ABSTRACT

Ayurveda is an ancient system of medicine that originated in India. In the context of Ayurveda, a Nighantu refers to a classical Ayurvedic lexicon or dictionary that focuses on botanical and medicinal terms. These texts provide extensive information about plants, their properties, and their uses in Ayurvedic medicine. Several ancient Ayurvedic texts are classified as Nighantu, and they vary in their content and focus. Madhava Dravyaguna is one such available lexicon in the era of 1250 cent. A.D. This lexicon comes under the Medieval period which is also known as Nighantu Kala. It contains 29 Vargas. Some of the peculiar Vargas are mentioned in this text. Shreshtha Varga is a remarkable contribution by Madhava Dravyaguna. Life style diseases are the result of an ill-relationship of people with their environment. Diet plays an inevitable role in human health and disease prevention. Poor eating habits and food choices greatly increase the risk of lifestyle Diseases. In Ayurveda, Acharyas has mentioned the words like – Shreshtha, Uttama, Para, Pathya, Hitam, Satmya, Pravara, Sadapathya, Satmikrut, Prasadana etc. These all words indicate importance of Dravyas in food habits as well. One such concept is Shreshtha Varga of Madhava Dravyaguna. This article emphasizes mainly on distinctive feature of Madhava Dravyaguna. Keywords: Ayurveda, Lexicon, Madhava Dravyaguna, Shreshtha, Life style diseases
Publication date: 01/03/2025

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2025/March/MS_IJBPAS_2025_8854.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2025/14.3.8854