Mahatiktakam Ghritham

What it is

Mahatiktakam Ghritham is a medicated ghee, a ghritham. Its name describes it plainly. Tikta means bitter, maha means great, so this is the great bitter ghee, built around a large group of bitter herbs cooked into clarified butter.

A ghritham is made by cooking herbs into ghee until the ghee takes on their qualities. Ghee is prized in the tradition as a carrier: it is nourishing in itself, and it is thought to carry the action of herbs deep into the body. Here the ghee is paired with bitterness, the taste the tradition associates most strongly with cooling and clearing heat, so the finished ghee is both nourishing and cooling at once.

What it is used for

Mahatiktakam Ghritham belongs to the cooling side of the tradition. It is reached for in Pitta disorders, the hot, sharp quality the classical texts read where there is excess heat in the body. Among the medicated ghees, it is the one most associated with bitterness and with clearing heat.

The classical picture it suits is the body running hot, especially where that heat has settled into the skin and the blood. The bitter herbs at its heart are the tradition’s classic blood-clearers, and the ghee carries their cooling action inward and feeds the tissue at the same time. Because it is built to cool without drying the body out, the tradition treats it as suitable for steady use rather than a sharp single dose.

Its qualities, in plain words

The qualities of this ghee all point toward heat. It is bitter, the taste Ayurveda links most closely with cooling and clearing. It is cooling in its action, the opposite of the hot quality of Pitta. And because it is a ghee, it is soft and oily, so it cools and clears without leaving the body parched, the way a purely bitter, drying remedy might.

That balance is what makes it a ghee rather than a powder. Bitterness alone tends to be light and drying; carried in ghee it becomes nourishing as well as cooling. The turmeric and the other warming herbs folded in keep the cooling from going too far, so the finished ghee settles heat while still feeding the body.

How it is made

The ghee follows the classical ghritham method. First a strong decoction is made by boiling the chosen herbs in water and reducing it down. Separately, certain herbs are ground to a soft paste. The decoction, the paste and the ghee are then cooked together slowly over a gentle heat.

As the mixture cooks, the water boils off and the ghee draws in the qualities of the herbs. The classical maker judges the stage by set signs, testing how the paste behaves and how the mixture clings, in the way the old texts describe. When the cooking is judged complete and the water is gone, the warm ghee is strained through cloth, leaving the spent herbs behind, and stored once it has cooled. A well-made ghee keeps for a long time.

How it is used

Mahatiktakam Ghritham is most often taken by mouth, in a small measured amount, in the way a practitioner directs and usually with a warm vehicle to carry it. Like most medicated ghees it is taken as a course, over a stretch of days, since it belongs to the slow, building side of the tradition rather than the quick.

The same ghee is also used externally in some classical practices, worked into the skin or applied warm to an area. Whether taken by mouth or used on the skin, the amount and timing are matters the tradition leaves to a practitioner.

Good to know

This entry describes the classical understanding of the ghee within the Ayurvedic tradition. It is not medical advice. A medicated ghee is taken under guidance, and its dose and timing are matters for a qualified practitioner. Anyone with a health condition, and anyone who is pregnant, should seek proper advice before using it.

Frequently asked

Why is it called the bitter ghee? Because it is built around bitter herbs. Tikta means bitter, and bitterness is the taste the tradition links most closely with cooling and clearing heat from the body.

Why cook the herbs into ghee rather than take them as a powder? The tradition treats ghee as a carrier that takes the action of herbs deep into the body, and ghee is nourishing in itself. Carrying bitter herbs in ghee makes a remedy that cools without drying the body out.

Is it taken by mouth or used on the skin? Both are part of the tradition. It is most often taken by mouth in a small amount, and it is also used externally in some classical practices. The way it is used is decided by a practitioner.