Shatavari, Śatāvarī: 15 definitions
Introduction
Introduction:
Shatavari means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Marathi. 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.
The Sanskrit term Śatāvarī can be transliterated into English as Satavari or Shatavari, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Rasashastra (chemistry and alchemy)
Source: Wisdom Library: Rasa-śāstraŚatāvarī (शतावरी):—One of the sixty-seven Mahauṣadhi, as per Rasaśāstra texts (rasa literature). These drugs are useful for processing mercury (rasa), such as the alchemical processes known as sūta-bandhana and māraṇa.

Rasashastra (रसशास्त्र, rasaśāstra) is an important branch of Ayurveda, specialising in chemical interactions with herbs, metals and minerals. Some texts combine yogic and tantric practices with various alchemical operations. The ultimate goal of Rasashastra is not only to preserve and prolong life, but also to bestow wealth upon humankind.
Ayurveda (science of life)
Source: Wisdom Library: Āyurveda and botanyŚatāvarī (शतावरी) is a Sanskrit word referring Albizia lebbeck (lebbeck), a plant species in the Fabaceae family. Certain plant parts of Śatāvarī are eaten as a vegetable (śāka), according to Caraka in his Carakasaṃhitā sūtrasthāna (chapter 27), a classical Ayurvedic work. The plant is therefore part of the Śākavarga group of medicinal plants, referring to the “group of vegetables/pot-herbs”. Caraka defined such groups (vargas) based on the dietic value of the plant. Asparagus racemosus (wild asparagus) Asparagaceae. It grows throughout Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and the Himalayas. It is also known as Ābhīru.
Source: WorldCat: Rāj nighaṇṭuŚatāvarī (शतावरी) is the Sanskrit name for a medicinal plant identified with Asparagus racemosus Willed. (or “buttermilk root”) from the Asparagaceae family of flowering plants, according to verse 4.116-119 of the 13th-century Raj Nighantu or Rājanighaṇṭu. Śatāvarī is commonly known in Hindi as Śatāvarī or Śatāvar; in Bengali as Śatmali; in Marathi and Gujurati as Śatāvarī; in Tamil as Śimāi-sadāvarī; in Telugu as Calla-gadda; and in Kannada as Kiriya Asadi.
Śatāvarī is mentioned as having thirty-two synonyms: Śatapadī, Pīvarī, Indīvarī, Varī, Bhīrū, Dīpyā, Dvīpiśatru, Dvīpikā, Amarakaṇṭikā, Sūkṣmapatrā, Supatrā, Bahumūlā, Śatāhvayā, Nārāyaṇī, Svādurasā, Śatāhvā, Laghuparṇikā, Ātmaśalyā, Jaṭāmūlā, Śatavīryā, Mahaudanī, Madhurā, Śatamūlā, Keśikā, Śatanetrikā, Viśvākhyā, Vaiṣṇavī, Kārṣṇī, Vāsudevī, Varīyasī, Durmarā and Tejavallī.
Properties and characteristics: “Both [Mahāśatāvarī and] Śatāvarī are cold, sweet, aphrodisiac and quell pitta, kapha and vāta-doṣas. These are bitter and considered very good rasāyana (rejuvenator). Both the Śatāvarīs are aphrodisiac, cold, sweet and control pitta-doṣa. The bigger variety controls kapha and vāta-doṣa, is better and excellent rejuvenating agent. Its new shoots quell vitiated kapha and pitta and are bitter”.
Source: Advances in Zoology and Botany: Ethnomedicinal List of Plants Treating Fever in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, IndiaŚatāvarī in the Marathi language refers to the medicinal climber “Asparagus racemosus Willd”, and is used for ethnomedicine treatment of Fever in Ahmednagar district, India. The parts used are: “Tuberous roots”. Instructions for using the climber named Śatāvarī: 5 g dried root powder in a glass of milk—twice a day.
Source: Ancient Science of Life: Evaluation of Cyavanaprāśa on Health and Immunity related Parameters in Healthy ChildrenŚatāvarī (शतावरी) refers to the medicinal plant known as Asparagus racemosus, Rt., and is used in the Ayurvedic formulation known as Cyavanaprāśa: an Ayurvedic health product that helps in boosting immunity.—Cyavanaprāśa has been found to be effective as an immunity booster, vitalizer and a preventer of day to day infections and allergies such as common cold and cough etc. It is a classical Ayurvedic formulation comprising ingredients such as Śatāvarī. [...] Cyavanaprāśa can be consumed in all seasons as it contains weather friendly ingredients which nullify unpleasant effects due to extreme environmental and climatic conditions.
Source: Ancient Science of Life: Botanical identification of plants described in Mādhava CikitsāŚatāvarī (शतावरी) refers to the medicinal plant Asparagus racemosus Wild., 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 Śatāvarī] through 60 Sanskrit verses about treating this problem.
Source: Shodhganga: Edition translation and critical study of yogasarasamgrahaŚatāvarī (शतावरी) refers to the medicinal plant known as “Asparagus racemosus (Willd.)” 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 śatāvarī] 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).

