ṛtucaryā: what the term means and how it is translated
ṛtucaryā ऋतुचर्या is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 4 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 | ṛtucaryā |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | ऋतुचर्या |
| Category, as gathered | swasthavritta |
| Grouped here under | Regimen and constitution |
| Classical citations | 3 |
| 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.
the Chapter which treats of the characteristic features of the different seasons of the year and their influence on health and drugs (Ritucarya-adhyaya)
Sushruta Samhita tr. Bhishagratna, Sutrasthana VI opening · wisdomlib doc122894, his p. 45 · public-domain translation
Bhishagratna expands the chapter title rather than translating the compound; wisdomlib's chapter heading is 'Different seasons of the year'.
the opportuneness of conduct and food with seasons
Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna, Lesson VI · archive.org BIUSante_47357 OCR ~line 5399 · public-domain translation
Charaka's chapter is Tasyāśitīya, not titled ṛtucaryā; Kaviratna renders ṛtusātmya as 'opportuneness of conduct and food with seasons'.
Two months together are called a ŗtu. Ŗtucarya denotes the work or duties which are to be carried out during each Rtu, it includes seasonal food intake, seasonal activities and Seasonal cleansing process(Rtu Anusara śodhana)
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022), SV0218 (printed 'ṛtucaryaa') · PDF p.265 (mirror copy) · comparator
WHO includes seasonal śodhana within ṛtucaryā.
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.
seasonal regimen
PubMed / textbook usage · PMID 31522839 title; PMID 22131771 title · textbook
Dominant modern rendering.
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 6 (Tasyashitiya):Standard 6/3; Kaviratna prints his number 1 after it · checked against the source
Of him who is acquainted with the opportuneness of conduct and food with seasons, strength and complexion (and happiness and period of life) increase, in consequence of his food, &c., (being taken with propriety).
The rationale of seasonal regimen (ṛtusātmya). Sanskrit seen at carakasamhitaonline.com: तस्याशिताद्यादाहाराद्बलं वर्णश्च वर्धते। यस्यर्तुसात्म्यं विदितं चेष्टाहारव्यपाश्रयम्॥३॥. '(and happiness and period of life)' is Kaviratna's addition.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana VI (Ritucharya-adhyaya):Sanskrit verse numbers not established; Bhishagratna pp. 45-50 · checked against the source
Now we shall discuss the Chapter which treats of the characteristic features of the different seasons of the year and their influence on health and drugs (Ritucarya-adhyaya). [...] The fundamental bodily humours such as, wind, bile, etc. augmented and accumulated during the rains, Hemanta and summer, should be checked as soon as they become aggravated... in autumn, spring, or in the forepart of the rainy season.
That Sushruta has a chapter titled Ṛtucaryā and states the seasonal caya/prakopa/praśama cycle; the ellipsis marks text omitted in retrieval.
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 3 (Ritucharya adhyaya):chapter-level; opening verses 3/1-3 seen in Devanagari on a blog transcription · address only, nothing quoted to check
Vagbhata's dedicated ṛtucaryā chapter.
The concept record for this term
A term entry answers what the word means. It does not answer whether the thing the word names is settled, and often it is not. That is what the concept record is for: it sets out the questions on which the sources disagree about this term, with each position attributed, and states what is not established.
Not to be confused with
- dinacaryā
- Daily regimen; ṛtucaryā is the seasonal overlay (WHO SV0089 vs SV0218).
- ṛtusātmya
- The accustomed suitability to a season (Cha.Su.6/3 ṛtusātmyaṃ); ṛtucaryā is the regimen that produces it.
- ṛtuśodhana
- Seasonal purification is included by WHO within ṛtucaryā but is a distinct Panchakarma practice (cf. PMID 22131733 'Vasantic Vaman').
Renderings that do not hold
- 'seasonal diet'. Both Charaka 6/3 (ceṣṭāhāra) and WHO include activities/conduct, not food alone.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Sanskrit verse numbers for the Sushruta Su.6 passages quoted (Bhishagratna prints none).
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, ṛtucaryā
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/ritucharya/, 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.