purīṣavaha srotas: what the term means and how it is translated
purīṣavaha srotas पुरीषवहस्रोतस् is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 7 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 | purīṣavaha srotas |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | पुरीषवहस्रोतस् |
| Also written | purīṣavahāni srotāṃsi, varcovāhīni srotāṃsi (वर्चोवाहीनि, Ca.Vi.5/21), purīṣavahasrotaḥ |
| Category, as gathered | srotas (body channel) — anatomy/physiology |
| Grouped here under | Body: tissues, wastes and channels |
| Classical citations | 3 |
| 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.
Channel in which faeces is formed and excreted
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-2.5.20 · standards-body comparator
WHO description: 'The pathway for faeces. Entities related to this channel are the large intestines and rectum.' WHO's head-term uniquely includes FORMATION, not just transport.
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.
Vitiation of channels carrying stools
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-5.5.14 purīṣavaha-srōtōduṣṭi · standards-body comparator (disorder 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.
channels in which faeces is formed and excreted
NAMASTE Portal, Standardised Ayurveda Terminologies · SAT-B.487 · national terminology comparator
Definition: 'originates from pakvāśaya and sṭhūlaguda and is involved in diseases such as atisāra, pravāhikā etc.' WHO and NAMASTE use the identical English head-term.
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.
derangement of purIShavaha srotas
NAMASTE National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes · NAMC EB-14, referenced to Ca.Vi. 5/8; Su.Sa. 9/12 · morbidity-code comparator
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.
injury to purIShavahasrotas
NAMASTE National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes · NAMC LH-4.12, referenced to Su.Sa.9/12 · morbidity-code comparator
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.
The two stool-carrying Srotas (ducts)
Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna, Sushruta Samhita (1911) · Śārīrasthāna IX.11–12 · public-domain translation
purisha or feces
carakasamhitaonline.com (CSRTSL), 2020 · Sroto Vimana 5/6-7 commentary · modern translation (in copyright; rendering recorded as comparator only)
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.
Caraka SaṃhitāVimāna Sthāna 5:5/8 · checked against the source
पुरीषवहानां स्रोतसां पक्वाशयो मूलं स्थूलगुदं च, प्रदुष्टानां तु खल्वेषामिदं विशेषविज्ञानं भवति; तद्यथा- कृच्छ्रेणाल्पाल्पं सशब्दशूलमतिद्रवमतिग्रथितमतिबहु चोपविशन्तं दृष्ट्वा पुरीषवहान्यस्य स्रोतांसि प्रदुष्टानीति विद्यात्|
Root = pakvāśaya (colon) and sthūlaguda (rectum/anorectum); vitiation signs = difficult, scanty, noisy, painful, watery, hard-knotted or excessive defaecation.
Caraka SaṃhitāVimāna Sthāna 5:5/21 · checked against the source
सन्धारणादत्यशनादजीर्णाध्यशनात्तथा| वर्चोवाहीनि दुष्यन्ति दुर्बलाग्नेः कृशस्य च||२१||
Caraka uses varco-vāhīni (from varcas, faeces) in the metrical section, an attested synonym stem not carried by WHO or NAMASTE. Causes: suppression of the urge, overeating, eating on indigestion, weak agni, emaciation.
Suśruta SaṃhitāŚārīra Sthāna 9:11–12 (Bhishagratna); cited as 9/12 elsewhere · checked against the source
The two stool-carrying Srotas (ducts) have their roots in the Guda (anus) and the Pakvashaya (intestines); an injury to any of these is characterised by complete retention of stool (in the bowels), accompanied by a distention of the abdomen, foul smell and intussusception of the intestine (as in a case of ententes).
Suśruta's roots = guda and pakvāśaya, essentially agreeing with Caraka. ('ententes' is an OCR corruption in the retrieved page, evidently for 'enteritis'.)
Not to be confused with
- annavaha srotas
- Both are gut channels. annavaha is rooted proximally (āmāśaya + left flank) and concerns food in digestion; purīṣavaha is rooted distally (pakvāśaya + sthūlaguda) and concerns the mala.
- mahāsrotas
- WHO defines mahāsrotas as the whole cavity 'from the mouth to anus'; purīṣavaha is only its distal, excretory segment.
- purīṣa as mala vs purīṣa-dhara kalā
- The waste product and its retaining membrane are distinct from the conduit.
- varcovaha
- Not a separate channel, Caraka's own metrical synonym at Vi.5/21.
Renderings that do not hold
- the large intestine. Names one root organ as if it were the channel. WHO and NAMASTE both keep 'channels in which faeces is formed and excreted' precisely to avoid the organ equation.
- 'intussusception of the intestine'. Bhishagratna's interpretive gloss; the Sanskrit sign is grathita-āntratā (knotted/hardened bowel), which is not intussusception.
- the excretory system. Conflates purīṣavaha with mūtravaha and svedavaha, which Caraka enumerates as three separate channels with three separate roots.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Why does NAMASTE nest purīṣavaha srotodushti under the annavaha (EB) code block?
- Does sthūlaguda mean the rectum specifically or the whole large bowel?
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, purīṣavaha srotas
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/purishavaha-srotas/, 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.