Dashamoolarishtam Lehyam

What it is

Dashamoolarishtam Lehyam is a thick, sweet herbal paste. A lehyam is an electuary, a preparation cooked down to the softness of a firm jam and taken slowly by the spoonful, so it lingers in the mouth and is easy to swallow. This one is built on Dashamoola, the famous group of ten roots, dasha meaning ten and moola meaning root.

Unlike the fermented liquid tonic or the dry powder of the same roots, the Lehyam is cooked with ghee and jaggery into a rich, nourishing paste. The fat and the sweetness do two things at once. They carry the action of the roots deep into the body, and they make the preparation pleasant to take and stable to keep. Classical Ayurveda counts such an electuary among its rasayana preparations, the kind taken to rebuild the body over time rather than for a single day.

What it is used for

Dashamoola is the foremost group for settling Vata, the dry, cold, restless quality the texts link to movement and to the wearing-down of the body. The Lehyam takes those settling roots and joins them to a group of strengthening, nourishing herbs, then carries the whole in ghee, which Ayurveda regards as deeply rebuilding.

So the tradition reaches for it in depletion. After illness, after a long wearing stretch, and in the slow rebuilding of strength the texts call for in later age, this is the form favoured when a person needs not only settling but feeding. It is a balya preparation, meaning strengthening, and a rasayana, meaning it is taken as a course to build the body back up.

How it is made

The making is patient work in several stages. First the ten roots are boiled into a strong decoction, the same Dashamoola of five greater roots from trees and five lesser roots from smaller plants. Separately, a group of nourishing herbs such as Ashwagandha, Shatavari, Bala and Vidari is ground into a fine paste, the kalka.

That paste is cooked gently in ghee until it is well softened, and the strong decoction is then added slowly, stirred all the while, so the water cooks away and the mixture thickens. Jaggery is worked in to sweeten and to help the paste keep. A little of the warming spices Pippali and Maricha is added near the end, where the heat will not drive them off. The texts are firm that any honey is stirred in only after the paste has cooled, never while it is hot. Cooked correctly, a drop placed on a cool surface holds its shape. The finished Lehyam is stored in a sealed jar and allowed to settle before use.

Frequently asked

How is a Lehyam taken? By the spoonful, usually about one teaspoon once or twice a day, licked or eaten slowly. It is often followed with warm milk or warm water.

Why ghee and jaggery? The ghee carries the action of the roots deep into the body and makes the preparation rebuilding rather than merely settling, while the jaggery sweetens it and helps it keep. This is what makes the Lehyam a rejuvenating form.

How is it different from the fermented tonic of the same roots? Both use the ten roots. The tonic is a thin, fermented liquid, while the Lehyam is a thick, sweet, cooked paste, richer and more nourishing, taken by the spoonful.

This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of the preparation. It is not medical advice, and anyone with a health condition should speak to a qualified practitioner.