Ancient Indian Botany (वनस्पतिशास्त्रम्)

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Plants and human beings have an intimate relationship and it is well recognized since ancient times. Science in general and plant science in particular is an integral part of the Vēdas. Plants give oxygen, food and medicines to human beings and hence have to be protected at all times. References to the cultivation of cereals, such as wheat, barley, rice and ragi in the Samhitas, Brahmanas and Aranyakas-Upanishads bear ample testimony to the importance of plants as food and the development of agriculture in the Vedic times. Vedic seers were well known for their reverence to nature and natural forces and their eco-centric lifestyle is evident in the mantras of Rigveda. Yajna being the subject matter of the Vedas, there is no ritualistic activity in yajnas without the usage of a plant product.

Introduction

Vrksha or tree is the symbol of life and growth. It stands for eternity and selfless well-being. The four vedas, describe many herbs, vines, shrubs and tree species used in yajnas. Vajasaneya Samhita advocates reverence and devotion to trees and grains, medicinal herbs, forests, and vegetation; they are regarded as deities or devatas who are bestowed with the quality of selfless giving.

Archeological evidence for the prehistoric use of botanical products in the Indian sub-continent, is scanty and scattered and does not allow a chronological history of the uses of plants. The oldest record of such use is from the site of Indus Valley civilization, in which cereals (wheat, barley, rice and ragi), woods and other plant products were used. The Indus Valley people used to live in villages, cities and towns, wore clothes, cultivated crops including wheat, barley, millet, dates, vegetables, melon and other fruits and cotton; worshipped trees, glazed their pottery with the juice of plants and painted them with a large number of plant designs.

Literature dealing with Plants

In the Indian Knowledge Systems, though no single work devoted to botany is known, the knowledge of botany among Indians is well known from Vedas, works on Ayurveda, Krshishastra, Arthashastra and the lexicons. Terms like Vrikshayurveda and Vanaspati vidya tell us that knowledge of botany flourished in the past and its principles and findings were the foundations to applied sciences such as agriculture, and ayurveda.  There are many legends which indicate that ancient Indians had several beliefs associated with trees. Plant life was regarded sacred and worshipped. For instance,

1. Vedas - Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads of Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda describe plant life extensively.
2. Dharmasutras - Gobhilagrihya-sutra mentions that Asvattha brings danger of fire to one’s residence and that Udumbara leads to a series of optical diseases.
3. Puranas - Agnipurana, Matsyapurana,
4. Ramayana
5. Mahabharata
6. Ayurveda - Charaka and Sushruta Samhitas
7. Brihatsamhita - speaks of trees like the Asoka and Punnaga which are beneficial to warfare.
8. Vrkshayurveda - 14 kandas described
9. Arthashastra -
10. Sahitya -

Etymology

Shabdakalpadruma mentions that the root word for वृक्षः (Vrksha) is व्रश्च used in the sense of छेदने, to cut. Amarakosha gives a few synonyms of trees depicting their characteristics.

वृक्षो महीरुहः शाखी विटपी पादपस्तरुः । अनोकहः कुटः शालः पलाशी द्रुद्रुमागमाः ॥ vṛkṣo mahīruhaḥ śākhī viṭapī pādapastaruḥ | anokahaḥ kuṭaḥ śālaḥ palāśī drudrumāgamāḥ || (Amara. 2.4.5)

• महीरुह ​(मह्यां रोहति जायत इति) - that which gets planted and grows on Earth
• शाखिन् (शाखाऽस्त्यस्य।) - that which is branching, ramifying
• विटपिन् (विटपोऽस्यास्ति) - that which has branches or boughs
• पादप (पादेन मूलेन पिबति रसानिति) ​that which drinks (sap) from feet (roots)
• तरु (तरति समुद्रादिकमनेनेति as per Shabdakalpadhruma) that by which people overcome heat
• अनोकह (अनसः शकटस्य अकं गमनं) ​that which does not quit his home or place (does not move)
• कुटः (कौटिल्ये as per Vachaspatyam) that which is crooked
• शालः (वृक्षभेदे) a kind of a very tall and stately tree
• पलाशी (पलाशं विद्यतेऽस्य) which has leaves
• अगमः (न गच्छतीति) that which doesn’t move

