Skip to content

Ingredientद्रव्य

Leech

जोंक · जलौका

Extracted from the textNew name from the text4 references

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

Names and synonyms

Sanskrit
जलौकाजलौकस्जलायुकाजलूका
Hindi
जोंकजलौंक
English
Leech

What the text says

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

Definition1

  • Leeches are called jalaukas because water is their home (oka) and jalayuka because water is their life (ayu); they are also called jaluka, words that grammarians derive by the prishodaradi rule.

    Chapter 21 · p. 483 · v. 35Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Classification1

  • Twelve kinds of leeches are described, six poisonous (krishna, karbura, alagarda, indrayudha, samudrika, gochandana) and six non-poisonous (kapila, pingala, shankhamukhi, mushika, pundarikamukhi, savarika).

    Chapter 21 · p. 483 · v. 35Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Cautions1

  • Leeches that are very thin, very fat, very young, injured, distressed, of low breed, eating little, helpless, very sleepy and lazy, from a bad region, poisonous or very hard to catch are said to be unfit and should not be kept.

    Chapter 21 · p. 489 · v. 51Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Other2

  • The savarika leech, eighteen finger-breadths long and dark, is said to be used for drawing blood from animals such as elephants and horses, not from humans.

    Chapter 21 · p. 486 · v. 42Hindi commentaryTraditional description
  • Leeches are said to abound in Malaya, the Pandya country, the Sahya hills, the Kaveri, Vanga, the Kalinga lands, Paundra and nearby regions, where they are large, eat much, drink quickly and are non-poisonous, so they should be gathered from there.

    Chapter 21 · p. 486 · v. 43Hindi commentaryTraditional description

Find everywhere it is used

Open in the usage explorer

Conditions mentioned with it

1

Conditions named in the preparations that use it, or linked to it directly.

Where else is this mentioned?

Named 21 times on 12 pages. These are automatic name matches, so a few may refer to something else with the same name.

Questions and answers

How many kinds of leeches does the text describe, and which one is not used on people?

Twelve, six poisonous and six non-poisonous; the savarika is used only for animals such as elephants and horses.

Detailed answer and sources

All references

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

Quick facts

Content type
Ingredient
Source pages with records
3
Pages naming it
12
Chapters
Chapter 21
Extraction tasks
T23
Record id
ingredient_jalauka