Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani

Golden Shower (Cassia fistula), of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae) family. Medium tree with pendulous racemes of golden flowers; native range: India and South-East Asia; widely planted through the tropics. Globally recognized as aragvadha / rajavriksha / suvarnaka in Sanskrit, amaltas in Hindi, khiyar shambar (خيار شنبر) in Arabic, and purging cassia, Indian laburnum, pudding-pipe tree in English. The part used is fruit pulp (also flowers and leaves). Long cylindrical dark-brown pods partitioned into cells, each holding a seed bedded in sticky, sweetish, prune-like black pulp.

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.

GOLDEN SHOWER

IDENTITY

Name

Common: Golden Shower
Scientific name: Cassia fistula L.
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae)

Form

Part used: fruit pulp (also flowers and leaves)

PROPERTIES

Nature

Taste

how the plant declares itself on the tongue

Ayurveda: sweet (madhura)
Western: sweet
Unani: sweet

Temperature

Ayurveda: cooling (shita)
Western: cool
Unani: temperate (mild, inclining to moist)

Affinity

where in the body it travels

Organs / channels

Western: bowels · intestines · liver
Unani: intestines · stomach · liver

PRACTICE

Virtue

Actions

Ayurveda: mridu virechana (mild purgative), pittahara, jvaraghna (antipyretic), kushthaghna, shothahara
Western: laxative and mild purgative (the pulp), demulcent, febrifuge
Unani: mushil-e-lateef (gentle purgative), mulaiyin (laxative), munzij, mohallil

Cautions

Contraindications: diarrhoea and inflammatory bowel; excess brings griping
Toxicity: large doses cause gripe, flatulence and nausea

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