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Foodआहार द्रव्य

Ghee (ghrita)

घी (घृत) · घृत

Extracted from the text5 references

Built from passages of the source by the curated extraction. Pending human review.

Names and synonyms

Sanskrit
घृतसर्पिष्सर्पिआज्यहवि
Hindi
घीघृतगाय का घीगोघृतदेसी घी
English
Gheegheeclarified butterghrita
Romanized
ghritagheeghi
Marathi
तूप

Ayurvedic properties

Only the qualities the text states are listed. The claims below give each statement with its source.

Taste (rasa)
Sweet (madhura)
Qualities (guna)
Shita
Effect on the doshas
Vata: pacifiesPitta: pacifiesKapha: pacifies
Actions
RasayanaMedhyaChakshushyaBalyaAyushyaDeepanaVarnya

What the text says

Each statement reports the source, with its chapter, page and verse. Traditional descriptions are not presented as proven medical facts.

Properties3

  • Ghee is described as strength-increasing (verse: of great potency), cold, aiding digestion (commentary for विपाकि), tasty, removing vata, pitta and kapha, a rasāyana, increasing lustre, strength and life span, promoting intelligence and good for the eyes, as the venerable ones say.

    Chapter 5 · p. 69 · v. 32Hindi commentaryTraditional description
  • Drinking ghee by the oleation procedure is said to sharpen the digestive fire, increase strength and glow, produce firm new tissues, cleanse the stomach, steady the senses and give a life of a hundred years.

    Chapter 8 · p. 113 · v. 29Sanskrit verseTraditional description
  • Ghee is described as a delightful rasayana for people.

    Chapter 22 · p. 499 · v. 20Sanskrit verseTraditional description

Diet1

  • Ghee is named with water, milk and food as what the one-sided view calls absolutely wholesome; the author replies that nothing is wholesome in every case, for such things would then have to be used even in new fever, diarrhoea, kushtha, fistula-in-ano, eye diseases and wounds.

    Appendix: Hitahita · p. 623Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Other1

  • Ghee is named with milk, curd and buttermilk among the products of mobile beings that, the translation says, are taken for use in medicines because they arise from causes of comfort such as the nourishment of those animals, touch and the suckling of calves.

    Appendix: Hitahita · p. 637Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Find everywhere it is used

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Formulations containing it

151
Alkali ghee-oil oleation and snuhi purgation in kapha-type udaraAlkaline water (ksharodaka)Amalaki and gokshura powder for injury and wasting coughAmalaki and shatavari milk puddingAmalaki decoction with ghee, sugarcane juice and milkAntimony, amalaki, jujube and parched rice soaked in ghee and jaggeryAphrodisiac rice, black gram and sesame cakesAphrodisiac wheat-flour confectionBhallataka regimen (bhallataka kalpa)Bhallataka stone kalpaBhallatakadi gheeBimbyadi gheeBrāhmī and other rasāyanaCock feather, dung and snake-slough fumigationCold infusion of amla, nut grass, hribera and coriander (unnamed)Collyrium against vata-type abhishyandaConch ash collyrium with gheeDecoction enema for pitta-type udara

Remedies using it

60
Black sesame with bhringaraja leavesCardamom and asafoetida in milk with ghee and jaggeryCold legume soup with ghee and jaggeryCold-water washing and milk or ghee sprinkling after leechingCooling diet for raktapitta and pitta disordersCooling ghee and trivrit purgation in pitta-type udaraCooling treatment for upadamsha caused by teethCow ghee drink and nasya for dhumadarshiDiet for consumptionDiet for poxDrinking ghee in sirotpata and siraharshaEye tarpana with ghee and oilFilling a fresh wound with ghee or liquorice pasteGhee affusion and sudation for shuka diseaseGhee after mealsGhee and gentle pressure for bulging eyesGhee anointing and a bed of lotus leavesGhee cooked with horse gram, jujube, milk and curd

Procedures using it

58
Black shilajatu (usha) kalpa for producing goldCare of the newborn after birthCaustic alkali therapy (kshara karma)Cauterisation (agnikarma)Chandramrita regimen in a secluded houseCooling care and milk-ghee enemas for excessive purgationCooling measures and foods in faintingCourse of drinking ghee or oil for oleationDrinking plain ghee (acchapana)Eighth-month enemas for the pregnant womanEmesis and purgation for pitta-type heart diseaseEnemas for raktapittaExtraction of an obstructed fetusGhee drinking, purgation and uttara basti in yoni diseasesGhee given with food (sabhakta)Giving the oil enema (anuvasana) after niruhaGiving the uttara bastiGraded water and diet to rekindle the digestive fire

Given as vehicle or after-drink

63

Taken with or after these preparations.

Alkaline water (ksharodaka)Amalaki and gokshura powder for injury and wasting coughAntidote for mandali snake poisonAphrodisiac rice, black gram and sesame cakesAphrodisiac wheat-flour confectionBharangyadi powderBlack sesame with bhringaraja leavesBrāhmī and other rasāyanaCold emetic water for excess pitta (unnamed)Cold infusion of amla, nut grass, hribera and coriander (unnamed)Cold-water bath and medicines after bloodlettingDushivishari agada (antidote for latent poison)Earth kalpaFormula that destroys pitta-type stoneGhee for the infant with gold and vachaGold and red ochre in gheeGuduchi and lotus paste for an even burnHaritaki with ghee

Plant glossary entries

1

Where else is this mentioned?

Named 200 times on 135 pages. These are automatic name matches, so a few may refer to something else with the same name.

Questions and answers

What is given to eat after the emesis and purgation in the chandramrita regimen?

At first only milk, fragrant and boiled then cooled; once strength appears, shali rice with ghee and milk once a day, along with massage, bath and anointing.

Detailed answer and sources
Why does the Hindi rendering of the hitahita chapter hold that no substance is wholesome or unwholesome in every respect?

Because by substance, place, time and state things have many-sided natures; if water, ghee, milk and food were wholesome in every way, they would have to be used even in new fever, diarrhoea, kushtha, fistula-in-ano, eye diseases and wounds.

Detailed answer and sources
Which eight kinds of milk does the translation say are effective in medicine?

The milk of the goat, sheep, cow, buffalo, mare, she-elephant, she-donkey and she-camel.

Detailed answer and sources

All references

Every page and verse of the source that this entry draws on.

Quick facts

Content type
Food
Categories
DairyOils and fats
Source pages with records
5
Pages naming it
135
Extraction tasks
T03, T05, T24, T30
Record id
ingredient_ghrita