Ayurvedainfo.net
Guide to ayurvedic medicines & remedies

Preparation of Ayurvedic Medicines

Modern Allopathic medicine makes the system react to the medicine. The patient condition is gradually altered by the use medicine. Ayurveda takes a different route towards healing. It tries to induce the system of the patient to balance itself from within. In plant preparations, the dose of the medicines is never fixed, but determined by the condition of the patient.

The earliest mode of plant preparation involved five methods known as the Pancha Kashaya Kalpana. These methods include expressed juice, paste, decoction, hot infusion and cold infusion.

In the Expressed juice method, the whole plant is crushed and the juice is extracted through a clean cloth. Aloe, amalaki, brahmi, coriander leaves, garlic, ginger, leaf and lemon are juicy plants where these methods are applied. Dry herb powder is added to twice its weight in water, kept for twenty four hours and then strained.
Some examples of medicinal uses are as follows.
Kutaja with jambu leaves is given with honey in diarrhea. Kantakari plant is given for cough and Surana for piles.

In the Paste or Powder method, ginger, garlic, onion, leaves and roots are prepared in the presence of liquid to produce a paste, and in the absence of liquid to produce a powder. Sesame paste is given with butter or with the paste of nagakeshara with butter and sugar, for bleeding piles.

Hingvashtaka churna is a powder made up of black pepper, ginger, long pepper, ajamoda, rock salt, cumin, black cumin and asafetida. It is used to cure flatulence, indigestion, colic and constipation.
In Triphala churna, amalaki, haritaki and bibhitaki are mixed to various proportions in accordance to the disease to be treated. Triphala churna is to be used for urinary disease, swellings, inflammations and infections, periodic fevers, skin and eye disease.

In the Decoction method, one part of fresh herbs is added to sixteen parts by weight of water and the mixture boiled down to one fourth. Some of the common decoctions include, Deshamula kvatha, made of ten roots and used for coughs, colds, fevers, neuralgia and giddiness.
Punarnavadi kvatha is made up of punarnava, barberry, turmeric, ginger, haritaki, guduchi, chitraka and bharngi. It is used mainly in the enlargement of the liver or spleen, oedema, ascites, inflammations and rheumatic disorders.

In the Hot infusion method, one part plant is added to eight to ten parts of hot water, and left to sit for at least half hour. Hot infusion is used for Aromatic herbs, some leaves and plants, which cannot take boiling.

In the Cold infusion method, one part plant is added to six parts of water. This solution is kept for twelve hours overnight and strained the next morning. Hibiscus, jasmine and sandalwood are used in such manner.
Guduchi is used for chronic fevers and coriander with sugar for burning sensations of the urinary tract.

There are other methods apart from the above five methods of Pancha Kashaya Kalpana. One of the methods is Mantha. In the Mantha method, one part of drugs is mixed with four parts of cold water and churned well until thick. A mixture of dates, pomegranates, grapes, tintidika, tamarind, amalaki and parushaka is prescribed to relieve the complications alcoholism.

In the Panaka method, one part of the herb is added to sixty four parts of water and boiled to one half to prepare medicated water for use in cooking gruels and meat soups. White sandalwood, vetiver, nutgrass and powdered ginger are the commonly used herbs for fever.

In the Arka method, the herb is boiled in water and the steam is collected. The common distillates include mint, ajowan, brahmi, dashmula, gorakhamundi, manjishtha, punarnava and fennel.

Ayurveda Jams are also prepared by taking a paste or a powder and cooking it in milk or water. Ghee, sugar syrup or small amount of other herbs is added to the mixture. Supari paka, which is betel nut jam, is given to tone the uterus, before and after birth.
Agastya haritaki leha, strengthens the lungs and is used to treat respiratory diseases like shortness of breath, cough, asthma and consumption.
The most famous of Ayurvedic jams is of course the Chawanprash avleha, which was prepared by the ashvin twins to restore the youth of sage Chawana. It is made up of more than forty herbs, with its main ingredients being amalaki. Chawanprash builds up intelligence, memory, sexual desire and beauty, and prevents ageing.

Medicinal wines are also used as carriers for other medicines and to build digestion. Dashmularishtha is one of the most popular wines, used in indigestion, malabsorption, loss of appetite, asthma, cough, consumption, anemia, piles and skin diseases.
Tekrarishta is the only wine of animal origin made up of fermented buttermilk. It is used for digestive disorders.

There are many Ayurvedic pills which are popular as well because each pill contains a measured dose of medicine that requires little or no preparation before consumption. Pills are made by cooking powdered herbs with jaggery or sugar, or by mixing with a liquid such as honey or a resin known as guggulu. When mixed with a liquid, the process is usually termed as bhavana.
Eladi Vati is a pill containing cardamom, cinnamon, long pepper, dates, raisins and sugar. It treats bronchitis, cough, cold and other respiratory diseases.
Sanjivani Guti contains a combination of parasite killing herbs such as vidanga, aconite and bhallataka along with ginger, long pepper, triphala, calamus and guduchi. It is used in indigestion, loss of appetite, chronic fevers, diarrhea and dysentery.

Along with pills, there are preparations in Ayurveda known as the guggulu preparations. These guggulu have many uses and has given rise to many compounds.
Gokshuradi guggulu contains gokshura and it is used in many urinary diseases and for prostratic problems.
Kanchanara guggulu is useful for the treatment of swollen glands especially of the neck and head region.
Punarnavadi guggulu, with its content of punarnava, is useful for skin diseases, jaundice, oedema, ascites and hernia.

Medicated fats, known as Sneha are also used as Ayurvedic medicines. Medicated ghees are meant for internal use while most medicated oil is meant for external use. Medicated fats is prepared by using one part paste of the drug being used to four parts fat to sixteen parts liquid.
Amalaki, bhrngaraja, brahmi and hibiscus are used in the medication of hair oils. Calamus oil helps to balance and concentrate the brain. It is applied into the nose than on to the head. Bilva oil is used in deafness.
Jatyadi oil and Nirgundi oil is applied to skin diseases.
Narayana oil is used to treat paralysis. Vishagarbha oil contains poisons like oleander, datura and aconite. It is applied to help relieve painful joints.

Medicated ghees are taken with milk. Brahmi ghrta helps in the promotion of intelligence and against mental diseases.
Triphala ghrta is useful for the treatment of eye diseases like conjunctivitis.

The Ayurvedic system of medicine makes extensive use of plant and animal substances. Charaka and Sushruta had prescribed only a few minerals to be used as medicines.
But with the rise of the Tantric religion, the use of many minerals as medicines became prevalent. Minerals like mercury, mica, iron, gold, silver, copper, compounds of mercury and sulphur; and gemstones. Colours are also used as medicine. Red and yellow are the two colours regarded as hot. Red impacts the blood and vitality and the colour yellow influences digestion.