A
great literary work or a Magnum opus from India, “Ramayana”
narrates in the closing chapters, a famous story of a great war
fought by the hero; warrior king Rama with Ravana, the demon king of
Lanka. During the course of this war, Ravana's son Indrajit, a
legendary fighter, joins the battle when he finds all his brothers
killed by Rama and his army, his father- Ravana- humiliated in the
battle , and his paternal uncle Kumbhakarna killed.
On the
second day of his war with Rama's army, Indrajeet uses all his force
to cast a havoc on his enemies. At this time, Rama's younger brother
Lakshmana appears before him, and starts a fierce battle with him.
When Indrajit realises that Lakshmana could not be won over, he uses
his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like
a bolt of lightning. He combines his skills of sorcery and deceptive
warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing behind Lakshmana's back
to catch him off-guard and finally hits him with his fiercest and
deadliest weapon, “Shakti.” On being impaled in the back by the
weapon, Lakshmana falls unconscious, poised to die precisely at the
following sunrise.
This
brings in a complete sense of doom in the military camp of Rama.
However the physician Sushena advices Rama that his brother can still
be saved if he can administer a herb known as “Sanjivani” to
Laxmana. Unfortunately, this herb is only found on a mountain in the
Himalayas, known as “Dronagiri.” Rama's trusted lieutenant;
Monkey-God Hanuman, opts to fly over to Himalayas and get the
life-restoring herb Sanjivani. Since Laxmana is destined to die at
the sun rise, if no drug is administered to him, Hanuman realises
the danger, takes an avatar that is many times his normal size and
detains the Sun God to prevent the break of day. He then resumes his
search for the precious herb, but finds himself unable to identify,
which herb it is. He then simply lifts the entire mountain and
delivers it to the battlefield in Lanka. Sushena immediately
identifies and administers the herb, and Lakshmana is saved. Rama
embraces Hanuman, declaring him as dear to him as his own brother.
The
story, though quite enjoyable, is a great fantasy obviously. Many in
India however believe in the real world existence of the great
life-restoring herb Sanjinani, found only in Himalayas as
described in the story. A village in the Chamoli district of the
state of Uttarakhand state in India is actually known as Dronagiri
village, named after the 2,400 meters high nestling hill of
Dronagiri. There is also a snow clad peaknearby that is also known as
Dronagiri. However this peak is not to be confused with Dronagiri
hill near the village. The snow clad Dronagiri peak can not be seen
from the village and one needs to trek at least 2 Km to a ridge to
have a look at the peak.
Above
the Dronagiri village the Dronagiri hill top actually looks like as
chopped off and the villagers grouse at this as the work of Hanuman.
This hill grows many types of herbs, believed to be of medicinal use
by the village community. The Patanjali Yog Peeth of Haridwar, is
doing laudable research on herbs found here and are believed to have
succeeded in finding some herbs which can be as good as life savers.
However nothing specific or concrete has emerged from this research.
Let us
now move to the other side of Himalayas, or to Ladakh, where the
Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) based at Leh,
capital of Ladakh region, is exploring the therapeutic values of the
herbs found in Himalayas. Their research has led them to “
Rhodiola”, a herb found in the cold and highland climate of
Himalayas. DIHAR, the world’s highest agro-animal research
laboratory, has been studying this wonder plant for more than a
decade. Locally called
‘Solo’ in Ladakh, the
qualities of Rhodiola were largely unknown so far. The leafy parts of
the plant are used as vegetable by locals.
R.B.
Srivastava, Director of DIHAR says;
“Rhodiola
is a wonder plant that has immunomodulatory [enhancing immune],
adaptogenic [adapting to difficult climatic condition] and
radio-protecting abilities due to presence of secondary metabolites
and phytoactive compounds unique to the plant,” He adds
“The
herb can mitigate the effects of gamma radiation used in bombs in
biochemical warfare. While its adaptogenic qualities can help the
soldiers in adjusting to the low pressure, low oxygen environment,
the plant has also been found to have anti-depressant and appetiser
properties.”
“Rhodiola”
has such wonder properties that many believe that it is the end to
the quest for Sanjivani, the mythical herb that gave renewed life to
Ram’s brother Lakshman in the epic Ramayana.
18th
September 2014
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