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Glossary of Materia Medica of the Bhāvaprakāśa 9

English (machine translation) 9

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9.1

Śāli grain, vrīhi grain, awned grain as the third, / pod grain, and minor grain: thus the fivefold grain is declared.

9.2

Śāli grains are raktaśāli and others; vrīhi grains are ṣaṣṭika and others; / awned grain is barley and the like; pod grain is mung bean and others; / minor grain is foxtail millet and the like, and that is regarded as grass grain.

9.4

White without pounding, winter-grown: these are known as śāli grains. / Raktaśāli, kalama, pāṇḍuka, śakunāhṛta, / sugandhaka, kardamaka, mahāśāli, and dūṣaka,

9.5

puṣpāṇḍaka, puṇḍarīka, likewise mahiṣamastaka, / dīrghaśūka, kāñcanaka, hāyana, and lodhrapuṣpaka:

9.6

such and others are the numerous śāli grains produced in many regions.
For fear of lengthening the text, all of them are not stated here.

9.7

Śāli grains are sweet, unctuous, strengthening, binding and producing little feces, / astringent, light, appetizing, beneficial to the voice, aphrodisiac, and nourishing, / producing little wind and kapha dosha, cold, pacifying pitta dosha, and diuretic.

9.8

Śāli grains grown in burnt soil are astringent, light in digestion, / releasing urine and feces, dry, and eliminating phlegm.

9.9

Those grown in embanked fields pacify vāta dosha and pitta dosha, are heavy, promote kapha dosha and semen, / are astringent, produce little feces, promote intellect, and bring strength.

9.10

Dryland-grown ones are sweet, pacify pitta dosha and kapha dosha, provoke vāta dosha and pitta dosha, / are slightly bitter and astringent, and are also pungent in post-digestive taste.

9.11

Sown ones are sweet, aphrodisiac, strengthening, destroying pitta dosha, / increasing phlegm, producing little feces, astringent, heavy, and cold.

9.12

Those not sown are declared slightly inferior in properties to the sown ones.

9.13

Transplanted ones, when fresh, are aphrodisiac; when aged, they are considered light; / those transplanted yet again from them digest rapidly and are superior in properties.

9.14

Those grown from ratooning are cold, dry, strengthening, destroying pitta dosha and kapha dosha, / binding feces, astringent, light, and slightly bitter.

9.15

Among them, raktaśāli is the best: strengthening, complexion-promoting, conquering all three doshas, / beneficial to the eyes, diuretic, beneficial to the voice, semen-promoting, and relieving thirst and fever,

9.16

destroying poison, wounds, dyspnea, cough, and burning sensation, and bestowing digestive fire and nourishment; / differing slightly in properties from it are the śāli grains beginning with mahāśāli.

9.17

Rain-grown, white when pounded, slow to digest are the vrīhi grains: / kṛṣṇavrīhi, pāṭala, and kukkuṭāṇḍaka,

9.18

śālāmukha, jatumukha, and others are regarded as vrīhi grains. / Kṛṣṇavrīhi is to be known as that whose husk and grain are black.

9.19

Vrīhi possessing the colour of the flower of the pāṭalā tree is called pāṭala; / vrīhi shaped like a hen's egg is called kukkuṭāṇḍaka.

9.20

Śālāmukha is said to have a black awn and black grain; / that whose tip is the colour of lac is to be known as jatumukha.

9.21

Vrīhi grains are stated to be sweet in post-digestive taste and cold in potency, / slightly channel-blocking, binding feces, and equal to ṣaṣṭika grains; / among them, kṛṣṇavrīhi is the best; the others have lesser qualities compared to it.

9.22

Those that reach maturity while still within the sheath are considered ṣaṣṭika grains.

9.23

Ṣaṣṭika, śatapuṣpa, pramodaka, mukundaka, / mahāṣaṣṭika, and so forth are enumerated as ṣaṣṭika grains; / these too are declared to be vrīhi grains, because the characteristics of vrīhi are seen [in them].

