Roopam is a symptom by which the disease exhibits itself. Roopa Samudaya is the group of symptoms. The Roopa Samudaya in other words can be described as a syndrome. Roopam is the symptomatology by which the physician can understand the stage of the disease of dosha, dushya etc. Roopam indicates whether one has to deal with one dosha, two dosha (dwanda) or all the three (sannipatha) and whether it comes from rasa, rakta, mamsa, asthi or the other dhatus or dushya and so on. The study of signs and symptoms were apparently done by ayurvedist with remarkable skill and diligence.
Roopa can have various synonyms which are as follows:
Samsthaana- It talks about the symptom by which the disease is surely known and this symptom establishes a form of disease.
Vyanjana- This refers to a sign which manifests into a disease. The word means the root of disease.
Linga- Linga is the characteristic by which a disease is known surely.
Lakhsnam- It indicates the symptoms of the disease.
Chinnh- It indicates the mark or spot by which the disease can be identified.
Aakrity- The shape of a substance by which the disease can be identified.
These above mentioned words are related to Roopa. These all indicate the signs and symptoms of a disease. For example, fever is the manifestation of symptoms. In other diseases like leprosy or dysentery, fever may occur along with the disease and is considered only as the symptom but not the disease. Arochakram (anorexia) is one of the symptoms of fever but anorexia sometimes might exist without any fever and may be the only symptom. In such cases anorexia is considered only as the disease.
According to Ayurveda, diseases or rogas are defined as the abnormality in the interaction between doshas and dushya (a part which is affected). This kind of interaction is called as dosha-dushya samurchanam. When this interaction takes place, certain symptoms are produced according to the nature of the abnormality. For example, in Rajayakshma (tuberculosis), the interaction between doshas and dushyas produce a number of symptom complexes like kas (cough), Skandh dah (burning sensation near the shoulder), jwar (fever), swar bhang (hoarseness of voice), shankhak shir shool (pain in the sides of head), spitting and sputum and blood, dysponoea, atisaar (diarrhoea). All these are Roopam for the tuberculosis disease.
The Roopam or the symptoms are not the disease themselves but are imbalanced condition of the body that contributes to the cause and origin of the disease.