Similar scientific basis was adopted in naming the different varieties of plants based on various factors. Plants were named according to special association with deities (e.g. Datura is called Sivasekhara as the flower is associated with Siva), their medicinal nature (e.g. Dadrughna or Cassia fistula is that which cures ring-worm), their domestic utility (e.g. karpasa (cotton) that out of which clothes are woven), special characteristics (e.g., phenilaṃ or Sapindus emarginatus from the Sapindaceae (Soapberry) family have seeds that lather or foam with water), special morphological features such as the number of leaflets in a compound leaf (e.g. Saptaparṇa (सप्तपर्ण) is identified with Alstonia scholaris (the blackboard tree)), nature of shape of the leaf (e.g. dirghapatraka (दीर्घपत्रक) is one with long leaves as in sugar-cane, ashvaparnaka refers to Shorea robusta whose leaves resemble the shape of the ear of a horse), shape and color of flowers (e.g. vakrapushpa or Sesbania grandifolia with papilionaceous flowers), and other characteristics like Sataparvika or grasses having hundred (many) joints in its stem, apushpaphalada refers to jackfruit where fruits arise without (apparent) flowers. Thus naming of plants was primarily for its identification.

Terminology

Vrksha

Oushadhi

Plants in Vedic Literature

Reverence For Plants

A very major role in the protection of environment has been brought out by reverence to trees, plants and medicinal herbs which have evolved even before human beings existed. In Rigveda, 10th Mandala Sukta 97 the trees are hailed as the divine mothers

• शतं वो अम्ब धामानि सहस्रमुत वो रुहः । अधा शतक्रत्वो यूयमिमं मे अगदं कृत ॥२॥ O mother (herb), hundreds are the places where you arise and work, thousands your varieties and extensions, and hundreds your gifts and efficacies. Make this life free from affliction and disease.
• ओषधीरिति मातरस्तद्वो देवीरुप ब्रुवे । सनेयमश्वं गां वास आत्मानं तव पूरुष ॥४॥ O plant! I hail you, the divine mother (of mankind).

Rigveda

The Rigveda has frequent references to the use of the plough, the sowing of seeds, the cutting of corn with the sickle, the threshing and winnowing of the corn, the practice of channel irrigation and the like. Agricultural pursuits definitely made further progress as is evidenced by the use of larger and heavier plough, mention of several types of agricultural produce such as wheat, beans, corn, sesamum, extraction of oil from sesamum, relationship between seasons and the harvest, plant diseases and some attempt to deal with them with magical spell. The terms like Vriksha (trees), Oshadhi (herbs), lata (creepers), gulma (shrub), bheshaja (medicinal plants) occur frequently in the mantras. In this Veda, we find the following classification on the basis of their flowering and fruiting nature in a mantra of the Oshadhi sukta (10.97)

याः फलिनीर्या अफला अपुष्पा याश्च पुष्पिणीः । बृहस्पतिप्रसूतास्ता नो मुञ्चन्त्वंहसः ॥ (Rig. Veda. 10.97.15) yāḥ phalinīr yā aphalā apuṣpā yāś ca puṣpiṇīḥ | bṛhaspatiprasūtās tā no muñcantv aṃhasaḥ ||

Let those (herbs) which bear fruit or are fruitless, let those which are flowering or non-flowering - all these progeny of Brhaspati, energized by the physician relieve us from suffering.

The most celebrated plant that finds frequent mention in the Rgveda and later Samhitas is the Soma plant. The Vedic Indians hail Soma as the Lord of the forest (vanaraja). The botanical identity of Soma plant, however, has not been decided till today. The probable candidates are Ephedra (a Gymnosperm); Sarcostemma (flowering plant); and mushroom (a fungus).

Apart from these we find mention of Cotton (Gossypium sps), which is and was recognized as a commercially important in the Indus Valley civilization. People not only grew cotton but devised methods of ginning, spinning and weaving it into clothes.

Indus Valley archeological findings further record the use of wood particularly deodar (Cedrus deodara) and rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia) for a coffin, and Indian jujube or ber in Hindi (Zizyphus jujuba) for a wooden mortar for pounding grains. Choice of these woods for specific purposes shows not only knowledge of where the trees grow but also of the characteristic qualities of the woods used. Timbers recovered from Lothal in Gujarat were of Acacia sps., Tectona grandis, Adina cordifolia indicate that the Harappans knew of the quality of these timbers nearly as much as we know of them today.

