Shaddharanam Churna

            by Sheela Rani Chunkath

I find samosas in whatever shape and size tempting; the potatoes do not agree with me nor does the maida. And yet I eat them. Ayurveda has a very evocative phrase to describe such behaviour. Prajnaparadha which is translated literally as intellectual blasphemy but which actually means you don’t have the sense to avoid what is not good for you. You don’t have the sense to heed your own or other's experience. Disease often strikes because of prajnaparadha, when you persist in behaving in a manner which you know will do you harm. Staying up all night exploring the world wide web is one of the things guaranteed to mess you up but many continue to browse the net into the wee hours of the morning.

Now back to the samosas. If you have indulged in such unwholesome food and you have the classic symptoms of heaviness in the chest, pain in the flanks or back, bloating in the stomach, flatulence etc., Shaddharanam churna is a great combination of dravyas which can get to the root cause and alleviate the symptoms. It is one of those churnas that has only six dravyas. But each one strikes at the root of the symptoms.

Plumbago zeylanica (Chitraka in Sanskrit) is a terrifically ushna veerya drug and has the guna of deepana and pachana, which means it promotes appetite and digestion i.e. It is a carminative and a digestive, rolled into one. People who are normally of pitta prakriti (those who have burning sensations often) should avoid this churna.

The second ingredient is Holarrhena antidysenterica (Indrayava in Sanskrit). This dravya is useful in preventing diarrhoea. Theosophical society in Chennai has many of these beautiful trees with jasmine like flowers and long slender pods often in pairs making an oval statement. This dravya called kutaja is also useful in amoebic dysentery and maybe our acharayas included this drug anticipating an attack of amoebiasis when eating out in not so sanitary conditions.

The third ingredients is Cyclea peltata (called Pathya in Sanskrit) and is used in the treatment of fever and intestinal worms. In mythology, pathya was found by Garuda and Shukra. This herb was used by Indra to kill the Asuras. Vedic texts have called it Viryavathi, Vishagni, Rakshogni and Medhya. A drug that is very effective, that protects you from toxins, and makes you wise so that maybe you will avoid those samosas the next time!

The fourth ingredient is Picrorhiza kurroa (called Katuka in Sanskrit). This herb is used in treating chronic fevers, skin disorders and diabetes. It has the properties of bhedaniya and lekhaniya, the former property causes a piercing action and causes purgation, the later has a scraping action. Toxins are thus removed with this dravya but one has to adjust the dose if there is too much diarrhoea. Because of its Lekhaniya or scraping property it is also used where weight loss is indicated. So Shaddharanam churna is not to be taken for a long period of time, just a week or so till the stomach settles back to normalcy.

The fifth drug is Aconitum heterophyllum (called Ativisha in Sanskrit). It is the default drug for children’s diseases. Charaka has said “of all the herbs having digestive, carminative, absorbent and tridosha balancing properties, ativisha is the best”. It is popularly known in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as Atividayam and used by old grandmas who have not still been brainwashed by our Western propaganda. It is called Ativisha because it is an antidote for many poisons. Ayurveda considers undigested food (Ama) as visha or toxic and hence Ativisha comes in handy to deal with the poisons that our system generates. Ativisha is found in the Himalayan regions and has white tubers. It has pretty purple flowers. Ativisha is an important ingredient in Balchaturbhadra churna used to treat fever, loose motions, bronchitis, infections of upper respiratory tract, asthma, vomiting and several other paediatric complaints. So if you know of young children who are being slowly poisoned with antibiotics refer them to an ayurvedist and think of this drug.

The last ingredient is our famous haritaki also called pathya or wholesome. Terminalia chebula has anulomana guna in that it sends the products of digestion downward. Since I have written about haritaki at length in a previous article, I will just dwell on its synonym pathya. Pathya is wholesome and when we tell people that they need to be on pathya when taking ayurvedic drugs all that is meant eat wholesome foods which suit your constitution. I have many friends who say they don’t like Ayurveda because they have to be on pathya. If you want be healthy don’t indulge in Prajnaparadha and eat only pathya foods!

--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/