Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Civet, of the Viverridae (Mammalia) family. A small, low-slung, long-bodied nocturnal carnivore of the scrub and forest edge, greyish and dark-barred, marking its range from a perineal scent gland; native range: the small Indian civet and its relatives, of the scrub and forest edge of India and southeast Asia; the drug long collected from caged animals in south India and traded from Ethiopia. Globally recognized as gandha mārjāra vīrya in Sanskrit, puẓuku in Tamil, punugu in Telugu, civet, civet musk in English, and Zibethum in Latin. The part used is the perineal-gland secretion, scraped from the pouch. A thick, greasy, pale-yellow to brown paste, darkening with age. Undiluted the smell is rank, faecal and hard to be near; drawn out to a trace it turns warm, sweet, animal and remarkably lasting — which is the whole reason it is used.
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.
CIVET
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- civet
- Family
- Viverridae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the perineal-gland secretion, scraped from the pouch
PRACTICE
Cautions
- Toxicity
- not recorded as toxic at the trace quantities used; the substance is a potent sensitising odorant, and the commercial article is heavily adulterated. Viverricula indica, the Indian source, stands on CITES Appendix III at India's request, so international trade is permit-bound; other civet genera used for the drug carry their own national protections. It cannot be lawfully sourced across borders without documentation, and the caged-collection practice is the standing welfare objection
- Sourcing status
- cites-iii
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.