A Review on the plants named after their karma (action) in Raja nighantu

Abstract

What is there in the name? May be it is true philosophically, but, from Ayurvedic perspective especially from Nama rupa vijnana`s point of view, a lot is hidden in the name. Plants are not named just because they need the name, on the contrary, they help in understanding various aspects of the plant. The rationale of naming a plant is well documented in Raja nighantu. Though, there is a confusion about its time, yet, most of Ayurveda scholars believe it to be a work of 15^th century. The pharmacological action of a plant is taken as a basis under the heading prabhava (effect) in naming a plant. This way of naming a plant helps a lot to have a look at its mechanism of action. For the reason, it is a great clue towards the pharmacodynamics of that plant and basis of many other plants working on the same line. Keeping this fact in mind, an earnest attempt is made in this review to explore the plants that are attributed with the names on the basis of their action in Raja nighantu. This review reveals 170 plants named after 36 activities with 153 synonyms.