Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Indian beech (Millettia pinnata), of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family. Medium-sized, fast-growing deciduous tree with a spreading crown and glossy leaflets; native range: riverbanks and coastal tracts of India and Southeast Asia, tolerant of salt and waterlogging. Globally recognized as karanja / naktamala in Sanskrit, karanj / kanji in Hindi, karanj (of Unani use) in Arabic, and Indian beech; pongam oil tree; pongam in English. The part used is seed and its expressed oil (karanja oil); bark, leaves and root. Flat, kidney-shaped seeds yielding a thick, bitter, acrid orange-brown oil with a heavy disagreeable smell; the bark 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.
INDIAN BEECH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Indian beech
- Scientific name
- Millettia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi
- Family
- Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Form
- Part used
- seed and its expressed oil (karanja oil); bark, leaves and root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter · pungent · astringent (tikta-katu-kashaya)
- Unani
- bitter, acrid, pungent
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd-3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- skin · liver (a cleanser of the skin and purifier of the blood)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kushtaghna (heals skin disease), krimighna (anthelmintic, antiparasitic), kandughna (relieves itching), vrana-shodhana and ropana (cleans and heals wounds), kaphavatahara, mild bhedana (laxative)
- Unani
- jali (detergent, cleanser), musaffi-e-dam (blood purifier), mohallil (resolvent), qatil-e-deedan (anthelmintic), daf-e-amraz-e-jild (remedy for skin disease)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- the seed and oil are largely for external use; internal use only in small, guarded doses
- Toxicity
- the seed and oil are acrid and irritant and can provoke nausea, vomiting and purging if taken in quantity; keep to topical use or minute internal doses
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