Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Conch shell (Turbinella pyrum), of the Turbinellidae (Gastropoda) family. A large heavy-shelled marine gastropod of shallow Indian Ocean sands; the drug is the shell it builds; native range: the shallow sandy sea floor of the Indian Ocean, chiefly the Gulf of Mannar and the coasts of southern India and Sri Lanka. Globally recognized as śaṅkha in Sanskrit, shankh in Hindi, sangu in Tamil, and conch shell, chank shell in English. The part used is the shell — purified (shodhana), then calcined to a white ash (sankha bhasma). A thick, heavy, porcelain-white spiral shell, smooth and glossy within; calcined it becomes a light, dull-white, silky powder, practically tasteless and gritless between the fingers.
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.
CONCH SHELL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- conch shell
- Scientific name
- Turbinella pyrum (Linnaeus, 1767)
- Family
- Turbinellidae (Gastropoda)
Form
- Part used
- the shell — purified (shodhana), then calcined to a white ash (sankha bhasma)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna virya) — the rasa texts hold the heating virya alongside its use in burning sourness, and resolve neither
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- amlapittahara (quells sourness), deepana (kindles digestion), pachana (digests ama), grahi (binds the stool), shulaprashamana (relieves gripe)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- use under supervision; the alkaline ash is not for prolonged unmonitored dosing
- Toxicity
- the raw or merely powdered shell is not for internal use — only the properly purified and calcined bhasma is given; an unfinished (asiddha) bhasma is held harmful
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.