Introduction

Kshir varga is the collection of the names of animals whose milk is medically important. The mention of kshir varga is vastly found in Ashtanga Sangraha, Ashtanga Hridaya, Charak Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Bhavprakash Nighantu etc. this in its own self is explanation of importance of milk in the treatment procedures.

Mainly, the milk of 8 different animals is found of medical importance in various aspects. These are as follows-

1) Cow’s Milk- Cow’s milk is said to be the best of all the different animal’s milk.

2) Buffalo’s Milk

3) Woman’s Milk

4) Goat’s Milk

5) Sheep’s Milk- Sheep’s milk is said to be of the lowest quality milk of all the animal’s milk.

6) Elephant’s Milk

7)Horse’s Milk

8)Camel’s Milk

All the above-mentioned animal’s milk are used differently for the purpose of treatment of various diseases. Some common treatment procedures/preparation of medicines in which milk is used are as follows-

1.Bhavna- milk is used as bhavna in preparation of various churna etc formulations that needs to be triturated till fine there according to need milk is used as the bhavna dravya.

2. Anupaan- milk is used as an anupaan (adjuvant) according to need of the patient and disease. It is one of the best adjuvants in pitta prakopaj vikara.

3. Medicine- Milk in its own self is a whole medicine due to its many properties such as sheeta, jeevaniya, rejuvenating etc. because of all these properties milk can act as a medicine in it’s own

4. Aahar – Milk in its own is a complete aahar.

These are some common uses of milk, while the use of this dravya is way vast .

1. General Qualities of Milk and it’s Implications:

The reference of Kshir Varga as mentioned earlier has been seen in mainly all the samhita’s but all Acharyas have something special to say about the same milk.

First of all, assessing the common pancha nidan of milk-

Rasa-Madhur

Guna-Mrudu, Ojavardhak, Snigdha, Bahal, Shlakshna, Picchil

Virya-Sheeta

Vipaka-Madhur

Here, after knowing all the qualities of Milk we can assess its actions on body as follows-

1. Jeevaniya- milk due to its madhur rasa, ojavardhak guna, sheeta virya, snigdha guna, madhur vipaka , Milk is very well equipped for the actions like dhatuvardhan, dhatu poshan, dosha samya etc. and because it is efficient to perform these fuctions it has a jeevaniya effect on body.
2. Medhya- Milk has madhur rasa, sheeta virya, kapha-vardhak, dhatu-vardhak (thus inc. majjadhatu) and all these factors leading to satva-vardhan and thus leads to medha vardhan.
3. Balya- Madhur rasa, Sheeta virya, Mdhur vipaka all these guna lead to bala vardhan.
4. Sandhaniya- Madhur rasa and Madhur vipaka with Snigdha and Picchil guna thus helping in Sandhaniya karma.
5. Dahaprashaman- Sheeta Virya and Kaphavardhak plays an important role in Dahaprashaman karma.

B Specific Qualities of Milk from Different Animals.

1. Cow’s Milk-

Rasa-Madhur; Virya- Sheeta; Guna-Mrudu,Snigdha, bahala, shlakshna, picchil, guru, manda, prasanna. All these 10 guna are very similar to the guna of Oja and thus Cow’s Milk is said to be the best in Ojavardhan karma. It is Jeevaniya, Rasayan, Medhya and is very much useful in pittaj and raktaj vikar.

According to Aacharya Vagbhatta- use of cow’s milk is useful in controlling of vertigo, tiresomeness, inauspiciousness, stupor, dyspnoea, cough, excess hunger, chronic fever, hematuria and hemorrhagic diseases.

It is said to be the best in all the different milk varities from different animals.

1. Buffalo’s Milk-

Rasa-Madhur; Guna- More Guru and Sheeta than cow’s milk, more Snigdha. Thus, in CH. Su. 25/40 in Agraya gana(the group of Dravya where a single Dravya is indicated as best for a specific karma) Mahishi milk is indicated best for nidrajanana. Due to guru Guna it is also good for Ati-tivra agni diminishing. It is difficult for digesting.

1. Camel’s Milk-

Camel’s milk is Ruksha, having Ushna virya, in Rasa it is Madhur and Lavan in taste and it is laghu in guna. Acc. to Acharya vagbhata , Camel’s milk has les fat thus as a result it might dry up the internal secretions, being heat generating, it is appetizing, easy to digest. Camel’s milk is ideal for vataj and kaphaj diseases. Used for the treatment of Abdominal distention’s, Worm Infestations, Oedema, Visceral diseases and Haemorrhoids.

1. Woman’s Milk-

A Woman’s milk is very nourishing for a new born child as it contains many nutrients needed by the infant in their early growth years. Along with that, woman’s milk is also jeevaniya in nature, bruhaniya, and since this milk is given to us from a very early age it is satmya to our body. Breast milk is extremely useful for the treatment of vata, pitta and rakta disorders. It is used in tarpana, nasya etc therauptic procedures for treatment purposes.

