ARKA: (Swallowwort)
Calotropis gigantea)
Family: Asclepiadaceae
Sanskrit name: Arka
Hindi name: Aak
The stern and sacrificial arka
~ Kalidasa (circa A. D 400)
The arka, or swallowwort, is to all appearances a humble wayside plant, a gray-leaved fleshy weed encountered on any walk, so the casual observer might be surprised by the plant’s reputation, and the manner in which it’s mythological,
ritual, and medical uses overlap.
According to the Taittiriya school of scriptures, the gods were performing a ritual of sacrifice to the sun when they spilled a jar of scalding milk onto the earth, from which sprang the swallowwort. Named arka after the sun, the
swallowwort is noted for its heating properties, and for the milky liquid that flows easily from its leaves.
Perhaps the plant’s reputation for sternness in Hindu myth comes from an ancient tribal caution about the poison contained in its milky latex, but offering the leaves of the swallowwort in Hindu religious rituals is believed to enhance
the good health of the sacrifices The devout use them to pour ritual oblations to the sun, after which the leaves are burned.
Ordinary Indians of all faiths know the swallowwort anti-rheumatic powers. They bind its leaves on their joints during the seventh day celebrations of the swallowwort, which mark the last month of cold weather in the Indian
calendar. The leaves of the swallowwort are also analgesic and anti- inflammatory when applied externally, while the dry powder derived from its burnt leaves and flowers is used by Ayurvedic doctors for the treatment of asthma and bronchitis.
Excerpted from The Garden of Life by Naveen Patnaik.
Illustration: Photograph of the Swallowort weed.
