Witnessed by: Ayurveda

Rudraksha (Elaeocarpus ganitrus), of the Elaeocarpaceae family. Large evergreen tree of the hill forest with drooping leathery leaves and small white fringed flowers, the fruit a blue drupe; native range: the sub-Himalayan tract from Nepal through the north-eastern hills, and Indonesia; chiefly gathered in Nepal and Java. Globally recognized as rudrākṣa in Sanskrit, rudraksh in Hindi, rudrakshya in Nepali, and rudraksha, blue marble tree, utrasum bead tree in English. The part used is seed (the stone of the fruit). A hard rounded stone, warty and knotted, brown when cleaned, its surface divided into lobes by vertical clefts — the mukhi that are counted; the taste bitter and astringent.

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.

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