The Sanskrit terms Śitāvarī and Śītavāri can be transliterated into English as Sitavari or Shitavari, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Ayurveda (science of life)

Nighantu (Synonyms and Characteristics of Drugs and technical terms)

Source: WorldCat: Rāj nighaṇṭu

1) Śitāvarī (शितावरी) is the Sanskrit name for an unidentified medicinal plant, according to verse 4.50-52 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu. Note: Dr. J.K. Ojhā identifies Śitāvarī as Celosia argentea Linn (“plumed cockscomb”; of the Amaranthaceae family) while the commentator of the Rājanighaṇṭu identifies it with Blepharis edulis Pers (“uttanjan”; from the Acanthaceae family); both are quite apart from each other.

Śitāvarī is mentioned as having fourteen synonyms: Śitāvara, Sūcyāhva, Sūcipatraka, Śrīvāraka, Śikhī, Vabhru, Svastika, Suniṣaṇṇaka, Kuruṭa, Kukkuṭa, Sūcīdala, Śvetāmbara, Medhākṛt and Grāhaka.

Properties and characteristics: “Śitāvarī is constipative, astringent, hot and beneficial in all the three doṣas. It improves the mental power, is rejuvenative and improves appetite. It cures fevers and burning sensations”.

2) Śitāvarī (शितावरी) is also mentioned as a synonym for Vākucī, a medicinal plant identified with Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (“Babchi”) from the Fabaceae or “legume” family of flowering plants, according to verse 4.62-65. The fourth chapter (śatāhvādi-varga) of this book enumerates eighty varieties of small plants (pṛthu-kṣupa). Together with the names Sitāvarī and Vākucī, there are a total of twenty-one Sanskrit synonyms identified for this plant.

Toxicology (Study and Treatment of poison)

Source: Shodhganga: Kasyapa Samhita—Text on Visha Chikitsa

Śītavāri (शीतवारि) refers to “cold water”, and is used in the treatment (cikitsā) of bites of spiders (lūtā), according to the Kāśyapa Saṃhitā: an ancient Sanskrit text from the Pāñcarātra tradition dealing with both Tantra and Viṣacikitsā—an important topic from Āyurveda which deals with the study of Toxicology (Viṣavidyā or Sarpavidyā).—In the beginning of the twelfth Adhyāya, Kāśyapasaṃhita posits that Lūtās or spiders are of 20 varieties. [...] One of the treatments for spiders (lūtā) is as follows: “Equal measures of Vacā, garlic and Doṣā, half measure of Asafoetida, and dry ginger mixed with urine, kills the spider. The same must be smeared as lepa with Vandhyā, Vegashiphā on the place which has swelling and sprinkle cold water (śītavāri). Tamarind and Vandāka, cooked well in oil, also extirpates spider venom. The same can be mixed with milk and given as a drink”.

Unclassified Ayurveda definitions

Source: Wisdom Library: Āyurveda and botany

Śitāvarī (शितावरी) is a Sanskrit word referring to a plant, which, according to the translator of the Rājanighaṇṭu (Satish Chandra Sankhyadhar) remains an unidentified or controversial plant, but possibly idintified with either Celosia argentea or Blepharis edulis. One of the synonyms, Suniṣaṇṇaka, is mentioned as a vegetable (śāka), according to Caraka in his Carakasaṃhitā sūtrasthāna (chapter 27), a classical Ayurvedic work. The plant is therefore part of the Śākavarga group of medicinal plants, referring to the “group of vegetables/pot-herbs”.

context information

Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.

Languages of India and abroad

Sanskrit dictionary

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Sitāvarī (सितावरी):—[from sitāvara > sita] f. Venonia Anthelminthica, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

See also (Relevant definitions)

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Full-text: Sunishannaka, Vabhru, Grahaka, Kukkuta, Svastika, Sucyahva, Sucipatraka, Shrivaraka, Kuruta, Sucidala, Medhakrit, Shvetambara, Shitavara, Shikhin, Vakuci.

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Search found 1 books and stories containing Shitavari, Śitāvarī, Sitāvarī, Śītavāri, Sitavari; (plurals include: Shitavaris, Śitāvarīs, Sitāvarīs, Śītavāris, Sitavaris). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

A crystal compendium on raja nighantu < [2023: Volume 12, June issue 9]