Yavani (Ajwain)

Yavani (Hindi Ajwain, Ajwayan; botanical name Carum copticum, also known as Trachyspermum ammi) is the small, strong-smelling fruit sold as ajwain. The Bhavaprakasha Nighantu describes it in the Haritakyadi varga right after panchakola and shadushana, in a short passage that gives its names, its properties and the conditions it is used in (p. 278, verses 75–77). Two related seeds follow it: ajamoda and parasika yavani (Khurasani ajwain).

Names

यवानिकोग्रगन्धा च ब्रह्मदर्भाऽजमोदिका ॥ ७५ ॥ सैवोक्ता दीप्यका दीप्या तथा स्याद्यवसाह्वया ।

Besides Yavani, the text gives seven Sanskrit names: Yavanika, Ugragandha ("the strong-smelling one"), Brahmadarbha, Ajamodika, Dipyaka, Dipya and Yavasahvaya. Dipyaka and Dipya echo dipana, kindling the digestive fire. Two of these names, Ajamodika and Dipyaka, are close to names the next verse gives for ajamoda, so the two seeds are easy to confuse by name (p. 278, verses 75–76).

Properties

यवानी पाचनी रुच्या तीक्ष्णोष्णा कटुका लघुः ॥ ७६ ॥ दीपनी च तथा तिक्ता पित्तला शुक्रशूलहृत् । वातश्लेष्मोदरानाहगुल्मप्लीहकृमिप्रणुत् ॥ ७७ ॥

• Rasa (taste): pungent (katu), bitter (tikta)
• Guna (quality): sharp (tikshna), light (laghu)
• Virya (potency): hot (ushna)
• Actions: digests (pachana), gives a taste for food (ruchya), kindles digestion (dipana)
• Doshas: removes vata and kapha; increases pitta (pittala)

(p. 278, verses 76–77)

Conditions it is used in

According to the text, yavani is used in colic (shula), abdominal disorders (udara), bloating with constipation (anaha), gulma, an enlarged spleen (pliha) and worms (krimi). The verse also calls it shukra-shula-hrit; the commentary's translation reads this as removing both semen (shukra) and colic (p. 278, verse 77).

The plant

The Hindi commentary of this edition adds notes on the plant (pp. 278–279):

• Botanical name: Carum copticum Benth. & Hook.; also given as Trachyspermum ammi Linn. and Ptychotis ajowan DC. Family Umbelliferae. English: Bishop's weed, ajowan seeds.
• Where it grows: sown in fields every year in almost every part of India, most of all around Indore and in the old Hyderabad state; also grown in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Persia, Egypt and Europe.
• The plant: 1–3 feet tall, with finely cut leaves like coriander leaves set far apart on the branches and tiny white flowers in umbrella-like heads. When the heads ripen the fruits are taken out; these fruits are what is sold as ajwain.
• Recognising the seed: very small, flattened, round to oval, about 2 mm long and brown, with tiny bumps on the surface and five ridges on each half, and the familiar ajwain smell.
• Part used: the fruit. The leaves are also used (see below).
• Constituents: 2–3% of a fragrant volatile oil, ajwain oil, about 40–50% of which is thymol. The crystals that separate from it, sold as ajwain ka phool or ajwain ka sat, are the same as the thymol of modern medicine. It also holds cymene and terpenes.
• Actions noted: kindles digestion, digests, hot, relieves spasm, stimulating, strengthening, kills worms, checks infection, removes bad smells and stops putrefaction. The commentary says it joins in one seed the bite of mustard and chilli, the bitterness of chirayata and the spasm-relieving power of hing.
• Uses noted: diarrhoea, poor digestion, indigestion, abdominal pain, wind (adhmana) and cholera (visuchika). In an old cough with very little phlegm it loosens the phlegm. It is added to other medicines, castor oil above all, to hide their bad smell.
• Regional names: Hindi Ajwain, Ajmayan, Jawain, Ajwan; Bengali Yamani, Joyan, Jowan; Marathi Onva; Gujarati Ajmo, Ajma, Javain; Kannada Om, Omu; Telugu Vamu, Omamu; Tamil Omam; Marwari Ajwan; Kutchi Vohra; Kashmiri Javind; Persian Nankhwah.

How it is taken

The commentary describes these preparations and uses (p. 279):

• Household remedy: ajwain powder with rock salt (saindhava) is the common home medicine for complaints that come from indigestion.
• Churna for colic: ajwain, rock salt, sochal salt, yavakshara, hing and amla are powdered together and given with honey, 1/2–1 masha at a time, for abdominal pain and wind.
• Breathlessness (shvasa): the powder is given with hot water, or the seed is smoked in a chilam.
• Craving for alcohol: people trying to give up drinking are given ajwain to chew when the craving comes.
• Arka (distillate): said to be very useful in children's illnesses and in cholera.
• Sat (thymol crystals): a strong worm-killer and antiseptic; a solution of it is used to wash wounds. Mixed with peppermint crystals and camphor it turns into a liquid, of which 3–4 drops are taken on a batasha at the start of cholera to check vomiting and loose motions; the commentary notes that popular patent mixtures such as Amritdhara are made mainly of these three. The sat is also used against intestinal worms, especially hookworm, rubbed on painful joints, and used for toothache.
• Poultice: a warm poultice of ajwain is used to foment the belly in colic and the joints in amavata and joint pain; in cholera the hands and feet, and in breathlessness and cough the chest, are fomented with it.
• Leaves: their juice is used to kill worms, and the ground leaves are put on insect bites. The commentary refers the reader to the vegetables chapter (shaka varga) for the leaves' other properties.
• Doses given: powder 3–6 masha; arka 1–2 ounces; sat 1/4–1 ratti.

Sources

• Bhavamishra, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Haritakyadi varga, verses 75–77: p. 278 (scan and text on SarvaKosh)
• Vidyotini Hindi commentary, notes on the plant and its uses: pp. 278–279

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