Jiraka (Jeera)

Jiraka (Hindi Jeera, Jira; botanical name Cuminum cyminum) is cumin, the everyday spice of the Indian kitchen. The Bhavaprakasha Nighantu treats it in one short section with two other seeds: black jiraka (krishna jiraka) and kalajaji (kalonji). Five verses give the names of each kind and one set of properties shared by all three (pp. 283–284, verses 81–85). The very next section is on dhanyaka (coriander).

Names

जीरको जरणोऽजाजी कणा स्याद्दीर्घजीरकः ॥ ८१ ॥ कृष्णजीरः सुगन्धश्च तथैवोद्गारशोधनः । कालाजाजी तु सुषवी कालिका चोपकालिका ॥ ८२ ॥

• White jiraka (shukla jiraka): Jiraka, Jarana ("the digester"), Ajaji, Kana and Dirghajiraka ("the long jiraka").
• Black jiraka (krishna jiraka): Krishnajira, Sugandha ("the fragrant one") and Udgarashodhana ("that which clears belching").

The second half of verse 82 and all of verse 83 name the third kind, kalajaji (p. 283, verses 81–83).

Properties of the three kinds

जीरकत्रितयं रूक्षं कटूष्णं दीपनं लघु । संग्राहि पित्तलं मेध्यं गर्भाशयविशुद्धिकृत् ॥ ८४ ॥ ज्वरघ्नं पाचनं वृष्यं बल्यं रुच्यं कफापहम् । चक्षुष्यं पवनाध्मानगुल्मच्छर्द्यतिसारहृत् ॥ ८५ ॥

The text gives these properties to "the three jirakas" together:

• Rasa (taste): pungent (katu)
• Guna (quality): dry (ruksha), light (laghu)
• Virya (potency): hot (ushna)
• Doshas: removes kapha and vata; increases pitta (pittala)
• Actions: kindles digestion (dipana), digests (pachana), binds the stool (sangrahi), good for the intellect (medhya), cleanses the uterus (garbhashaya-vishuddhikrit), strengthening (balya), virilising (vrishya), improves taste (ruchya), good for the eyes (chakshushya)

(p. 284, verses 84–85)

Conditions it is used in

According to the text, the three jirakas are used in fever (jvara), vata disorders, bloating (adhmana), gulma, vomiting (chhardi) and diarrhoea (atisara) (p. 284, verse 85).

The plant

The Hindi commentary of this edition describes white and black jiraka separately (pp. 284–285).

White jiraka (jeera)

• Botanical name: Cuminum cyminum Linn., family Umbelliferae. English: cumin seed.
• Where it grows: sown in fields every year across nearly all of India except Assam and Bengal, most of all in Rajputana and parts of north India.
• The plant: a small herb with thin branches, fine fennel-like leaves, clusters of tiny white flowers in umbels, and a fruit like that of fennel.
• Constituents: 2.5–4% of a fragrant, pale yellow volatile oil rich in cumic aldehyde, about 10% fixed oil, and pentosans.
• Uses noted: a well-known kitchen spice. As medicine the commentary calls it digestive, settling vata, easing pain and binding the stool, and lists its use in vomiting, diarrhoea, indigestion, bloating, fever and urinary complaints such as painful or blocked urination and stones. It is described as especially useful for children's digestive troubles.
• How it is taken: with jaggery in fever (to improve appetite and digestion and ease burning); with curd in diarrhoea; with lemon juice for pitta-type vomiting in pregnancy; given to new mothers to increase milk; and smoked with ghee for hiccups. It is also said to help hoarseness.
• Named preparations: Jirakadya modaka, used in long-standing diarrhoea, indigestion and weak digestion. The commentary also gives a powder for urinary infections such as gonorrhoea: jira 4 parts, khunkharaba 2, kalmi shora 5, coriander 5 and rose 2, given at 10 ratti. These are notes for physicians, not home remedies.
• Outside the body: a paste is put on painful piles and on pain of the breasts, scrotum and abdomen; with ghee, honey and salt it is applied to scorpion stings; a bath in its decoction is used for itching, and an oil cooked with it for skin disease.
• Dose given: 1/2–2 masha.

(pp. 284–285)

Black jiraka (kala jeera)

• Botanical name: the commentary identifies it as Carum carvi Linn., family Umbelliferae, English "black caraway seed".
• Where it grows: in the hills of the northern Himalaya, and grown in Kashmir, Kumaon, Garhwal and Chamba as well as on the plains; also in Afghanistan and Iran.
• The plant: 1–2 feet tall with finely divided leaves and white umbels; the seeds are long, slightly curved, fragrant, brownish black, about 7 mm long and pointed at both ends.
• Constituents: 3.1–7% volatile oil.
• Uses noted: a digestive that settles vata and increases breast milk, used in bloating, colic, diarrhoea, indigestion and long-standing fever, and given after childbirth to increase milk. In Europe, the commentary says, it is considered calming and a stimulant for the brain.
• How it is taken: its oil scents other medicines and stops the nausea and griping they cause; its distilled water (arka) is given as a vehicle for children's bloating and colic; its decoction is used to foment swollen piles, and women with uterine pain are seated in it.
• Dose given: 1/2–2 masha.

The commentary adds that a further kind, the wild aranya jiraka (Vernonia anthelmintica), is described in the book's appendix. Note that the commentary gives the English name "black cumin" to kalonji, not to black jiraka (p. 285).

Regional names

Hindi Jira, Safed jira, Sada jira; Bengali Jire, Sada jire; Marathi Jire, Pandhare jire; Gujarati Jiru, Dholu jiru; Kannada Jirige; Telugu Jilakarra; Tamil Siragam; Persian Zira-e safed; Arabic Kamun abyaz. For black jiraka: Hindi Kala jira, Syah jira; Marathi Shahajire; Gujarati Syajiru; Kannada Karijirige; Marwari Shyajiro; Persian Siyah zira; Arabic Kamun-e Kirmani, Kamun aswad (pp. 284–285).

Sources

• Bhavamishra, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Haritakyadi varga, verses 81–85: pp. 283–284 (scan and text on SarvaKosh)
• Vidyotini Hindi commentary, notes on white and black jiraka: pp. 284–285

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