Tila

What is Tila?

Tila is the seed of Sesamum indicum, the sesame plant, an upright annual of the family Pedaliaceae that has been grown in India since very ancient times. The plant bears slender pods, and inside each pod sit rows of small, flat, teardrop seeds. They come in several colours, from pale cream to deep black, and it is the black seed that Ayurveda prizes above the white, holding it to be the richer and more potent of the two.

The Sanskrit name is Tila, a word so old and so bound up with Indian life that the seed appears throughout the classical texts as both food and medicine. In English it is sesame; across India and its neighbours it carries many local names, among them Til, Gingelly, Ellu and Simsim. Yet for Ayurveda the seed itself, important as it is, matters most for what is pressed from it. Crushed and expressed, the seed yields Tila taila, sesame oil, and it is this oil that gives Tila its central place in the tradition.

What Ayurveda uses it for

Ayurveda’s regard for Tila rests chiefly on the oil. Among all the fats and oils the classical writers describe, Tila taila is named the foremost, the standard against which the others are measured. It is warming, heavy and deeply unctuous, and these are precisely the qualities the tradition sets against Vata, the dry, cold, mobile dosha. For that reason Tila taila is the leading Vata-hara oil, the base into which most medicated oils are prepared, and the oil the texts call for first in Abhyanga, the daily practice of oiling the body.

Alongside its Vata-settling role, the seed and its oil are described as balya, strengthening, and vrishya, restorative, and they are held to be keshya, good for the hair, twachya, good for the skin, and dantya, good for the teeth and gums. Within these roles the dravyaguna texts describe Tila as traditionally valued in a familiar set of conditions and uses, each named here in its classical Sanskrit term with a plain gloss:

• Vata-vikara: complaints of the Vata dosha, the oil’s classical home, where its warming, unctuous nature is set against dryness and unsteadiness. These are the traditional textual roles recorded in the classical literature, given for reference and study, not as statements of medical effect.
• Kesha and Palitya: care of the hair, where the oil is applied to the scalp in the daily regimen. These are the traditional textual roles recorded in the classical literature, given for reference and study, not as statements of medical effect.
• Danta and Mukha: care of the teeth and mouth, the setting of the classical practice of holding oil in the mouth. These are the traditional textual roles recorded in the classical literature, given for reference and study, not as statements of medical effect.
• Vrana: wounds, where medicated sesame oil is described in the surgical texts as part of their dressing and care. These are the traditional textual roles recorded in the classical literature, given for reference and study, not as statements of medical effect.
• Daurbalya: debility, where the seed and its oil are drawn on for their building, nourishing quality. These are the traditional textual roles recorded in the classical literature, given for reference and study, not as statements of medical effect.

The seed itself also holds a settled place as a food. It is one of the key items of the Vata-pacifying diet, taken for its warm, heavy, oily nature, and it appears in the classical confections and in the seasonal foods of the cold months. This is noted as a point of dietary tradition and places the seed in its everyday context.

Its qualities, in plain words

Ayurveda describes every herb by a short list of qualities, and for Tila they line up closely behind its reputation as the great Vata oil.

Its taste is sweet, with faint bitter and astringent notes, and in Ayurveda a sweet taste is the taste of nourishment. It is heavy and unctuous, so rather than lightening or drying the body it feeds and grounds it, the way a rich, oily food does, and it is this oiliness above all that makes it the answer to Vata’s dryness. It is warming, which suits the cold, mobile quality of Vata and sets it apart from the cooling oils. And it finishes sweet after digestion, a sign that it builds tissue rather than wearing it down. Put together, these qualities describe a heavy, warm, richly unctuous seed and oil, which is why the tradition settles most firmly on its Vata-steadying action. Because the same heaviness and warmth can be a little building for Kapha and a little heating for Pitta, that Vata-settling role is the one the sources agree on most.

How it is taken

Tila enters the tradition in two forms, the seed and the oil, and it is the oil that carries most of its work. The seed may be used whole or ground, taken as a food and folded into nourishing confections, and it is drawn on chiefly in the Vata-pacifying diet.

The oil, Tila taila, is pressed from the seed and used far more widely. It is the standard base into which the classical medicated oils are prepared, the herbs being cooked into it by the process the tradition calls sneha-paka, so that a great many of Ayurveda’s named oils rest on a foundation of sesame. In its plain form it is the oil of choice for Abhyanga, the daily self-massage, warmed and worked over the body and scalp. The same oil is held in the mouth in the classical practice of oil-holding for the care of the teeth and gums, and medicated sesame oil is described in the surgical texts in the dressing of wounds. As a warm, unctuous base it is the vehicle Ayurveda favours for carrying a nourishing, Vata-settling action into the body.

Good to know

Tila is one of the grounding, nourishing materials of Ayurveda, valued for its warmth and its oiliness rather than for any clearing or reducing action, and it belongs firmly to the building side of the tradition. Its warming, heavy nature is exactly what recommends it against Vata, and the same nature is why the classical writers use it with more care where there is heat or heaviness to begin with. The black seed and the oil pressed from it are the prized forms, the ones the texts return to when they speak of Tila at its most potent.

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

Frequently asked

Which part is used, the seed or the oil? Both, but the oil above all. The seed is taken as a food and in nourishing confections, while Tila taila, the oil pressed from the seed, is the classical base of most medicated oils and the oil the tradition names first for daily massage.

Why does Ayurveda prefer the black seed? The tradition holds the black sesame seed to be the richer and more potent of the forms, above the white, and it is the black seed and its oil that the texts return to when they describe Tila at its fullest strength.

Why is sesame oil the oil chosen for Abhyanga? Because it is warming, heavy and deeply unctuous, the very qualities Ayurveda sets against the dry, cold, mobile nature of Vata. That makes it the leading Vata-hara oil and the natural choice for the daily oiling of the body the tradition calls Abhyanga.