Shyonaka
The root of a strange tree whose metre-long seed pods hang like swords from bare branches. Shyonaka is one of the five tree roots of dashamoola.
- Settles Kapha
- Settles Vata
How Ayurveda reads shyonaka
- Rasa · taste
- Sweet, bitter, astringent (madhura, tikta, kaṣāya)
- Guṇa · nature
- Light, dry (laghu, rūkṣa)
- Vīrya · potency
- Cooling (śīta)
- Vipāka · after digestion
- Pungent (kaṭu)
- Part used
- Root bark
Reviewed by the Vapika team.
In the tradition
Shyonaka is a small tree of Indian forests that flowers at night, with large, fleshy, foul-smelling flowers pollinated by bats. Its English name, "midnight horror", comes from the long flat pods hanging from the bare branches like swords.
Shyonaka is one of the greater five roots of dashamoola.
How Ayurveda reads it
Shyonaka is sweet, bitter and astringent, light and dry. It is described as settling Kapha and Vata.
In the Indian kitchen
In Assam and the north-east, the young pods and flowers are cooked as a bitter vegetable. The root isn't eaten.
How we use it
We use dried shyonaka root bark as one of the ten in our Dashmoola Kwath.
Shyonaka 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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