# snehana (स्नेहन)

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

An Ayurvedic technical term, rendered into English in 7 different ways.
The renderings do not agree, and the difference between them changes what the term is taken
to mean.

## Identification

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Transliteration | snehana |
| Devanagari | स्नेहन |
| Also written | snehanam, snehana-karma, sneha-karma, snehapana (internal mode), oleation |
| Category, as gathered | chikitsa-3 |
| Grouped under | Examination and treatment |
| Classical citations | 4 |
| 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.

### Therapeutic oleation

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-9.1.44 snehanam/snehanakarma, PDF p.433 (printed p.415); description: 'One of the six types of treatment modalities which involves administration of oils or fats both internally and externally.' · comparator

Comparator only. Correctly keeps both internal and external modes; 'oleation' is the dominant modern English.

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.

### Snehana (left untranslated in the running text of Su.22); elsewhere glossed 'snehanas (emollients)' and 'Snehana (application of ghees and oils as emollients)'

Kaviratna, Charaka-Samhita (1890-1908) · Lesson XXII (Sutrasthana), printed pp.244-249; gloss 'snehanas (emollients)' in Vimanasthana Lesson VIII region p.405; 'Snehana (application of ghees and oils as emollients)' in Chikitsa Grahani chapter · public-domain translator

Kaviratna transliterates the six upakramas rather than translating them. His glosses vary by context.

### 'Snehana means the application of medicated oils over the surface of the body.' (translator's footnote)

Kaviratna, Charaka-Samhita, translator's note (marked '— T.') · footnote in Chikitsasthana fever/pitta section, printed p.523-524 of the archive scan · public-domain translator (footnote)

A translator's note, not the text. It restricts snehana to external application, which contradicts Charaka's own usage (snehapana) and Sushruta Chi.31.2 which lists food, drink, enemas, errhines as modes.

### 'Sneha or an oleaginous substance'; chapter title 'The medicinal use of Sneha (oleaginous substances)'

Bhishagratna, Sushruta Samhita vol. 4 Chikitsasthana ch. XXXI (via wisdomlib) · Su.Chi.31, Bhishagratna sections 1-3 · public-domain translator

Bhishagratna renders the substance (sneha), not the procedure noun snehana; he never uses 'oleation'.

### 'Snehana' used only as the function of meda dhatu ('whose function is to provide Snehana')

NIA/WHO-APW draft 'Standardization of Non-Clinical Terminologies of Ayurveda' (hosted at rvpganagpur.com, mis-titled online as WHO ISTA) · SK0123 meda dhātu · comparator (draft)

This draft has no standalone snehana entry in the extraction I searched; it is not the 2022 WHO publication and should not be cited as such.

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.

### oleation / oleation therapy / lubrication therapy

textbook and web usage (e.g. easyayurveda chapter title 'Lubrication / Oleation Therapy'; carakasamhitaonline 'Snehana (oleation)') · https://www.easyayurveda.com/sushruta-samhita-chikitsasthana-chapter-31-snehopayogika-cikitsitam-lubrication-oleation-therapy/ · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words

'Oleation' is standard in Indian Ayurvedic English; 'lubrication' is a loose synonym.

### 'Snehana (oleation)'; 'vardhamana snehapana or shodhana sneha'

PubMed literature (PMID 42748372; PMID 32732172) · abstracts · modern literature

Research English follows 'oleation'; 'snehapana' is used for the internal escalating-dose mode.

## The classical passages

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 22 (Langhanabrimhaniya):Standard (Trikamji, per carakasamhitaonline) 22.11 first half; Kaviratna prints '7-9' AFTER the block covering all six definitions, checked against the source

> Kaviratna: "That which leads to secretions of oily matter, softness of the body, and increase of impurities, is said to be Snehana." Sanskrit (carakasamhitaonline): "स्नेहनं स्नेहविष्यन्दमार्दवक्लेदकारकम् | स्तम्भगौरवशीतघ्नं स्वेदनं स्वेदकारकम्||११||"

tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna (English); Sanskrit from carakasamhitaonline.com · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt ; https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Langhanabrimhaniya_Adhyaya

Charaka's operational definition of snehana as the therapy producing unctuousness (sneha), liquefaction/flow (vishyanda), softness (mardava) and moistening (kleda). Kaviratna's number 7-9 and the standard 11 are both recorded; no arithmetic conversion applied.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 22:Standard 22.15 (carakasamhitaonline, Trikamji numbering); Kaviratna prints '13' after the sentence, p. 245, Lesson XXII (archive.org BIUSante_47357 leaf 347, read from the page image), checked against the source

