marking nut

[Guest guest]

On Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 05:17 AM,

ayurveda wrote:

 

> Okay I am a physician I like to give some tips on tumor subject .It

> may be ayurveda or

>

> Siddha mostly self-experience.

>

> I do treat arthritis the swelling in the knees ect.

>

> My favorite medicine is Indian marking nut.[sERANKOTTAI]

 

Dear. Dr. Vidhyasagar

 

Firstly, let me thank you for joining our list. I have spent much time

in Tamil Nad, and while I haven't studied siddha specifically, i have a

lot of respect for Tamil culture. I even studied mrdangam for awhile

(w/ Trichy Shankaran), and toured Tamil nad with him, esp. enjoying the

Thyagaraja festival. I remember one concert with him and Lalgudi

Jayaraman outside under the full moon - a very magical evening indeed!

 

I have never used serankotta (expect in formulas such as

yogarajagugulu), so perhaps you can tell some things about it.

Firstly, when preparing the medicine, do you only use the outer skin

(pericarp) or do you use both the pericarp and the cashew nut?

Secondly, how toxic do you consider the marking nut - there are

reported cases of renal failure with exposure to the tree sap, but how

toxic do you consider the pericarp (and its oil) to handle? Thirdly,

do you only use it when decocted with milk (amritabhallataka,

serankotta nei), or do you also use without it being processed?

 

For those of you who don't much about this interesting plant,

serankotta or marking nut is the outer covering of the cashew. It is a

dark-brown outer covering (pericarp) that when crushed yields a dark

brown to black ink (hence its name, marking nut). In Ayurveda the name

is bhallataka, meaning to 'pierce like a spear.' It is considered to

be an extremely hot remedy that must be processed properly, and has a

medicinal quality on par with purified mercury. Anyway, something to

consider next time you enjoy cashew nuts...

 

Some sources state that this plant was introduced into India by the

Portuguese, but it was mentioned in very early Ayurvedic texts.

Perhaps bhallataka was originally another plant, or more likely, it is

indigenous to India. Any comments?

 

> Caldecott

phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto