The verse and its meaning · Ayurveda · Ayurveda — Food and Eating

Bitterness That Clears

Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana 10.14

तिक्तः स्वयमरोचिष्णुररुचिं कृमितृड्विषम् । कुष्ठमूर्छाज्वरोत्क्लेशदाहपित्तकफाञ्जयेत् ॥ क्लेदमेदोवसामज्जशकृन्मूत्रोपशोषणः । लघुर्मेध्यो हिमो रूक्षः स्तन्यकण्ठविशोधनः ॥ धातुक्षयानिलव्याधीनतियोगात्करोति सः ॥

Meaning · English

Bitter is not pleasing in itself, yet it overcomes distaste for food, worms, thirst and poison. It overcomes skin disease, fainting, fever, nausea, burning, pitta and kapha. It dries up moisture, fat, the fat of the muscles, marrow, stool and urine. It is light, good for the mind, cold and dry, and it cleanses breast milk and the throat. Used to excess, it brings wasting of the tissues and diseases of vata.

Vagbhata describes bitter as a taste that is not pleasing on its own. Yet it brings back the pull of food when eating has lost its appeal. On his list it works against worms, thirst, poison, skin disease (kushtha), fainting, fever, the heaving of nausea and burning heat. It settles pitta, the fiery principle of heat and digestion, and kapha, the heavy, moist principle of structure. It dries what is wet and heavy: moisture, fat, the fat of the muscles, marrow, stool and urine. Its qualities are light, cold and dry. It is medhya, good for the mind, and it cleanses breast milk and the throat. Why? Ayurveda explains elsewhere that a taste acts through its qualities, so something cold and dry calms heat and dampness. That same dryness carries the warning. Taken to excess, bitter wears down the body's tissues (dhatus) and stirs vata, the light, dry, moving principle. So bitter earns a modest place in a meal, not the whole plate.

1. At lunch today, look at your plate and see whether anything on it is bitter: leafy greens, bitter gourd, or fenugreek or turmeric in the cooking. 2. If something is, eat a few bites of it early in the meal, slowly. Notice whether the rest of the food tastes more inviting afterward. 3. Keep the bitter food to a small share of the plate, a side rather than the main dish. If you take medicine for blood sugar, do not suddenly eat large amounts of bitter gourd. 4. An hour after eating, notice whether you feel light and clear, or dry and thirsty. Let that guide how much bitter you serve yourself at dinner.

Some of this sits well with what is known today. Many bitter foods, such as dark leafy greens and bitter gourd, are rich in fibre and plant compounds, and a good family doctor would welcome more of them on the plate. Our dislike of bitterness is often explained as an old warning against harmful plants, which echoes Vagbhata's 'not pleasing in itself.' Bitter-taste receptors are now known to exist in the gut as well as on the tongue, though what they do there is still being worked out. There is no evidence that bitter taste as such treats worms, fever, poison or skin disease. Being good for the mind, and the doshas themselves, have no direct modern match. His caution about excess holds for strong bitter herbal preparations. They can interact with medicines (for example, for blood sugar) and are not for everyone. These should not be taken while pregnant, nursing or ill without a doctor's advice.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Salt and Its Measure · Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana 10.12
• Next: Pungency That Opens Channels · Ashtanga Hridayam, Sutrasthana 10.17
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