Our guide at Chittorgarh fort while explaining the heroics of the Rajput solders mentioned that it was a practice then for the solders to consume “Bhaang.” He went on to tell that they consumed the herb before the combat so that it smoothens the nerves to reduce the impact of pain. He asked me if I had any knowledge of it. I said I knew about it but had never seen it. In a flash he fished out a small packet from his pocket and showed me a lump of green substance which looked like a finely ground leaf mixture. “Bhaang toh Bolenath ki Prasad hote hai, hum use Mahadev Ka Prasad mankar lethe hai,” (Bhaang is the offering to Shiva, we consume it as His oblation) he said.
Our next destination after Chittorgarh Fort was Nathadwara to have darshan of Shri Sreenath ji. As we came out of the temple after the darshan I saw a “Thandai” shop. It served cold drink prepared by grinding almonds fennel seeds, watermelon seeds, rose petals, peepers, cardamom, saffron and sugar and adding with milk. When I got there I came to know that the “Thandai” has another ingredient to go with it, it is “Bhaang” I ordered a glass of Bhaang Thandai, the thandaiwala asked me if I tried it before. Looking at my despondent reply he said he will add only a little quantity of it to the drink. That was my first experience of having Bhaang.
Now, what is this Bhaang? This was the question that creeped into my mind. For the answers I hit Google, here is the list of what I came to know about “Bhaang”
Atharvaveda mentions five sacred plants on earth among which Bhang finds place. The other four being Ashwatta (Ficus Religiosa), Darbha (Desmostachya Bipinnata), Soma (Amanita Muscaria), Bhang (Cannabis Sativa) and Rice (Oryza Sativa). This Bhang is also referred to as a “source of happiness” or “joy-giver”. Ayurveda recognizes the medicinal value of this plant and is called the “Penicillin of Ayurvedic medicine”
The only blunder to think that Bhang is a bad substance is that it is mistaken to be “Ganja”. We all know that plants are categorised as male and female depending on its ability to sprout flower buds. Ganja is the one which sprout flower bud and produce resin very high in THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) this THC is responsible for Psychological effects. Bhang prepared from the leaves of a male plant which do not have flower buds comprising mostly of leaves where the THC level is low compared to Ganja.
As this Bhang is associated with Shiva and Parvathi, it is said that Parvathi alone could control the perturbation of Shiva and hence she created this herb to control him in her absence. In North India those leaves are treated like Bhilva and offered to Shiva Linga.
As per our Ayurveda, Bhang is one of the most effective and natural medicine ever available to mankind that can cure diseases, wounds and neurological or nervous disorder. Before Auragazeb banned the cultivation of this herb, we Indians used it in treatment of nausea, chronic vomit, fever and sunstroke.
More research needs to be done on this herb......will we!
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