Pharmacological Definitions in Ayurveda

January 14, 2026 2 min read

Pharmacological Definitions in Ayurveda

Pharmacological Definitions in Ayurveda:

Significant terms used in Ayurveda in relation to herbs and substances. These definitions are reat for all Ayurveda students - we suggest memorising these terms in Sanskrit and their meanings.

Deepana - These are herbs and substances that kindle the Jatharagni but do not digest Ama ๐Ÿ”ฅ Fennel would be an example of this.

Pachana ๐ŸŒฟ - These are herbs that digest Ama. Chitraka is an example of this.

Samsamana โš–๏ธ - These are herbs that pacify a vitiated dosha in their own place but do not eliminate them. The drug of choice is Guduchi.

Anulomana - herbs which help to eliminate mala (stool) after proper digestion ๐Ÿ’ฉ The drug of choice is Haritaki.

Sramsana - Herbs that expel waste that is adhered to the intestine ๐ŸŒฟThe drug of choice is Aragwadha.

Bhedana - The herbs which brake up hard faecal matter and push it out ๐Ÿ‘‡๐ŸผOne of the best bhedana herbs is Katuki.

Rechana - Wether pakwa (digested) or apakwa (improperly digested) the stool is made liquid and expelled out โฌ‡๏ธ The drug of choice is Trivrit.

Vamana - Herbs which remove vitiated Pitta and Kapha from the stomach through the mouth (emetics) ๐Ÿฅฑ are called vamana dravya. The drug of choice is Madanaphala.

Samsodhana - The herbs which remove vitiated dosha either from the upwards โฌ†๏ธ route or the downward โฌ‡๏ธ route of the body are called samsodhana dravya.

Lekhana - The drugs which remove waste from the body after drying them up are called as lekhana dravya. Herbs of choice are honey ๐Ÿฏ hot water and guggulu.

Grahi - Drugs that have Deepana Pachana properties (please see above for the term definition) ๐Ÿ”ฅ Herbs such as ginger, cumin and Pippali.

Stambhana - These herbs have a stopping action, holding body fluids ๐Ÿ›‘ They have an action of vata dosha by ruksha (dry), sheeta (cold) and kashaya (astringent).

Rasayana - Drugs that help delay of old age and strengthen ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿผ the immune system. Herbs of choice are Amalaki, Haritaki and Guduchi.

Vajikarana - The herbs which increase virility and fertility ๐Ÿคฐ๐Ÿปare called Vajikarana dravya. The herb of choice is Nagabala and kapikacchu.

Sukshma - Drugs that can enter even the minutest ๐Ÿค๐Ÿผ pores of the body are called sukshma. Some examples are said have, nimba thaila and castor oil.

Abhisyandi - Herbs and substances which are unctuous and heavy for digestion cause the srota to block โŒ Curd is an example.
Reference ๐Ÿ‘‡
Sarangadhara Samhita Chapter 4

Thus ends the fourth chapter of Sarangadhara Samhita. The reference for these terms is from the Sarngadhara Samhita ๐Ÿ“•

Curious to learn more? Check out our website for more of our student training opportunities. The link to view is in our bio ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿผ

#ayurvedaย #studyayurvedaย #ayurvedastudentย #lakshmiayurvedaย #lakshmiayurvedaacademyย #ayurvedicstudiesย #deepanaย #pachanaย #ayurvedicherbsย #sarngadharasamhitaย #samhitaย #ayurvedictextsย #learnayurvedaย #ayurvedicformulations


* ๐˜—๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜›๐˜Ž๐˜ˆ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ˆ๐˜บ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฏ. ๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜บ, ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด.