Guggulu

Guggulu is usually a combination of herbs meant for a specific use or to treat certain disorders.

General Descripition

Guggulu is an exudate (Niryaasa) obtained from the plant Commiphora mukul. Preparations having the exudates as main effective ingredient are known as Guggulu. There are five different varieties of Guggulu described in the Ayurvedic texts. However two of the varieties, namely, Mahishaksa and Kanaka Guggulu are usually preferred for medicinal preparations. Mahishaksa Guggulu is dark greenish brown and Kanaka Guggulu is yellowish brown in color.

Preparation Involves

• Sand, stone, plant debris, glass etc. are first removed.
• It is then broken into small pieces.
• It is thereafter bundled in a piece of cloth and boiled in Dola Yantra containing any one of the following fluids.
• Gomootra,
• Triphalā kashāya,
• Nirgu´²ipatra Svarasa with Haridrā Cūrna,
• Vāsāpatra Kashāya,
• Vāsāpatra Svarasa and
• Dugdha.

The boiling of Guggulu in Dolā Yantra is carried on until all the Guggulu passes into the fluid through the cloth. By pressing with fingers, much of the fluid that can pass through is taken out. The residue in the bundle is discarded. The fluid is filtered and again boiled till it forms a mass. This mass is dried and then pounded with a pestle in a stone mortar, adding ghee in small quantities till it becomes waxy.