malavṛddhi: what the term means and how it is translated
malavṛddhi मलवृद्धि is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 9 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 | malavṛddhi |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | मलवृद्धि |
| Also written | mala-vṛddhi, purīṣavṛddhi, mūtravṛddhi, svedavṛddhi, mala vriddhi, increase of malas, excess of excreta |
| Category, as gathered | mala |
| Grouped here under | Body: tissues, wastes and channels |
| 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.
Morbid increase of faeces
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-5.4.7 purīṣavṛddhiḥ; 'A disorder characterized by some or all the following signs and symptoms: gurgling sounds in the abdomen; pain in abdomen; heaviness of abdomen; enlargement of abdomen.' · standard
WHO has no generic malavṛddhi; coded per mala only. Note WHO uses 'Morbid increase' for mala-vṛddhi but 'Excess formation' for ojovṛddhiḥ (ITA-5.3.37) in the adjacent block, i.e. vṛddhi is rendered inconsistently within one page.
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.
Morbid increase of urine
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-5.4.4 mūtravṛddhiḥ; '...frequent micturition; pricking pain in urinary bladder or basti; abdominal distension; urge even after micturition.' · standard
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.
Morbid increase of sweat
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-5.4.11 svedavṛddhiḥ; 'A disorder characterized by bad skin odour; itching; increased perspiration.' · standard
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.
morbid increase of purISha
NAMASTE National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes · NAMC CB-2 purīṣavṛddhiḥ; refs Su.Su.15/15; As. Su.19/4; Ah.Su.11/13 · classification
NAMC follows WHO's 'morbid increase' here but switches to biomedical terms for urine and sweat.
Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the Government of India NAMASTE terminology, 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.
polyuria
NAMASTE National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes · NAMC CA-2 mūtravṛddhiḥ; refs Su.Su.15/15; As. Su.19/4; Ah.Su.11/13; As. Ni.11/29; Ah.Ni.11/27 · classification
Biomedical sign-term; the classical description also includes basti-toda and ādhmāna.
Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the Government of India NAMASTE terminology, 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.
hyperhidrosis
NAMASTE National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes · NAMC CC-2 svedavṛddhiḥ; refs Su.Su.15/15; As.Su.19/4; Ah.Su.11/14 · classification
Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the Government of India NAMASTE terminology, 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.
accumulation of feces/ increase in quantity of feces
NAMASTE Portal, Standardised Ayurveda Terminologies · SAT-D.5095 purīṣavṛddhiḥ (signs and symptoms list) · standard
'Accumulation' slides toward retention, which AH 11/25 treats as the cause rather than the state.
Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the Government of India NAMASTE terminology, 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.
abnormal increase in the formation (of fecal matter); excessive formation (of urine); increased secretion (of perspiration); excess (excessive accumulation in the body)
Sushruta Samhita, tr. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1907) · Sutrasthana XV · translation
Bhishagratna renders vṛddhi with 'increase', 'excessive formation', 'increased secretion' and 'excess' in consecutive sentences.
increase beyond their normal measure
Charaka Samhita, tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna (1896-1913) · Sutrasthana Lesson XXVIII (svamānātiriktāḥ) · translation
Charaka has no mala-vṛddhi sign-list in Su 17; Kaviratna's phrase is for the general principle at Su 28/4.
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.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 15:13 (introduction) and 15 (Sanskrit verse numbers from siva.sh; Bhishagratna prints no verse numbers) · checked against the source
अत ऊर्ध्वमतिवृद्धानां दोषधातुमलानां लक्षणं वक्ष्यामः । वृद्धिः पुनरेषां स्वयोनिवर्धनात्युपसेवनाद्भवति । ... [13] पुरीषमाटोपं कुक्षौ शूलं च; मूत्रं मूत्रवृद्धिं मुहुर्मुहुः प्रवृत्तिं बस्तितोदमाध्मानं च; स्वेदस्त्वचो दौर्गन्ध्यं कण्डूं च ॥१५॥ — Bhishagratna: 'Now we shall describe the symptoms which mark the excess (excessive accumulation in the body) of any of the fundamental humours, principles and excrements of the body. The quantities of these humours, principles and secretion, are abnormally increased through the use of substances that primarily contribute to their formation in the organism.' ... 'An abnormal increase in the formation of fecal matter is attended with distension of the abdomen and colic pains in the loins and the intestines. An excessive formation of urine is manifest by constant urging for micturition and distension of the bladder, attended by a kind of gnawing or aching pain. Similarly, an increased secretion of perspiration is attended with an itching of the skin which emits a bad odour.'
The primary classical sign-list for mala-vṛddhi (faeces: āṭopa and kukṣi-śūla; urine: frequent passing, basti-toda, ādhmāna; sweat: bad odour and itching) and its cause (over-use of what builds that item). Both WHO 5.4.4/5.4.7/5.4.11 and NAMC CA-2/CB-2/CC-2 descriptions are recognisably paraphrases of this sūtra, and NAMC cites it (Su.Su.15/15).
