Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), of the Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) family. Erect annual herb with yellow flowers and slender pods of tiny seeds; native range: temperate Asia, cultivated as a pungent seed-crop from China to India and the Near East. Globally recognized as rajika / sarshapa in Sanskrit, rai / sarson in Hindi, jie zi (芥子) in Chinese, khardal (خردل) in Arabic, and brown mustard, leaf mustard, kitchen mustard in English. The part used is the ripe seed. Small red-brown to yellow globes, odourless dry; wetted and crushed they wake a sharp, hot, tear-drawing pungency.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
INDIAN MUSTARD
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Indian mustard
- Scientific name
- Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.
- Family
- Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)
Form
- Part used
- the ripe seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu)
- Unani
- pungent · acrid
Temperature
TCM: warm
Ayurveda: heating (atyushna — very)
Unani: hot & dry (3rd degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses agree on a fierce, penetrating heat
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung
- Unani
- stomach · lungs · nerves · intestines
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- warms the Lungs and expels cold phlegm, promotes qi movement and dissipates nodules, and unblocks the channels to relieve pain
- Ayurveda
- dipana (kindles digestion), kapha-vata-hara, krimighna (anthelmintic), and a rubefacient and counter-irritant externally
- Unani
- muharrik (stimulant), jali (detergent), mufattit (resolvent), kaasir-e-riyah (carminative) and a rubefacient plaster
Cautions
- Contraindications
- high pitta and heat, gastritis and ulcer, yin-deficient dry cough; broken or delicate skin
- Toxicity
- the plaster blisters and burns the skin if left on too long; large internal doses irritate the gut and airways
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