Botanical Name : Abrus Precatorius
English Name : Rosary pea
Hindi Name : Gunja, Chirmitti
Sanskrit Name : Gunja
This small climbing vine is native to India and it is found in almost every part of the country. It is also found in other countries like Sri Lanka, Philippines, West Indies.
Abrus precatorius is a member of Fabaceae plant family.
This is a small climbing vine or herb. The leaflets are10 to 20 in pairs, opposite, oblong and blunt. The flowers bloom in September to October in racemes. The bell shape flowers are pink white. The seeds are bright scarlet with a black spot, polished and shining. The seeds contain a potent toxin which is neutralized before it is used for medicinal purposes. The seed is also called Crab’s eye, Jequirity, Wild Licorice and Akar saga.
Kaincha as we know it, or Raktika or Ratti, the seed of the Gunja vine, was used in ancient India as a unit of weight for weighing the precious metals like gold. The seeds have the quality of being almost identical in weight and were therefore fit to be used as a standard measure. It was generally taken as 0.118 grams. Very interesting is this:
Manu defined the weight units in ancient India as follows:
5 Raktikas or gunjas or kainchas = 1 masa
16 masas = 1 tola or suvarna.
4 tolas =1 pala
10 palas =1 dharana.
Thus the Kaincha or Raktika or Ratti was the smallest standard weight unit. Remember the word ‘ratti’ used in jewellery shops?
Besides, the Kainchas were used to make rosary beads and ornaments.
Followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu worship a small stone (Govardhana shila) representing Mount Govardhan, with a gunja mala around it representing Radharani. It is said that the young Krishna was inseparable from his favourite gunja maala which was said to represent Radha. This mythology has made the gunja seeds a favoured bead for prayer rosaries of the Vaishnavas. The only other God who shows a twig with a gunja seed on his upturned right hand palm is Lord Narasimha, in the Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple located in Mysore district in Karnataka on the bank of the Kaveri – Kapila – Spatika Sarovar confluence.
In the movie ‘Nadiya ke paar’ actress Sadhana’s character was called Gunja!! Just a sudden flash, hence the mention!! Cheers to nostalgia – Suneeta Patnayak
