In Hinduism, the word Sanjeevani can refer to a plant or to a mantra (a chant) or to a system/method. The description below describes Sanjeevani as a magical herb or plant. There is also a Sanjeevani chant in Hinduism which is believed to be able to bring a dead person back to life. To know more about this, read the story of Kachan and Devayani.
According to Hinduism Sanjeevani is a magical herb which has the power to cure serious nervous system problems. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could revive situations where death is almost certain. The herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when Ravana’s son Indrajita (Meghnad) hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana. Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Indrajita. Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dronagiri (Mahodaya) or Gandhamardhan hills, far to the north of the Vindhyas on the slopes of the Himalayas. The mountain of herbs is identified as the Valley of Flowers near Badri in Uttarakhand on the slopes of the Himalayas. It is sometimes called Gandhamardan, and at other times Dronagiri. Upon reaching Dronagiri Parvata or Gandhamardan, Hanuman could not identify the herb and lifted the whole mountain and brought it to the battlefield.
Several plants have been proposed as possible candidates for the Sanjeevani plant, including: Selaginella bryopteris, Dendrobium plicatile (synonym Desmotrichum fimbriatum), Caress cretica, and others. A search of ancient texts at CSIR laboratories did not reveal any plant that can be definitively confirmed as Sanjeevani. In certain texts it is written that Sanjeevani glows in the dark.
The herb, believed in Ayurvedic medicine to have medicinal properties, has been searched for unsuccessfully for centuries, up to modern times.The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in northern India committed an initial 250m rupees (£2.8m) of state money to search for Sanjeevani Bhooti starting in August 2016. The search was focused on the Dronagiri range of the Himalayas near the Chinese border. The Ramayana mentions a mountain believed to refer to the Dronagiri range, where the magical herb is supposed to grow. Uttarakhand established a Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (Ayush) in November 2014.
Selaginella bryopteris is a lithography with remarkable resurrection capabilities. It is full of medicinal properties, hence also known as ‘Sanjeevani’ (one that infuses life). For lack of credible scientific evidence the plant is not in active use as a medicinal herb. We provide scientific evidence for why S. bryopteris is known as ‘Sanjeevani’. The aqueous extract of S. bryopteris possesses growth-promoting activity as well as protective action against stress-induced cell death in a number of experimental cell systems including mammalian cells. Treatment of the cells in culture with 10% aqueous extract enhanced cell growth by about 41% in Sf9 cells and 78% in mammalian cells. Re-treatment of cells with the Selaginella extract (SE) (1-2.5%) protected against oxidative stress (H2O2) -induced cell death. The killing potential of ultra violet (UV) was also significantly reduced when the cells were ore-treated with SE for 1 h. Thermal radiation suppressed cell growth by about 50%. Pr-treatment of cells with SE for 1 h afforded complete protection against heat-induced growth suppression. SE may possess anti-stress and antioxidant activities that could be responsible for the observed effects. Chemical analysis shows that SE contains hexes and proteins. Taken together, S. bryopteris extract may help in stress-induced complications including those due to heat shock
The research unit of the Uttarakhand forest department has claimed to have found in the Dronagiri hills a herb similar to Sanjeevani Booti, the mythical plant from the Ramayana that is believed to have amazing healing properties.
Many are seeing it as a revival of the enthusiasm that died after the present BJP state government showed no interest in the project and stopped its funding.
Maya ram Uniyal, former director of Uttarakhand Ayush department and a practitioner of Ayurveda, said: “The discourse and discussion has always been there but let the results come to confirm the hypothesis. Only then we can be certain about the results.” The samples of the herb, found in Jauljivi area of Pithoragarh district, will be sent to National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, to ascertain the properties of the plant for confirmation.
The team that found the plant in Jauljivi said the type of the plant is the same as the one found on Dronagiri hills years ago. In 2016, a committee was set up by the Uttarakhand government to track down the magical herb.
According to the Ramayana, Hanuman was asked to fetch the herb from the Himalayas to save the life of Lakshman, Lord Ram’s brother, after he became unconscious while fighting Meghnath, Ravana’s eldest son.
The committee had intended first to find the herb in the Himalayan range. “The Dronagiri range of the Himalayas will be scoured in the search of the herb, the discovery of which is bound to be difficult as even Lord Hanuman had not been able to identify it and had to uproot the entire Dronagiri mountain and bring it all the way to Ravana’s Lanka,” Surendra Singh Negi, the state’s Ayush minister in 2016, had said at the time.
Ayurvedic experts expressed delight at the development and said the herb is not fictional but real. The team members who are working on the project refused to comment on the matter until something concrete comes up.