Yajurveda

The trees and plants revealed in the Vēdas are the key for the ritualistic activities or yajñas. Initiating any yajña begins primarily with the covering of the yajñavēdi (yajña alter) with the darbha [Desmostachya bipinnata], which is a grass. Several implements used in yajñas are manufactured from the wood of specified trees was described in Yajurveda. Yajñas and yāgās being the fundamental characteristics of the Yajurveda, involved extensive usage of plant products. The names of plants, trees and their products that are specifically used in the yajñas, yāgās, hōmās and iṣṭis are elaborately described in the Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇās.

Seven samidhas of importance in yajñas

The homa involves two things– the material to be offered in yajña and the implement used during the yajña. Of them, the ‘samidhas’ are very commonly used as the materials from several trees and plants offered into the fire of yajñas. Seven are cherished offerings to Agni include

• aśvattha,
• udumbara,
• palāśa,
• śami,
• vaikankata,
• aśanihata,
• puskara parna

Several botanical terms are described in the four Vēdas and particularly in the Yajurvēda. The Taittriya Samhita and the Vajasaneya Samhita describe and explain that plants comprise of various parts and the botanical terms mentioned are identified with those modern botany. Classifying plants according to their vegetative and reproductive properties, form and growth is similar to that of the modern classifications of the plant kingdom by Carolus Linnaeus and others. Another interesting feature noticed in the Vajasaneya Samhita, Taittriya Brahmana and Atharvaveda is the description of an entire region by the type of plants growing in that area, e.g. naḍvala (a place abounding in reeds), śipālya (a region where the plant śipala grows).

Atharvaveda

The growing acquaintance with plant life is further reflected in the appreciation of the medicinal properties of plants and in the appearance of a class of Atharvan priests specializing in the herbal treatment of diseases. In Atharvaveda the type, shape and morphology of plants is described making it the earliest recorded authority on plant morphology. Atharvaveda sukta (8.7.12) elaborately describes various plant parts and its medicinal values to remove human ailments, thus throwing light on the fact that plant medicines where highly developed since ancient times.

Plants are Living Beings

Plants have been regarded as having sensitivity, feelings and the elemental nature of plants are described in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata. In the Bharadvaja Bhrigu Samvada, Maharshi Bharadwaja asks that since trees can neither see nor hear, nor smell, no feel pleasure, nor have a sense of touch, how then are they animate or living and how are they constituted by the five elements or panchabhutas? (Mahabharata Shan. Parv. 184.6-9)

भरद्वाज उवाच।

पञ्चभिर्यदि भूतैस्तु यक्ताः स्थावरजङ्गमाः। स्थावराणां न दृश्यन्ते शरीरे पञ्च धातवः।। 12-184-6

अनूष्मणामचेष्टानां घनानां चैव तत्त्वतः। वृक्षा नोपलभ्यन्ते शरीरे पञ्च धातवः।। 12-184-7

न शृणुन्ते न पश्यन्ति न गन्धरसवेदिनः। न चस्पर्शं विजानन्ति ते कथं पाञ्चभौतिकाः।। 12-184-8

अद्रवत्वादनग्नित्वादभूतित्वादवायुतः। आकाशस्याप्रमेयत्वाद्वृक्षाणां नास्ति भौतिकम्।। 12-184-9

भृगुरुवाच।

घनानामपि वृक्षाणामाकाशोऽस्ति न संशयः। तेषां पुष्पफलव्यक्तिर्नित्यं समुपपद्यते।। 12-184-10

ऊष्मतो म्लायते वर्णं त्वक्फलं पुष्पमेव च। म्लायते शीर्यते चापि स्पर्शस्तेनात्र विद्यते।। 12-184-11

वाय्वग्न्यशनिनिष्पेषैः फलं पुष्पं विशीर्यते। श्रोत्रेण गृह्यते शब्दस्तस्माच्छृण्वन्ति पादपाः।। 12-184-12

वल्ली वेष्टयते वृक्षं सर्वतश्चैव गच्छति। न ह्यदृष्टेश्च मार्गोऽस्ति तस्मात्पश्यन्ति पादपाः।। 12-184-13

पुण्यापुण्यैस्तथा गन्धैर्धूपैश्च विविधैरपि। अरोगाः पुष्पिताः सन्ति तस्माज्जिघ्रन्ति पादपाः।। 12-184-14

पादैः सलिलपानाच्च व्याधीनां चापि दर्शनात्। व्याधिप्रतिक्रियत्वाच्च विद्यते रसनं द्रुमे।। 12-184-15

वक्रेणोत्पलनालेन यथोर्ध्वं जलमाददेत्। तथा पवनसंयुक्तः पादेंः पिबति पादपः ॥ १६॥ 12-184-16

सुखदुःखयोश्च ग्रहणाच्छिन्नस्य च विरोहणात्। जीवं पश्यामि वृक्षाणामचैतन्यं न विद्यते।। 12-184-17

तेन तज्जलमादत्तं जरयत्यग्निमारुतौ। आहारपरिणामाच्च स्नेहो वृद्धिश्च जायते।। 12-184-18

Maharshi Bhrigu replies

“O Sage, although the trees seem solid, yet there is no doubt that they have the space. That is why it is possible for them to bear fruits and flowers.”

