Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Cow urine (Bos taurus), of the Bovidae (Mammalia) family. The cow, kept at pasture; the drug is her urine, taken fresh; native range: wherever the cow is kept; the classics ask for the midstream of a healthy cow at pasture, collected fresh. Globally recognized as go mūtra in Sanskrit, gomutra in Hindi, and cow urine in English. The part used is the fresh urine, strained through cloth. A thin, clear to pale-yellow fluid, sharply pungent-salt on the tongue and biting to the nose, its ammoniacal smell growing as it stands.
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.
COW URINE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- cow urine
- Scientific name
- Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758
- Family
- Bovidae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the fresh urine, strained through cloth
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta) · astringent (kasaya)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna virya)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- deepana (kindles digestion), pachana, lekhana (scrapes), krimighna, kushthaghna, mutrala (promotes urine), mrdu virechana (mild purgation), and shothahara
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pitta-predominant states, raktapitta and bleeding, peptic ulceration, and pregnancy
- Toxicity
- irritant to a hot or ulcerated gut; the fresh raw material carries enteric pathogens, and the modern internal use of unprocessed urine cannot be recommended on hygienic grounds
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