Indian Medicinal Plants: Forgotten Healers (A Guide to Ayurvedic Herbal Medicine)

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Dr. Prakash Paranjpe's "Indian Medicinal Plants: Forgotten Healers" is an important handbook that opens the treasure trove of Ayurvedic herbal therapy. This thorough book contains a wealth of information about traditional Indian medicinal plants, their qualities, and therapeutic use. Dr. Paranjpe's extensive knowledge and expertise in Ayurveda bring the lost healers of ancient India to life. This guide includes a wealth of information on the medicinal value, preparation methods, and dose of each plant based on thorough study and practical insights. Whether you are an herbalist, an Ayurvedic practitioner, or simply interested in natural treatments, this book is an invaluable resource for investigating the healing potential of Indian medicinal herbs.

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Item Code: IDE206
Publisher: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratishthan
Author: Dr. Prakash Paranjpe
Language: English
Edition: 2012
ISBN: 8170841708
Pages: 348 (Color Illus: 136)
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 9.5" X 7.2"
Weight 1.73 kg
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Shipped to 153 countries
Shipped to 153 countries
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Book Description

 

From the Jacket:

 

Since time immemorial, plants have been a rich source for therapeutics. Ayurveda is a living tradition of a healthy science of India, used for millennia. Ayurveda has a vast medicinal treasure-trove of herbs to choose remedies from.


The book 'Indian Medicinal Plants: Forgotten Healers' written by Dr. Prakash Paranjpe is a comprehensive treatise on the subject. There was an acute need of a conscious effort to bridge the gap between Ayurvedic philosophy and Allopathic postulates and parameters and develop an integrated, holistic approach to therapeutics. This book fulfills the same.


For the first time, here is a detailed explanation of 135 herbs in complete Ayurvedic perspective, aided with their botanical description, phytochemistry, formulations and clinical usage, both topical as well as internal. The author has done a commendable job to compile the useful information of each plant, in addition, with excellent coloured photograph, which facilitates its identification.


The plants selected in the present book are fairly widely used in India for centuries. There is a worldwide revival of interest in natural products as preventive and therapeutic agents. The present book will help in generating a global interest in Ayurveda and medicinal plants in India. This compilation of most commonly used medicinal plants will be of use to Ayurvedic practitioners, students and researchers as well as to medical and scientific communities like pharmacy, botany, biochemistry, microbiology etc. and also to the common man.


Besides the information on individual herbs, the beginning chapters on principles of Ayurvedic Medicine, Ayurvedic Materia Medica and Ayurvedic Pharmacy, make the book more complete. With beautiful photographs of plants, charts, indices, detailed glossaries and bibliography are also included. "Forgotten Healers" is truly an unique addition to the literature of Ayurveda, especially, of Indian Medicinal Plants.

 

About the Author:

 

Dr. Prakash Paranjpe, graduated in Ayurveda - B.A. M&S, from University of Pune, in 1974 and then secured M.B.B.S. degree from Nagpur University in 1981. Subsequently he did his Ph.D. from Open International University of Complimentary Medicine, Colombo in 1990. He is a practicing Ayurvedic Consultant for more than two decades, specializing in the treatment of acne and obesity. He is actively engaged in clinical research on various Ayurvedic drugs and herbs to combat, especially chronic diseases.


He has to his credit many research articles which have been published in various Indian and Foreign scientific journals. He has visited Italy and Germany couple of times to deliver lectures on Ayurveda and Medicinal herbs. He has also pursued the full course in Italian language of Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, at Deccan College, Pune. He has traveled across the length and breadth of India to photograph various medicinal plants in different seasons.


Dr. Paranjpe is founder member and director of Ayurveda Research Foundation, Pune, India. He is also director of S.K.A. Ayurveda, Milan, Italy. He is visiting professor of School of Health Sciences, University of Pune and member of the advisory board of "Holistic Healing" published by Indian Express Newspapers, Mumbai.


