Jiraka, Jira-ka, Jīraka: 23 definitions
Introduction:
Jiraka means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, biology. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Jīraka (जीरक).—One of the eight Saubhāgyams.*
- * Matsya-purāṇa 60. 27.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Dietetics and Culinary Art (such as household cooking)
Jīraka (जीरक) refers to “cumin seed” and is mentioned in a list of remedies for indigestion in the 17th century Bhojanakutūhala (dravyaguṇāguṇa-kathana), and is commonly found in literature dealing with the topics of dietetics and culinary art, also known as Pākaśāstra or Pākakalā.—A complete section in Bhojanakutūhala is devoted for the description of agents that cause indigestion [viz., bakula fruit (Mimusops elengi) or bakulaphala]. These agents consumed on a large scale can cause indigestion for certain people. The remedies [viz., jīraka (cumin seed)] for these types of indigestions are also explained therewith.
Cikitsa (natural therapy and treatment for medical conditions)
Jīraka (जीरक) refers to the medicinal plant Cuminum cyminum L., and is used in the treatment of atisāra (diarrhoea), according to the 7th century Mādhavacikitsā chapter 2. Atisāra refers to a condition where there are three or more loose or liquid stools (bowel movements) per day or more stool than normal. The second chapter of the Mādhavacikitsā explains several preparations [including Jīraka] through 60 Sanskrit verses about treating this problem.
The plant Cuminum cyminum L. (Jīraka) is also known as Śvetajīraka according to both the Ayurvedic Formulary and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.
Kalpa (Formulas, Drug prescriptions and other Medicinal preparations)
Jīraka (जीरक) refers to the medicinal plant known as “Cuminum cyminum Linn.” and is dealt with in the 15th-century Yogasārasaṅgraha (Yogasara-saṅgraha) by Vāsudeva: an unpublished Keralite work representing an Ayurvedic compendium of medicinal recipes. The Yogasārasaṃgraha [mentioning jīraka] deals with entire recipes in the route of administration, and thus deals with the knowledge of pharmacy (bhaiṣajya-kalpanā) which is a branch of pharmacology (dravyaguṇa).
Veterinary Medicine (The study and treatment of Animals)
Jīraka (जीरक) refers to “cumin seed” (used in preparations given to domesticated elephants), according to the 15th century Mātaṅgalīlā composed by Nīlakaṇṭha in 263 Sanskrit verses, dealing with elephantology in ancient India, focusing on the science of management and treatment of elephants.—[Cf. chapter 11, “On the keeping of elephants and their daily and seasonal regimen”]: “12. He shall always cause wheat and barley to be given, boiled and mixed with jaggery and butter, in the same way, accompanied by rice grits alone, or else mixed with cow’s urine, increasing that also by a kuḍuha each day in turn as above until it reaches an āḍhaka, flavored with cardamoms, the three spices (black and long pepper and dry ginger), asafoetida, cumin seed (jīraka), yuga (an uncertain drug or medicinal plant), cumin seed (of another variety), and the fruit of Embelia ribes (a vermifuge)”.
Nighantu (Synonyms and Characteristics of Drugs and technical terms)
Jīraka (जीरक) is the Sanskrit name for a medicinal plant identified with Cuminum cyminum Linn.; from the Apiaceae or “celery” family of flowering plants, according to verse 6.56-57 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu.—Jīraka is commonly known in Hindi as Zīra (Jīrā) or Safeda-zīra (Sapheda Jīrā); in Bengali as Jīre; in Marathi as Jīren; in Gujarati as Jīrun; in Tamil as Cirakam and in Telugu as Jilakarī.—Also see the varieties: Śvetajīraka, Kṛṣṇajīraka, Pṛthvīkā and Bṛhatpālī
Jīraka is mentioned as having 8 synonyms: Jaraṇa, Jīra, Jīrṇa, Dīpya, Dīpaka, Ajājikī, Vanhiśaṃkha and Māgadha.
Properties and characteristics: “Jīraka is pungent, hot and a good promotor of digestive process. It alleviates vātaja ailements, false abdominal lumps due to collection of wind (gulma) and abdominal distension due to wind (tympanitis). It controls diarrhea, dysentry, sprue and is an anthelmintic. [...] The metabolic end product (vipāka) of all the Jīrakas is pungent (kaṭu). These all improve digestive process and are anthelmintics. These cure wounds, chronic fevers the abdominal winds (tymparitis and gulma etc.) and are appetisers”.
