Tankana

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

Hindi name: Suhaga

What the texts say Tankana does

• Kaphaghna — pacifies kapha
• Shwasahara — relieves breathlessness
• Artavajanana — promotes menstruation (emmenagogue)
• Vranashodhana — cleans wounds

What the evidence says. Borax toxicology is well documented. Efficacy of the classical preparations is not established.

Side effects and limits

Boron compounds are reproductive toxins in animal studies and borax is restricted as a food additive in many countries. Acute ingestion of borax has caused poisoning, particularly in children.

Avoid or ask first: Pregnancy — it is an emmenagogue and boron is a reproductive toxin.; Children.; Renal impairment.

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

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

A classical emmenagogue, which is exactly why it is contraindicated in pregnancy. Also the flux used in metal marana, which is a different use entirely.

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.

Tankana is classed among the Kshara / Sadharana rasa.

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.

Industrial borax is the same compound and is not prepared as tankana bhasma. The puffing is the preparation.

Sodium tetraborate decahydrate, Na2B4O7·10H2O. Tankana bhasma is the puffed, dehydrated form.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Tankana is from the Persian and Arabic tinkar, which is also where borax itself comes from through Latin. The word travelled the trade route with the mineral.

Tankana is used in kasa, shwasa and in gynaecological yogas, and as the flux in metal preparation.

Constituents. Sodium tetraborate decahydrate, Na2B4O7·10H2O. Tankana bhasma is the puffed, dehydrated form.

• 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. It is not restated as a finding about a human body.
• Nothing here replaces a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner or a doctor.