Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), of the Solanaceae family. Erect greyish under-shrub with ovate leaves and small green bell-flowers; native range: the drier regions of India, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Globally recognized as ashwagandha / varahakarni in Sanskrit, asgandh in Hindi, asgand in Arabic, and winter cherry, Indian ginseng in English. The part used is root chiefly; also leaf and fruit. Stout, pale, tapering roots of a strong horsey-earthy odour and bitter-acrid taste; the plant bears red berries in an inflated papery calyx.
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.
ASHWAGANDHA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Ashwagandha
- Scientific name
- Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal
- Family
- Solanaceae
Form
- Part used
- root chiefly; also leaf and fruit
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- dominant: bitter (tikta) · astringent (kashaya) · secondary: sweet (madhura)
- Western
- bitter · astringent
- Unani
- bitter · astringent
Temperature
Ayurveda: heating (ushna)
Western: warm
Unani: hot & dry (2nd–3rd degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses reckon the root warming — a heating tonic to the cold and depleted
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- nervous system · adrenals · immune · circulation
- Unani
- nerves · brain · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- balya (strengthening), rasayana (rejuvenative), vajikara (aphrodisiac), medhya (nervine), nidrajanana (sleep-promoting), shothahara and vata-kapha-hara
- Western
- adaptogen, nervine tonic, mild sedative, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulant, and restorative; steadies the stress response
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-asab (nervine tonic), muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac), muhallil-e-warm (resolvent of swellings), and mumsik; a strengthener of the depleted body
Cautions
Contraindications: high pitta with heat and hyperacidity, marked ama (congestion); large doses in pregnancy; severe hyperthyroidism
Toxicity: well tolerated; large doses may cause gastric upset or drowsiness
Interactions
- Western
- sedatives / CNS depressants: additive sedative and anxiolytic effect · thyroid medication: may raise thyroid hormone levels, additive effect · immunosuppressants: immunostimulant action may oppose therapy · antidiabetic agents: additive glucose lowering
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