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INADVERTENT IGNORANCE… … Life is a voyage of many advertent and inadvertent discoveries… or may be a discovery of many advertent and inadvertent voyages…. this perception in the life’s eternal journey of the Mankind differs from individual to individual. But what are yet to be discovered is what is life, what is voyage and what is discovery. How to know what is life, without having respect and care for all the life forms around us, in this Universe? We are living in an era of “inadvertent ignorance” phenomenon. We get educated, learning all, including how to respect all life forms and even nonliving things… but all of them remain mostly stagnant in our subconsciousness. We never bother to contemplate that we need to practice what we have learned. Somehow we live, with an everpresent fear-psychosis, that other life forms are there to harm us. When we see a reptile, mammal or an insect moving a hundred feet away, we panic, we stone it and finally kill it and this activity goes on…. an ant tries to carry away a morsel of food from our table for it’s survival and we crush it, without any feeling, never wondering, what soul this tiny body might have housed. The branches of the trees in our neighbor’s garden, growing towards our garden, is always perceived as a nuisance. Flowering creepers and shrubs covering the compound walls of a long existing garden at the side of our path-ways, are a constant sign of danger to us. We go to any extreme to finish it with very unruly manners,and in the process humiliate the individual who has spent his lifetime growing this natural cover. To stone the stray and lonely animal is a universal practice. Our educational system has no syllabus to practically and physically practice respect, love and care for all life forms. We, the great humankind believe that we have the right to self-defense only. We could kill or damage to save ourselves. Even if we anticipate danger to us, can we attack any other life forms? Should they do the same to us? Page - 80 It is dis-heartening to see people who consider themselves educated and elite, to be so ignorant…. yes…. and suffering from the phenomenon of INADVERTENT IGNORANCE about these simple principles of life. We, humankind, no doubt the most superior last species have to throw this fear psychosis out from inside of ours, that other life-forms are created to harm us. We throw the tiny weeds away from our gardens and fields, and never bother to study their beauty and utility in life… do we have the courage to come out of this “INADVERTENT IGNORANCE” and give everybody and everything a chance to grow equally along with us? Page - 81 Of the family Convolvulaceae This acrid-bitter-thermogenic weed grows throughout India in the sandy soil conditions, popularly known as:
A small straight shrub upto 40cm height with slender hairy stem; leaves simple, numerous, sub-sessile, ovate, acute, densely silky hairy; flowers white, in small clusters in the axils of the upper leaves, corolla lobes reflexed, hairy on the back near the tip; fruits ovoid capsules, pointed and pubescent at the apex; seeds usually solitary. The whole of this plant/weed is useful in complications of KAPHA & PITTA, other cold related complications, consumption, anorexia, indigestion, worms, sugar, cure and beautification in skin diseases and most of all an effective tonic for general debility. Page - 82
Cressa cretica Convolvulaceae Page - 83
Cuscuta reflexa Convolvulaceae Page - 84 Of the family Convolvulaceae, This here is a round the year throughout India growing bittersweet- astringent weed, popularly known as:
A thin parasitic yellowish intertwining creeper weed having many branches, grows on shrub-tree branches and on small plants and even on grasses and weeds covering the top portion without having any contact with the soil; flowers very small sometimes solitary or in clusters of 2-4; fruits capsules, 6-8 mm diameter, depressed, globose with 2-4 black seeds. The filiform yellowish branches oscillate all the time and break very easily and the broken branches, when they happen to come in contact with any living plant they will soon establish themselves on the plant. This Cuscuta reflexa really reflexes fast to cover the host plant completely, and as it has no roots in the soil it is described by village folk as NIRMULI, means without root.The whole of this plant is very useful in pitta complications, muscle pain, all types of cold related problems, painful urination, headache, jaundice, fever, paralysis etc.*Some treaties like “Indian Medicinal plants” regard Cassytha filiformis as Akashavalli. The peculiar spreading habit through aerial broken bits of the swinging stems and branches are quite unique to Cuscuta reflexa and the name Akashavalli seems to be quite appropriate for this plant. page - 85 |
