviratna). Not wrong but opaque; 'homologation' is a WHO coinage not found in older English renderings. Record as a disagreement rather than an error.
- Sattva = 'mental strength'. Popular rendering; Kaviratna gives 'mental disposition', WHO 'psychic condition'. The text grades sattva as pravara/madhya/avara, so 'strength' is a partial reading.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Whether the lexicon treats daśavidha-parīkṣā and daśavidha-parīkṣya-bhāva as separate head-words (WHO does).
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, daśavidha-parīkṣā
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/dashavidha-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.