Agnikarma
Agnikarma is therapeutic cautery: a heated metal implement applied briefly to marked points on the body, leaving a deliberate burn that is then dressed until it heals. Suśruta gives it a whole chapter. It is a clinical procedure for a qualified vaidya only and must never be improvised.
Requires a qualified vaidya. This is clinical work requiring a qualified vaidya, and often a supervised setting. It is described here so you understand what it is and why it needs supervision. It is not something to attempt, and this page is deliberately not a set of instructions.
What it is
Agnikarma is therapeutic cautery, the controlled burning of a marked point on the body with a heated implement. The source record classes it as an external procedure (kriyā-bāhya) and marks it vaidya-only. It produces a wound: the record’s own aftercare calls for daily dressing until healing.
Why this page carries no method
This is a burn, applied on purpose, by someone who has been trained to judge how hot, how long and how deep. Both too much and too little are recognised failure states in the classical literature and in the record. There is no version of this to try at home, on someone else, or in a non-clinical setting, and nothing on this page should be read as instructions for doing it.
Where it comes from in the classical literature
Suśruta Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 12, is the Agnikarma-vidhi-adhyāya, a chapter given over entirely to cautery. It names metal rods among the implements used, and describes four patterns of application: the ring, the dot, lateral or slanting lines, and the rubbing mode. The record’s terms bindu, lekhā and pratisaraṇa correspond to the dot, line and rubbing patterns.
The same chapter prescribes an unguent of honey and clarified butter over the cauterized area afterwards, and grades burns into four states, plushta, durdagdha, samyag-dagdha and ati-dagdha, each calling for a different response, from warm fomentation through to cooling applications.
Who the classical text excludes
Suśruta’s chapter contraindicates cautery in the elderly, in infants, in people with excessive bile (pitta), in the weak, and in those with widespread ulcers.
What the record names
A pañcadhātu (five-metal) śalākā as the implement, heated before application. Suśruta’s chapter names metal rods generally, without naming this alloy, so the pañcadhātu detail comes from the record and not from the classical chapter.
Afterwards, a mixture of ghṛta and madhu (ghee and honey) applied immediately for the burning sensation (dāha), water avoided for 24 hours, and daily wound dressing until the site heals. The ghee and honey aftercare matches Suśruta’s chapter.
What can go wrong
The record lists three adverse events: atiyoga, an excessive burn; ayoga, insufficient effect; and secondary infection. Its single red flag is severe pain or signs of a deeper tissue burn. Anyone who has had agnikarma and has either of those should be seen, not managed at home.
Cautions
- Vaidya-only. This deliberately burns tissue and is not a wellness-centre, spa or home procedure under any framing.
- Both excessive application (atiyoga) and insufficient application (ayoga) are recognised failures in the record, so the margin is on both sides of correct.
- Secondary infection of the cautery site is listed in the record as an adverse event, and the site needs daily dressing until it heals.
- Severe pain, or signs of a burn going deeper than intended, is the record's red flag and calls for clinical review.
- Suśruta's chapter excludes the elderly, infants, people with excessive pitta, the weak and people with widespread ulcers.
- The record gives no dose equivalent, no number of points, no session frequency and no course length; anyone quoting such figures is not quoting this record.
Classical source
Suśruta Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 12 (Agnikarma-vidhi-adhyāya) — checked against a published translation
Checked against the Wikisource English translation of Sushruta Samhita Volume 1 Chapter 12 and corroborated by two independent chapter indexes. Sūtrasthāna 12 is indeed the Agnikarma-vidhi-adhyāya and covers cautery in full, including implements, the four application patterns, honey-and-ghee aftercare, burn grading and contraindications. The record's citation is correct as given.
Common questions
- Does agnikarma leave a mark?
- It creates a wound. The record's aftercare calls for a ghee and honey application immediately, no water for 24 hours, and daily dressing until healing, so a healing site is expected rather than incidental.
- Can a spa or wellness centre offer agnikarma?
- The record marks it vaidya-only. It is a cautery procedure with recognised complications including excessive burn and secondary infection, and it belongs in a clinical setting with someone qualified to judge and to manage what follows.
- What did Suśruta say about who should not have it?
- Sūtrasthāna 12 contraindicates cautery in the elderly, in infants, in people with excessive pitta, in weak individuals, and in those with widespread ulcers.
Reviewed by Dr. Awadesh Pratap Singh, BAMS, on 18 September 2026. What that review covered.
Consult a qualified vaidya before acting on anything here. Ayurvedic practice is prescribed to a person, not to a condition: the same procedure is given, modified or withheld depending on your constitution, your agni, the season and what else you are already doing. A page cannot know any of that.