Gandharvahastadi: Uses and Dosage

Gandharvahastadi kashayam is a decoction from the Kerala tradition built on Gandharvahasta, the root of Eranda, Ricinus communis, the castor plant, and its work is to move Vata downward through the gut. It is given for constipation with bloating, for gas and colic, for a heavy abdomen and poor appetite, for the early stages of amavata, ama in the joints, and as a preparatory and cleansing measure before purgation. The classical dose is 15 millilitres of the concentrated decoction diluted with 45 millilitres of warm water, twice a day before food. The formula appears in the Sahasrayogam, the Kerala compendium of formulas, and is made by the regulated manufacturers of that state today.

The formula

Gandharvahasta is a name for castor, the plant with a leaf like the hand of a gandharva, a celestial musician. Its root is the lead, and the formula joins it with Chitraka, Plumbago zeylanica; Bilva, Aegle marmelos; Shunthi, dried ginger; Haritaki, Terminalia chebula; and Punarnava, Boerhavia diffusa, among others. The decoction is prepared in the Sharngadhara manner, the coarse powder boiled in sixteen parts of water and reduced to a quarter, and then concentrated further into the kashayam sold in bottles, which is why the dose is small and diluted before it is taken.

The formula as a whole is pungent and bitter with a sweet undertone, light and penetrating, heating in potency, and pungent in vipaka, the post-digestive effect. Its action is anulomana, moving Vata in its proper downward direction; deepana and pachana, kindling agni, the digestive fire, and digesting ama, the residue of poor digestion; and mild virechana, purging. It pacifies Vata first and Kapha second and is warming enough to raise Pitta if taken beyond its purpose.

Eranda itself is sweet, pungent, and astringent in taste; heavy, unctuous, and penetrating; heating; sweet in vipaka; and by prabhava, its specific action, it is the tradition's chief purgative for Vata, since it moves the bowel while oiling it, which no dry purgative does. The Charaka Samhita ranks it first among the plants that pacify Vata.

Uses

The decoction is given when Vata has gathered in its own seat, the colon, and is pressing upward: bloating after meals, a hard tight abdomen, gas that does not pass, constipation with dryness, loss of appetite from fullness, and the low back and hip pain that accompanies a blocked bowel. It is the choice where Triphala is too drying and a dry purgative would aggravate the very Vata that is the problem.

In amavata, where ama has lodged with Vata in the joints, it is given in the early stage with a light diet, because the joints do not clear until the gut is moving and the residue is digested. In gulma, the abdominal mass of the classical texts, and in udara, distension, it is given in the beginning to open the bowel. It is used before virechana, therapeutic purgation, to loosen the bowel and prepare the channels, and as the vehicle for Eranda taila, castor oil, in mild purgation.

The oil

Gandharvahastadi eranda taila is castor oil prepared with the same decoction, and plain Eranda taila is used the same way. The dose is 5 to 15 millilitres at bedtime, stirred into warm water, warm milk, or a cup of the decoction, which moves the bowel by morning. In amavata a spoon of castor oil in the decoction is the classical evening dose. The oil is the stronger of the two forms and is used for days, not weeks; the decoction alone is used for the longer course. Gandharvahastadi is also made in tablets by modern manufacturers, at one or two with warm water before food, for those who cannot take the taste.

Timing and vehicle

The decoction is taken before food, morning and evening, so that it acts on an empty gut and does not compete with the meal. Warm water is the vehicle; the dilution is one part decoction to three parts water. In a strongly Vata person with dryness a little castor oil is added to the evening dose; in a Kapha person with heaviness a pinch of Trikatu is added. It is a preparation for the cool and rainy seasons, when Vata rises and the bowel slows, and it is less needed in summer.

When it is not used

It is not given in pregnancy, since castor moves the bowel and the womb alike. It is not given in diarrhoea, in dysentery, in bleeding from the bowel, or in a weak agni with loose stool. It is not given to a person who is dehydrated or exhausted, or to young children in the oil doses. It is stopped once the bowel is moving and the abdomen is soft, because continued purgation weakens the colon and creates the Vata it was given to remove. The oil is too heating for an acute Pitta condition, a burning gut, or a fever. Herbalism knows castor oil under the same use and gives the same caution about its heat and its effect on the womb.

Not medical advice.