Article: EXPLORING THE MEDICINAL HERBS USED IN TOXICOLOGICAL PRACTICES FROM THE GARUDA PURANA: A REVIEW

Article Category: Review articles

DOI: 10.7897/2277-4343.156205

Pages: 123-127

Author: Sowparnika B *, Reshmi Pushpan

Abstract: Garuda Purana is one of the eighteen Maha puranas in Hinduism, composed in Sanskrit and belonging to the tenth century CE. The presently available text is of three hundred and eighteen chapters. Amongst these a few chapters are exclusively dedicated to descriptions of health, various diseases and their symptoms, treatments, and a listing of medicinal herbs. Poisoning and its management form an important topic in Garuda Purana, wherein anti-toxic hymns, herbs, animal products, dietary recommendations, metals, minerals, and precious stones are recommended for their management. Treatment of poisoning is an emergency management and could be benefited if these single herbs were widely available and used. The objective of this project was to compile the single herbs or simple recipes for poisoning from Garuda Purana, understand and validate its pharmacological application with inputs from Ayurvedic lexicons, tribal claims, and contemporary research on these herbs. After critiquing the book, at least 30 herbs were found utilized as anti-toxic remedies of which fourteen were identified as being administered as single herb therapies in Visha chikitsa.

Keyword: Ayurveda, Garuda Purana, toxicology, medicinal herbs, snake bite.