rogaparīkṣā: what the term means and how it is translated
rogaparīkṣā रोगपरीक्षा 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 | rogaparīkṣā |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | रोगपरीक्षा |
| Also written | roga pariksha, vyadhi pariksha, roga vijnana |
| Category, as gathered | pariksha |
| Grouped here under | Examination and treatment |
| Classical citations | 6 |
| 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.
Disease assessment
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-4.3.1 rogaparīkṣā: 'The process of investigating a disease: it is conducted by applying the five diagnostic principles' · comparator-standard
WHO ties rogaparīkṣā to nidānapañcaka (ITA-4.3.2), i.e., the AH/Madhava framing, not Charaka's trividha jñāna framing.
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.
ascertain (diagnose) disease
Kaviratna, Charaka Samhita Vi 4, aphorism 12 (= standard 4/9) · p. 500 of the Vimanasthana part · public-domain-translation
Kaviratna supplies 'diagnose' in parentheses.
three means of ascertaining diseases
Kaviratna, colophon of Vi 4 · 'Thus ends the Vimanam about the three means of ascertaining diseases' · public-domain-translation
His rendering of trividha-roga-viśeṣa-vijñāna.
examination of disease / diagnosis of disease
common textbook rendering · n/a · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words
Routine.
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 SamhitaVimanasthana 4:standard 4/3 · checked against the source
त्रिविधं खलु रोगविशेषविज्ञानं भवति; तद्यथा आप्तोपदेशः, प्रत्यक्षम्, अनुमानं चेति
Charaka's three means of specific knowledge of disease: āptopadeśa, pratyakṣa, anumāna.
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 4:standard 4/9; Kaviratna aphorism 12 · checked against the source
By Instruction (obtained) from the wise, by acts of Observing, as also by Inference, a physician of wisdom should ascertain (diagnose) disease.
Summary verse of roga-parīkṣā by the three means. Sanskrit (siva.sh 4/9): 'आप्ततश्चोपदेशेन प्रत्यक्षकरणेन च। अनुमानेन च व्याधीन् सम्यग्विद्याद्विचक्षणः ॥९॥'
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 8 (Roga-bhishagjitiya):standard 8/83 · checked against the source
द्विविधातुखलुपरीक्षाज्ञानवतां- प्रत्यक्षम्, अनुमानंच। एतद्धिद्वयमुपदेशश्चपरीक्षास्यात्। एवमेषाद्विविधापरीक्षा, त्रिविधावासहोपदेशेन ॥८३॥
Parīkṣā is twofold (pratyakṣa, anumāna) for the knowledgeable, threefold with upadeśa; Kaviratna's prose version appears at Vi 4 'Hence, with persons possessed of knowledge, there are two methods of examination: Observation, and Inference. Counting Instruction, the methods are three.'
Charaka SamhitaVimanasthana 8:standard 8/88 · checked against the source
कार्ययोनिर्धातुवैषम्यं, तस्यलक्षणंविकारागमः। परीक्षात्वस्यविकारप्रकृतेश्चैवोनातिरिक्तलिङ्गविशेषावेक्षणंविकारस्यचसाध्यासाध्यमृदुदारुणलिङ्गविशेषावेक्षणमिति ॥८८॥
Examination of the disorder (kārya-yoni = dhātu-vaiṣamya) means observing whether its signs are deficient/excessive and whether it is sādhya/asādhya, mṛdu/dāruṇa; links roga-parīkṣā to prognosis.
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 1:22 · checked against the source
रोगं निदानप्राग्रूपलक्षणोपशयाप्तिभिः||२२||
The disease is examined by the five nidāna factors; this is the framing WHO ITA-4.3.1 adopts.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 11 (Tistraishaniya):standard 11/17; Kaviratna aphorism 14 · checked against the source
All things are of two kinds, viz., Sat and Asat. Their perception (or knowledge) is of four kinds, viz., Testimony or affirmation of trustworthy teachers, Direct cognisance, Immediate Inference, and Argumentative Inference or Reasoning.
The fourfold parīkṣā (āptopadeśa, pratyakṣa, anumāna, yukti) of Su 11, versus the threefold of Vi 4 and Vi 8. Sanskrit (siva.sh 11/17): 'द्विविधमेव खलु सर्वं सच्चासच्च; तस्य चतुर्विधा परीक्षा- आप्तोपदेशः, प्रत्यक्षम्, अनुमानं, युक्तिश्चेति ॥१७॥'
Not to be confused with
- rogiparīkṣā
- Examination of the patient (prakṛti, bala, sattva, vayas...) versus examination of the disease (nidāna, rūpa, prognosis); AH Su 1/22 separates them in one verse.
- nidānapañcaka
- The content examined (five factors), not the act of examining; WHO folds the two together.
- parīkṣā as pramāṇa (Su 11/17)
- Epistemological 'means of valid knowledge' (fourfold incl. yukti) versus the clinical act; same word, different level.
- vyādhi-viniścaya
- The diagnostic conclusion (used by Yogaratnakara), not the process.
Renderings that do not hold
- disease assessment (WHO). Acceptable, but WHO's definition restricts it to nidānapañcaka and omits Charaka's āptopadeśa/pratyakṣa/anumāna framing.
- diagnosis. Conflates process (parīkṣā) with result (viniścaya/nirṇaya).
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, rogaparīkṣā
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/roga-pariksha/, 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.