Punarnavasavam

What it is

Punarnavasavam is a gently fermented Ayurvedic preparation of the asava and arishta family, which is grouped here with the arishtams. Such a preparation is made by leaving a sweetened herbal liquid to ferment slowly, so that a small amount of natural alcohol forms. This both preserves the liquid and helps it carry the qualities of the herbs into the body. The result is a dark, keeping preparation, taken by the spoonful and usually diluted with water.

The name points to its foundation. Punarnava is the herb Boerhavia diffusa, whose name means that which renews or makes new again, from the way the plant revives with the rains. The preparation is built on it, and around it the classical formula gathers supporting and aromatic herbs. The whole is fermented in the traditional way and then strained clear.

What it is used for

In Ayurvedic terms, Punarnavasavam is shothahara, reducing to swelling, and mutrala, clearing to the fluid channels. These two ideas are its centre. The tradition reaches for it in the state it calls Shotha, the classical term for swelling and retained fluid, where the body is read as heavy and waterlogged.

Its herbs are the ones Ayurveda most links with clearing excess fluid and lightening a heavy, watery state, the quality it reads as an aggravated Kapha settling in the tissues and channels. It works upon the srotas, the body channels that carry and pass fluid, encouraging what is retained to move and drain. These are the classical textual uses, recorded for study and reference, not statements of medical effect or advice to treat any condition.

Its qualities, in plain words

Ayurveda describes each preparation by a short list of qualities, and this one gathers around clearing and lightness.

Its tastes are chiefly bitter and astringent, with a sweet note, the tastes the tradition links with drying, clearing and draining. Its energy is warming, which suits its work against the cold, heavy, watery quality of retained fluid. And it is on the whole light and drying rather than heavy and feeding. Put together, the picture is of a warming, clearing preparation that works to draw off retained fluid and lighten a swollen, waterlogged body.

What is in it

The preparation is built on Punarnava, and Punarnava carries much of its character. In Ayurvedic terms the herb is bitter and astringent, warming, light and drying, and the tradition counts it among the foremost shothahara and mutrala substances, those that clear retained fluid. This is why the whole preparation leans clearing and draining rather than feeding.

To Punarnava the formula adds supporting and aromatic herbs that share and extend its direction, along with the jaggery and Dhataki flowers that set the fermentation going. The character of the whole comes from the fluid-clearing theme that runs from Punarnava through the rest, joined to the drawing action of a fermented preparation. Where retained fluid is read together with ama, the sticky residue of weak digestion described in the account of metabolic toxins, the clearing intent is the same. No proportions or strengths are asserted here.

How it is used

Punarnavasavam is an internal preparation, and the tradition is clear that it is taken under a qualified practitioner. As a fermented preparation it is taken in a small measure, classically a spoonful or two, diluted with an equal part of water, and generally after food. Being self-generated in alcohol, it needs no separate carrier.

The amount and the length of the course are matched to the person and the state being cared for, which is why they are set by a practitioner rather than fixed in advance. Because it is warming and drying, it is used with more care where Pitta, dryness or a depleted state already dominate. Swelling and retained fluid can arise from many causes, some of them serious, which is another reason the tradition insists such a preparation belongs within a proper diagnosis rather than casual self use.

Good to know

Punarnavasavam belongs to the clearing, draining side of the fermented preparations, and this is what marks it out from the sweet, nourishing members of the family. Its foundation in Punarnava gives it a bitter, warming, fluid-clearing character, well suited to a body read as heavy and waterlogged, and used with more care where heat or dryness dominate. The small amount of alcohol that forms in fermentation is part of how the preparation works and keeps, and it is taken in small, measured amounts, diluted with water.

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 the herb called Punarnava? Because the name means that which renews or makes new again, a reference to the way the plant, which withers in the dry season, springs back to life with the rains. The tradition valued this vigour and gave the herb a name to match, and it is the herb the whole preparation is built on.

Is it an asava or an arishta? By its name it is an asava, the cold-infusion type of fermented preparation, though it belongs to the same broad fermented family as the arishtams and is grouped with them here. Both types form a small amount of natural alcohol and are taken in the same measured, diluted way.

Can I take it on my own? No. It is an internal preparation, and swelling can have many causes, so the tradition holds that it is taken under a qualified practitioner, who sets the amount and the length of the course within a proper diagnosis rather than for any swelling on one’s own.