“The heat that the trees have shrivels or withers the leaves, the bark, the flowers and the fruits and they fall off. Therefore, it also proves that they have the sense of touch.”

“It has also been seen that when there is a loud sound like that of the harsh winds, fire, thunder, etc, the flowers and the fruits of trees fall off. This proves that trees can hear also.”

“The creeper covers the tree from all sides and climbs right to the top. No one can find his way unless he can see. This proves that trees can see too.”

“With pure and holy fragrance, the tree becomes healthy and grows better. This proves that they can smell also.”

“They drink water from their roots and if they are suffering from some disease, we can put some medicine in their roots. This way, we can treat them too. This proves that trees have the sense of taste.”

“Such as a man sucks water through a lotus stem into his mouth, likewise trees suck water through their roots upward with the help of wind.”

“When a tree is cut, it sprouts again and they accept joys and sorrows. Hence, I see that trees also have life and that they are not non-living things.”

“The wind and the heat inside the tree help it to digest the water that it takes in from its roots. Complete assimilation of the food gives it glossiness and it grows well.”

Uses of Plants

प्रदूषनिवारकाः ॥ Pollution Preventors

Yajuveda mentions that plants prevent pollution and hence are called शमिता (शमनकर्ता)

वनस्पतिः शमिता देवोऽ अग्निः स्वदन्तु हव्यं मधुना घृतेन ॥ (Shuk. Yaju. 29.35)

॥ Arogya karaka

Kaushitaki Brahmana describes plants as

यद् उग्रो देव ओषधयो वनस्पतयस् तेन । न ह वा एनम् उग्रो देवो हिनस्ति ।

Plant Characteristics

Along with reverence, in Indian traditions plants were regarded as life force or prana and not inanimate or lifeless things; they have life even if they are immobile. Like any animate creature, they are sensitive to cold and heat, they feel happiness and sorrow, they drink water from their roots and also fall sick, etc.

प्राणा ॥ Prana or Life force

In Aitareya Brahmana and Koushitaki Brahamana, vanaspati or plants are termed as "Prana" because they protect mankind by giving prana-shakti or oxygen.

वनस्पतिं यजति प्राणो वै वनस्पतिः प्राणमेव तत्प्रीणाति प्राणं यजमाने दधाति..(Aite. Brah. 2.4)

प्राणो वनस्पतिः । (Kous. Brah. 12.7)

Morphology and Plant Classification

Plant classification is based on morphology of plants since Yajurveda.

Plant Parts

Taittriya samhita identifies the parts of the plants as given below

ओषधीभ्यः स्वाहा मूलेभ्यः स्वाहा तूलेभ्यः स्वाहा काण्डेभ्यः स्वाहा वल्शेभ्यः स्वाहा पुष्पेभ्यः स्वाहा फलेभ्यः स्वाहा गृहीतेभ्यः स्वाहा । अगृहीतेभ्यः स्वाहा । अवपन्नेभ्यः स्वाहा शयानेभ्यः स्वाहा सर्वस्मै स्वाहा ॥ (Taittiriya Samhita 7.3.19)

Meaning: To the plants hail! To the roots hail! To the panicles hail! To the joints hail! To the twigs hail! To the flowers hail! To the fruits hail! To those that are used hail! To those that are not used hail! To those that have fallen off hail! To those that are lying (on the ground) hail! To all hail!

