Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Gajapippali (Scindapsus officinalis), of the Araceae family. Stout evergreen root-climber of the arum kind, clinging to forest trees by aerial roots, with large leathery leaves; native range: the moist forests of the eastern Himalaya, northeast India and Bangladesh, climbing high on forest trees. Globally recognized as gajapippalī · karipippalī in Sanskrit, gaj pipal in Hindi, and elephant pepper, monkey vine in English. The part used is fruit (the dried fruiting spadix). A dried, warty, cylindrical fruiting spike like an outsized long-pepper, pungent and biting, scratching the throat when taken raw.
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.
GAJAPIPPALI
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- gajapippali
- Scientific name
- Scindapsus officinalis (Roxb.) Schott
- Family
- Araceae
Form
- Part used
- fruit (the dried fruiting spadix)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles and completes digestion), vatanulomana (moves the wind downward), kaphaghna, krimighna (antiparasitic), shulaprashamana (relieves colic), shwasahara (relieves wheeze)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pitta-predominant and hot conditions, acidity, bleeding disorders, and pregnancy
- Toxicity
- the raw fruit, like its aroid kin, carries irritant calcium-oxalate raphides that scratch the mouth and throat, so it is given only after shodhana; overdose irritates the gut
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