9.24

Ṣaṣṭika grains are sweet, cold, light, binding feces, / soothing to vāta dosha and pitta dosha, and similar in properties to śāli grains.

9.25

White ṣaṣṭikā is the best among them: light, unctuous, conquering all three doshas,

9.26

sweet, soft, astringent [bowel-binding], strengthening, and removing fever; / equal in properties to raktaśāli; the others are somewhat inferior in qualities.

9.27

Barley has a white awn; that without an awn is known as atiyava; / tokya is like that, green, and stated to be slightly inferior to it.

9.28

Barley is astringent, sweet, cold, scarifying, and soft, / wholesome in wounds like sesame, dry, and promoting intellect and digestive fire,

9.29

pungent in post-digestive taste, non-channel-blocking, beneficial to the voice, strength-producing, heavy, / producing abundant vāta dosha and feces, stabilizing complexion, and mucilaginous,

9.30

destroying disorders of the throat and skin, phlegm, pitta dosha, and fat tissue, / relieving chronic catarrh, dyspnea, cough, stiffness of the thighs, vitiated blood, and thirst; / atiyava is inferior to this, and tokya is more inferior still.

9.31

Wheat is also called sumanas, and it is stated to be of three kinds: / the one called mahāgodhūma, which came from the western country;

9.32

madhūlī, slightly smaller than that, produced in Madhyadeśa; / and awnless dīrghagodhūma, named nandīmukha in some places.

9.33

Wheat is sweet, cold, removing vāta dosha and pitta dosha, heavy, / producing kapha dosha and semen, strengthening, unctuous, union-promoting [for fractures], and laxative.

9.34

jīvana, bṛṃhaṇa, varṇya, vraṇya, rucya, and sthiratvakṛt.

9.35

Madhūlī [wheat variety] is cold, unctuous, destroys pitta, sweet, light, / increases semen, nourishing, and wholesome; nandīmukha is considered similar to it.

9.36

Born of śamī, born of pods, originating from legumes, suitable for soup, and split pulses [are synonyms].

9.37

Split pulses are sweet, dry, astringent, pungent in vipāka, / aggravating vāta, destroying kapha and pitta, binding urine and feces, and cold. / Except for green gram and lentils, however, the others cause flatulence.

9.38

Green gram is dry, light, bowel-binding, destroys kapha and pitta, cold, / sweet, produces little vāta, beneficial to the eyes, and cures fever; so also the wild variety.

9.39

Green gram is of many kinds: black, green, and yellow, / white, and red; among these, each earlier one is considered lighter.

9.40

Suśruta, however, stated that the green one is superior in its properties; / by Caraka and others too, this one alone is said to possess superior qualities.

9.41

Black gram is heavy, sweet in vipāka, unctuous, appetizing, dispels vāta, / laxative, satiating, strengthening, increases semen, and is exceedingly nourishing.

9.42

It breaks [and evacuates] urine and feces, promotes breast milk, produces fat, pitta, and kapha; / it cures piles, facial paralysis, asthma, and digestive colic.

9.43

Black gram produces kapha and pitta; curd produces kapha and pitta; / fish produce kapha and pitta; eggplant produces kapha and pitta.

9.44

Rājamāṣa [cowpea] is termed mahāmāṣa, capala, and bala. / Rājamāṣa is heavy, sweet, astringent, satiating, laxative,

9.45

dry, aggravating vāta, appetizing, promotes breast milk, and imparts immense strength. / It is declared to be of three kinds: white, red, and black; / whichever among these is large is said to possess superior qualities.

9.46

Niṣpāva is rājaśimbi, vallaka, and śvetaśimbika. / Niṣpāva is sweet, dry, sour in vipāka, heavy, laxative,

9.47

astringent, causes obstruction of breast milk, pitta, blood, urine, and vāta; / it causes a burning sensation, is hot, relieves poison, kapha, and swelling, and destroys semen.

