A study on different usages of Vartikawa vati

Abstract

Among the books written on Sri Lankan traditional medicine, Vatika prakaranaya or Behet guli kalka pota is considered to be of utmost importance. In 1879 this book was written by Dr. Eleperuma Achchige don Sadiris de Alwis Aylapperuma and up to now it has been edited several times. Traditional guli and kalkas are included in this book with their ingredients, manufacturing process and various diseases for which they can be used with different anupanas. But at the present, mostly used traditional guli and kalka are prescribed only for limited ailments. If one drug can be used for many diseases by changing anupana it is considered as a very valuable drug. Thus this study was based on the different usage of Vartikawa vati. Vatika prakaranaya hewat behet guli kalka pota - Experimental study (1st part) written by Ponnamperuma A. (2004) was used in this study. Vartikawa vati is widely used for diseases like indigestion, vomiting and diarrhoea. 15 anupana kavi are included which mentioned about 17 diseases such as sanni, jvara, udavarta…etc. 6 types of sanni are included. But majority of diseases mentioned in anupana kavi are related to gastro intestinal tract. 44 different types of anupana are mentioned for 17 diseases; among them 39 for internal usage and 5 for external usage. The specialty of Vartikawa vati is that it can be used as an external application for conditions like headache and snakebite. Several anupanas are mentioned for each disease. According to this study Vartikawa vati can be used for many diseases by changing the anupana internally and externally. Clinical practice of these different usages is very important in the management of these diseases.