svastha: what the term means and how it is translated
svastha स्वस्थ 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 | svastha |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | स्वस्थ |
| Category, as gathered | swasthavritta |
| Grouped here under | Regimen and constitution |
| Classical citations | 2 |
| 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.
a healthy person
Sushruta Samhita tr. Bhishagratna, Sutrasthana XV (closing) · wisdomlib doc122907, final paragraph · public-domain translation
Bhishagratna's rendering of the famous samadoṣa definition; he renders dhātu as 'fundamental vital fluids' and prasannātmendriyamanāḥ as 'normal processes of ... intellection', losing the 'contented/serene soul, senses and mind' sense.
the hale ('protection of the health of the hale')
Charaka Samhita tr. Avinash Chandra Kaviratna, Lesson XXX · archive.org BIUSante_47357 OCR ~line 27981 · public-domain translation
Archaic 'hale' for svastha.
Healthy; Composed of two words, Swa and Stha. Swa means own, self and Stha means stable, steady, thus Swastha denotes self abiding, being in ones natural/prākritika state. 2. One who is in his own norms, individual who enjoys normal health.
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022), SV0274 · PDF p.321 (mirror copy); related DG0338 svasthahita, BP0279 svasthāturaparāyaṇaṁ · comparator
WHO gives the etymological 'established in oneself' reading alongside 'healthy'.
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.
healthy individual; 'one who is established in the self'
Common textbook usage · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words
The etymological gloss is ubiquitous in modern Ayurvedic writing.
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.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana XV (Doshadhatumala-kshaya-vriddhi-vijnaniya):Sanskrit 15/41 per easyayurveda.com numbering (chapter ends at 41 there); Bhishagratna prints no verse number · checked against the source
A person with an uniformly healthy digestion, and whose bodily humours are in a state of equilibrium, and in whom the fundamental vital fluids course in their normal state and quantity, accompanied by the normal processes of secretion, organic function, and intellection, is said to be a healthy person.
The canonical definition of svastha. Sanskrit as printed on easyayurveda.com: समदोषः समाग्निश्च समधातुमलक्रियः | प्रसन्नात्मेन्द्रियमनाः स्वस्थ इत्यभिधीयते ||४१||. Other editions number this 15/48; the number was NOT cross-checked against a second Sanskrit edition.
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 30 (Arthedashamahamuliya):Standard 30/26; Kaviratna's printed number OCRs as '®1' and was not established · checked against the source
The purpose of the Science of Life is protection of the health of the hale and alleviation of disease of one that is ailing.
svastha as the subject of Ayurveda's first aim. Sanskrit seen at carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Arthedashmahamooliya_Adhyaya: प्रयोजनं चास्य स्वस्थस्य स्वास्थ्यरक्षणमातुरस्य विकारप्रशमनं च||२६||.
Not to be confused with
- svāsthya
- The abstract noun 'health' (Cha.Su.30/26 svāsthya-rakṣaṇam); svastha is the adjective/person.
- ātura
- The diseased person, the explicit contrast in Cha.Su.30/26 and WHO BP0279 svasthāturaparāyaṇa.
- prākṛta / prakṛti
- WHO glosses svastha as being in one's prākṛtika state; prakṛti (constitution) is a different technical term.
Renderings that do not hold
- 'normal processes of ... intellection' for prasannātmendriyamanāḥ (Bhishagratna). The Sanskrit says soul, senses and mind are prasanna (clear/contented); 'intellection' drops ātman and the affective sense. Edwardian physiology, not the text.
- 'bodily humours' for doṣa. Galenic frame; recorded as Bhishagratna's choice, not a doctrine.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Confirm Su.Su.15/41 vs 15/48 numbering in a critical Sanskrit edition (Trikamji/Dalhana).
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, svastha
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/swastha/, 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.