9.48

Makuṣṭha is vanamudga [moth bean], makuṣṭhaka, and mukuṣṭhaka.

9.49

Makuṣṭha aggravates vāta, is bowel-binding, destroys kapha and pitta, light, / overcomes digestive fire, sweet in vipāka, causes intestinal worms, and destroys fever.

9.50

Maṅgalyaka is masūra [lentil], and maṅgalyā is masūrikā. / Lentil is sweet in vipāka, astringent (bowel-binding), cold, light, / overcomes kapha, pitta, and blood, dry, aggravates vāta, and destroys fever.

9.51

Āḍhakī is tuvarī [pigeon pea], and it is also called śaṇapuṣpikā.

9.52

Pigeon pea is astringent, dry, sweet, cold, light, / bowel-binding, generates vāta, improves complexion, and overcomes pitta, kapha, and blood.

9.53

Caṇaka [chickpea] is harimantha and sakalapriya. / Chickpea is cold, dry, dispels pitta, blood, and kapha, / light, astringent, causes constipation with flatulence, aggravates vāta, and destroys fever.

9.54

Roasted over charcoal and fried in oil, it shares these qualities; / roasted while moist, it is declared to give strength and produce appetite.

9.55

Roasted when dry, it is excessively dry and provokes vāta and obstinate skin disease; / boiled, it destroys pitta and kapha; its soup is regarded as agitating.

9.56

Fresh and very tender, it is appetizing, removes pitta and semen, cold, / astringent, aggravates vāta, bowel-binding, destroys kapha and pitta, and is light.

9.57

Kalāya [field pea] is called varttula, satīna, and hareṇuka. / Field pea is sweet, pleasant in vipāka, dry, and cold.

9.58

Tripuṭa is also khaṇḍika [grass pea]; its properties are now described: / tripuṭa is sweet, bitter, astringent, and exceedingly drying,

9.59

destroys kapha and pitta, appetizing, bowel-binding, and cold; / but it causes lameness and crippling, excessively provoking vāta.

9.60

Kulatthikā and kulattha [horse gram]; its properties are now described:

9.61

horse gram is pungent in vipāka, astringent, produces pitta and blood, / light, causes a burning sensation, hot in potency, and [relieves] asthma, cough, kapha, and vāta;

9.62

it destroys hiccups, urinary calculi, semen, burning sensation, abdominal distension, together with chronic rhinitis; / it checks perspiration, destroys fat, fever, and intestinal worms, and is laxative.

9.63

Sesame is black, white, and red; wild sesame is known as alpatila. / Sesame in taste is pungent, bitter, sweet, astringent, and heavy;

9.64

in vipāka it is pungent and sweet, unctuous, hot, removes kapha and pitta, / strengthening, beneficial for hair, cold to the touch, beneficial for the skin, promotes breast milk, and wholesome for wounds;

9.65

beneficial for teeth, produces little urine, bowel-binding, destroys vāta, and imparts digestive fire and intellect. / The black one is the best among them, the white is middling and increases semen; / other sesames, such as the red, are said by the knowledgeable to be inferior.

9.66

Atasī [flax / linseed] is nīlapuṣpī, pārvatī, umā, and kṣumā.

9.67

Flaxseed is sweet, bitter, unctuous, pungent in vipāka, heavy, / hot, destroys eyesight, semen, and vāta, and destroys kapha and pitta.

9.68

Tuvarī is declared bowel-binding, light, overcoming kapha, poison, and blood, / sharp, hot, stimulates digestive fire, and expels itching, obstinate skin disease, and intestinal worms.

9.69

Sarṣapa [mustard] is kaṭuka, sneha, tuntubha, and kadambaka; / yellow mustard is called siddhārtha by the wise.

