# yuktivyapāśraya (युक्तिव्यपाश्रय)

> Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/yukti-vyapashraya/

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 | yuktivyapāśraya |
| Devanagari | युक्तिव्यपाश्रय |
| Also written | yukti-vyapāśraya, yuktivyapāśraya cikitsā, yuktivyapashraya chikitsa, mānuṣī cikitsā (WHO synonym) |
| Category, as gathered | chikitsa-3 |
| Grouped under | Examination and treatment |
| 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.

### Structured therapy based on clinical reasoning

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-9.1.26 yuktivyapāśrayacikitsā, mānuṣīcikitsā, PDF p.431; description: 'A rational and evidence-based therapeutic intervention within the ambit of human intelligence; one of the treatment classifications which has recourse to modalities such as the administration of medicines, diet and other evidence-based approaches to treat a disease.' · comparator

Comparator. WHO imports 'evidence-based' twice; that phrase is modern EBM vocabulary and is not in Charaka's definition (Su.11.54: planning/combination of diet and drug substances). Record as WHO's gloss.

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 rituals (daivavyapāśrayacikitsā, daivīcikitsā) — the paired category

WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda (2022) · ITA-9.1.14, PDF p.430 · comparator

Given for contrast; WHO's synonym pairing daiva=daivī and yukti=mānuṣī is a later-text convention.

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.

### 'substance given with proper logical reasoning and on the basis of certain underline principles' (yuktivyapāśraya, BP0348); 'logical plan / tactics; pertains to the logic and plan of therapeutic action' (yukti, DG0425)

NIA/WHO-APW draft 'Standardization of Non-Clinical Terminologies of Ayurveda' (rvpganagpur.com PDF) · BP0348, DG0425 · comparator (draft)

Draft; treats the term as a drug attribute ('substance given...'), not a therapy class.

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.

### 'those that depend for their application and action upon knowledge and reason'; 'Diet and articles of medicinal virtue that are applied with the aid of knowledge and reason are medicines of the second kind.'

Kaviratna, Charaka-Samhita · Sutrasthana Lesson XI, printed p.230, his number '*56' printed after the passage · public-domain translator

Kaviratna does not transliterate here; 'knowledge and reason' renders yukti. He renders aushadha as 'medicines' for all three classes.

### therapy based on reasoning / rational therapy

carakasamhitaonline.com (Tistraishaniya Adhyaya, copyrighted translation; rendering noted, not quoted) · https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Tistraishaniya_Adhyaya · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words

Standard Indian academic rendering.

### 'the reason-based (yukti-vyapashraya) character of classical ayurveda'

PubMed PMID 40040399 (Indian J Med Ethics 2025) · abstract · modern literature

Editorial usage; 'reason-based' as a one-word gloss.

### rational therapeutics / logical therapy / 'treatment based on planning'

web textbooks (easyayurveda, Dharmawiki) · https://dharmawiki.org/index.php/Yuktivyapashraya_Chikitsa_(युक्तिव्यपाश्रया_चिकित्सा) · textbook · our paraphrase of the source, not its words

Variants in circulation; none authoritative.

## The classical passages

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 11 (Tistraishaniya):Standard (Trikamji / carakasamhitaonline) Sutrasthana 11.54 (verified: 53 'प्रयोगज्ञानविज्ञानसिद्धिसिद्धाः...' before, 55 'शरीरदोषप्रकोपे खलु...' after); Kaviratna aphorism 55, printed AFTER the passage as '*55' on p. 130 of Lesson XI (archive.org BIUSante_47357 leaf 193; the djvu OCR misreads it as '*56'), with his 54 closing the preceding aphorism, checked against the source

