kārya: what the term means and how it is translated
kārya कार्य 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 | kārya |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | कार्य |
| Also written | kāryam, kāryaḥ (WHO's headword form), dhātusāmya (its medical identification), kārya-dravya (compound, different sense) |
| Category, as gathered | padartha |
| Grouped here under | Foundations and categories |
| 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.
Treatment protocol
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-1.11.5 'kāryaḥ': 'The process undertaken to attain health or the fundamental bodily equilibrium (dhatusamya), i.e. the treatment process.'; ITA-1.11.1 lists 'treatment protocol (karya)'; ITA-1.11.4 kāryayoniḥ 'Substratum of treatment: The intimate cause of illness, i.e. a disturbance of the fundamental bodily equilibrium.'; ITA-1.11.6 kāryaphalam 'Immediate outcome, primary endpoint'; ITA-1.9.3.7.1 kāryadravyam 'Resultant material, product or effect' · comparator
WHO reads kārya as the PROCESS; Ca.Vi.8.84 says kāryaṁ dhātusāmyaṁ, the state achieved. WHO's 'treatment protocol' is a clinical-trial idiom imposed on the term.
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 objective of physician to maintain the equilibrium of the body humors
National Institute of Ayurveda, WHO-APW 'Standardization of Non-Clinical Terminologies of Ayurveda' · BP0125 'kārya'; also BP0126 kāryaphalam 'the outcome of intervention in the form of healthy state'; BP0127 kāryayoniḥ 'Intimate cause of illness'; DG0103 kārya dravya 'Effectual substances that are manifestations of the 9 causal substances' · comparator
Closer to Vi.8.84 (equilibrium as the objective) than WHO's 'protocol', though 'humors' for dhātu is loose.
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.
Kāryya (action); 'that purpose for the achievement of which the actor moves'; 'Kāryya (action, or, rather, result of energy spent)'; 'Action or Effect'
Charaka Samhita tr. A. C. Kaviratna, public domain · Vi.8 his printed 80 (list), the definition following (his number OCR-garbled, by sequence 84), the application passage (his number illegible); Su.1 his printed 52 · public-domain translation
Kaviratna first writes 'action', then corrects himself in the application passage: 'or, rather, result of energy spent'. His own hesitation is the disambiguation.
action
carakasamhitaonline.com section heading 'Karya (action)' at Vi.8.72 and translation body · https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php?title=Rogabhishagjitiya_Vimana&action=raw · modern online edition (CC BY-NC-SA)
Heading only quoted. Rendering kārya as 'action' makes it indistinguishable from karma.
effect (in 'Karya-Karana')
PubMed abstract, PMID 22661852 · the source's own wording is not reproduced here: "PubMed abstract, PMID 22661852" is not a source this project has cleared for quotation · modern paper
The cause-effect usage of the Sāṃkhya satkāryavāda frame, a third register.
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:Standard 8.72 (carakasamhitaonline numbering); Kaviratna's printed number OCR-garbled ('4), by sequence 84 between his legible 80 and 87 · checked against the source
Kāryya is that purpose for the achievement of which the actor moves.
The definition of kārya in the ten factors: that whose accomplishment the agent intends. Sanskrit as retrieved from https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php?title=Rogabhishagjitiya_Vimana&action=raw : कार्यं तु तद्यस्याभिनिर्वृत्तिमभिसन्धाय कर्ता प्रवर्तते||७२||. OCR 'KSryya' corrected to Kāryya.
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 8:Standard 8.84; Kaviratna's printed number illegible in OCR · checked against the source
The Kāryya-yoni (material cause) is absence of harmony, among the dhātus or constituent elements of the body. The Kāryya (action, or, rather, result of energy spent) is restoration of harmony among the dhātus.
The medical identification: kārya = dhātusāmya. Sanskrit: ...कार्ययोनिर्धातुवैषम्यं, कार्यं धातुसाम्यं, कार्यफलं सुखावाप्तिः...||८४||. '(material cause)' and 'or, rather, result of energy spent' are Kaviratna's glosses.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 1:Standard 1.53; Kaviratna prints 52 · checked against the source
Thus is explained Cause as also Action or Effect. The restoration of the ingredient humours (of the human body) to their normal state will now be explained. The modes of restoring the ingredient humours to their normal state have been said to be the object of this Science.
That the six categories are kāraṇa and dhātusāmya is kārya, the purpose (prayojana) of the science. Sanskrit: इत्युक्तं कारणं कार्यं धातुसाम्यमिहोच्यते| धातुसाम्यक्रिया चोक्ता तन्त्रस्यास्य प्रयोजनम्||५३||. Kaviratna's 'ingredient humours' renders dhātu.
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 8:Standard 8.71 and 8.73; Kaviratna's numbers OCR-garbled, by sequence 83 and 85 · checked against the source
Kāryya-yoni is that which, undergoing a modification, becomes developed into action. [...] Kāryya-phala, is that for the attainment of which the accomplishment is undertaken of an action.
The neighbouring terms that bracket kārya: kāryayoni (what is transformed into the kārya) and kāryaphala (what the kārya is for). Sanskrit: कार्ययोनिस्तु सा या विक्रियमाणा कार्यत्वमापद्यते||७१|| ... कार्यफलं पुनस्तद्यत्प्रयोजना कार्याभिनिर्वृत्तिरिष्यते||७३||. The bracketed ellipsis skips the kārya definition (8.72) quoted separately.
Not to be confused with
- karma
- Karma is the activity (Ca.Su.1.52 kriyā); kārya is what the activity is for (Vi.8.72) or its result (Vi.8.84 dhātusāmya). Rendering both as 'action' (carakasamhitaonline heading; Kaviratna's first choice) erases the distinction; Kaviratna's own correction 'or, rather, result of energy spent' restores it.
- kāryaphala
- Vi.8.84: kārya = dhātusāmya, kāryaphala = sukhāvāpti (attainment of happiness). WHO: 'Treatment protocol' vs 'Immediate outcome, primary endpoint'. The state achieved versus the benefit it yields.
- kāryayoni
- Vi.8.71/84: the material that is transformed into the kārya; medically dhātuvaiṣamya. Kaviratna's translator's note calls it 'material cause' (clay for the jar).
- kārya-dravya
- WHO ITA-1.9.3.7.1 and NIA DG0103: the manifest substances produced from the nine causal dravyas. A compound using kārya as 'effect/product', unrelated to the ten factors.
- prayojana
- Ca.Su.1.53 calls dhātusāmya-kriyā the prayojana (purpose) of the tantra; kārya is the thing to be achieved, prayojana the purpose of the science. Overlapping but not identical.
Renderings that do not hold
- action. Makes kārya = karma. Ca.Vi.8.84 identifies kārya with dhātusāmya, a state, not an act.
- treatment protocol / treatment process. WHO ITA-1.11.5. Imposes a process reading; the Sanskrit at Vi.8.84 names the equilibrium itself.
- duty / task (ordinary Sanskrit kārya). Everyday meaning of the gerundive 'what is to be done'; the technical sense in Vi.8 is specific.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Kaviratna's printed numbers for Vi.8.71-73 and 8.84 need confirmation from page images.
- Whether Sushruta or Vāgbhaṭa use kārya in the ten-factor sense was not checked.
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, kārya
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/karya/, 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.