In search of Sanjeevani

Current Science

Volumn 97, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 484-489

  Ganeshaiah, K N ^a   Vasudeva, R ^b   Uma Shaanker, R ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES   (India)

^b College of Forestry   (India)

Author keywords

Desmotrichum; Ramayana; Resurrection; Sanjeevani; Selaginella

Indexed keywords

DESMOTRICHUM; SELAGINELLA;

EID: 71849086046     PISSN: 00113891     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetter&id=1a3c40ee-3604-4c41-8c8d-e82cf269b418&Headline=Has+Ramdev+done+what+Hanuman+couldn't%3f
2. http://cognosist.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/sanjeevani-is-selaginella-bryopteris-is-it-true/
3. There was a time when even the Buddha was considered a nonhistorical figure by the Western Academicians. Human societies retain memories of great events and personalities in the form of colourful legends and folklore. In this sense, Rama and the Ramayana would indeed be a colourful history of a great personality and his life.
4. There is a reference to Sanjeevani (or Mruth Sanjeevani) in Valmiki's Ramayana in the Shloka 29 to 34 of the 74th Chapter of the 'Yuddakandha'. Reference has been made to four different herbs in this section, viz. Sanjeevani (or Mruth Sanjeevani; healer of wounds and the one that resurrects the dead); Sandhanakarani (restorer of the skin and joints)
5. Savarnyakarani (restorer of the colour of the skin)
6. Vishalyakarani (remover of arrows: Shrimad Valmiki Ramayana, vol. 3, pp. 217-230).
7. The other versions referred to are ed. C. N. Srinivasa Aiyangar, published by D. V. K. Murthy, Krishnamurthipuram, Mysore
8. Valmiki Ramayana in Kannada, vol. 9, Bharatha Darshana Mudranalaya, Bangalore. Hindi Sources (You should go a long way over the ocean, and having reached Himavaan, the greatest of all mountains, you will see the great Rishabha mountain, the lofty range of gold, and you will see the peak of Kailasa too, O Destroyer of the foe! Between those two peaks, you will find the mountain that is the home of all medicinal herbs, the mountain that glows with unparalleled brightness. You will see O tiger among the apes! four flaming herbs glowing on its top, that light-up the ten directions. They are the Mruthasanjeevani (the healer of wounds), Sandhanakarani (restorer of the skin), and Savarnyakarani (restorer of the clour of the skin) and Vishalyakarani (the remover of the arrows). You should gather them.)
9. In the Mahabharata, another great Indian epic, there is a reference to the Sanjeevani Vidya (art of Sanjeevani), which was adopted by Shukracharya, the preceptor of Demons, to revive all the demons killed by the Gods
10. Sharma, D. P., The Search for Lanka, Print India, New Delhi, 1985. Sharma argues that the Lanka mentioned in the epic is not the present Sri Lanka, but an island along the east coast near the Godhavari river delta.
11. Hanuman is the monkey God according to the narration in the epic, but the fact that Rama and his people were continually and actively communicating at ease with him and his relatives and clan members, suggests that this was a metaphoric representation of a native tribe of Deccan India who were perhaps melanic, strongly built and forest-dwelling and hence different from the northern people. Ganeshaiah, K. N., 'KapiLipiSaara'. In Sudha, 2008.
12. Said to be a poisonous arrow by some versions and heat-shock arrow by other versions
13. There is no consensus on where he searched for this in India; some versions suggest that he visited the Himalayas; but the fact that he was familiar only with South India, could suggest that he landed somewhere along Sahyadri range or its extensions
14. This has been exaggerated to indicate that he carried an entire mountain. It is also true that he brought with him other plants as well, viz. Vishalyakarani, Suvarnakarani and Sandhanakarani. While the last of these is mentioned as a group of plants in Charaka Samhita, we do not consider these as candidates for the following reasons: (a) they do not seem to have consistency in their mentioning in other literature sources. (b) It was Sanjeevani that was eventually used to cure Lakshmana. (c) There are no phonetic synonyms used consistently for these names in different languages and sources.
15. Uma Shaanker, R., Ganeshaiah, K. N. and Natesh, S., Digital inventory of bioresources of India. Tropinet, 2006, 17, 1-2.
16. Natesh, S., Digitized inventory of biological resources of India. Curr. Sci., 2006, 91, 860.
17. The database called Jeeva Sampada, is available in a set of 10 CDs and much of this data is also loaded on to the website www.ibin.co.in.
18. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/03/earlyshow/series/main-713797.shtml
19. Luscombe, R., The miracle of the 'coma woman'. The Guardian, 2007 (reprinted in Deccan Herald, 10 March 2007).
20. Balik, M. J. and Cox, P. A., Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany, Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication data, 1996, pp. 1-221.
21. Bennett, B. C., Doctrine of signature: an explanation of medicinal plant discovery or dissemination of knowledge? Econ. Bot., 2007, 61, 246-255.
22. Sah, N. K., Singh, S. N., Sahdev, S., Banerji, S., Jha, V., Khan, Z., and Hasnaaian, E., Indian herb 'Sanjeevani' (Selaginella bryopteris) can promote growth and protect against heat shock and apoptotic activities of ultra violet and oxidative stress. J. Biosci., 2005, 30, 499-505.
23. Nedeljkovic, Z. S., Gokee, N. and Loskalzo, J., Mechanisms of oxidative stress and vascular dysfunction. Postgrad. Med. J., 2003, 79, 195-199.
24. Stocker, R. and Keaney Jr, J. F., Role of oxidative modifications in atherosclerosis. Physiol. Rev., 2004, 84, 1381-1478.
25. Pandey, S., Khan, A. A., Shankar, K. and Singh, N., An experimental study on the anti-stress and anti-oxidant of Selaginella bryopteris. J. Biol. Chem. Res., 1999, 12, 128-129.
26. Kasera, P. K. and Shukla, J. K., Bio-medicinal properties and cultivation of Leptadaenia reticulate (Jivanti) - an endangered plant of the Thar Desert, India. Curr. Sci., 2003, 81, 877-879.
27. Ganeshaiah, K. N., Sasya Bharathi (Plants of India): A database on taxonomy, distribution and diversity of plans of India. © K. N. Ganeshaiah.
28. Ann., Wealth of India: Dictionary of Indian Raw Materials and Industrial Products, CSIR, New Delhi, 1972, vol. IX, p. 270.