# nidrā (निद्रा)

> Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/nidra/

An Ayurvedic technical term, rendered into English in 5 different ways.
The renderings do not agree, and the difference between them changes what the term is taken
to mean.

## Identification

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Transliteration | nidrā |
| Devanagari | निद्रा |
| Category, as gathered | swasthavritta |
| Grouped under | Regimen and constitution |
| Classical citations | 8 |
| 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.

### sleep

Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna (1890-1908), Lesson XXI · archive.org BIUSante_47357, OCR text ~lines 16831-17066 (his aphorisms 31-34 and closing block) · public-domain translation

Renders nidrā simply as 'sleep' throughout; 'judicious and injudicious sleep' for samyak/asamyak-yoga; 'the Nurse of all creatures' for bhūtadhātrī.

### Sleep (Nidra); 'the illusive energy of God'; 'Tamasi-nidra'

Sushruta Samhita tr. K. L. Bhishagratna (1907-1916), Sharirasthana IV · wisdomlib doc142882, his sections 33-40 · public-domain translation

Glosses vaiṣṇavī as 'the illusive energy of God (lit. the all-pervading deity)'.

### Sleep; When the Mana (mind) & Indriya's (sense organs) get exhausted, they withdraw themselves from the objects & the individual get sleep. Sleep is caused by Tamas, Kapha, physical and mental exertion, adventitious, as sequel to diseases and normally at night.

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022), entry SV0173 · PDF p.207 of the 390-page mirror copy (nia.nic.in/pdf/TERMINOLOGIES.pdf) · comparator

WHO paraphrases Cha.Su.21/35 and 21/58 as its definition. Separate WHO entries exist for anidrā (SK0023), atinidrā (SK0035), nidrā nāśa (AF1344) etc.

Reproduced unaltered and attributed from the WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda, which is what that
licence permits, and deliberately absent from the downloadable dataset, which is CC BY 4.0.

### not retrieved

NAMASTE portal (Ministry of Ayush) · comparator · our paraphrase of the source, not its words

The portal itself was not retrieved. Its SAT-J section 'Preventive and Promotive Health' (124 terms) is described in Thrigulla & Narayanam 2023 (doi 10.1016/j.jaim.2023.100781); whether nidrā has an entry there was not established.

### sleep; one of the three sub-pillars (trayopastambha) of life

Common textbook / PubMed usage · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words

PMID 34949524 abstract: 'Nidra (sleep), Ahara (food) and Brahmacharya (abstinence) are the three sub-pillars of health'.

## The classical passages

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 21 (Ashtauninditiya):Standard (Trikamji, as printed on carakasamhitaonline.com) 21/35; Kaviratna prints his aphorism number 31 after this passage, checked against the source

> When, the mind being fatigued, they that are the souls of action (viz., the senses), becoming fatigued, recede from their objects, it is then that one sleeps.

tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt

The definition of when sleep occurs. Sanskrit seen at carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Ashtauninditiya_Adhyaya: यदा तु मनसि क्लान्ते कर्मात्मानः क्लमान्विताः | विषयेभ्यो निवर्तन्ते तदा स्वपिति मानवः||३५||. Kaviratna's footnote (his own, not the text): 'Sleep, according to this definition, is a total suspension of mental faculties as also the senses'.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 21:Standard 21/36; Kaviratna prints 32 after it, checked against the source

> Happiness and misery, growth and waste, strength and weakness, virility and sterility, knowledge and ignorance, life and death, all depend upon (judicious and injudicious) sleep.

tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt

Effects dependent on sleep. Sanskrit seen: निद्रायत्तं सुखं दुःखं पुष्टिः कार्श्यं बलाबलम्| वृषता क्लीबता ज्ञानमज्ञानं जीवितं न च||३६||. Note '(judicious and injudicious)' is Kaviratna's parenthetical gloss, not in the Sanskrit.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 21:Standard 21/37; Kaviratna prints 33 after it, checked against the source

> Sleep, when indulged on improper occasions or in excess, or not at all, does not contribute to either happiness or longevity, for it is even like the Last Night.

tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt

Akāla, atiprasaṅga and absence of sleep as harmful. Sanskrit seen: अकालेऽतिप्रसङ्गाच्च न च निद्रा निषेविता| सुखायुषी पराकुर्यात् कालरात्रिरिवापरा||३७||.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 21:Standard 21/58-59; Kaviratna's printed numbers OCR as '64' and '*66' which cannot be right given his 31-34 above; his actual printed numbers here were NOT reliably established, checked against the source

> Sleep arises from Tamas, from phlegm also, from the weariness of both mind and body, from hurts and wounds; it is induced also by disease; it arises also from the very nature of Night. [...] Amongst these, that sleep which arises from the nature of Night is called the Nurse of all creatures. The sleep that arises from Tamas is regarded as the root of evil. The sleep that arises from the other causes is regarded as due to Disease.

tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt

The six/seven-fold classification of sleep and bhūtadhātrī ('Nurse of all creatures'). Sanskrit seen: तमोभवा श्लेष्मसमुद्भवा च मनःशरीरश्रमसम्भवा च| आगन्तुकी व्याध्यनुवर्तिनी च रात्रिस्वभावप्रभवा च निद्रा||५८|| रात्रिस्वभावप्रभवा मता या तां भूतधात्रीं प्रवदन्ति तज्ज्ञाः| ...||५९||.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 11 (Tistraishaniya):Standard 11/35; Kaviratna's number for this paragraph OCRs as '36' (the preceding list aphorism carries '*29'), so his number is uncertain, checked against the source

> The three stays (of the body regarded as a column) are eating, sleep, and restraint of the senses.

tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt

Sleep (svapna) as one of the three upastambhas. Sanskrit seen at carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Tistraishaniya_Adhyaya: त्रय उपस्तम्भा इति- आहारः, स्वप्नो, ब्रह्मचर्यमिति [35]. Note the Sanskrit uses svapna, not nidrā; Kaviratna renders brahmacarya as 'restraint of the senses' and footnotes that 'upastambha' means the stays which support a column.

