viśada: what the term means and how it is translated
viśada विशद is an Ayurvedic technical term. It is rendered into English in 5 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 | viśada |
|---|---|
| Devanagari | विशद |
| Also written | vishada guna, visada, vaishadya, viṣada (variant spelling in carakasamhitaonline 26.43), clear, non-slimy |
| Category, as gathered | dravyaguna-4 |
| Grouped here under | Pharmacology and the action of substances |
| Classical citations | 5 |
| 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.
Clear; Transparent, Lucid; one of the 20 gurvadi gunas; caused due activated akash & pṛthvī; denotes physiological & pharmacological clarity and transparency; clears channels. An attribute of Vata.
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · code DG0411, headword 'viśadam' · comparator
Main comparator entry. Its bhūta attribution (ākāśa + pṛthvī) differs from Bhishagratna's Su.41 'earth and air' and from Charaka 26.11, which lists viśada under earth, fire and air.
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.
Non adhesiveness.
WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · code AT0385, headword 'viśada' (toxicology series) · comparator
Second WHO entry; the 'non-slimy/non-adhesive' sense rather than 'clear'.
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.
clear; not slimy
Charaka Samhita tr. A. C. Kaviratna, public domain · Su.1 his 58 (vata 'clear'); Su.22 his 10 ('not slimy'; footnote ''Vishada' is not slimy'); Su.26 his 22, 24, 25 ('clear' in earth, fire, wind lists); Su.26 tikta excess 'dry and rough and clear' · public-domain translation
Two renderings; his footnote also pairs 'Vishada in Pichcchila'.
non-slimy (Vaishadyam); expansive
Sushruta Samhita tr. K. L. Bhishagratna, public domain, via wisdomlib · Su.41 ('non-slimy potency (Vaishadyam), to the predominance of the attributes of earth and air'; element lists 'non-slimy'); Su.40 eight potencies 'expansive or slimy' · public-domain translation
'Non-slimy' where the Sanskrit is named; 'expansive' in the Su.40 pair opposite 'slimy' is presumably also viśada and is an odd choice.
Vishada Guna means 'clearness' quality
easyayurveda.com 'Gurvadi Gunas' (Hebbar), modern · https://www.easyayurveda.com/2019/06/12/gurvadi-gunas/ · modern web textbook
Textbook; opposite picchila; assigns earth, air, fire and ether.
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 1:Standard 1.59; Kaviratna prints 58 · checked against the source
Wind, which may be dry, cold, light, subtile, unstable, clear, keen, is cured by objects which have adverse attributes.
Viśada ('clear') as the sixth quality of Vāta. Sanskrit as retrieved: रूक्षः शीतो लघुः सूक्ष्मश्चलोऽथ विशदः खरः| विपरीतगुणैर्द्रव्यैर्मारुतः सम्प्रशाम्यति||५९|| (https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Deerghanjiviteeya_Adhyaya).
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 22:Standard 22.12; Kaviratna prints 10 · checked against the source
Such things as are light, warm, pungent, not slimy, dry, subtile, rough, unstable, and hard, are generally Langhana.
Viśada ('not slimy') as a laṅghana quality. Sanskrit as retrieved: लघूष्णतीक्ष्णविशदं रूक्षं सूक्ष्मं खरं सरम्||१२|| (https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Langhanabrimhaniya_Adhyaya).
Charaka SamhitaSutrasthana 26:Standard 26.11 (single prose unit); Kaviratna prints 22, 24, 25 after the earth, fire and wind sentences · checked against the source
Amongst objects those that are principally heavy, sharp or pungent, hard, mild, immobile, clear, thick, gross, and possessed of scent, are regarded as appertaining to Earth. ... Those that are principally hot, keen, subtile, light, dry, and clear, and largely endued with the attribute of form, are regarded as appertaining to Fire. Those that are principally light, cold, dry, sharp, clear, subtile, and largely endued with the attribute of touch, are regarded as appertaining to Wind.
Charaka lists viśada among earth-, fire- and air-dominant substances, and vaiśadya among the effects of air-dominant ones. Sanskrit as retrieved: गुरुखरकठिनमन्दस्थिरविशदसान्द्रस्थूलगन्धगुणबहुलानि पार्थिवानि ... उष्णतीक्ष्णसूक्ष्मलघुरूक्षविशदरूपगुणबहुलान्याग्नेयानि ... लघुशीतरूक्षखरविशदसूक्ष्मस्पर्शगुणबहुलानि वायव्यानि, तानि रौक्ष्यग्लानिविचारवैशद्यलाघवकराणि ||११|| (https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Atreyabhadrakapyiya_Adhyaya). The ellipsis omits the Water sentence (his 23). This contradicts WHO's 'akash & pṛthvī'.
Sushruta SamhitaSutrasthana 41:Sanskrit verse number not established (Bhishagratna prints none) · checked against the source
parchifying potency, to the excess of the attributes of air; non-slimy potency (Vaishadyam), to the predominance of the attributes of earth and air; and heavy and light digestion, to the same cause.
Sushruta assigns vaiśadya to earth + air and (same page) 'Keenness, parchifying and non-slimy potencies conquer the deranged Kapha'; also 'The properties of sliminess and its opposite may be perceived by the eyes and touch.' Bhishagratna names the Sanskrit (Vaishadyam) here, so the rendering is anchored.
Ashtanga HridayaSutrasthana 1:18 (GRETIL, Das and Emmerick numbering) · checked against the source
guru-manda-hima-snigdha-ślakṣṇa-sāndra-mṛdu-sthirāḥ | guṇāḥ sa-sūkṣma-viśadā viṃśatiḥ sa-viparyayāḥ || 18 ||
Viśada named explicitly among the ten gunas whose opposites complete the twenty (its opposite picchila is unnamed). Reference only.
Not to be confused with
- picchila
- Opposite member (Kaviratna's note 'Vishada in Pichcchila'; Bhishagratna 'sliminess and its opposite').
- viṣāda (विषाद)
- Dejection/depression (WHO AF2569 'Dejection; Depression'); identical in common transliteration 'vishada' and the only sense PubMed returns.
- rūkṣa
- Dry; co-listed with viśada in Vāta and laṅghana lists and both oppose unctuous/slimy, so 'clear/dry' are blurred in textbooks.
- ślakṣṇa
- Smooth; a separate pair (with khara); WHO's 'Lucid' and 'Transparent' drift toward smoothness/clarity of appearance rather than non-adhesion.
- vaiśadya
- The abstract noun (effect), used by Charaka 26.11 of air-dominant substances and by Bhishagratna 'Vaishadyam'.
Renderings that do not hold
- clear / transparent / lucid (optical sense). WHO DG0411's wording; the classical use is tactile (non-sticky, non-slimy), perceived 'by the eyes and touch' per Sushruta, and opposed to picchila.
- expansive. Bhishagratna's Su.40 pair 'expansive or slimy'; no obvious basis for 'expansive' as viśada.
- depression (viṣāda). Homograph; different word.
Open questions
Recorded rather than resolved. Each one is something this entry cannot currently settle.
- Reconcile the bhūta attribution: WHO (ākāśa + pṛthvī), Sushruta Su.41 (earth + air), Charaka Su.26.11 (earth, fire and air lists), easyayurveda (earth, air, fire, ether).
- Why carakasamhitaonline prints विषद in 26.43(5) (खरविषदस्वभावाच्च) against विशद elsewhere; orthographic variant or edition error.
- Sanskrit behind Bhishagratna's 'expansive' in Su.40.
How to cite this entry
Age Ayurveda Nighantu, viśada
, https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/vishada/, 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.