Proper nomenclature and classification play important roles in the systematisation of any branch of knowledge. In this regard, the ancient Indian ṛṣis and ācāryas had shown much transparency in their scientific observations. For them to name was to touch the essence of the thing or object named. They could really enter into the soul or the consciousness of the thing or the object and then give the name according to their experience. We find a clear reflection of this in the names of the plants as they appear in various texts of Āyurveda. From the various names given to one plant, one can truly understand not only the various morphological characteristics of that plant but also the special medicinal properties that the plant has. This paper brings a fresh insight into this aspect and throws light on the ancient Indian methodology and philosophy of naming and classifying medicinal plants.
Sir William Jones, Founder-President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal once wrote, “I am very solicitous to give Indian plants their true Indian appellations, because I am fully persuaded that Linnaeus himself would have adopted them had he known the learned and ancient language of this country… (1)”
This suggestion needs serious attention, especially from Indian botanists. The ancient Indian naming of plants, as found in the various texts dealing with the subject, is an extremely interesting topic which gives us an indication not only of the geography of India but also highlights the fact that our ancestors had a keen sense of observation. In the texts dealing with the names of plants, we find that a plant is referred to by many names. A proper analysis of all the names of a particular plant reveals that each name describes a particular feature (svarūpa) or a specific quality/property (guṇa) of that plant. So, all names can be of two types: svarūpa-vodhaka-nāma and gunna-vodhaka-nāma. However, the names of the plants are coined on the basis of varied criteria. Before I deal with the details of these criteria, let me give you an idea about the various classifications of the plants done by various sages and ācāryas of ancient India.
Classification of plants
The ancient Indian classification of plants was based on three major considerations, namely udbhīda or botanical, virecanādi or medicinal, and annapānādi or diet-related. This classification, however practical or impractical it may be from the present standpoint, has provided a working basis for botanists, physicians and agriculturists of India for a very long time.
It is obvious from various Sanskrit texts that the ancient Indians did recognise different kinds of plants based on their habits. They also recognised plants that bear flowers and fruits and those that do not. Thus, Manu, the famous author of Manusmrrti, classified plants into eight different types (2):
1. auṣadhis or those that bear abundant flowers and fruits, and that wither after maturing, e.g. rice and wheat.
2. vanaspatis or those that have fruits but no evident flowers, e.g. Auster fig, (udumvara).
3. vṛkṣas or those which produce flowers and fruits, e.g. Neem (nimba).
4. gucchas or bushy herbs of various types, e.g. Jasmine (mallikā).
5. gulmas or succulent shrubs of various types, e.g. Nerium.
6. tṛṇas or different kinds of grass, e.g. Cuscus (uśīra).
7. pratānas or creepers with stems spreading on the ground (procumbent and decumbent), e.g. prasāriṇī.
8. vallis or those which twine around or climb up a tree for support, e.g. guḍuci.
Ācārya Caraka gives a different classification of plants (3). According to him, trees that bear fruits without flowers are vanaspatis; trees that first bear flowers and then fruits are vānaspatyas; herbs with spreading stem are called vīrudhas and they are further divided into two classes such as creepers or latās and herbs with succulent stems and shrubs or gulmas; those herbs that wither after maturing are auṣadhis and which are further divided into two groups such as: annuals or perennials, bearing fruit, and plants that wither away after maturing and without fruiting, e.g. grasses like the Bermuda grass (dūrvā).
Ācārya Suśruta lays down an almost similar classification of plants (4). According to him, there are four varieties of plants, such as trees which bear fruit without blossoming (vanaspatis); those that bear both fruits and flowers (vṛkṣas); shrubs and creepers that trail (vīrudhas); and plants which die with the ripening of their fruits (auṣadhis).
Apart from the above-mentioned ācāryas, Udayanacharya (5), the author of Kiraṇāvali, Prasastapada (6), the Vaīśeṣika commentator, and Amara Simha, the author of Amarakośa (vanauṣadhivarga) have dealt with the botanical classification of the plants in great detail. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa also deals with the classification of plants in its 3rd skanda, 10th Chapter, verse No. 19.
In the ancient Indian medicinal treatises, plants were studied mostly in relation to their medicinal properties or values. Thus we see that Ācārya Caraka classifies plants primarily into two divisions — purgatives or virecanādi and astringents or kaṣāyādi (7). According to him, there are six hundred purgatives and five hundred astringents. Ācārya Caraka puts these herbs under various groups or vargas like jīvanīya or those prolonging life, lekhanīya or those reducing obesity or thinning the tissues, dīpanīya or those promoting appetite and digestion, etc. This classification of Ācārya Caraka is based on the finer properties of the plants (8). Ācārya Suśruta classified plants under thirty-seven sections or gaṇas depending upon their medicinal properties and named them after the most important medicine of that group (9). For example, the group rodhrādigaṇa has plants which are antidotal to upset kapha (10).
