Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Mashaparni (Teramnus labialis), of the Fabaceae family. Slender twining perennial herb with trifoliate leaves and small blue-purple pea flowers, in grass and scrub; native range: tropical India and Sri Lanka, and widely through the tropics of Africa and America. Globally recognized as māṣaparṇī · sūrpaparṇī · kṛṣṇavṛntā in Sanskrit, masparni · jangli urad in Hindi, and blue wiss, wild black gram in English. The part used is whole plant; chiefly the leaf and root. A thin, softly hairy twiner with dark trifoliate leaves; the herb faintly sweet and bitter to the tongue, mucilaginous when chewed, with no sharpness.
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.
MASHAPARNI
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- mashaparni
- Scientific name
- Teramnus labialis (L.f.) Spreng.
- Family
- Fabaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant; chiefly the leaf and root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet (madhura) · bitter (tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- balya and brimhana (strengthening and flesh-building), vrishya (aphrodisiac and shukra-building), dāha-prashamana (allays burning), jvaraghna (antipyretic), and vatapittahara
Cautions
- Contraindications
- kapha excess, sluggish digestion and āma — the herb is heavy and building
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