nija-roga: what the term means and how it is translated
nija-roga निजरोगः is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 6 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 | nija-roga |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | निजरोगः |
| Also written | nija vyadhi, nijaja roga, nija-vyādhi, nijaroga |
| Category, as gathered | disease-kinds |
| Grouped here under | Causation and the course of disease |
| Classical citations | 4 |
| 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.
Physical
Charaka Samhita, trans. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · Sutrasthana ch. 11 (Tistraishaniya); full sentence: 'Diseases are of three kinds, viz. Physical, Accidental, and Mental. Physical diseases are those that arise from some abnormal condition of the body.' · translation (public domain)
Kaviratna's rendering of nija at Cha.Su.11/45. Note the collision: 'Physical' is also the natural English for sharirika, so Kaviratna's nija and his sharira compete for the same English word. This is exactly the kind of overlap a lexicon exists to expose.
natural
Charaka Samhita, trans. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna · Nidana Sthana ch. 1, his aphorism 9 (= Ni.1/12 in the modern numbering); full sentence: 'Diseases are of two kinds, as natural and accidental.' · translation (public domain)
The SAME translator renders nija as 'Physical' in Sutrasthana and 'natural' in Nidana Sthana. 'Natural' is also the standard English for svabhavika, a different and contrasting category in Sushruta. Kaviratna is internally inconsistent here and both of his choices collide with other terms.
Nija (endogenous)
Charak Samhita Online / Charak Samhita New Edition (CSRTSDC, 2020) · the source's own wording is not reproduced here: the CSRTSDC/Charak Samhita New Edition English, in copyright · translation (in copyright)
The dominant modern rendering. Recorded as a terminological fact about that source; the surrounding translation is in copyright and is not quoted.
Intrinsic or endogenous diseases
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-4.2.11, Sanskrit headword ādhyātmikarogaḥ (आध्यात्मिकरोगः), description: 'A disease resulting from affliction of the psyche and body including all psychosomatic diseases.' · standard
IMPORTANT: this is NOT an entry for nija-roga. WHO ISTA has no nija-roga headword. It codes the adhyatmika/adhibhautika/adhidaivika triad instead and attaches 'endogenous' to adhyatmika. Anyone citing WHO for 'nija = endogenous' is citing an entry for a different 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.
Ulcer due to endogenous factors
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-5.54.2, Sanskrit headword nijavraṇaḥ (निजव्रणः), description: 'An ulcer developing due to endogenous factors, i.e. vitiation of dosha.' · standard
The only place WHO ISTA uses 'nija' at all, and it is in the compound nijavraṇa, not as a disease class. This does at least establish WHO's gloss of the element nija as 'endogenous'.
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.
endogenous disease
common BAMS/textbook rendering · textbook usage · our paraphrase of the source, not its words
The near-universal modern classroom rendering. Recorded as usage, not sourced to a specific edition.
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 SamhitaSutrasthana 11:45 · checked against the source
त्रयो रोगा इति- निजागन्तुमानसाः| तत्र निजः शारीरदोषसमुत्थः, आगन्तुर्भूतविषवाय्वग्निसम्प्रहारादिसमुत्थः, मानसः पुनरिष्टस्यलाभाल्लाभाच्चानिष्टस्योपजायते||४५|| / trayō rōgā iti- nijāgantumānasāḥ| tatra nijaḥ śārīradōṣasamutthaḥ, āganturbhūtaviṣavāyvagnisamprahārādisamutthaḥ, mānasaḥ punariṣṭasya lābhāllābhāccāniṣṭasyōpajāyatē||45||
The threefold classification nija / agantu / manasa, and Charaka's definition of nija as śārīra-doṣa-samuttha, arising from the bodily doshas. This is the primary classical anchor for nija-roga. Sanskrit quoted with its printed verse number; the English on that page is the 2020 CSRTSDC translation and is not quoted.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 11:45 · checked against the source
Diseases are of three kinds, viz. Physical, Accidental, and Mental. Physical diseases are those that arise from some abnormal condition of the body. Accidental are those that arise from the action of spirits, of poison, of wind, of fire, of acts of violence done to the body, such as beating, &c. Mental diseases are those that arise from non-attainment of objects desired or coveted, or from accession of those that are disliked.