Similarly we also find a detailed classification of the plants done by various ācāryas based on their diet-related values. Ācārya Caraka (11) recognised six groups of plants based on diet-related values and Ācārya Suśruta (12) recognised fifteen different groups.Amara Simha (13) in his Amarakośa lists the names of various grains in vanauṣadhivarga and vaīśyavarga.
The ancient Indian plant names were based on several parameters. Works like Rājanighaṇṭu and Dhanvantari Nighaṇṭu have given an outline of these parameters. Here I take up the parameters given in Rājanighaṇṭu of Pandita Narahari. Rājanighaṇṭu prescribes seven criteria for deriving names (14):
1. Tradition of usage (rūḍhitaḥ) — for example, Ocimum sanctum is named as kṛṣṇatulasī because it is used in the worship of Kṛṣna and its leaves are a blackish-green in colour.
2. Properties (svabhāvataḥ) — for example, Embelia ribes is named as kṛmighna which indicates that this plant kills worms. Or, Eclipta prostrata is named as keśarañja or that which blackens the hair.
3. Local names (deśokti) — Gynandropsis gynandra is named as hurahurā which is a local name but it is adopted in the scripture because of popular usage.
4. Special morphological characteristics (lāñchanā) — for example, Ricinus communis denotes the palm-like leaf of the plant and is named as gandharvahasta meaning ‘like the hands of celestial beings’.
5. Similarity or resemblance (upamā) — for example, markattahastatrinna is a beautiful descriptive name indicating the spikes of the plant Eleusine genus which resemble the fingers of monkeys.
6. Potency (vīrya) — the plant Plumbago rosea is named agni because of its potentiality to digest and promote metabolism.
7. Place of growth (itarāhvayādideśāt) — Vanda roxburghiana is named as vṛkṣārūha because it grows on trees.
Here is the original verse of the Rājanighaṇṭu that gives the above description:
nāmāni kvacidiha rūḍhitaḥ svabhāvāt deśoktyā kvacana ca lāñchanopamābhyām vīryeṇa kvaciditarāhvayādideśāt dravyāṇāmiti saptadhoditāni (Rājanighaṇṭu, grantha-prastāvanā 9).
Apart from this, we find several other parameters enumerated in other texts. Sometimes we see that the names of certain plants denote some of their special features. For example, the Rape seed or raktasarśapa, being small in size, has the name aṇu which means small or minute. Similarly, the name prasāriṇī refers to a creeper that spreads on the ground and vṛkṣarūha refers to a plant that grows on trees. At times, certain names denote the morphological characters of the plants.
A. Names denoting morphological characters
1. Root
a. bahupādam is a name of the Banyan tree which indicates that it has numerous roots.
b. Sweet Flag is named as śataparvika. This indicates that the rhizome of this plant has a hundred or many nodes.
2. Knots
a. Long Pepper, popularly known as pippalli, has another name granthikā which indicates that the roots of this plant have a knotted, swollen appearance.
b. White birch bark is known as bhūrjagranthi or that which has knots or granthi-like fungal formations (bhūrja).
3. Bark
a. Bamboo is known as tvaksāra because the stem of the bamboo is hollow. There is no heat-giving wood. Hence the name means the bark itself is the core structure.
b. The bark tree or Betula util is named as valkadrumam because its bark is used for a medicinal purpose.
4. Leaves
a. Each leaf of the pṛāśniparṇī (Urarialagopoides) is composed of three leaflets, so the name for this plant is triparṇī.
b. Biton Bark, a plant with seven leaflets is named as saptaparṇa.
5. Flowers
a. The flowers of the Indian Laburnum (aragvadha) are a golden-yellow in colour, so this plant is named suvarṇaka.
b. The flowers of the Cobra’s Saffron (nāgakesara) resemble snakes in appearance, so it is named nāgapuṣpa.
6. Seeds
a. The Horse Radish (raktasigru) is known as kṛṣṇabīja because its seeds are black in colour.
b. Since the seeds of the Castor Oil plant (Ricinus communis) have various marks on them the plant is named citrabīja.
7. Spines
a. The fruits of the Small Caltropis (Gokshura) have spine-like projections that resemble the teeth of a dog, so the name given to this plant is śvadaṁṣṭra.
8. Latex
a. The latex of the roots of the Kashmiri Hirtiz (Euphorbia thomsoniana) is a golden-yellow in colour, so it is named as svarṇakesarī.
B. Names denoting comparisons of plant morphology to other familiar objects
1. Leaves of the Ipomea reniformis resemble the ears of rats so the plant is named ākhukarṇī.
