Prasarini Taila

Prasarini taila is a Thailam, a medicated oil, and it is one of the warming, Vata-settling oils the classical tradition reaches for when the joints, the lower back and the limbs have grown stiff and hard to move. In Ayurveda an oil of this kind is not merely fragrant. The strength of a set of herbs is cooked slowly into a base of sesame oil until the oil itself carries their action, and prasarini taila is made in exactly this way, built around the herb that gives it its name.

What it is

The oil is named for prasarini, a spreading creeper botanically identified as Paederia foetida. The word prasarini comes from a root meaning to spread or to extend, and the plant earns the name by the way it runs and spreads along the ground. The classical writers read this habit of spreading as a signature of the plant’s action, that it restores extension and free movement to a limb that has drawn in and stiffened. This is the idea at the heart of the oil.

The base, as with most oils of this group, is til taila, sesame oil, which Ayurveda holds to be the finest of all carriers for settling Vata. Around the prasarini creeper the classical formulas gather a company of supporting herbs and, in several versions, a proportion of milk or of a strengthening decoction, so that the finished oil is both warming and nourishing. The exact company of herbs varies between the regional recipes of the Sahasrayogam and the Bhaishajya Ratnavali, but the character of the oil is constant.

The classical source

Prasarini taila belongs to the Taila Prakaranam, the chapter on medicated oils, and it appears in the Sahasrayogam and in the Vatavyadhi Chikitsa, the treatment of the wind diseases, in the Bhaishajya Ratnavali. It is one of the named oils the tradition places within the broad family of the Narayana and Bala group, the oils of strength and movement, and it is spoken of alongside them in the setting of the Vata-vyadhi, the disorders of Vata that gather in the joints and the structural tissues.

Its dravyaguna

By its qualities prasarini taila is warming and unctuous. Its virya, or potency, is ushna, warming, which counters the cold nature of aggravated Vata. Its guna, the physical qualities of the oil, are snigdha and guru, oily and heavy, which counter the dry, light quality that leaves the tissues brittle and the joints creaking. Its karma, its action, is described first as vatahara, the settling of Vata, and alongside this the tradition names it balya, strengthening, and vedanasthapana, easing of ache. Taken together these qualities describe an oil meant to warm, to lubricate and to restore steadiness to a part that Vata has dried and drawn tight.

The classical indications

The classical texts place prasarini taila among the oils for Sandhigata Vata, the settling of Vata in the joints, and for the broader family of Vata-vyadhi. Where a limb has stiffened, where the lower back has grown tight, where a joint moves less freely than it should and the movement is dry and reluctant, the tradition reads the seat of the trouble as aggravated Vata in the structural tissues, and it reaches for a warming oil to settle it. Prasarini taila is one of the oils named in exactly this setting.

The old writers are careful to distinguish the picture. This is an oil for the cold, dry, contracted quality of Vata, the joint that is stiff rather than hot, the movement that is restricted rather than swollen and inflamed. Where heat and swelling lead, a cooling approach is preferred, and the warming oils of this group are used more cautiously.

The tradition especially connects prasarini taila with the care of the mother after childbirth, the sutika period, when Vata is held to be naturally high and the body is rebuilding. Warming, strengthening, Vata-settling oils are the mainstay of the classical postnatal care, and prasarini taila, with its restoring, movement-freeing character, is among those the old writers name for the massage of this time, alongside the great oils such as Dhanwantharam. Here again the aim is warmth, nourishment and the free, easy movement of limbs that childbirth and the confinement have left stiff and tired.

How it is made

The making follows the classical method of Taila Paka, the cooking of a medicated oil, set out in the old pharmacy texts and in the Sharangadhara Samhita. It is unhurried and watched closely.

First a decoction, the kwatha or kashaya, is made by boiling the prasarini creeper and the supporting herbs in water and reducing the liquid down to a concentrated form. Separately a fine herbal paste, the kalka, is ground. In many versions of the oil a quantity of milk is also prepared, since milk lends its nourishing, Vata-settling quality. The sesame oil is then warmed and the decoction, the paste and, where used, the milk are added to it, classically in set proportions of paste, liquid and oil.

This mixture is cooked slowly over a steady heat and watched by the old signs. As the water is driven off, the strength of the herbs passes into the oil. The maker judges the stage of cooking by the behaviour of the paste when rolled between the fingers, by the colour and aroma of the oil, and by the way a little of the kalka, when pressed, holds together and burns cleanly. When the sneha siddhi, the completion of the oil, is reached, the oil is taken off the heat, allowed to settle and strained clear through cloth. A well-made prasarini taila is a deep brown, warm and slightly pungent in aroma, and it keeps for a year or two when stored away from heat and light.

How it is traditionally used

Prasarini taila is an external preparation, used in Abhyanga, the therapeutic massage with warm oil, and in the wider warm-oil therapies. The oil is gently warmed and worked over the affected joints, the lower back or the limbs, following the direction of the tissues, and the massage is usually followed by warmth, a warm cloth, a warm bath or a period of rest, so that the oil settles and the tissues stay warm.

In the Panchakarma tradition it is one of the oils that may be used for Snehana, the oiling of the body that prepares the tissues before deeper therapies, and it appears in the setting of the specialised treatments for the joints and the lower back. It is not taken by mouth. Like the other oils of this family it is applied to the body, not swallowed, and the anupana or vehicle that matters for it is the warmth that follows the massage rather than anything taken internally.

Which dosha it suits

Prasarini taila is a Vata oil through and through. It is chosen for the cold, dry, contracted picture of aggravated Vata in the joints and the structural tissues, and its warming, oily, strengthening qualities are the direct counter to that state. Because it is warming, it is used with more care in a person of strong Pitta or over an area that is hot and inflamed, and it is not the oil the tradition reaches for in a purely Kapha, heavy, congested picture.

Precautions

Prasarini taila is a therapeutic oil rather than a casual body oil, and the classical caution applies. It is used more cautiously over hot, swollen or acutely inflamed joints, where the warming quality is not wanted, and over broken skin. Because it is used for joint and movement complaints, which can have many causes, the tradition holds that persistent or severe trouble should be assessed rather than simply oiled. The choice of oil, the manner of massage and the length of a course are best set by a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner who can judge whether the warming, Vata-settling character of this oil suits the person in front of them.

Some of the classical formulations of prasarini taila carry other potent herbs among their ingredients, and a few regional recipes are stronger than others, which is a further reason to treat the oil as a prepared medicine rather than a household oil and to know the source of any preparation used. As with all the medicated oils, it is meant to be one part of a considered approach, alongside a suitable diet and way of living for settling Vata, rather than a remedy relied on by itself.

This entry describes the classical Ayurvedic understanding of prasarini taila and is offered for education, not as medical advice.