Chavya (Chab)

Chavya (Hindi Chab, Chavya, Chabh; botanical name Piper chaba) is a pepper vine that the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu describes right after pippalimula. Its single verse gives three names and says that chavya has the properties of pippalimula, with one addition: it is especially good against piles (p. 274, verse 67). A few verses later it is counted among the five drugs of panchakola (p. 278, verse 72).

Names

भवेच्चव्यं तु चविका कथिता सा तथोषणा । कणामूलगुणं चव्यं विशेषाद् गुदजापहम् ॥ ६७ ॥

The first line gives three Sanskrit names: Chavya, Chavika and Ushana. Ushana, "the hot one", is also a name of pippalimula in the verse just before (p. 274, verse 67).

Properties

The second line does not list chavya's properties one by one. It says chavya has the properties of kanamula, the root of kana (pippali), that is, pippalimula, and that it removes piles (gudaja) in particular (p. 274, verse 67). The verses on pippalimula give these properties (p. 273, verses 64–65):

• Rasa (taste): pungent (katu)
• Guna (quality): light (laghu), dry (ruksha)
• Virya (potency): hot (ushna)
• Actions: kindles digestion (dipana), digests (pachana), breaks up and moves the stool (bhedi)
• Doshas: removes kapha and vata; increases pitta

Conditions it is used in

By the same reference, chavya is used in the conditions named for pippalimula: abdominal disorders (udara), bloating with constipation (anaha), an enlarged spleen (pliha), gulma, worms (krimi), breathlessness (shvasa) and wasting (kshaya) (p. 273, verse 65). Its own special use is in piles (arsha) (p. 274, verse 67).

Panchakola and shadushana

पिप्पली पिप्पलीमूलं चव्यचित्रकनागरैः । पञ्चभिः कोलमात्रं यत्पञ्चकोलं तदुच्यते ॥ ७२ ॥

Long pepper (pippali), its root (pippalimula), chavya, chitraka and dry ginger (shunthi), one kola of each, make panchakola, "the five kolas". The text calls it pungent in taste and after digestion, sharp, hot and the best of digestives, and uses it in gulma, spleen disorders, abdominal disease, anaha and colic; it provokes pitta (p. 278, verses 72–73). The commentary reckons a kola as half a tola and gives the mixture's dose as 5–15 ratti twice a day.

पञ्चकोलं समरिचं षडूषणमुदाहृतम् । पञ्चकोलगुणं तत्तु रूक्षमुष्णं विषापहम् ॥ ७४ ॥

Panchakola with an equal part of black pepper (maricha) added is shadushana, "the six hot ones". It has the properties of panchakola and is also dry, hot and a remover of poison (p. 278, verse 74).

Chavya and gajapippali

In the next section the text records that physicians call the fruit of chavya gajapippali (pp. 274–275, verses 68–69). The commentary explains that scholars disagree here: later authorities treat chavya and gajapippali as two different plants, which is why both are counted among the "doubtful" (sandigdha) drugs. It follows the majority view, taking chavya as Piper chaba and describing gajapippali as a separate plant (p. 274).

The plant

The Hindi commentary of this edition adds notes on the plant (p. 274):

• Botanical name: Piper chaba Hunter; also given as Piper officinarum C. DC. Family Piperaceae, the pepper family.
• Where it grows: mostly in Java, Sumatra and Malaya; in many parts of India it is found planted.
• Part used: the fruit and the stem.
• In the market: the commentary thinks the fruit probably reaches Calcutta by way of Singapore and is sold there as "badi pipar" (big long pepper).
• The vine: a tough, hairless climber whose branches wind tightly around the boughs of trees and turn a yellowish white when dried. The leaves are 5–7 inches long and 2–3½ inches wide, oblong to egg-shaped with a slight point, glossy on the upper side, and pale or yellowish white when dry.
• Regional names: Hindi Chavya, Chab, Chabh; Bengali Chai, Choi; Marathi Chavak, Kankal, Chabchini; Gujarati Chavak; Telugu Chavyamu; Tamil Chavyam.

Sources

• Bhavamishra, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Haritakyadi varga, verse 67: p. 274; pippalimula, verses 64–65: p. 273; panchakola and shadushana, verses 72–74: p. 278 (scan and text on SarvaKosh)
• Vidyotini Hindi commentary, notes on the plant: p. 274

This page describes what the granth says. It is not medical advice; consult a qualified vaidya before using any remedy.