Unclassified Ayurveda definitions
Jīraka (जीरक) refers to either 1) Cuminum cyminum Linn., 2) Carum carvi Linn., or 3) Nigella sativa Linn., and is the name of a medicinal plant mentioned in the 7th-century Nirantarapadavyākhyā by Jejjaṭa (or Jajjaṭa): one of the earliest extant and, therefore, one of the most important commentaries on the Carakasaṃhitā.—(Cf. Glossary of Vegetable Drugs in Bṛhattrayī 169, Singh and Chunekar, 1999)
Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.
Sports, Arts and Entertainment (wordly enjoyments)
Jīraka (जीरक) refers to “cumin seeds” (used in the treatment of Hawks), according to the Śyainika-śāstra: a Sanskrit treatise dealing with the divisions and benefits of Hunting and Hawking, written by Rājā Rudradeva (or Candradeva) in possibly the 13th century.—Accordingly, [while discussing the treatment of hawks]: “The cure of all sorts of Śākhā is said to be mimāyī. For big birds with black eyes, three ratis is the dose, for slender birds half the quantity; for big birds with red eyes, the dose is two ratis, and for slender ones only one rati. The patients are to be given meat mixed with goat’s milk and the juice of hemp. Their eyes are to be anointed every day with cumin seeds (jīraka) chewed with the teeth. [...]”.
This section covers the skills and profiencies of the Kalas (“performing arts”) and Shastras (“sciences”) involving ancient Indian traditions of sports, games, arts, entertainment, love-making and other means of wordly enjoyments. Traditionally these topics were dealt with in Sanskrit treatises explaing the philosophy and the justification of enjoying the pleasures of the senses.
In Buddhism
General definition (in Buddhism)
Jīraka (जीरक)—One of the field-crops mentioned in the Jātakas.
Biology (plants and animals)
1) Jiraka in India is the name of a plant defined with Carum bulbocastanum in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Bunium persicum (Boiss.) Fedts..
2) Jiraka is also identified with Carum carvi It has the synonym Carum gracile Boiss. (etc.).
3) Jiraka is also identified with Oryza sativa It has the synonym Oryza sativa var. savannae Körn. (etc.).
Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):
· Landwirthschaftliche Flora (1866)
· The Flora of British India (1896)
· Species Plantarum (1753)
· Flora Orientalis (1888)
· Novorum Actorum Academiae Caesareae LeopoldinaeCarolinae Naturae Curiosorum (1824)
· Regnum Vegetabile, or ‘a Series of Handbooks for the Use of Plant Taxonomists and Plant Geographers’ (1993)
If you are looking for specific details regarding Jiraka, for example health benefits, pregnancy safety, extract dosage, side effects, diet and recipes, chemical composition, have a look at these references.
This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.
Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
jīraka : (nt.) cummin seed.
1) Jīraka, 2 cummin-seed Miln. 63; J. I, 244; II, 363; VvA. 186. (Page 284)
2) Jīraka, 1 (Vedic jīra, lively, alert, cp. jīvati & Gr. dierόs, Lat. viridis) digestion, in ajīrakena by want or lack of digestion J. II, 181. See ajīraka. (Page 284)
1) jīraka (ဇီရက) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[jara+ṇvu]
[ဇရ+ဏွု]
2) jīraka (ဇီရက) [(pu) (ပု)]—
[jīra+ka]
[ဇီရ+က]
[Pali to Burmese]
1) jīraka—
(Burmese text): ဇီရာ။
(Auto-Translation): Zira.
2) jīraka—
(Burmese text): (၁) ကြေကျက်ခြင်း၊ အစာကြေခြင်း။ (တိ) (၂) ဆွေးမြေ့-ယိုယွင်း-အိုမင်း-သော၊ သူ။ အဇီရက-(၁)-ကြည့်။ အဇီရက-(၂)-တို့ကြည့်။
(Auto-Translation): (1) Disgust, nausea. (2) Confused - disorganized - foolish - person. Azirak - (1) to look. Azirak - (2) to look.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Sanskrit dictionary
Jīraka (जीरक).—Cumin-seed; अजमोदां च बाह्लीकं जीरकं लोध्रकं तथा (ajamodāṃ ca bāhlīkaṃ jīrakaṃ lodhrakaṃ tathā) Śiva. B.3.18.
Derivable forms: jīrakaḥ (जीरकः).
