sveda: what the term means and how it is translated
sveda स्वेद is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 6 different ways across 8 sources, 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 | sveda |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | स्वेद |
| Also written | svedaḥ, sweda, prasveda (AH Sha 3/63 'prasvedo'), sweat, perspiration |
| Category, as gathered | mala |
| Grouped here under | Body: tissues, wastes and channels |
| Classical citations | 7 |
| 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.
Sweat
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-2.4.5 svedaḥ; 'The mala of fat, the function of which is to withhold moisture in the skin.' · standard
WHO classes sweat as the mala of FAT (dhātumala), following Ca.Chi.15/18 'malaḥ svēdastu mēdasaḥ', not as an āhāramala; the function clause follows AH Su 11/5 kleda-vidhṛti.
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.
Fomentation
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-9.2.36 svedana (treatment); also ITA-7.2.4 'Sudation of mercury' svedanam · standard
Recorded to separate the mala (svedaḥ) from the therapy (svedana), which share a stem and are routinely confused in English.
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.
Derangement of sweat; Diminution of sweat; Morbid increase of sweat
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-5.4.9 svedavaiṣamyam; 5.4.10 svedakṣayaḥ; 5.4.11 svedavṛddhiḥ · standard
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.
sweat
NAMASTE Portal, Standardised Ayurveda Terminologies · SAT-B.462 svedaḥ; 'mala of meda dhātu whose function is to withhold kleda (watery portion) in the skin' · standard
Same as WHO, retaining kleda.
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.
disorders of perspiration (CC); hypohidrosis/anhidrosis (CC-1); hyperhidrosis (CC-2)
NAMASTE National Ayurveda Morbidity Codes · NAMC CC svedavaiṣamyam, CC-1 svedakṣayaḥ, CC-2 svedavṛddhiḥ · classification
NAMC switches from 'sweat' (SAT) to 'perspiration' and then to biomedical sign-terms.
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.
sweat
Charaka Samhita, tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna (1896-1913) · Sutrasthana Lesson XXVIII; Chikitsa Lesson XV his 17 (printed as 'sweet', a misprint/OCR error) · translation
perspiration
Sushruta Samhita, tr. Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna (1907) · Sutrasthana XV · translation
Bhishagratna consistently prefers 'perspiration'; Kaviratna 'sweat'. A pure register difference.
perspiration (from fat)
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-2.4.1 malaḥ description · standard
WHO itself uses 'perspiration' inside the mala definition and 'Sweat' as the headword.
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.
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 28:4 (standard) · checked against the source
किट्टात् स्वेदमूत्रपुरीषवातपित्तश्लेष्माणः ... पुष्यन्ति| / kiṭṭāt svēdamūtrapurīṣavātaPittaślēṣmāṇaḥ ... puṣyanti| — Kaviratna: 'From the Refuse arise urine, sweat, faeces* wind, bile, and phlegm'
Sweat is the FIRST mala Charaka names as nourished from kiṭṭa (sveda-mūtra-purīṣa).
Charaka SamhitaChikitsasthana 15:18 (standard); Kaviratna's printed 17 · checked against the source
मलः स्वेदस्तु मेदसः / malaḥ svēdastu mēdasaḥ — Kaviratna: 'while sweet forms the ‘Kitta’ of adeps'
Sweat is the mala of medas (fat). This is why WHO and NAMASTE class sweat as dhātumala, not āhāramala. Kaviratna's 'sweet' is a misprint for 'sweat' and 'adeps' = medas.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 15:5 (siva.sh numbering); Bhishagratna prints no verse numbers · checked against the source
मेदः स्नेहस्वेदौ दृढत्वं पुष्टिमस्थ्नां च ... स्वेदः क्लेदत्वक्सौकुमार्यकृत् / mēdaḥ snēhasvēdau dr̥ḍhatvaṁ puṣṭim asthnāṁ ca ... svēdaḥ klēdatvaksaukumāryakr̥t — Bhishagratna: 'whereas perspiration tends to moisten the skin.'
Two statements in one sūtra: medas produces sneha and sveda; and sveda's function is kleda and softness (saukumārya) of the skin. Bhishagratna compresses this to 'moisten the skin' and drops saukumārya.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 15:11 and 15 (siva.sh numbering) · checked against the source
स्वेदक्षये स्तब्धरोमकूपता त्वक्शोषः स्पर्शवैगुण्यं स्वेदनाशश्च; तत्राभ्यङ्गः स्वेदोपयोगश्च [11] ... स्वेदस्त्वचो दौर्गन्ध्यं कण्डूं च [15] — Bhishagratna: 'Similarly the waste, absence or scanty formation of perspiration is followed by such symptoms as numbness about the pores of the hair, and dryness of the epidermis (skin). The sense of touch is perceptibly affected, and perspiration is entirely stopped. The medical treatment in such a case consists in the application of medicated unguents, lubrications, diaphoretics, and adoption of measures (that tend to produce a copious perspiration).' ... 'Similarly, an increased secretion of perspiration is attended with an itching of the skin which emits a bad odour.'