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 28:4 (standard); Kaviratna's printed number for this clause unreadable in OCR · checked against the source
स्वमानातिरिक्ताः पुनरुत्सर्गिणः शीतोष्णपर्यायगुणैश्चोपचर्यमाणा मलाः शरीर धातुसाम्यकराः समुपलभ्यन्ते||४|| / svamānātiriktāḥ punarutsargiṇaḥ śītōṣṇaparyāyaguṇaiścōpacaryamāṇā malāḥ śarīra Dhātusāmyakarāḥ samupalabhyantē||4|| — Kaviratna: 'As regards the latter Dhatus, viz., Malas, which have the virtue of being excreted, when they increase beyond their normal measure, being treated alternately by regimen of cooling and warm properties, they regain their position of restoratives of the elements of the body to harmony.'
Charaka's general principle for mala in excess of its measure: it is to be excreted, and managed by alternating cold and hot regimen, after which the malas again maintain dhātu-equilibrium. Charaka Su 17 gives no per-mala vṛddhi sign-list (that chapter's vṛddhi section is for the doṣas only).
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 11:13-14 (GRETIL numbering) · checked against the source
kukṣāv ādhmānam āṭopaṃ gauravaṃ vedanāṃ śakṛt | mūtraṃ tu vasti-nistodaṃ kṛte 'py a-kṛta-saṃjña-tām || 13 || svedo 'ti-sveda-daurgandhya-kaṇḍūr evaṃ ca lakṣayet | dūṣikādīn api malān bāhulya-guru-tādibhiḥ || 14 ||
Vāgbhaṭa's mala-vṛddhi list, adding 'urge even after voiding' (kṛte 'py akṛta-saṃjñatā) for urine, which WHO 5.4.4 and NAMC CA-2 reproduce, and extending vṛddhi to the minor malas (dūṣikā etc.) by abundance and heaviness.
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 11:25 (GRETIL numbering) · checked against the source
vṛddhiṃ malānāṃ saṅgāc ca kṣayaṃ cāti-visargataḥ | malocita-tvād dehasya kṣayo vṛddhes tu pīḍanaḥ || 25 ||
Mala-vṛddhi arises from retention (saṅga); it is less distressing than mala-kṣaya because the body is habituated to its malas.
Not to be confused with
- mala-kṣaya
- AH Su 11/25 gives opposite causes (retention vs over-discharge) and says vṛddhi is the less distressing of the two.
- mala-saṅga / vibandha / mala-apravṛtti (retention)
- Retention is the CAUSE of vṛddhi in AH 11/25, not the state itself; NAMASTE SAT-D.5095's 'accumulation of feces' blurs this. ICD-11 TM2 lists mala-apravṛtiḥ as an index term under SM7Y, a gastro-intestinal disorder, not a mala-vṛddhi.
- doṣa-vṛddhi
- Charaka Su 17 gives vṛddhi signs for doṣas only; mala-vṛddhi signs come from Sushruta Su 15/15 and AH Su 11/13-14. Citing Charaka Su 17 for mala-vṛddhi would be wrong.
- prameha / mūtrātisāra
- Polyuric diseases with their own nidāna; NAMC codes mūtravṛddhi (CA-2) separately from them, but renders it 'polyuria', inviting confusion.
- svedana (therapy)
- Induced sweating (WHO ITA-9.2.36 'Fomentation') is a treatment, not svedavṛddhi; WHO codes svedana-atiyogaḥ (ITA-5.76.8) for over-sudation as a separate iatrogenic disorder.
Renderings that do not hold
- polyuria / hyperhidrosis (NAMC CA-2, CC-2). Biomedical sign-words standing for syndromes that in Su.Su.15/15 and Ah.Su.11/13-14 include pain, distension, odour and itching; and 'polyuria' names a quantity whereas the Sanskrit lists frequency and residual urge.
- accumulation / retention (SAT-D.5095). Conflates the state (vṛddhi) with its cause (saṅga) per AH 11/25.
- 'excess waste = toxicity'. Charaka Su 28/4 says malas in excess are simply to be excreted and managed by regimen, after which they resume their equilibrating role; nothing in the retrieved texts frames vṛddhi as poisoning.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- No generic malavṛddhi headword exists in WHO or NAMASTE (both code per mala); whether any standard has one was not established.
- WHO's inconsistency ('Morbid increase' for malas, 'Excess formation' for ojas) may be deliberate; the editorial rationale was not found.
- Bhishagratna's own section numbers for the vṛddhi passage were not captured (wisdomlib shows footnote markers [8]-[10] only).
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, malavṛddhi
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/mala-vriddhi/, 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.