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Description
Laksha is not exactly an herb. It is the secretion of a beetle, and is the raw material used to make shellac. In fact, the name shellac comes from the Sanskrit word, laksha.
Laksha is a kind of resin that is produced when the laccifer lacca (lac beetle) makes its home in ficus, palas, kusum (schleichera oleosa) and ber (ziziphus mauritiana) trees.
The lac beetle attaches its proboscis (snout) to a branch of the tree, sucks the sap and secrets the sticky laksha resin, which eventually builds up and hardens as a protective shell for the insect.
The female insects remain encased in the laksha for their entire lives and lay eggs inside the hard shell. They only have a tiny hole in front for feeding and in back for excreting and breathing. The males have a trap door and metamorphosize into flying insects. The freed males then fly to the immobilized females to fertilize the eggs.
When there are thousands of these beetles on a tree, it looks like a disease of the tree. This is why Bhava Prakash sometimes calls laksha by the name, vrikshamaya (tree disease). In fact, the beetles are detrimental to the tree’s health.
The amber colored laksha is the raw material for shellac. It is also used to make bracelets in India, which are considered the most auspicious bangles (bracelets) for weddings.
It has also been used as a medicine in Ayurveda for thousands of years. Vaidya Mishra sometimes lovingly called laksha, lakshaya. You will see the name lakshaya on his products. It is the same as laksha.
Laksha in the Mahabharata Epic
The great war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas is recorded in detail in one of India’s great epics, the Mahabharata. The use of laksha to heal battle wounds, especially nerve and tendon wounds, is recorded there. This is the reference source of Vaidya Mishra’s long family tradition of using laksha in Ayurveda.
There is also a story of how laksha was used to build a castle during the war. Vaidya Mishra tells this story in the audio file.
Laksha Helps Heal Wounds
Not only does laksha help heal battle wounds, it can heal wounds inside the body too. The description from Bhava Prakash is vranorakshatapaha (healing ulcers or wounds caused by injury). Anytime that a wound (internal or external) is caused by injury (kshata), it heals and regenerates the tissue, especially if it is nerve tissue.
The injury could come from a sword, or it could come from amavisha (reactive toxins) inside the body or garavisha (xenobiotics). In multiple sclerosis, for example, wounds, or ulcers, appear on the nerves, damaging the myelin sheath of the nerves. This is caused by amavisha (highly reactive toxins) in the body which build up faster than they can be removed by the body.
Laksha is very useful in the case of multiple sclerosis because it helps to heal the damaged nerves by binding the reactive toxins and by binding the wounds. The snayuvranahara prabhava (the nerve regenerating property) of laksha has been successfully used by Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum in her practice treating MS patients.
This is not a replacement for conventional, allopathic treatments, but it does help verify the efficacy of ancient Ayurvedic practices. Always consult your physician for medical advice.
Laksha Helps Pacify Toxins Deep in the Body
Bhava Prakash lists another helpful property of laksha: visarpapaha (removing herpes-specific toxins from the bone marrow).
Bone marrow (majja dhatu) is very closely related to nerve tissue (snayu) in Ayurveda. When there are toxins in the nervous tissue, it is not uncommon for there to be toxins in the bone marrow, and vice versa.
The Ayurvedic understanding of some forms of herpes (visarpa) is that toxins in the bone marrow give rise to a secondary viral infection that we call herpes.
Majja dhatu (bone marrow) is a very deep tissue in the body. Only shukra dhatu (reproductive tissue) is deeper. For toxins to reach the bone marrow, they must pass through all the other dhatus before they reach the majja dhatu.
These toxins are very persistent and highly reactive to have managed to break through all the barriers in the physiology (especially the very difficult to penetrate bone tissue) to reach the bone marrow.
By the time they reach the bone marrow, these toxins are usually very old, and highly reactive. The painful symptoms of herpes, according to Ayurveda, is often the result of these highly reactive toxins coming out of the bone marrow.
When the marrow gets weakened by toxins and those toxins try to get out of the body, the body can fall prey to the herpes virus infection. The underlying cause of herpes symptoms, according to Ayurveda, is the highly acidic toxins coming out of the bone marrow. This is aggravated by the secondary, herpes, viral infection.
According to the ancient Ayurvedic texts, laksha is helpful in pacifying the reactive toxins coming out of both the bone marrow and the nervous tissue. Both tissues are very deep and protected tissues in the body. When you look closely at the physical properties of laksha, it becomes clear how this dravya (substance) is able to bind the toxins that are hidden so deeply in the body.
The tuvera prabhava (deeply penetrating quality) and the laghu guna (lightness quality – allowing it to move easily in the body) are what allow laksha to reach the deep tissue toxins located in the bone marrow and nervous tissue. The snigdha guna (sticky, unctuous and somewhat slippery quality) is what allows laksha to bind these toxins and slide them out of the body.
The snigdha (sticky) quality is also what helps laksha to bind wounds (both external and internal) as a part of the regenerative process.
What You Will Learn in This Section of the Course
In this 19 minute audio lecture, you will learn in detail, the physical properties and traditional Ayurvedic uses of this well-used herb in Vaidya Mishra’s family tradition.
Laksha is not well known in the Ayurveda commonly practiced in the West. Now is your chance to learn about the value of this important dravya (substance).
You will learn more synonyms of laksha, its value for the skin, and its use in several other disorders not mentioned here. And you will hear one famous story of laksha’s use in the Mahabharata, as told by Vaidya Mishra.
How to Use the Course Materials
When you download the zip file for this section of the course (and unzip it using a free unzip program like 7-Zip), you will find a PDF file (which can be opened with the free Adobe Reader) and an MP3 file (which can be played on any MP3 player such as iPod or iTunes). You can listen to the audio alone, but for the first time through (at least), we recommend that you follow along with the PDF document to make sure that all of the concepts are clear. The PDF’s sometimes contain visual diagrams in addition to the Sanskrit verses. If you learn visually, reading along with the PDF will be helpful.
We also recommend reviewing the PDF, and re-listening to the MP3 file many times, so that you begin to recognize the knowledge and own it. These MP3 files are especially good to put on your MP3 player so you can listen in the car. Just as it is easy to remember songs you hear over and over on the radio, you will find that the knowledge in these lectures will stick to you with no effort when you hear them over and over. You will also find that your understanding of the material deepens each time you hear them.
Laksha In Our Herbal Products
Vaidya Mishra often calls laksha by the name lakshaya. The products below go by the name lakshaya.
- Contains only the subtlest fraction (sukshma bhag) of laksha so that it can penetrate easily to the deep tissues of the body to reach the majja dhatu (bone marrow) and nerve tissue.
- Travels quickly, without delay of digestion and begins acting right away.
- Should be added to 1 to 2 liters of cool, neutral pH spring water and sipped throughout the day.
- Is used topically.
- Can easy be targeted to one specific area of the body.
- Gives sustained delivery of laksha over several hours.
- Can be used topically or as an infusion. Please consult with your Shaka Vansya Ayurveda practitioner before using.
- If taken internally, laksha must be processed by the digestive system and metabolic system before reaching the targeted destination. This takes more time than the use of Lakshaya Herbal Memory Nectar and Lakshaya Transdermal Cream.
- Delivers greater volume of the herb and its binding property to the affected area after digestion.
The Following Products Contain Tulsi as an Ingredient
Disclaimer
This product and statements have not been evaluated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and are not intended to be used to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. All of the information above is intended for educational purposes only and may not be used to replace or complement medical advice.
