Kushtha is a perennial shrub, it grows at 2500–3000m in the Himalayas and thrives in damp places. It is a large plant with sweet aromatic roots. Kushtha means ‘skin disease’ and refers to its ability to treat many skin disorders.
Benefits of Kushtha: Bloating, nausea, diarrhoea, dysentery, regulates liver functions, useful in asthma, hiccups, wheezing and coughs, used externally for skin infections, cholera, cough, dysuria, edema, epilepsy, fever, gas, gout, headache, heart diseases, hiccup, dyspepsia, indigestion, jaundice, useful in leprosy, malaria, arthritis.
Action: Carminative, digestive, diuretic, alterative, antispasmodic, bronchodilator, aromatic, astringent, aphrodisiac, analgesic.
Scientific name: Saussurea lappa.
Useful part: Root.
Dosage: 1–9g per day.
Energetics
Rasa (taste): Pungent, sweet, bitter, astringent
Vırya(energy): Heating
Vipaka (post-digestive effect):Pungent
Guna (quality): Dry, light, pene-trating
Dosa effect: VPK=, VP+ in excess
Dhatu (tissue): All tissues
Srotas (channel): Digestive, circulatory, respiratory, nervous
Classical and common names
Ayurvedic: Kushtha, Kusht, Vaapya, Kaashmira, Gada, Rug, Ruk, Aamaya, Paalaka.
English: Kuth, Costus.