FORWORD

The plant kingdom has always been the favourite source of medication in all healing traditions all over the world. In all culture the humanity always believed that the God while creating the human life, also created the plant kingdom as the source of nutrition and medication and hence the use of herbs and plants as medicament is as old as the origin of man himself. This contention is more strengthened by the eternal flow of traditional use of plants by the people as medicines a well as the codified medicinal uses mentioned in vedic and post-vedic texts. In the modern times with the fast emergence of western modem medicine and synthetic chemotherapeutics, the importance of plants and herbs started declining as more and more attention was paid to the development of synthetic drugs. But today the medicinal plants are no more the forgotten healers as expressed by the author of this book because last few decades have shown a notable resurgence of interest in medicinal plants once again, the reason is the increasing awareness about the limitations of the synthetic chemotherapeutic agents and serious side effects on the face of a high safety margin of herbal drug. Now herbal medicine and natural products are in big demand all over the world.


Ayurveda is one of the most developed codified system of traditional medicine in the world. It is based on its own fundamental principles like the doctrine of Loka- Purusa Samya. theory of Samanya and Visesa, theory of Pancamahabhuta, Tridosa and Triguna besides the very unique approach to the pharmacodynamics of Ayurvedic drugs in terms of Rasa, Guna, Virya, Vipaka and Prabhava. The Rasa-Gune- Virya- Vipaka of the drugs are determined by the relative preponderance of different Pancamahabutas in the constitution of the respective drugs.


It seems that drugs which act through their Rasa, Guna and Vipaka essentially act at the nutrition dynamics in the body. They are in fact some sort of micro-molecular nutrients and they produce their effect through bio-therapeutic or nutraceutical mode. The Virya of a drug represents its potency. Ayurveda presents an interesting concept of 'Prabhava', meaning that certain drugs produce specific effects irrespective of the Pancabhautika composition and Rasa-Gune- Vipaka.. The Acaryas describe such an action as acintya virya. As a matter of fact the prabhava effects of a drug is the specific pharmacological action of drug attributable of its active chemical principle, where as the Rase-Guna- Vipaka oriented effect is a holistic bioeffect of a nutraceutical nature.


Further it may not be out of place to state that although the herbal drugs are already in vogue as therapeutic agents for thousands of years in codified or uncodified practices but in present times there is a need to re-valuate their therapeutic efficacy and also to examine their acute and chronic toxicity. This kind of safety, efficacy certification along with standardisation and quality control is the need of the day. Such studies need not follow the rigor of the study of new chemical drugs because the herbal drugs are already a drug and are in use as drugs for thousands of years, hence they need just a re-valuation in a clinical setting adapting 'Reverse Pharmacology' approach. But before all this we need the presently existing information about each plant drug and the present book produced by Dr. Ptakash Paranjpe is a good help in this regard.


At this juncture of time a book like the present one, dealing with the Indian Medicinal Plants, their identity, botany, photochemistry, Ayurvedic properties, formulations and clinical usage, is highly welcome. The author Dr. Prakash Paranjpe i a well known scholar and practitioner of Ayurveda and western medicine devoted to the scientific development of ancient Indian medicine. This book is a timely publication on the subject and deals with a series of selected 135 medicinal plants which are in common use. The author Dr. Paranjpe has done a commendable job to compile the useful information of each plant. I believe this book will prove a very useful addition to the contemporary Ayurvedic literature.


Besides the information on individual herbs the author has very ably presented in the beginning a write-up on principles of Ayurvedic Medicine, Ayurvedic Materia Medica and Ayurvedic Pharmacy which makes the book more complete.


I congratulate the learned author for this useful timely publication and look forward to him for more such additions to the literature of Ayurveda.

 

PREFACE

Since times immemorial, plants have been a rich source for therapeutics. One of the earliest references to the therapeutic properties of plants is in the Rg Veda (3500-1800 BC). Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine fully recognises and utilises the medicinal properties of plants. A review of the valuable Ayurvedic texts like 'Caraka Samhita' and 'Susruta Samhita' manifests that an incredible 1600 of the 2000 odd Ayurvedic formulations are plant based.


