Nirgundi

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

Hindi name: Sambhalu

What the texts say Nirgundi does

• Vedanasthapana — relieves pain
• Shothahara — reduces swelling
• Krimighna — anthelmintic (against worms)
• Kushthaghna — used in skin disease
• Keshya — good for the hair
• Vatahara — pacifies vata

What the evidence says. Traditional use is extensive and long recorded. Modern clinical evidence is limited.

Side effects and limits

• Skin irritation on external use in some people
• Digestive upset when taken internally

Avoid or ask first: Pregnancy.

A traditional classification, not a recommendation. The full safety record is below.

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

The classical vatahara and shothahara; largely external as a lepa and in taila.

Reported from Sharangadhara Samhita and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Laisha states what the texts prescribe; it does not recommend. No quantity here is adjusted for a particular person — not for agni, koshtha, bala, age, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything already being taken.

Katu, tikta and kashaya with ushna virya and katu vipaka.

These are the actions the classical texts record. They are statements about what the tradition holds, and this library does not restate them as findings about a human body.

Sinduvara is the paryaya the classical texts use. The plant is identified by its leaf, which is palmately compound with five leaflets — hence the English name — and by its aroma when crushed.

Rasa, guna, virya, vipaka and karma are recorded as the classical texts give them, with the text and section named so a student can open the book and check. Where an exact chapter and verse could not be confirmed, this library names the section rather than inventing a number.

Vitex trifolia, with three leaflets rather than five, is collected and sold as nirgundi and is a different species. The leaf count is the field test and it is easy to apply while the leaf is whole; once dried and broken it is not.

Matched live against the GBIF backbone on 28 September 2026 at 99 per cent confidence. The white-flowered and blue-flowered forms are both used and the texts distinguish them as Shweta and Nila Nirgundi.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Vitex is from viere, to weave — the pliant twigs were used for basketry. Negundo is from the Sanskrit nirgundi itself.

Nirgundi is described in the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu and is recorded as vedanasthapana and shothahara. That is what the tradition holds and where it is written down, not a finding about what the leaf does in a body.

Constituents. The leaf carries flavonoids including casticin, along with iridoid glycosides and an essential oil.

• This is a study and clinical reference for practitioners and students. The matra and anupana it records are what the classical texts and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India PRESCRIBE — Laisha reports them, it does not recommend them. They are not a prescription for any particular person, and they are not adjusted for your age, agni, koshtha, bala, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything else you are already taking. Only a qualified practitioner who has examined you can do that.
• Traditional classification is recorded as what the classical texts say, with the text and the place in it named so it can be checked. It is not restated as a finding about a human body.
• Nothing here replaces a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner or a doctor.