### Sushruta Samhita Sharirasthana IV (Garbhavyakarana):Bhishagratna's own section numbers, NOT Sanskrit verse numbers (vol. 2, Sarira-sthana ch. IV, pp. 149-151): 'Sleep is the illusive energy of God...' opens the paragraph he closes '33-34'; 'Sleep is the offspring of Tamas... fundamental law of Nature' is inside the Memorable Verses he closes '35'; 'Day sleep is forbidden...' opens the paragraph he closes '36'. His 37-39 (do not sleep by day, live a hundred years, habituation) and 40 hold none of the quoted text. Sanskrit numbering (sa.wikisource सुश्रुतसंहिता/शारीरस्थानम् ch. 4, agreeing with easyayurveda): 4/31 heart enveloped by tamas, all beings sleep; 4/33 निद्रां तु वैष्णवीं पाप्मानमुपदिशन्ति... (prose: vaishnavi, tamasi, temperaments, vaikariki) = Bh 33-34; 4/34-37 verses, of which 4/35 निद्रा हेतुस्तमः सत्त्वं बोधने हेतुरुच्यते | स्वभाव एव वा हेतुर्गरीयान् परिकीर्त्यते = the 'offspring of Tamas... law of Nature' sentences (Bh 35); 4/38 सर्वर्तुषु दिवास्वापः प्रतिषिद्धोऽन्यत्र ग्रीष्मात्... (prose) = Bh 36; 4/39-41 = Bh 37-39, not quoted., checked against the source

> Sleep is the illusive energy of God (lit.–the all-pervading deity) and naturally has its sway over all created beings. [...] Sleep is the offspring of Tamas and it is the quality of Sattvam that brings on awakening. This is the fundamental law of Nature. [...] Day sleep is forbidden in all seasons of the year, except in summer and in the case of infants, old men, and persons enfeebled by sexual excesses...

tr. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-3-sharirasthana/d/doc142882.html

Sushruta's account of sleep: vaiṣṇavī, tamas origin, day-sleep rules. Bhishagratna's footnote (his, not the text) cross-references Charaka: 'When the active self of a person, tired in body and mind, loses touch with his worldly affairs, sleep comes to him.'

### Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana XXIV (Anagatabadha-pratishedha):Sushruta Cikitsa 24/88 (sa.wikisource चिकित्सास्थानम् अध्याय २१-२५ numbering): पुष्टिवर्णबलोत्साहमग्निदीप्तिमतन्द्रिताम् | करोति धातुसाम्यं च निद्रा काले निषेविता ||८८||. Bhishagratna prints no verse numbers; the sentence closes the paragraph he marks '61-65'., checked against the source

> A good sleep (Nidra) enjoyed at the proper time (and for the proper period) tends to improve the growth, strength, vigour and complexion of the body. It increases the power of digestion, removes drowsiness, and restores the natural equilibrium among the different fundamental principles (Dhatus) of the organism.

tr. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-4-cikitsasthana/d/doc142934.html

Benefits of timely sleep within the hygiene chapter.

### Ashtanga Hridaya Sutrasthana 7 (Annaraksha):7/53-68 per easyayurveda.com chapter page; 7/53 reads निद्रायत्तं सुखं दुःखं पुष्टिः कार्श्यं बलाबलम् (parallel to Cha.Su.21/36), address only, nothing quoted to check

Vagbhata's sleep section. No quotation permitted.

## Not to be confused with

- **svapna.** In Cha.Su.11/35 the pillar is named svapna (sleep), and svapna also means 'dream'; nidrā is the physiological state, svapna in Indriyasthana contexts means dream.
- **tandrā.** Drowsiness/lassitude; Kaviratna's Lesson XXI lists 'Tandra' among the effects of improper sleep, so it is a symptom, not sleep itself.
- **Yoga Nidra.** A modern guided-relaxation practice; most PubMed 'nidra' records (e.g. PMID 38056373, 38484438) are about this, not Ayurvedic nidrā.
- **nidrānāśa / anidrā.** Insomnia, a disorder (WHO SK0023, AF1344); nidrā itself is the normal state.

## Renderings that do not hold

- 'the illusive energy of God' for vaiṣṇavī (Bhishagratna). Translator's theological gloss; the Sanskrit (निद्रां तु वैष्णवीं) names sleep as belonging to Viṣṇu, with no 'illusion' concept stated in the verse.
- '(judicious and injudicious) sleep' (Kaviratna, 21/36). Parenthetical gloss not in the Sanskrit निद्रायत्तं; the verse says these outcomes depend on sleep, the qualification comes from 21/37-38.

## Open questions

Recorded rather than resolved.

- Kaviratna's printed aphorism numbers for the classification verses (standard 21/58-59) could not be read from the OCR; check the scan page ~243 of Part containing Lesson XXI.
- Sanskrit verse numbers for the Chikitsa 24 sleep passage were not established.

## Citation

Age Ayurveda Nighantu, "nidrā", https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/nidra/, CC BY 4.0.
Whole lexicon: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon.json and https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon.csv.

Educational reference only. A term entry explains what a word means and how it has been
translated. Nothing here is advice.