The passage of time saw the birth and development of modern medical systems. These new systems coupled with the faster pace of life and the need for rapid cure led to the proliferation of synthetic drugs. However, with synthetic drugs came the problems of side effects, ill effects and complications. Today, the wheel has turned a full circle with the medical and scientific fraternity being involved in the study and development of safe and effective natural drugs which are mainly of plant origin. We now also have herbal remedies for modern diseases like cancer and hypertension.


This book is an humble effort to put together the vast variety of medicinal plants and herbs in form and substance. The aim is to bring these "Forgotten Healers" to life!! A conscious effort has also been made-to bridge the gap between Ayurvedic philosophy and Allopathic postulates and parameters and develop an integrated, holistic approach to therapeutics which modern medical practitioners can appreciate. I sincerely hope that this compilation of the most commonly used medicinal plants will be of use, not only to the medical and scientific community. but also to the common man.


I would like to express most heartfelt gratitude to Prof. R.H. Singh. a noted scholar of Ayurveda. who has written the foreword for this book.

 

CONTENTS

 

PRELUDE TO AYURVEDIC MEDICINE XII
MATERIA MEDICA XVII
ART AND SCIENCE OF AYURVEDIC PHARMACY XXIII
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS : FORGOTTEN HEALERS
AGASTYA : Sesbania grandiflora 3
AKSOTAKA : Juglans regia 5
AMALAKI : Phyllanthus emblica 7
AMLIKA : Tamarindus indica 10
APAMARGA : Achyranthes aspera 12
APARAJITA : Clitoria ternatea 14
ARAGVADHA : Cassia fistula 16
ARJUNA : Terrminalia arjuna 19
ARKA : Calotropis procera 21
ASOKA : Saraca indica 23
ASVAGANDHA : Withania somnifera 25
ASTHISAMHARAKA : Cissus quadrangularis 27
ATIBALA : Abutilon indicum 29
ATIVISA : Aconitum heterophyllum 31
BABBULA : Acacia arabica 33
BAKUCI : Psoralea corylifolia 35
BAKULA : Mimuscops elengi 37
BALA : Sida cordifolia 39
BHALLATAKA : Semecarpus anacardium 41
BHARNGI : Celrodendrum serratum 44
BHRNGARAJA : Eclipta alba 46
BHUMYAMALAKI : Phyllanthus niruri 48
BIBHITAKA : Terminalia belerica 50
BILVA : Aegle marmelos 52
BRAHMI : Bacopa monnieri 54
BRHATI : Solanum indicum 56
CANDANA : Santalum album 58
CANDRASURA : Lepidium sativum 60
CITRAKA : Plumbago zeylanica 62
DADIMA : Punica granatum 64
DARUHARIDRA : Berberis aristata 66
DHANYAKA : Coriandrum sativum 68
DHATAKI : Woodfordia fruticosa 71
DHATTURA : Datura metel 73
DURVA : Cynodon dactylon 75
DRAKSA : Vitis vinifera 77
ELA : Elettaria cardamomum 79
ERANDA : Ricinus communis 81
GAMBHARI : Gmelina arborea 83
GOKSURA : Tribulus terrestris 85
GORAKSI : Adansonia digitata 87
GUDUCI : Tinospora cordifolia 89
GUGGULU : Commiphora mukul 91
HARIDRA : Curcuma longa 94
HARITAKI : Terminalia chebula 97
JAMBU : Eugenia jambolana 100
JAPA : Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 102
JATAMAMSI : Nardostachys jatamansi 104