See also (synonyms): jīraṇa.
Jīraka (जीरक).—m.
(-kaḥ) Cumin seed. E. kan added to the preceding.
Jīraka (जीरक).—[jīra + ka], m. Cumin seed, [Suśruta] 1, 218, 1.
1) Jīraka (जीरक):—[from jīra] m. n. = raṇa, [Suśruta i; iv, 5, 35]
2) [v.s. ...] [vi; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā li, 15]
Jīraka (जीरक):—(kaḥ) 1. m. Idem.
Jīraka (जीरक):—[UJJVAL.] zu [Uṇādisūtra 2, 23.]
1) m. Kümmel [Amarakoṣa 2, 9, 36.] [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 2, 9, 9. 3, 3, 124.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 422.] śukla, kṛṣṇa, kṣudra [Ratnamālā 100. fgg.] dvaya [Suśruta 1, 218, 1. 139, 4. 2, 44, 6. 453, 6. 483, 11] (neutr.; so auch [UJJVAL.][?). 526, 7. Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 50, 15.] Vgl. kṛṣṇa . —
2) f. jīrikā = jīrṇapattrikā [Rājanirghaṇṭa im Śabdakalpadruma]
Jīraka (जीरक):——
1) m. n. Kümmel. —
2) *f. rikā eine best. Grasart [Rājan 8,134.]
Jīraka (जीरक) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Jīraya.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Kannada-English dictionary
Jīraka (ಜೀರಕ):—[noun] = ಜೀರಿಗೆ [jirige].
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Jira, Ka, Jara.
Starts with: Jiraka dvyam, Jirakadi, Jirakadicurna, Jirakadimodaka, Jirakadisabbasambhara, Jirakadisambhara, Jirakadisambharayutta, Jirakadisamyutta, Jirakadivasagandha, Jirakadiyoga, Jirakadiyogakirtana, Jirakadiyogakirtana, Jirakadya, Jirakadya, Jirakadyacurna, Jirakadyaghrita, Jirakam, Jirakamaricamattaka, Jirakataila.
Full-text (+96): Krishnajiraka, Kanajiraka, Sthulajiraka, Ajiraka, Shvetajiraka, Gaurajiraka, Brihagjiraka, Kashmirajiraka, Dirghajiraka, Jirakam, Jirakamaricamattaka, Jirakadivasagandha, Jirana, Jaraka, Jiranka, Kadujiraka, Gaurajaji, Sitajiraka, Jirakataila, Asita jiraka.
Relevant text
Search found 34 books and stories containing Jiraka, Jara-nvu, Jara-ṇvu, Jira-ka, Jīra-ka, Jīraka; (plurals include: Jirakas, nvus, ṇvus, kas, Jīrakas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Amarakoshodghatana of Kshirasvamin (study) (by A. Yamuna Devi)
Daily Life (1): Food and Drinks < [Chapter 3 - Social Aspects]
Journal of Ayurveda and Integrated Medical Sciences
Ayurvedic view of Immunization in 21st Century - A Review Article < [Vol. 3 No. 04 (2018)]
Clinical indications of Hingwashtaka Choorna an experiential and scientific view < [Vol. 7 No. 6 (2022)]
Apakwa / Ashuddha Bhasma Sevanjanya Vyadhi and its Management < [Vol. 10 No. 2 (2025)]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 737 < [Hindi-Malayalam-English Volume 1]
Page 320 < [Kannada-English-Malayalam (1 volume)]
Page 394 < [Malayalam-English-Kannada (1 volume)]
Manasollasa (study of Arts and Sciences) (by Mahadev Narayanrao Joshi)
8. Ancient Indian Cooking and Cookery (according to Manasollasa) < [Chapter 5 - Sciences in Someshvara’s Manasollasa]
18. Marriage in Manasollasa < [Chapter 3 - Social and Political conditions reflected in Somesvara’s Manasollasa]
7. Description and treatment of Fever (Jvara) < [Chapter 5 - Sciences in Someshvara’s Manasollasa]
Some Sri Lankan common pot-herbs < [Volume 23 (issue 2), Oct-Dec 2003]
An approach to avascular necrosis by Saghṛta kṣīrabasti < [Volume 33 (issue 1), Jul-Sep 2013]
Microscopic identification of curna, kvatha, lehya, and rasayana ingredients. < [Volume 1 (issue 1), Jul-Sep 1981]
Puranic encyclopaedia (by Vettam Mani)
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