> Sanskrit 11.54: "त्रिविधमौषधमिति- दैवव्यपाश्रयं, युक्तिव्यपाश्रयं, सत्त्वावजयश्च| तत्र दैवव्यपाश्रयं- मन्त्रौषधिमणिमङ्गलबल्युपहारहोमनियमप्रायश्चित्तोपवासस्वस्त्ययनप्रणिपातगमनादि, युक्तिव्यपाश्रयं- पुनराहारौषधद्रव्याणां योजना, सत्त्वावजयः- पुनरहितेभ्योऽर्थेभ्यो मनोनिग्रहः||५४||" Kaviratna: "Medicines are of three kinds; those that depend for their action upon the deities and invisible influences ; those that depend for their application and action upon knowledge and reason ; and those that appertain to the subjugation of the mind. Among these, mantras, herbs and plants of invisible virtue ( if kept in contact with the body), gems, auspicious rites, offerings in sacrifices, offers of articles to the deities in course of worship or religious rites, libations of meat and ghee on the sacred fire, practice of vows, expiatory ceremonies and rites, fasts, propitiatory rites, bows to the deities, and pilgrimage to sacred waters and shrines, constitute medicines of the first kind. Diet and articles of medicinal virtue that are applied with the aid of knowledge and reason are medicines of the second kind. The subjugation of the mind by withdrawing it from every kind of injurious or harmful acts and objects of the senses, constitutes medicine of the third kind.*55"

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

The locus classicus: aushadha is threefold (daivavyapashraya, yuktivyapashraya, sattvavajaya); yuktivyapashraya is 'yojana' (planned deployment) of diet and drug substances. Kaviratna numbers this aphorism 55 against standard 54: he runs one ahead through the close of this chapter (from S50 on), and the number is read from the page image, not the OCR, which prints '*56'.

### Charaka Samhita Sutrasthana 11:Standard 11.17 and 11.23-25 (yukti as fourth pariksha); 11.32 (definition of yukti), checked against the source

> Sanskrit 11.17: "द्विविधमेव खलु सर्वं सच्चासच्च; तस्य चतुर्विधा परीक्षा- आप्तोपदेशः, प्रत्यक्षम्, अनुमानं, युक्तिश्चेति||१७||" Sanskrit 11.32: "युक्तिश्चैषा- षड्धातुसमुदयाद्गर्भजन्म, कर्तृकरणसंयोगात् क्रिया; कृतस्य कर्मणः फलं नाकृतस्य, नाङ्कुरोत्पत्तिरबीजात्;कर्मसदृशं फलं, नान्यस्माद्बीजादन्यस्योत्पत्तिः; इति युक्तिः||३२||"

tr. none (Sanskrit); Kaviratna's rendering of these verses not extracted · https://www.carakasamhitaonline.com/index.php/Tistraishaniya_Adhyaya

In the same chapter yukti is also one of four means of examination (pariksha), defined by multi-causal reasoning. The therapy class yuktivyapashraya borrows this epistemic sense; the two uses should be cross-referenced, not merged.

## Not to be confused with

- **daivavyapāśraya.** The first of the three (mantra, gems, rites, fasting, pilgrimage); WHO 9.1.14 'Therapeutic rituals'. Note Charaka lists upavasa (fasting) under daiva, not yukti.
- **sattvāvajaya.** The third: restraint of mind from unwholesome objects (manonigraha); modern writers call it psychotherapy.
- **yukti (pramāṇa).** Same word as the fourth means of examination in Su.11.17, 11.32; the therapy class is 'what rests on yukti', not yukti itself.
- **mānuṣī cikitsā.** WHO gives it as a synonym; the daivī/mānuṣī pairing is a later convention and is not in Charaka Su.11.54.
- **evidence-based medicine.** WHO's gloss; EBM is a 1990s methodology, whereas yukti is the physician's reasoned combination (yojana) of diet and drug for the case.

## Renderings that do not hold

- evidence-based therapy. WHO ITA-9.1.26 imports the term; Charaka defines yuktivyapashraya as planned use of ahara and aushadha dravya, with no notion of trial evidence.
- rational medicine (as opposed to the rest of Ayurveda). Implies the other two classes are irrational; Charaka presents all three as aushadha. Kaviratna's 'knowledge and reason' is accurate for yukti but 'medicines' for all three preserves the parity.
- medicinal therapy / drug therapy. Omits ahara (diet), which Charaka names first in the definition.

## Open questions

Recorded rather than resolved.

- Kaviratna's number '*56' versus the standard 54 at this point of Sutrasthana 11 should be checked on the scan image for other passages in the chapter before any claim about his offset here.
- Whether Sushruta uses the yukti/daiva split at all was not checked.

## Citation

Age Ayurveda Nighantu, "yuktivyapāśraya", https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/lexicon/yukti-vyapashraya/, 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.