doṣaprakṛti: what the term means and how it is translated
doṣaprakṛti दोषप्रकृति 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 | doṣaprakṛti |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | दोषप्रकृति |
| Also written | doshaprakruti, prakṛti |
| Category, as gathered | prakriti |
| Grouped here under | Regimen and constitution |
| Classical citations | 5 |
| Citations checked | 2026-10-08 |
How it is translated, and whether the translation holds
Each rendering is given with the source that uses it. The assessment is ours.
Body constitution with a predominance of dosha
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-2.8.2 · standard
Full description: 'a result of the baseline state of the doshas of sperm (shukra) and ovum (shonita) at the time of conception. Doshaprakriti is unique to each individual. It is immutable and does not change during a lifespan.'
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.
Body constitution with a predominance of vata / of pitta / of kapha
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-2.8.3 / 2.8.4 / 2.8.5 · standard
WHO also gives three dual types (2.8.6-2.8.8) and ITA-2.8.9 ṭridoṣajaprakṛtiḥ 'Body constitution in terms of the three dosha', which alone in this block is published with an EMPTY description.
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.
nature … dependent on the predominance or otherwise of such a fault or faults
Charaka Samhita, tr. Kaviratna (1896-1913) · Vimanasthana 8 · translation
Kaviratna renders doṣa as 'fault' throughout, so constitution becomes a configuration of faults, a reading most moderns reject.
Dosha Prakritis
Hankey A, Anc Sci Life 2010 · PMID 22557353 · paper
Keeps the Sanskrit in the title.
constitution types
TRISUTRA Ayurgenomics literature · PMID 27457695 · paper · our paraphrase of the source, not its words
The genomics literature drops 'dosha' from the English entirely.
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 SamhitaVimanasthana 8:95 · checked against the source
tadyathā- śukraśōṇitaprakr̥tiṁ, kālagarbhāśayaprakr̥tiṁ, āturāhāravihāraprakr̥tiṁ, mahābhūtavikāraprakr̥tiṁ ca garbhaśarīramapēkṣatē| … tataḥ sā sā dōṣaprakr̥tirucyatē manuṣyāṇāṁ garbhādipravr̥ttā||95||
The defining passage and the only occurrence of the compound in the retrieved chapter. Four determinants: the prakṛti of śukra and śoṇita, of time and womb, of maternal diet and conduct, and of the modifications of the mahābhūtas. The doṣa involved is the one affecting those causes, not a doṣa resident in the foetus. Ellipsis marks omitted text present at the URL.
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 8:96 · checked against the source
tē ēvaṅguṇayōgācchlēṣmalā balavantō vasumantō vidyāvanta ōjasvinaḥ śāntā āyuṣmantaśca bhavanti||96||
Fixes verse 96 as the kapha type description, from which vāta and pitta follow to verse 100.
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 8:96 · checked against the source
In consequence of their being endued with these attributes, people in whose constitution phlegm predominates become possessed of strength, wealth, learning, energy, mildness of disposition, and length of life.
Public-domain English; shows the classical type descriptions are evaluative (kapha type = fortunate) in a way modern neutral typologies are not.
Sushruta SamhitaSharirasthana 4:69 · checked against the source
A combination of two different temperaments should be called a double temperament or a Dvandaja one; and one of all the three temperaments in a person should be stated as a Sannipatika one.
Sushruta's dual and triple types, giving seven where Charaka Vi 8/95 lists five classes.
Sushruta SamhitaSharirasthana 4:70-71 · checked against the source
Several authorities hold that the temperaments of persons have their origin in the material elements of the body and accordingly they classify them as the Vatika Prakriti , the Taijasa Prakriti , and the apya (watery) Prakriti
A competing bhautika classification recorded inside Sushruta itself, continued at v.72 with pārthiva and nābhasa types. Doṣa-based typing is not the only classical scheme, almost no modern source mentions this.
Not to be confused with
- prakṛti
- WHO subordinates doṣaprakṛti to prakṛti; Charaka Vi 8/95 uses doṣaprakṛti as the operative term. The hierarchy is WHO's, not Charaka's.
- doṣaprakopa
- Constitution versus derangement. ICD-11 TM2 codes only the vitiation patterns (e.g. SR10), not the constitution.
- bhautika prakṛti
- An alternative five-element typology at Sushruta Sharirasthana 4/70-72. A different classification, not a variant spelling.
- saṃsṛṣṭa / dvandvaja
- Charaka covers all mixed types in one word; Sushruta splits dvandvaja from sānnipātika. Modern seven-type charts follow Sushruta while citing Charaka.
Renderings that do not hold
- dosha imbalance. Exactly backwards. doṣaprakṛti is the individual's balanced baseline; imbalance is vikṛti (Vi 8/101).
- tridoshic constitution = the balanced/ideal type. Charaka's balanced type is samadhātu (Vi 8/95, defined at 100). WHO's ṭridoṣajaprakṛtiḥ is a separate headword with NO description at all, so equating them is unsupported by either source.
- the foetus has a dosha. Vi 8/95 says the doṣa attaches to the four causal factors and the foetus is bound in consequence, a claim about causes, not about a doṣa in the embryo.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Why is WHO's ITA-2.8.9 published with an empty description, editorial gap, or a refusal to define?
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, doṣaprakṛti
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/dosha-prakriti/, 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.