Many Indian botanists have done research on finding such a herb. Out of preliminary listing of about 17 plant species, which could be Sanjeevani; Selaginella bryopteris deserves a special mention. Found in the Indian Himalayas, with certain medicinal properties and high drought resistance, Selaginella bryopteris is known as poikilohydric lithophyte, heteros porous Indian Himalayan Pteridophyte. It is a fern plant. It is observed that this fern can withstand years of drought very effectively.
Many experiments have been conducted to establish the medicinal properties of the fern. As the name, ‘Sanjeevani’ suggests the plant extract should have an ability to invigorate vital activities in cells/tissues, leading to the hypothesis that this herb possesses a growth-promoting activity as well as protective action against stress-induced cell death that play vital roles in organismal growth and development, tissue homeostasis, and maintenance of genomic integrity. The results suggest that Selaginella species have a large number of bioactive compounds, which possess such properties.
The herb has been found to contain bioflavonoids (secondary metabolites). These compounds act as anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-allergic, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, protect against UV irradiation, vaso-relaxants, heart boosters, anti-hypertensive, anti-clotting and affect the metabolism enzymes. A bioflavonoid, hinokiflavone, present in Selaginella is also effective against HIV infection. Selaginella is said to be effective as follows:
There is no doubt that this plant has several important medicinal properties and is worshiped among locals as the magical herb, Sanjeevani.
You should understand that with change in climate, the extremely potent herbs of earlier times have become extinct as the climate doesn’t suit them. And as we know climate is dependent on human consciousness, so degrading of human consciousness and pollution in human thought process has direct consequence on the ancient potent herbs. Now since the GM foods will flood our planet, one can be rest assured that whatever is left will also disappear.
Mountains of Sanjeevani
The Uttarakhand government’s initiative to spend Rs 25 crore on an elusive mythical herb should trigger a wider quest to identify, document and analyse life-saving Himalayan herbs
The mystery behind Sanjeevani Booti
In Hindu mythology, Sanjeevani is a magical herb which has the power to cure any problem. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could restore life in a dead person. While some references in scientific literature list Selaginella bryopteris as the Sanjeevani mentioned in Hindu mythology, a search of ancient texts has so far not revealed any plant that can be definitively confirmed as Sanjeevani. In certain texts it is written that Sanjeevani glows in the dark. 4/23 4
Has Sanjeevani Booti been rediscovered in 21st Century?
Some people have claimed that they were able to locate two groups of plants in the Dronagiri Hills that could be the ancient miracle plant. This hill is in Joshimath, Garhwal and it reaches up to a height of 15,000 feet. The truth behind the discovery still needs to be verified. Agricultural scientists at Indian National Botanical Research Institute are working rigorously on Sanjeevani Booti to unearth more hidden facts about it. 6/23 6
Is Selaginella bryopteris the renowned Sanjeevani?
It is a very important question for the biologists, medical practitioners, enthusiasts and research scholars as to which medicinal plant is Mrita Sanjeevani. The name suggests that this plant has the capacity to bring back life in a dead person. There is hardly any plant that has been determined to be of this rank among various medicinal plants – Not even Selaginella bryopteris. And wasn’t it supposed to emit light? 7/23 7
Latest news around Sanjeevani Booti
Various studies conducted on this plant revealed a special feature of resistance to drought in this plant. This feature makes Sanjeevani Booti capable of standing drought conditions for long years. Agricultural scientists are planning to insert this gene from the plant to various other crops. As a result, the crops would become resistant to drought conditions. Such transgenic plants would help in preventing loss of crops even when sufficient water is not present. 9/23 9
What makes Mrita Sanjeevani
Saussure a Ggossypiphora grows at a height of 4300 – 5600 meters in different parts of Himalayas. It is full of cotton fiber and looks like a snowball and is around 10- 20 cm long and has white flowers and Pleurospermum candollei is 30- 40 cm long and these two collectively make ‘Mrita Sanjeevani’ Plus value Brass Tibetan Om Bell Fencing Vasts Meditation Space Healing Spiritual Handicraft Product for Home & Office – Big SizeBUY NOW 12/23 12
As per the Locals of Dronagiri
The local beliefs related to botanical fields of Himalaya have been made the basis to determine the plant as Mrita Sanjeevani along with mythological references. The tribal people of Dhouladhar hilly areas living in western Himalayan areas used to call it Bana or Shiva. They used to bring both the plants to their homes and pray it as they believed it to be life saving. 13/23 13
Uses of this herb
Both the above-mentioned herbs were used to cure unconsciousness, cerebral disorders, respiratory problems, bodily pains and other problems. The tribal people, villages, ascetics having knowledge of Himalayan traditions, never revealed about these plants with the fear of exploitation and extinction. 14/23 14