# vamana (वमन)

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

An Ayurvedic technical term, rendered into English in 6 different ways.
The renderings do not agree, and the difference between them changes what the term is taken
to mean.

## Identification

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Transliteration | vamana |
| Devanagari | वमन |
| Also written | vamana-karma, vamanam, ūrdhvabhāgahara, therapeutic emesis, emesis therapy |
| Category, as gathered | chikitsa-3 |
| Grouped 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.

### Therapeutic emesis

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-6.2.6.10 vamana-karma, ūrdhvabhāgahara-karma, PDF p.389; description: 'A therapeutic emesis to eliminate vitiated pitta and kapha which are drawn to the stomach by preparatory panchakarma procedures.' · comparator

Comparator; filed under drug actions (6.2.6). WHO's synonym ūrdhvabhāgahara echoes Charaka Ka.1.4.

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.

### 'Therapeutic emesis.' (vamana, AT0353); 'Emetics' (vamana dravya, DG0389); 'Substances that facilitate emesis' (vamanopaga, DG0390)

NIA/WHO-APW draft 'Standardization of Non-Clinical Terminologies of Ayurveda' (rvpganagpur.com PDF) · AT0353, DG0389, DG0390 · comparator (draft)

Draft; same rendering as WHO 2022.

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.

### 'Vamana (administration of emetics)'; 'vamya (emetics)'; 'the two processes of Sodhana, (viz, Vamana and Virechana)'

Kaviratna, Charaka-Samhita · footnote on the five karmas, Vimanasthana region p.~400; Vimanasthana Lesson VIII p.405; Siddhisthana summary p.437 · public-domain translator

Kaviratna transliterates and glosses with 'emetics'.

### emetics / emesis; chapter title 'Description of purgative and emetic medicines'

Bhishagratna, Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana ch. XXXIII · Su.Chi.33 title and sections 2-7 · public-domain translator

Standard Edwardian pharmacological English; 'emesis' for the act, 'emetic' for the drug.

### 'Vamana (therapeutic emesis)'; 'Vamana Karma (∼therapeutic emesis)'; 'Vamana (therapeutic vomiting)'; 'bio-purification'

PubMed PMIDs 36743277, 37738856, 39305812, 41632954 · titles/abstracts · modern literature

Research English is settled on 'therapeutic emesis'; 'bio-purification' is a non-classical gloss for shodhana.

### 'Vamana (therapeutic emesis) and Virechana (therapeutic purgation)'

carakasamhitaonline.com, Madanakalpa Adhyaya abstract · https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Madanakalpa_Adhyaya · textbook

Modern academic rendering; body translation copyrighted and not quoted.

## The classical passages

### Charaka Samhita Kalpasthana 1 (Madanakalpa):Standard 1.4 (Sanskrit only; Kaviratna's archive edition does not extend to Kalpasthana), checked against the source

> "तत्र दोषहरणमूर्ध्वभागं वमनसञ्ज्ञकम्, अधोभागं विरेचनसञ्ज्ञकम्; उभयं वा शरीरमलविरेचनाद्विरेचनसञ्ज्ञां लभते||४||"

tr. none (Sanskrit) · https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Madanakalpa_Adhyaya

Charaka's definition: removal of dosha by the upward route is called vamana, by the downward route virechana; and both may be called virechana because both purge bodily malas. Sanskrit verbatim from a retrieved numbered edition; no public-domain English available for Kalpasthana.

### Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana 33 (Vamana-virechana-sadhyopadrava):Bhishagratna section 2; Sanskrit 33.3-4 per siva.sh edition, checked against the source

> Bhishagratna: "The principal maxims to be followed are to augment the loss or deficiency, to pacify the aggravation and reduce the increment of the Doshas and maintain them in a state of healthy equilibrium. Emetics and purgatives are the principal remedies in cleansing the system of all the Doshas (morbific principles). Now hear me, therefore, discourse on the mode of their administration. 2." Sanskrit 33.4: "प्राधान्येन वमनविरेचने वर्तेते निर्हरणे दोषाणाम् । तस्मात्तयोर्विधानमुच्यमानमुपधारय ॥४॥"

tr. Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-4-cikitsasthana/d/doc142951.html ; https://www.siva.sh/sushruta-samhita/chikitsa-sthana/33/1-5

Sushruta ranks vamana and virechana as the principal means of dosha removal (nirharana), after stating the general therapeutic maxim (33.3).

### Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana 33:Bhishagratna section 4 ('Memorable Verse'); Sanskrit 33.6, checked against the source

> Bhishagratna: "An emetic medicine does its fullest action, when given to a man after having applied a Sneha and Sveda (to him) and after having stirred up the Doshas of his body with the help of a soft mucilaginous (Kapha-producing) fluid and emollient food so as to accelerate their easy expulsion from the system 4." Sanskrit: "भवति चात्र- पेशलैर्विविधैरन्नैर्दोषानुत्क्लेश्य देहिनः । स्निग्धस्विन्नाय वमनं दत्तं सम्यक् प्रवर्तते ॥६॥"

tr. Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-4-cikitsasthana/d/doc142951.html ; https://www.siva.sh/sushruta-samhita/chikitsa-sthana/33/6-10

Sequence snehana-svedana-utkleshana before vamana. Bhishagratna's parenthesis '(Kapha-producing)' is his gloss and carries footnote [1] on a variant reading.

### Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana 33:Bhishagratna 'Memorable Verses' after section 6; Sanskrit 33.8, checked against the source

> Bhishagratna: "The symptoms of an imperfect emesis are water-brash (Kaphapraseka), sticking secretion or sensation of impurity in the regions of the Hridaya (heart) and itching sensations." Sanskrit: "कफप्रसेकं हृदयाविशुद्धिं कण्डूं च दुश्छर्दितलिङ्गमाहुः । पित्तातियोगं च विसञ्ज्ञतां च हृत्कण्ठपीडामपि चातिवान्ते ॥८॥"

tr. Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-4-cikitsasthana/d/doc142951.html ; https://www.siva.sh/sushruta-samhita/chikitsa-sthana/33/6-10

Signs of inadequate (dushchardita) and excessive (ativanta) emesis.

### Sushruta Samhita Chikitsasthana 33:Bhishagratna section 11; Sanskrit 33.14-15 (siva.sh) begin 'न वामयेत्तैमिरिकोर्ध्ववातगुल्मोदरप्लीहकृमिश्रमार्तान्', checked against the source

> Bhishagratna: "Emesis or the exhibition of emetics is forbidden in cases of Timira (cataract, upward determination of the Vayu in the body (Urdhva-vata), Gulma, Udavarta, abdominal dropsy, enlargement of the spleen, worms (in the intestines) and urinary complaints, as well as in respect of fatigued, corpulent, thirsty, hungry, emaciated and too old persons and of infants, Kshata- kshina patients and those suffering from a loss of voice and in respect of those also who are of studious habits or are capable of being treated with a strong emetic and that only with the greatest difficulty."

tr. Bhishagratna · https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/sushruta-samhita-volume-4-cikitsasthana/d/doc142951.html ; https://www.siva.sh/sushruta-samhita/chikitsa-sthana/33/11-15

Contraindications to vamana. Bhishagratna's 'cataract' for timira is a translator's identification.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 22:Standard 22.18 (not independently verified); Kaviratna prints '18'

**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

Charaka classes vamana (with virechana, shirovirechana, niruha) under langhana; important for taxonomy. Standard verse number assumed from Kaviratna's '18' and the chapter sequence but not separately confirmed in Sanskrit.

## Where this term does work in the theory

One concept record names this term as one of its components, and glosses it there as follows.

- **[Panchakarma rationale](https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/concept/panchakarma-rationale/)** (as Vamana): Therapeutic emesis; the upward (urdhva) route, principally directed at kapha. Operative passage: Bhishagratna's Sushruta Chikitsa XXXIII, sections 3-13, with the route difference explained at sections 21-22 by the emetic being undigested and so forcing its way up.

## Not to be confused with

- **virechana.** Downward-route counterpart (Ca.Ka.1.4); Charaka notes both can be called virechana in the wide sense.
- **chardi (vomiting as disease).** Pathological emesis; vamana is induced, staged, with snehana-svedana preparation and samyak signs (Su.Chi.33.6, 33.8).
- **shodhana / panchakarma.** Umbrella terms; vamana is one of the five, and WHO 6.2.6.10 defines it by reference to preparatory panchakarma.
- **langhana.** Charaka Su.22.18 classes vamana under langhana (reducing therapy); it is not a separate upakrama in the sixfold scheme.
- **'detox' / 'bio-purification'.** Marketing or research glosses for shodhana with no classical equivalent; they obscure the specific route (urdhva) and dosha target (kapha, pitta).

## Renderings that do not hold

- vomiting therapy / induced vomiting. Loses the therapeutic apparatus (preparation, dose, samyak/ayoga/atiyoga signs) that defines vamana as karma.
- detoxification. Non-classical; dosha are not 'toxins'.
- 'Kapha-producing' fluid (Bhishagratna's parenthesis at 33.6). Translator's gloss for utkleshana foods; the Sanskrit says peshala/various foods that provoke (utkleshya) dosha.

## Open questions

Recorded rather than resolved.

- Kaviratna's archive scan appears not to include Kalpasthana or Siddhisthana (last headings are Chikitsasthana lessons), so no public-domain English exists for Ka.1.4 in this corpus; confirm against the physical volumes.
- Standard number for Charaka Su.22.18 should be confirmed in Sanskrit.

## Citation

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