Volume 10, Issue 6

Vibhitaka [Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn)] has been used extensively in Ayurveda . The drug possess katu, tiktha, kashaya rasa , madhura vipaka and ushna virya . It has action on different diseases like kasa , pandu , apatantraka ,hridroga, netra roga etc .The drug is responsible for the therapeutical actions like anti inflammatory , antibacterial , analgesics and bronchodilatory due to have been scientifically proven . Apart from Ayurvedic classics , vibhitaka has been used for various ethnomedicinal purposes by tribes in the country.

People living in the rural areas of Himalaya have a unique knowledge system to live in harmony with nature since time immemorial. They had a very specific knowledge system to manage or maintain different things in their day to day life in which oral hygiene is the one. Traditionally, various plant species were used as daatun (tooth brushing stick) to maintain oral hygiene and some are still being used by the native communities in different parts of the country. The current study was carried out in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh to document the plant species used as daatun. A total of 13 plant species belonging to 13 genera and 9 families with a dominance of 9 tree species and 4 shrub species have been documented. Rosaceae is the dominant family with 3 species such as Malus pumila, Prunus domestica, and Prunus cerasoides. Documentation of these plant species used by the natives to maintain oral hygiene will also be helpful for pharmaceutical agencies to develop dental care products in the future. It will also be helpful for the economic development of hill communities of the region.

The nose is considered as one of the important routes of administration in Ayurveda. Nasya is one of the important treatment modalities and it is also one of the pancha karma procedures of Ayurveda. It is told that the nose is the opening towards the shiras so that medicines to the shiras can be best administered through the nose. It is nothing but the anatomical peculiarities which makes the nose the best route for administration of the drug in the form of Nasya karma. Moreover, it is the nearest root for the medicines to reach the head.

Rajamartanda is one of the important texts of Indian traditional medical literature. It is believed to be a work of 11th century AD by King Bhoja. This text was also called by the name Yogasara Sangraha or Nanavidha yogasara sangraha. The subject contents were described in 34 chapters starting with Sirorogadhikara and ending in Pasurogadhikara. The author of Rajamartanda included many single and simple recipes useful in different disease conditions. A total of about 226 monoherbal therapies can be seen in this work. Instead of using the habitual way of explaining jvara chikitsa primarily like other Ayurvedic compendia, here the author commenced its first chapter as sirorogadhikara. The importance of Rajamartanda cannot be ignored in the field of Ayurvedic ministration.

Ayurveda is an eternal science of India, which assumed to be originated around 6,000 BC since the Vedic era. Nowadays the whole world is facing a global public health crisis pandemic COVID-19. No effective treatment is available for this epidemic disease. The current article aimed to explore some important facts of Ayurveda which are helpful in boosting our immune system to protect against COVID-19. Protection of human health before the occurrence of the disease is the basic principle of Ayurveda i.e. Prevention is better than cure. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) has formulated time to time guidelines and advisories for social distancing, testing, treatment, and other reliable material. Ayurveda specifies some medicinal herbs in our daily life in the form of spices to boost our immune system and prevention of diseases. It is the reason if we see the graph of COVID-19 infection globally; the infection rate in India is slower than in other countries. Government’s efforts of motivating the people to social distancing, taking precaution measures and the guideline of Ayush mantralaya to protect ourselves to boost our immunity are appreciable steps which became helpful to stop the community spread of coronavirus in our country. In this CORONACAL, AYUSH Mantralaya recommended some preventive health measures and self-care guidelines for boosting immunity as well as for maintains respiratory health. Ayurveda can play an important role in fighting and protection against COVID-19.