1. Sheep’s Milk

Sheep’s milk is bit of Lavana with Madhur rasa, is Snigdha in nature with Ushna virya, being of such qualitiesit leads to kapha and pitta vruddhi. Sheep’s milk is useful in Kidney stones, Vata roga, Vatarakta also as side effects it also causes dyspnea and hiccups.

1. Elephant’s milk

It’s milk provides bala and it is guru for digestion, also provides stability to body by being Madhur and Kashay rasa with Snigdha and Guru guna that leads to Kapha-vruddhi it is also Chakshushya in nature

1. Milk from All One Hoofed Animals

In rasa all these milks are amla and lavana in taste thus containing ruksha and laghu and is of ushna virya thus leading to Vata dosha nashan and this acts best in shakagat vata

1. Goat’s milk

Goat’s milk is Madhur and Kashay in taste, with laghu guna and sheeta virya, all these qualities qualifies goat’s milk to be vaata and pitta shamak and it is extremely useful in many medical conditions such as loose motions, Raktapitta, Atisaar, Kshaya, Kasa and Visha, it is also very useful in shoshrog. Acc. To Acharya Vagbhat, Goat’s milk is katu; tikta in nature and the main reason being that goat is an animal that consumes less amount of water, exercises more, eats basically various types og grasses etc. thus having such a nature.

Various other products obtained from milk.

1. Dadhi- Dadhi it refers to Curd. It leads to agnideepan, is shukravardhak, leads to snigdhta in body, it is bala-vardhak. It is amla Vipaki, Ushna Viyatmak, Vaatnashak and if consumed according to rules then it is very beneficial for health. Curd is indicated in following conditions like  Pinas, Jwara, Aruchi, Mutrakriccha and Krushta while in Sharad, Grishma and Vasant seasons Dadhi is not to be consumed and in Kaphaj disorders also it is not indicated.
2. Takra- Takra is used in various condition as this of, when Snehapana is in conditions of Shotha, Arsha, Grahani, Mutra-Kriccha, Udarrog and Aruchi and any types of complications are observed or any such condition is observed than there takra is best to use.
3. Navneet- Navneet is very useful in treatment of loose motions, Agnideepan, it is hrudya in nature. It is useful in Grahani and Arsha. Also useful in Arsharog and aruchi.
4. Ghirta- Ghrita or ghee is very beneficial for increasing memory power, Agnideepan, Veeryavardhak, Oja-Vardhak and Kapha Vardhak, Meda Vardhak. It is used for vataj-pittaj vyadhi, vishajanya rog, yakshma, it is also the best Snehana dravya of the four sneha. It also provides nourishment to body tissues and this Ghrita on doing various Sanskar with medicinal drugs its medicinal values can be increased by 1000 folds. Such a Ghrita when Sanskarit with desired drugs can be used for the treatment of absolutely any disease.
5. Piyusha- clotted milk obtained from newly wedded cow or buffalo is called as Piyush.
6. Kilatak- milk that is spoiled when such a milk is heat-treated till it gets solidified and circular shaped is called as kilatak.
7. Kilati- when milk is heat treated without water till it gets solidified is called as kilati(mawa).
8. Kshirshak- when milk gets spoiled without heating then it is known as kshirshaka.
9. Takrapinda- when milk is clotted with the help of Dadhi or  Takra and the clotted milk is put in a cloth tied tightly and allowed to stay still until the water content is lost from it , the final product collected is called as Takrapinda. 

All these Byproducts of milk are useful in one way or other like Mastu which is not exactly a product but a by product in the process of formation of Dadhi and still it is extremely useful source of whey protein to all. In this way each by product of milk in its own has many uses. And cow milk being the best of all; in classical texts there is a synonym of cow as ‘Kamdhenu’ which basically means the one who fulfills all the wishes’ and as cow’s milk is beneficial for health acts as a Rasayan thus giving us a healthy body it also helps us in achieving our life goals thus indirectly giving us or fulfilling our desires and thus the name ‘Kamdhenu’.

Discussion

Milk in Ayurved is considered a liquid that acts just like Amruta in our body by providing it all the needed nutrients and acting Rasayan in one’s body . if we try to understand modern approach towards milk, then many researches have shown that consumption of something full of fat and carbohydrate as milk is the one that reduces the child obesity, possible explanation for this being that when children’s body receives needed amount of nutrients , vitamins and minerals then the food intake or junk intake is reduced by a significant level and thus reducing the fat deposition in the body of children preventing child obesity. In this very way many other conditions can be controlled by using milk intellectually. Thus, it is now easy to understand the amount of importance of milk in Ayurved and modern sciences.

Conclusion

After careful assessment of milk, its qualities and it’s uses it is very easy to understand the importance of milk in Ayurved and how and why it is used in so many treatment procedures, milk is basically used in so many procedures like Ksheerpaka is made out of milk using various Aushadh Dravya, one of the most common Ksheerpaka being the arjuna ksheerpaka , which is so commonly used in treatment of heart conditions and mere presence of milk makes it much more suitable and beneficial for heart conditions than use of only arjuna . this is used in Vataj and Pittaj conditions. In the very same way according to disorders different animals’ milk are used for treatment purposes.