So.dhalanigha.n.tu

[Dominik Wujastyk]

The plant lak.sma.naa is "a creeper having green leaves with red spots on
them", and is identified with Ipomoea sepiaria Roxb (Convulvulaceae)
according to PV Sharma's ed. of So.dhala. So.dhala's 7th varga begins with
a description of this plant (which is said to aid fertility, etc. etc.).

Balachandran and Sivarajan's Ayurvedic Drugs and their Plant Sources has
an important article on Lak.sma.naa, and they identify it with Ipomoea
marginata (Desr.) Verde., [the modern name of I. sepiaria], or with I.
obscura (Linn.) Ker-Gawler.   Their reference is to usage in Kerala.

Lak.sma.naa is not Mandrake, in spite of this frequent identification by
modern ayurvedic authors.


Prof. Arjunwadkar's response covers everything else.


On Wed, 17 Nov 1999, Bruno Lo Turco wrote:

> I have a question regarding the So.dhalanigha.n.tu:
> what is meant by lak.sma.nAdi and anekArtha, which are the
> names of the 7th and 8th
> vargas of drugs listed in the first section (nAmasaGgraha)
> of the work?

--
Dominik Wujastyk
Founder, INDOLOGY list