Sveda-kṣaya signs (stiff hair follicles, dry skin, altered touch, cessation of sweating) with treatment by abhyaṅga and svedana; sveda-vṛddhi signs (bad odour, itching). Note the Sanskrit itself prescribes sveda(na) therapy for sveda(mala)-kṣaya, which is the root of the English confusion between the two words. Charaka Su 17 has NO sveda-kṣaya verse; Sushruta supplies it.
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 11:5 (GRETIL numbering; GRETIL records a variant 11.5c 'svedasya keśa-vidhṛtir') · checked against the source
avaṣṭambhaḥ purīṣasya mūtrasya kleda-vāhanam | svedasya kleda-vidhṛtir vṛddhas tu kurute 'nilaḥ || 5 ||
Sweat's function is kleda-vidhṛti (holding moisture in), the direct source of WHO 2.4.5 'withhold moisture in the skin' and NAMASTE SAT-B.462. The GRETIL variant 'keśa-vidhṛti' (holding the hair) is noted; a human should check which reading Arunadatta adopts.
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 11:14 and 22 (GRETIL numbering) · checked against the source
svedo 'ti-sveda-daurgandhya-kaṇḍūr evaṃ ca lakṣayet | ... || 14 || ... svede roma-cyutiḥ stabdha-roma-tā sphuṭanaṃ tvacaḥ || 22 ||
Vāgbhaṭa's sveda-vṛddhi (excess sweating, bad odour, itching) and sveda-kṣaya (hair fall, stiff hair, cracking skin) signs; NAMC CC-1/CC-2 cite these verses.
Ashtanga HridayaSharirasthana 3:63 (GRETIL numbering) · checked against the source
kaphaḥ pittaṃ malāḥ kheṣu prasvedo nakha-roma ca || 63 ||
Vāgbhaṭa's dhātu-mala list uses prasveda for sweat, in the same position (after the orifice-malas, i.e. mala of medas) as Charaka Chi 15/18.
Not to be confused with
- svedana (therapy)
- Induced sweating / fomentation (WHO ITA-9.2.36; one of the pūrvakarma). Same stem, different category. Sushruta Su 15/11 prescribes svedana FOR sveda-kṣaya, so the two co-occur in one sentence. Over-sudation has its own code (WHO ITA-5.76.8 svedana-atiyogaḥ) distinct from svedavṛddhiḥ (ITA-5.4.11).
- svedavaha srotas
- The channel (Ca.Vi.5/8); separate record. The earlier record in this corpus found that neither WHO's body-channel block nor NAMASTE SAT-B lists the channel, though both code its disorder.
- sveda as a symptom
- In Charaka Su 17/23 and 17/33 'svēdaḥ' appears as a SIGN (sweating in pitta-type head and heart disease); PubMed hits for 'sveda ayurveda' are all case reports using the word in this sign sense. Not the mala entry.
- kleda
- The moisture that sweat holds in the skin (AH 11/5 kleda-vidhṛti) and urine carries away (kleda-vāhana); sveda is the agent, kleda the substance.
- āhāramala vs dhātumala
- The textbook 'trimala' (stool, urine, sweat) groups sweat with the food-wastes, but Charaka Chi 15/18, AH Sha 3/63, WHO 2.4.1/2.4.5 and NAMASTE SAT-B.457/462 all make sweat the mala of medas (dhātumala). The grouping and the derivation do not agree.
- Charaka's eighteen kṣayas
- Kaviratna's footnote at Su 17/63 counts stools, urine and five orifice-secretions as the seven mala-kṣayas; sweat is not among them, and Su 17 has no sveda-kṣaya verse. 'Charaka describes sveda-kṣaya' would be unsupported.
Renderings that do not hold
- 'detoxification through sweat' / sweat removes toxins. No retrieved classical source assigns sweat an eliminative function; Su.Su.15/5 (kleda, saukumārya) and AH Su 11/5 (kleda-vidhṛti) make sweat RETAIN moisture in the skin. Elimination of kleda is assigned to urine, not sweat.
- sveda = svedana ('sweating therapy'). Category error between mala and karma; see distinguishFrom.
- 'moisten the skin' as the whole function (Bhishagratna). Drops tvak-saukumārya (softness of skin) from Su.Su.15/5, and inverts the direction of AH 11/5 (holding moisture in vs applying moisture).
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Textual variant at AH Su 11/5c: kleda-vidhṛti vs keśa-vidhṛti (GRETIL records both). Which commentators prefer which was not checked.
- Why the 'trimala' grouping (stool, urine, sweat) became standard in teaching when the Bṛhattrayī derive sweat from medas; no primary-text source for 'trimala' as a term was located (PubMed 'trimala' 0 records; WHO and NAMASTE have no trimala headword).
- Whether Charaka anywhere states sweat's function (as opposed to origin) was not established.
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, sveda
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/sveda/, 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.