Agnimantha
The root of a small coastal tree whose wood was once rubbed to kindle the sacred fire. Agnimantha is one of the five tree roots of dashamoola.
- Settles Kapha
- Settles Vata
- Can raise Pitta
How Ayurveda reads agnimantha
- Rasa · taste
- Pungent, bitter, astringent, sweet (kaṭu, tikta, kaṣāya, madhura)
- Guṇa · nature
- Light, dry (laghu, rūkṣa)
- Vīrya · potency
- Heating (uṣṇa)
- Vipāka · after digestion
- Pungent (kaṭu)
- Part used
- Root
Reviewed by the Vapika team.
In the tradition
Agni-mantha, "fire churner", and Araṇī, the name of the fire-drill: the wood of this tree was rubbed to kindle the Vedic sacrificial fire.
Which plant the texts meant is debated. Premna integrifolia, a shrub of coastal India, is the identity on our pack; Clerodendrum phlomidis is used in some regions and pharmacopoeias.
Agnimantha is one of the greater five roots of dashamoola.
How Ayurveda reads it
Agnimantha is pungent, bitter, astringent and sweet, light and dry, and heating. It is described as settling Kapha and Vata.
How we use it
We use dried agnimantha root as one of the ten in our Dashmoola Kwath.
Agnimantha in our blends
From the texts: Caraka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 4 (in the daśamūla); Suśruta Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 38 (bṛhat pañcamūla); Bhāvaprakāśa Nighaṇṭu, Guḍūcyādi varga.
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