Growth Habitats

The Oshadhi Sukta of Atharvaveda classifies the plant world into seven types:

प्रस्तृणती स्तम्बिनीरेकशुङ्गाः प्रतन्वतीरोषधीरा वदामि । अंशुमतीः कण्डिनीर्या विशाखा ह्वयामि ते वीरुधो वैश्वदेवीरुग्राः पुरुषजीवनीः ॥४॥ (Atha. Veda. 8.7.4)

It presents an account of nine types of growth habits of plants. These are mentioned here below:

1. Prastr̥ṇatī– Short plants, spreading in all directions.
2. Sthambinī – Plants with moderate height and profusely branching.
3. Ēkaśṛnga – Plants with monopodial branches.
4. Pratanvatī – Creeping or prostrate plants.
5. Ōṣadhī – Medicinal annual herb.
6. Aśumatī– Plants with many stalks.
7. Kaśiḍinī– Plants having articulated stem, or knotty joints.
8. Viśhākhā – Plants with branches spreading in all directions.
9. Manjarī – Leaves or flowers in clusters.

मधुमन् मूलं मधुमदग्रमासां मधुमन् मध्यं वीरुधां बभूव । मधुमत्पर्णं मधुमत्पुष्पमासां मधोः सम्भक्ता अमृतस्य भक्षो घृतमन्नं दुह्रतां गोपुरोगवम् ॥१२॥ (Atha. Veda. 8.7.12)

	Reference	Classification	Based on
Chandogya Upanishad	6-3-1	Aṇḍa-ja – organism born from the egg (egg-born) Jīva-ja – organism born alive Udbhij-ja – sprouting/originating from the ground (germinating or germination)	fundamental classification based on place of origin

Plants in Indian Alchemy

An important aspect of the Indian alchemical practice relates to the use of a number of plants in different operations of alchemical and iatrochemical nature. The plants are even referred to as divyausadhi (divine medicinal plants). Generally their roots, leaves or seeds are used in digestion processes. Sometimes oils or exudates of certain plants are also employed. The Indian rasavadins believed that the minerals and metals would not acquire the desirable iatro-chemical properties unless they were treated or digested with one medicinal plant or the other. Even mercury, extolled as divine, should undergo this process. More than two hundred names of plants are mentioned in different texts on Rasashastra. The following is a brief account of some of the plants with particular reference to their iatro-chemical significance.

• Agasti (Sesbania grandiflord)—purification of manahshila, makshika and vajra
• Amlavetasa (Rumex vesicarius)—to enable mercury acquire grasping properties, purification and fixation of mercury;
• Ankola (Alangium lamarkii)—purification of mercury
• Apamarga (Achyranthes aspera)—fixation of mercury, calcination of gold and transmutation of mercury into gold
• Asuri (Sinapis ramosa) - purification of mercury;
• Bhrnga (Wedelia calendulacea)—purification of sulphur, realgar, sulphate of iron and collyrium, ‘killing’ of mercury and iron;
• Brhati (Solanum indicum)— ‘killing’, restraining and calcining of mercury and ‘killing’ of iron;
• Cinca (tamarind)—fixation of mercury, ‘killing’ of tin, lead and iron;
• Citraka (Plumbago zeylanica)— restraining, ‘swooning’, etc., of mercury and also ‘killing’ of iron; Devadali (Andropogan serratus)—for taking essence of metals and ratnas, incineration of mercury, etc.;
• Dattura (Dhattura fastuosa)—purification and incineration of mercury, ‘killing’ of copper and
• transmutation of silver into gold;
• Eranda (Ricinus communis)—transmutation of metals, killing of iron and fixation of mercury; Haridra (turmeric) — purification of lead and mercury;
• Kadali (Musa sapientum)—purification of rasas and uparasas;
• Kanya kumari (Aloe indica)—‘killing’, ‘swooning’, etc., of mercury, iron and copper, and transmutation processes;
• Kulattha (Dolichos uniflorus)—extraction of the essence of orpiment, ‘killing’ of makshika and purification of mercury and diamond;
• Musali (Curculigo orchioides) - ‘killing’, calcining and restraining of mercury;
• Nimba (Citrus acida) transmutation processes, fixation of mercury, etc.,
• Nisacara (soma, Sarcostemma brevistigma)—imparting to mercury the efficacy of invisible movement, fixation and purification of mercury;
• Sigru (Moringa pterygosperma) - purification of mercury, rasas and uparasas;
• Snuhi (Euphorbia neriifolia) ‘killing’ of gold, silver and mercury; purification of lead, copper and sulphur, and transmutation processes;
• Triphala (the three myrobalans) - purification of iron and bitumen ;
• Palasa (Butea frondosa)—transmutation of metals, purification of mercury, ‘killing’ of mercury, tin and iron;
• Vishnukranta (Clitoria ternatea)—fixation of mercury and transmutation process.