Jatyadi Ghritham

What it is

A ghritam is a medicated ghee. It is made by cooking herbs into clarified butter so that the qualities of the herbs pass into the ghee, which the tradition prizes as a carrier that takes on the power of what is cooked into it while keeping its own smooth, nourishing nature. Most medicated ghees are taken by mouth. Jatyadi Ghritham is one of the exceptions: it is an external preparation, made to be applied to the skin and to wounds rather than swallowed.

The name comes from its leading herb. Jati is the jasmine, and it is the jasmine leaf that heads the group of plants cooked into the ghee; Jatyadi means “jasmine and the rest.” To that leading herb the formula adds a set of plants the tradition turns to for the skin and for wounds, so that the finished ghee carries their combined character into a soft, spreadable base.

There is a close relative worth knowing. The same group of herbs is also cooked into sesame oil rather than ghee, and that preparation is the Jatyadi Taila, a medicated oil used in much the same way. Ghritham and Taila share the herbs and the external purpose; they differ in the fatty base, ghee in the one and oil in the other, and a practitioner chooses between them by the preparation and the part being treated.

What Ayurveda uses it for

In the classical texts the Jatyadi preparation belongs to the care of wounds and the skin. Its net character is described as Vrana-ropana, a cleansing and settling action on wounds in the classical sense, together with a Krimighna quality and a cooling, soothing effect on the skin. Within that role the texts record a familiar set of indications, each named here in its classical Sanskrit term with a plain gloss:

• Vrana and Dushta-vrana: wounds and the non-healing or foul wound, the preparation’s foremost and most often named use.
• Dagdha-vrana: burn injuries, where the cooling, oily preparation is smeared on the affected part.
• Nadi-vrana: the sinus wound or fistulous tract, one of the difficult wounds the classical writers name here.
• Bhagandara: fistula-in-ano, treated among the deep and stubborn wounds.
• Kushtha: the broad classical class of skin disorders.
• Kandu: itching of the skin.

These are the traditional textual indications recorded in the classical literature. They set out how Ayurveda has long understood the preparation and are given for reference and study, not as statements of medical effect or as advice to treat any condition.

What is in it

The preparation is built on a base of ghee cooked with a group of plants chosen for the skin and for wounds. The Jatyadi Taila is built the same way on a base of sesame oil. The leading herb is Jati, the jasmine leaf, from which the whole preparation takes its name.

Around it the classical formula gathers a well-known company of skin-and-wound herbs. Nimba, the neem, is one of the tradition’s great herbs for the skin. Patola and Sariva add their cooling, cleansing character. Karanja is another classical wound and skin herb. The two turmerics appear together, Haridra and Daruharidra, the tree turmeric, both long associated with the skin and with wounds. Manjishtha, Indian madder, is the tradition’s foremost herb for the blood and the complexion, and Padmaka and Kushtha complete the group. Cooked slowly into the fatty base, these plants give the finished ghee its bitter, astringent, cooling character.

How it is taken

Jatyadi Ghritham is for external use. It is not swallowed. The classical way is to apply it to the affected part of the skin, smearing a thin, even film over the area, and it may be spread on a clean dressing laid over a wound in the traditional manner. The Jatyadi Taila, its oil-based relative, is applied in the same external way.

Because it is an outward application to broken or troubled skin, the classical writers treat it as a preparation for the hand of one who knows how to dress a wound, and the amount, the frequency and the manner of its use are matters for a practitioner rather than a fixed dose.

Good to know

Jatyadi Ghritham stands a little apart from the many medicated ghees that are taken by mouth. It belongs to the external, wound-and-skin side of Ayurveda, and its whole purpose is expressed on the surface of the body rather than within it. Its closest companion is the Jatyadi Taila, the same herbs carried in oil instead of ghee, and the two are often spoken of together. In both, the leading herb is the jasmine leaf that gives the preparation its name, set among a company of the tradition’s classic herbs for the skin and for wounds.

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.

Frequently asked

Is Jatyadi Ghritham taken by mouth like other medicated ghees? No. Although it is a ghee, it is an external preparation, made to be applied to the skin and to wounds rather than swallowed. This sets it apart from the many ghritams that the tradition gives internally.

What is the difference between Jatyadi Ghritham and Jatyadi Taila? They share the same group of herbs and the same external purpose. The difference is the fatty base into which the herbs are cooked: ghee in the Ghritham and sesame oil in the Taila. A practitioner chooses between them by the preparation and the part being treated.

Why is it named after jasmine? Because Jati, the jasmine leaf, is the leading herb of the group cooked into the base, and Ayurvedic formulas are commonly named for their first or principal ingredient. Jatyadi means “jasmine and the rest,” the jasmine leaf together with the company of skin-and-wound herbs that accompany it.