9.70

Mustard in taste and vipāka is pungent, unctuous, slightly bitter, / sharp, hot, destroys kapha and vāta, and increases bleeding disorders and digestive fire;

9.71

it wards off evil spirits, overcomes itching, obstinate skin disease, intestinal worms, and demonic seizures. / As is the red, so is the white, but the white is considered superior.

9.72

Rājī is rājikā [brown/black mustard], tīkṣṇagandhā, kṣujjanikā, asurī, / kṣava, kṣutābhijanaka, kṛṣṇīkā, and kṛṣṇasarṣapa.

9.73

Rājikā destroys kapha and pitta, is sharp, hot, produces bleeding disorders, / slightly dry, stimulates digestive fire, and removes itching, obstinate skin disease, and intestinal worms; / it is especially very sharp, and black rājikā is likewise so.

9.74

Kṣudradhānya and kudhānya are known as tṛṇadhānya [minor grains / millets]. / Minor grains are not hot, astringent, light, and scarifying (attenuating),

9.75

sweet, pungent in vipāka, dry, and drying up moisture; / they produce vāta, bind feces, and dispel pitta, blood, and kapha.

9.76

In the feminine gender are kaṅgu and priyaṅgu [foxtail millet], of two kinds; and black, red, white, / and yellow—kaṅgu is of four kinds; among these, the yellow is considered the best.

9.77

Kaṅgu unites fractures, produces vāta, is nourishing, heavy, / dry, exceedingly removes phlegm, and is very beneficial for horses.

9.78

Cīnāka [proso millet] is kākakaṅgu, suślakṣṇa, and ślakṣṇaka. / Cīnāka is a variety of kaṅgu; it is to be known as equal to kaṅgu in properties.

9.79

Śyāmāka [barnyard millet] is śyāmaka, śyāmā, tribīja, avipriya, / sukumāra, rājadhānya, and the best of grass seeds. / Śyāmāka is desiccant, dry, produces vāta, and removes kapha and pitta.

9.80

Kodrava [kodo millet] is koradūṣa, and uddāla is wild kodrava. / Kodrava produces vāta, is bowel-binding, cold, and removes pitta and kapha. / Uddāla, however, is hot, bowel-binding, and strongly produces vāta.

9.81

Cāruka is the seed of śara [reed]; its properties are now described: / cāruka is sweet, dry, removes bleeding disorders and kapha, / cold, light, aphrodisiac, astringent, and provokes vāta.

9.82

Grains born of bamboo [bamboo seeds] are dry, astringent, pungent in vipāka, / binding urine, destroying kapha, producing vāta and pitta, and laxative.

9.83

The seed of safflower is called varaṭā, and that very thing is termed varaṭṭikā.

9.84

Varaṭā is sweet, unctuous, pacifies bleeding disorder and kapha dosha,
astringent, cold, heavy, non-aphrodisiac, and dispels vāta dosha.

9.85

Gavedhukā is also called gavedhu in the feminine by scholars;
gavedhu is pungent, sweet, causes emaciation, and destroys kapha dosha.

9.86

Prasādhikā is nīvāra (wild rice), and is also known as 'grass-grain';
nīvāra is cold, bowel-binding, pacifies pitta dosha, and produces kapha and vāta doshas.

9.87

Great millet (yāvanāla) is cold, sweet, red, subdues kapha and pitta doshas,
non-aphrodisiac, astringent, dry, creates moisture (unctuous stickiness), and is stated to be light.

9.88

All grain when fresh is considered sweet, heavy, and producing kapha dosha;
but when stored for a year it is wholesome, because it is much lighter.

9.89

All grain stored for a year loses its heaviness,
but does not lose its potency; beyond that time it gradually loses it.

9.90

Among these, barley, wheat, sesame, and black gram are wholesome when fresh;
when old, they lose their taste, are dry, and do not possess their properties in that manner.

9.90.p1

Thus ends, in the miscellaneous section of the Bhāvaprakāśa composed by Śrīmiśrabhāva, son of Śrīmiśralaṭakana,
the ninth chapter, the Section on Grains.

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