The lawfully quotable English of the same verse. Establishes the 1892-1913 English rendering of the triad as Physical / Accidental / Mental. Quoted from the OCR text of the scanned volume (pages 126-127 of the printed book); the printed verse number is not legible in the scan, so 45 is carried over from the verified Sanskrit rather than read off this page.
Charaka SamhitaNidana Sthana 1:12 · checked against the source
विधिर्नाम- द्विविधा व्याधयो निजागन्तुभेदेन,त्रिविधास्त्रिदोषभेदेन, चतुर्विधाः साध्यासाध्यमृदुदारुणभेदेन|१२| / vidhirnāma- dvividhā vyādhayō nijāgantubhēdēna, trividhāstridōṣabhēdēna, caturvidhāḥ sādhyāsādhyamr̥dudāruṇabhēdēna|12|
Under vidhi-samprapti, Charaka gives a TWOFOLD nija/agantu division of diseases, distinct from the threefold nija/agantu/manasa of Su.11/45. Two different classifications in one text, and a lexicon must carry both rather than harmonise them.
Charaka SamhitaNidana Sthana 1:12 · checked against the source
Kind (or Order) is as follows : — Diseases are of two kinds, as natural and accidental. They are of three kinds, according to the particular fault that has been excited among the three that exist (viz., wind, bile, and phlegm). They are of four kinds, considering curability, incurability, mildness, and violence.
Kaviratna's English for the vidhi-samprapti classification. NUMBERING WARNING: Kaviratna prints this as aphorism 9 of his Nidana Lesson I, while the modern editions number it 12. The chapter and sthana are certain; the verse number given here is the modern one, taken from the verified Sanskrit, not from this page.
Not to be confused with
- sharirika-roga
- Charaka defines nija as śārīra-doṣa-samuttha (Su.11/45), so nija is defined BY reference to sharira, but the two are not the same category. Nija is a cause-based class (arising from one's own doshas) and stands against agantu; sharirika is a seat-based class (located in the body) and stands against manasika. A manasika disease can be nija; an agantu injury is located in the sharira.
- svabhavika-roga
- Sushruta's fourth class, the natural processes (hunger, thirst, ageing, sleep, death). Kaviratna's rendering of nija as 'natural' collides head-on with svabhavika and will mislead anyone reading the two translations side by side.
- adhyatmika-roga
- WHO ISTA glosses adhyatmika as 'Intrinsic or endogenous diseases', the same English most people use for nija. They are different classifications: adhyatmika/adhibhautika/adhidaivika is the three-fold suffering (tapa) scheme used in Sushruta Su.24, while nija/agantu is a cause scheme in Charaka. Two Sanskrit terms sharing one English word is a hazard, not a synonymy.
- sahaja / adibala-pravritta roga
- 'Congenital' and 'hereditary' classes. 'Nija' literally means 'one's own, innate', which invites a reading as 'congenital'. It does not mean congenital in Charaka; it means arising from one's own doshas, which can begin at any age.
Renderings that do not hold
- innate disease / congenital disease. Driven by the literal sense of nija ('own, innate'). Charaka's definition is śārīra-doṣa-samuttha, arising from the bodily doshas, with no claim about presence at birth. Charaka has separate machinery for congenital conditions (and Sushruta has adi-bala- and janma-bala-pravritta).
- natural disease. Kaviratna's own choice at Nidana 1, and wrong for a modern reader because 'natural disease' is the established English for svabhavika, which is the class of processes NOT treated as disease in the ordinary sense.
- physical disease. Kaviratna's choice at Sutrasthana 11, and wrong because it reads as a seat claim (in the body) when nija is a cause claim (from the doshas). It also makes the nija/manasa contrast look like a body/mind contrast, which it is not: Charaka lists manasa as a third item alongside nija, not inside it.
- idiopathic disease. Seen when 'endogenous' is over-read. WHO ISTA reserves 'Idiopathic diseases' for a different Sanskrit headword entirely (ITA-4.2.33, ākasmikarogaḥ, 'manifest suddenly in the body without any apparent cause'). Nija diseases have a stated cause; they are not causeless.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Is there a classical passage that explicitly reconciles the twofold (Cha.Ni.1/12) and threefold (Cha.Su.11/45) schemes, or do the commentators simply let them stand?
- What verse number does Kaviratna's printed Nidana Sthana use, and why does his aphorism numbering run three behind the modern editions? This affects every citation taken from his Nidana volume.
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, nija-roga
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/nija-roga/, 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.