JATIPHALA : Myristica fragrans 106
JIVANTI : Holostemma ada-kodien 108
JYOTISMATI : Celastrus paniculatus 110
KADAMBA : Anthocephalus indicus 112
KALAMEGHA : Andrographis paniculata 114
KAMPILLAKA : Mallotus philippinensis 116
KANCANARA : Bauhinia variegata 118
KANTAKARI : Solanum xanthocarpum 120
KAPIKACCHU : Mucuna pruriens 122
KARANJA : Pongamia glabra 124
KARPURA : Cinnamomum camphora 126
KATPHALA : Myrica nagi 128
KATUKA : Picrorrhiza kurroa 130
KHADIRA : Acacia catechu 133
KHARJURA : Phoenix dactylifera 135
KIRATATIKTA : Swertia chirata 137
KOKILAKSA : Astercantha longifolia 139
KRSNAJIRAKA : Carum bulbocastanum 141
KUMARI : Aloe indica 143
KUNKUMA : Crocus sativus 146
KUSMANDA : Benincasa hispida 148
KUSTHA : Saussurea lappa 150
KUTAJA : holarrhena antidysenterica 152
LAJJALU : Mimosa pudica 155
LATAKARANJA : Caesalpinia crista 157
LAVANGA : Syzygium aromaticum 159
MADAYANTIKA : Lawsonia inermis 161
MADHUKA : Madhuka longifolia 163
MANDUKAPARNI : Centella asiatica 165
MANJISTHA : Rubia cordifolia 167
MARICA : Piper nigrum 169
METHIKA : Trigonella foenum-graecum 171
MUNDI : Sphaeranthus indicus 173
MUSALI : Asparagus adscendens 175
MUSTAKA : Cyperus rotundus 177
NADIHINGU : Gardenia gummifera 179
NAGAKESARA : Mesua ferrea 181
NARIKELA : Cocus nucifera 183
NIMBA : Azadirachta indica 185
NIMBUKA : Citrus acida 188
NIRGUNDI : Vitex negundo 190
PALASA : Butea frondosa 192
PARNABIJA : Kalanchoe pinnata 194
PASANABHEDA : Bergenia ligulata 196
PATALAGARUDI : Cocculus hirsutus 198
PATHA : Cyclea Peltata 200
PIPPALI : Piper longum 202
PUTIHA : Mentha arvensis 205
PRIYANGU : Callicarpa macrophylla 207
PUNARNAVA : Boerhaavia diffusa 209
PUSKARAMULA : Inula racemosa 212
RAJIKA : Brassica juncea 214
RAKTACANDANA : Pterocarpus santalinus 216
RASNA : Vanda roxburghii 218
RASONA : Allium sativum 220
ROHITAKA : Tecomella undulata 223
SAPTAPARNA : Alstonia scholaris 225
SARIVA : Hemidesmus indicus 227
SARPAGANDHA : Rauwolfia serpentina 229
SALAPARNI : Pseudarthria viscida 231
SALLAKI : Boswellia serrata 233
SALMALI : Bombax malabaricum 235
SANKHAPUSPI : Evolvulus alsinoides 237
SARAPUNKHA : Tephrosia purpurea 239
SATAVARI : Asparagus racemosus 241
SIGRU : Moringa oleogera 244
SUNTHI : Zingiber officinale 246
SYONAKA : Oroxylum indicum 248
SUDDABA : Ruta graveolens 250
SVARNAKSIRI : Argemone mexicana 252
TAGARA : Valeriana wallichii 254
TAVAKSIRA : Curcuma angustifolia 256
TILA : Sesamum indicum 258
TRIVRT : Operculina turpethum 260
TULASI : Ocimum sanctum 262
TVAK : Cinnamomum zeylanicum 264
UDUMBARA : Ficus racemosa 266
USIRA : Vetiveria zizanioides 268
VACA : Acorus calamus 271
VAMSA : Bambusa arundinacea 274
VARUNA : Crataeva nurvala 276
VASA : Adhatoda vasica 278
VATA : Ficus bengalensis 280
VIDANGA : Embelia ribes 282
VIDARI : Pueraria tuberosa 285
VRDDHADARU : Argyreia speciosa 287
YASTIMADHU : Glycyrrhiza glabra 289
INDEX OF THE NAMES OF PLANTS 292
SANSKRIT GLOSSARY 297
GLOSSARY OF AYURVEDIC FORMULATIONS 304
INDEX OF CLINICAL INDICATIONS 309
BIBLIOGRAPHY 315

 

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