> Kaviratna: "Such things as are liquid, subtile, stable, oily, slimy, heavy, cooling, not pungent or mild, and soft, are generally regarded as Snehana." Sanskrit: "द्रवं सूक्ष्मं सरं स्निग्धं पिच्छिलं गुरु शीतलम्| प्रायो मन्दं मृदु च यद्द्रव्यं तत्स्नेहनं मतम्||१५||"

tr. Kaviratna · https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt ; https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Langhanabrimhaniya_Adhyaya

The nine gunas Caraka assigns to snehana substances at Su 22.15, 'as a rule' (prayah): drava, suksma, sara, snigdha, picchila, guru, sitala, manda, mrdu. Kaviratna's English (his aphorism 13, p. 245) renders these as liquid, subtile, stable, oily, slimy, heavy, cooling, not pungent or mild, and soft. His 'stable' for saram is a slip: on the same page he renders saram as 'unstable' in the Langhana (his 10) and Swedana (his 14) aphorisms, where sthiram is 'stable', and his footnote glosses 'Sara' as 'moving or unstable'. Sthira does not occur in 22.15. Use the Sanskrit for the guna list; the English is evidence of Kaviratna's rendering only.

### Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana 31 (Snehopayaugika):Bhishagratna sections 2-3 (his own numbering); Sanskrit verses 31.3-4 per siva.sh edition, checked against the source

> Bhishagratna: "A Sneha or an oleaginous substance forms the essential factor of the physical organism, and the self- conscious animated element (which contributes directly to its vitality and makes life possible) abounds in oleaginous principles; both are consequently in constant want of a Sneha. Snehas or oleaginous substances are enjoined to be administered in food and drinks as well as in Anuvasana, Mastikya-shiro-vasti and Uttara-vasti (urethral or vaginal enemas), errhines (Nasya), ear-drops (Karna-purana) and unguents (Abhyanga). 2." and "There are four kinds of Snehas which, however, are divided into two classes according to their origin: viz., vegetable and animal. Clarified butter prepared from cow's milk is the best of the animal Snehas, while Sesamum oil is the best of the vegetable ones, 3." Sanskrit 31.3: "स्नेहसारोऽयं पुरुषः, प्राणाश्च स्नेहभूयिष्ठाः स्नेहसाध्याश्च भवन्ति । स्नेहो हि पानानुवासनमस्तिष्कशिरोबस्त्युत्तरबस्तिनस्यकर्णपूरणगात्राभ्यङ्गभोजनेषूपयोज्यः ॥३॥"

tr. Kunja Lal Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-4-cikitsasthana/d/doc142947.html ; https://www.siva.sh/sushruta-samhita/chikitsa-sthana/31/1-5

Sushruta's rationale (the person is sneha-sara) and the full list of routes: drink, enema, head-basti, uttara-basti, nasya, ear filling, body massage, food. Shows snehana is not restricted to external massage.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 13 (Snehadhyaya):whole chapter

**Quotation withheld:** nobody has yet read this quotation against its printed source, and an unchecked quotation is not published here. The passage is at https://archive.org/download/BIUSante_47357/BIUSante_47357_djvu.txt ; https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Snehadhyaya

Location of Charaka's dedicated snehana chapter. Not quoted in detail here; a human should extract the 24 modes / 64 sub-modes and the samyak-snigdha signs from Kaviratna Lesson XIII against the Sanskrit of Su.13.

## Not to be confused with

- **sneha.** The substance (ghee, oil, fat, marrow); snehana is the procedure/effect produced with it. Bhishagratna translates sneha, not snehana.
- **abhyanga.** External oil massage is one route of snehana (bahya), listed by Sushruta Chi.31.3 alongside drink, enema, nasya; equating snehana with massage is a reduction.
- **snehapana.** Internal drinking of sneha; one mode (abhyantara) of snehana, especially the escalating shodhana-sneha before panchakarma.
- **brimhana.** Nourishing/bulk-promoting therapy; Charaka Su.22 lists it as a separate upakrama with its own definition and qualities even though many snehas are also brimhana.
- **rukshana.** The opposite upakrama (drying); Charaka pairs them as contraries in Su.22.

## Renderings that do not hold

- massage / oil massage. Collapses snehana into abhyanga; omits internal snehapana and the enema/nasya routes (Su.Chi.31.3).
- lubrication. A mechanical metaphor; the Charaka definition specifies vishyanda (liquefaction/flow of dosha), mardava and kleda, not lubrication of joints.
- 'application of medicated oils over the surface of the body' (Kaviratna's note). Translator's footnote, not the text; contradicted by Charaka's own internal snehapana.

## Open questions

Recorded rather than resolved.

- Charaka Su.13's enumeration of 24 modes and 64 sub-modes of sneha use, and the samyak-snigdha / atisnigdha signs, were located (Kaviratna Lesson XIII) but not extracted and verified against Sanskrit.
- Whether NAMASTE codes snehana as a procedure could not be checked (portal requires login).

## Citation

Age Ayurveda Nighantu, "snehana", https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/snehana/, 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.