# Snehapāna > Snehapāna is internal oleation: measured daily doses of medicated ghṛta or taila taken on an empty stomach, escalated until defined signs of saturation appear. Classically it prepares the body for vamana or virecana. The record classes it vaidya-only, because the dose escalation and the endpoint judgement need a trained assessor. ## Key facts - **Sanskrit name:** स्नेहपान / Snehapāna ## What it is Snehapāna is the drinking of a fat, ghṛta or taila, as a medical procedure rather than as food. The record files it under pūrva-karma, the preparatory stage: it is the step that precedes the main śodhana procedures rather than a therapy given on its own. Its practitioner level is vaidya-only. ## Where it comes from in the classical literature The record cites Caraka Saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 13 and Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya Sūtrasthāna 16, and both check out. Caraka Sūtrasthāna 13 is the Snehādhyāya, the chapter on oleation, and it covers the sources of the fats, their types and properties, the method, time and dose of administration, the alternative vicāraṇa forms, the indications and contraindications, and the signs of proper, inadequate and excessive oleation. It gives the maximum duration of a snehapāna course as seven nights, or three. Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya Sūtrasthāna 16 is the Snehavidhi Adhyāya, which sets out the oleation procedure and places it immediately before emesis. ## How a course runs The record describes the shape of a course rather than a recipe: - Beforehand, the fat is pre-warmed to body temperature and given in the morning on an empty stomach. - The first day's quantity in the record is 30 ml of ghṛta or taila, increased each day until the samyak-snigdha signs appear: oily stools, sneha-virekana, a feeling of lightness, and snigdhatā of the skin. - Through the day the patient drinks warm water and takes no other food until the jīrṇa-lakṣaṇa, the signs that the fat has been digested. - Once those signs appear, a light hot meal follows. Cold exposure, daytime sleep and sex are avoided. The record puts the course at seven days, which matches the classical ceiling in Caraka Sūtrasthāna 13. ## What is used The record names five: plain **Ghṛta**, **Tila Taila**, and three medicated ghṛtas — **Mahā-tikta Ghṛta**, **Pañca-tikta Ghṛta** and **Brāhmī Ghṛta**. Which one is selected is a clinical decision the record does not explain. ## What can go wrong The record lists three: **ajīrṇa** (indigestion), **udara-śūla** (abdominal pain), and anorexia, the last attributed to atiyoga, meaning the procedure carried too far. Caraka Sūtrasthāna 13 similarly devotes attention to the signs distinguishing adequate from inadequate and excessive oleation, which is the axis on which this procedure goes wrong. ## Why it is not self-care The whole procedure is an escalation with a moving endpoint. The starting quantity is fixed; nothing after day one is, and the stopping point is a set of physical signs someone has to read on the patient. Caraka's chapter pairs its dosing material with contraindications and with the marks of excess, which is a fair indication that the classical authors did not treat "drink some ghee daily" as the safe part. --- Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/practice/snehapana/ Published by Age Ayurveda in the Nighantu. Educational reference only, not medical advice. Incorporates material from the Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database under CC BY 4.0.