HEMIONITIS CORDATA ROXB.EX HOOK &GREV- A FORGOTTEN SOURCE OF VEDOKTA PRISHNIPARNI

Medicines in Vedic period are generally procured from the botanical source. Their remarkable qualities are adored by hymns. Different names coined to the plants are used as the tools to identify the botanical source.Over a course of time, the botanical source of some drugs,are replaced intentionally or accidently or logically based on the unavailability of the true source or advancement in the understanding the plant characters or a gap in knowledge transmission . This perhaps, has led to use of one botanical source in place of other. This replacement sometimes, not limited to a single source and the drug beacame controversial. Eventually different botanical source are being used for a same drug at different times in different parts in India.This holds true for a plant called Pṛśniparṇī -a most valued herb of Atharvaveda, revered for its various medicinal properties. Presently, various botanical sources are used as Pṛśniparṇī in India. Keen search is done through all the literature related to the plant Pṛśniparṇī in Ayurveda especially in Atharvaveda, Samhita, lexicons, review articles, dictionaries, the text related to the botanical source and world flora online(WFO)to find out the reasons for the use of different source and intricacy in understanding the synonyms of Pṛśniparṇī. The search has come up with various hidden facts about plant and revealed the different botanical source of Pṛśniparṇī used for different reasons. This review will help the researchers to look up to another important botanical source of Pṛśniparṇī that remained ignored for a long time.