Ghṛta
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Swami Harshananda
Ghṛta literally means 'ghee, clarified butter'.
Ghṛta has been held in high esteem right from the Ṛgvedic times. Libation of ghṛta into a duly consecrated fire is a part of many rituals. Lighting a lamp in front of a deity using ghṛta instead of oil has been considered as a meritorious act.
- The Suśruta Samhitā attributes many medicinal qualities to ghee such as curing of diseases like insanity, epilepsy, colic and fever.
- ‘Kumbhaghṛta’, ghee matured in a pitcher for eleven to a hundred years, will possess mystic potencies which are capable of warding off monsters.
- Ghṛta, cooked a hundred times in succession with a quantity of vacā (an aromatic root) and taken every day extends one’s life to five centuries.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore