Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Hrivera (Coleus vettiveroides), of the Lamiaceae family. A small aromatic perennial herb of the mint kind with a mass of fine fragrant rootlets; native range: cultivated in south India, chiefly Tamil Nadu, on light sandy ground; not known wild. Globally recognized as hrīvera, bālaka, sugandhabāla, udīcya in Sanskrit, sugandhabala, netrabala in Hindi, iruveli in Tamil, and hrivera in English. The part used is root. A tangle of thin pale rootlets smelling coolly of vetiver, whence the epithet; the taste bitter and faintly astringent, and the scent holds for years in the dried root.
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.
HRIVERA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- hrivera
- Scientific name
- Coleus vettiveroides K.C.Jacob
- Family
- Lamiaceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · sweet (madhura) · astringent (kashaya)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (sheeta)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dahaprashamana (quells burning), trishnanigrahana (quenches thirst), jvaraghna (checks fever), stambhana (binds and holds), raktastambhaka (stops bleeding), mutrala (diuretic), hridya (good for the heart), pittahara
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold conditions and vata excess
- Toxicity
- a mild herb in ordinary use; the trade material is unreliable, since Pavonia odorata is sold under the same name
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