Rohitakarishta

What it is

Rohitakarishta is an arishtam, a classical Ayurvedic preparation made by slow fermentation. An arishtam is prepared by leaving a sweetened herbal liquid to ferment over a set stretch of time. As it turns, a small amount of natural alcohol forms, which preserves the preparation and helps it carry the qualities of the herbs. What remains is a dark, keeping liquid, taken by the small measure.

The preparation takes its name from Rohitaka, and Rohitaka bark is its foundation. Rohitaka is a hardy tree of the drier country, and its bark carries an astringent, bitter, warming character that the tradition connects above all with the spleen and the liver region. Around this base the classical formula gathers a well-known company of herbs: the three fruits of Triphala, the three warming spices of Trikatu, along with Vidanga, Chitraka and Musta. The whole is fermented with jaggery and the flowers of Dhataki, which set the fermentation going, and then strained clear.

In its net character Rohitakarishta is the fermented preparation the tradition keeps for the pliha, the spleen, and the yakrit, the liver, in the classical sense. It is understood as light and moving rather than heavy and nourishing, a preparation that kindles the digestion and works on what has grown stagnant and firm within the abdomen.

What Ayurveda uses it for

• Pliha-vriddhi and Pliha-roga (enlargement and disorders of the spleen, its foremost use)
• Yakrit-roga (disorders of the liver in the classical sense)
• Gulma (abdominal masses)
• Pandu (the classical group marked by pallor and weakness)
• Kamala (the classical jaundice)
• Udara (abdominal distension)
• Arsha (haemorrhoids)

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 the bark of Rohitaka, which gives it both its name and its leading character. To this the classical formula adds the three fruits of Triphala, the warming trio of Trikatu, and Vidanga, Chitraka and Musta among its supporting herbs. These are the astringent, bitter and pungent tastes of the formula, the qualities the tradition reads as kindling the digestive fire and moving what is stagnant.

For the fermentation itself the preparation carries jaggery, which provides the sugars the process needs, and the dried flowers of Dhataki, whose wild yeasts set the fermentation going. Over the fermenting period the liquid quietly turns, takes on its dark colour and its faint fermented note, and develops the small amount of alcohol that preserves it. It is then strained clear through cloth and kept.

How it is taken

Rohitakarishta is taken in a small measure, traditionally diluted with an equal part of water, after food. Diluting it softens the preparation and suits the fermented arishta form, and taking it after food follows the classical pattern for a preparation meant to work with the digestion.

Like other members of the fermented family, it is taken as a course over a stretch of days rather than as a single dose. Because of the alcohol and the sugars formed in fermentation, a well-made arishta keeps for a long time.

Good to know

Rohitakarishta belongs to the light, moving side of the fermented preparations rather than the sweet, nourishing side. Where a preparation such as Draksharishtam is built to feed a depleted body back up, Rohitakarishta is understood in the classical texts as one that kindles the digestion and works on stagnation, with the deepana and bhedana actions the tradition attaches to Rohitaka. Its home in the literature is the chapter on the spleen and the liver region, and it is from there that its long reputation comes.

As with any fermented arishta, it contains a small amount of naturally formed alcohol, which is part of how the preparation works and keeps. It is taken in modest, diluted measures for this reason.

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

Why is Rohitakarishta associated with the spleen and the liver? Its foundation is Rohitaka bark, and in the classical texts Rohitaka is the herb of the pliha (spleen) and the yakrit (liver region). The preparation is set down in the chapter of the Bhaishajya Ratnavali that deals with disorders of the spleen and liver, and that is the setting in which the tradition has long understood it.

Does Rohitakarishta contain alcohol? A small amount, yes. It forms naturally during the fermentation and is part of how an arishta works and keeps. The preparation is taken in small, measured doses, usually diluted with an equal part of water.

How is it different from a sweet tonic like Draksharishtam? Rohitakarishta is one of the lighter, drier and more warming of the fermented preparations, built to kindle the digestion and move what is stagnant. A preparation such as Draksharishtam sits on the sweet, nourishing side of the same family, made to rebuild a depleted body. They belong to the same fermented tradition but are turned to for different purposes.