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.
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Source: JatLand: List of Mahabharata people and placesŚatāvarī (शतावरी) refers to the name of a River mentioned in the Mahābhārata (cf. VI.10.19). Note: The Mahābhārata (mentioning Śatāvarī) is a Sanskrit epic poem consisting of 100,000 ślokas (metrical verses) and is over 2000 years old.

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.
In Jainism
General definition (in Jainism)
Source: archive.org: Jaina YogaŚatāvarī (शतावरी) in Sanskrit or Sattāvarī in Prakrit refers to the plant Asparagus racemosus Willd. This plant is classifed as ananta-kāya, or “plants that are inhabited by an infinite number of living organisms”, and therefore are abhakṣya (forbidden to consume) according to both Nemicandra (in his Pravacana-sāroddhāra v245-246) and Hemacandra (in his Yogaśāstra 3.44-46). Those plants which are classified as ananta-kāyas (e.g., śatāvarī) seem to be chosen because of certain morphological peculiarities such as the possession of bulbs or rhizomes orthe habit of periodically shedding their leaves; and in general theyare characterized by possibilities of vegetative reproduction.

Jainism is an Indian religion of Dharma whose doctrine revolves around harmlessness (ahimsa) towards every living being. The two major branches (Digambara and Svetambara) of Jainism stimulate self-control (or, shramana, ‘self-reliance’) and spiritual development through a path of peace for the soul to progess to the ultimate goal.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
Source: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionaryśatāvarī (शतावरी).—f (S) pop. śatāvalī f A plant, Asparagus racemosus. It is distinguished into śatamūlī & sahastramūlī.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English DictionaryŚatāvarī (शतावरी).—f. (-rī) 1. A shrub, (Asparagus recemosus.) 2. The wife of Indra. E. śata a hundred, (roots,) āṅ before vṛ to choose, aff. ac .
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English DictionaryŚatāvarī (शतावरी).—[feminine] a cert. climbing plant.
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary1) Śatāvarī (शतावरी):—[from śatāvara > śata] f. Asparagus Racemosus, [Suśruta; Śārṅgadhara-saṃhitā; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā; Bhāvaprakāśa]
2) [v.s. ...] a kind of plant, zedoary (= śaṭī), [Monier-Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary]
3) [v.s. ...] Name of the wife of Indra, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasiṃha, halāyudha, hemacandra, etc.]
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English DictionaryŚatāvarī (शतावरी):—[śatā+varī] (rī) 3. f. A shrub, Asparagus; wife of Indra.
[Sanskrit to German] (Deutsch Wörterbuch)
Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Böhtlingk and Roth Grosses Petersburger WörterbuchŚatāvarī (शतावरी):—f.
1) Asparagus racemosus, ein kletterndes Gewächs mit wohlriechender Blüthe [Amarakoṣa 2, 4, 3, 19.] [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 3, 3, 376.] [Medinīkoṣa Rāmāyaṇa 300.] [Ratnamālā 16.] [Suśruta 1, 137, 4. 15. 143, 14. 145, 17. 21. 225, 2. 9.] mūla [2, 49, 20.] cūrṇa [508, 17.] taila [Śārṅgadhara SAṂH. 2, 9, 23] (vgl. [Suśruta 1, 58, 2).] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 44, 10. 48, 40.] Vgl. mahā, varī und indīvarī . —
2) Nomen proprium Indra's Gattin [Trikāṇḍaśeṣa 1, 1, 59. 3, 3, 376.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 32.] [Medinīkoṣa] (śaṭyāṃ fehlerhaft für śacyāṃ).
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.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Shatavaricurna, Shatavarigula, Shatavarimandura.
Ends with: Mahashatavari.
Full-text (+59): Atmashalya, Svadurasa, Shatavirya, Mahashatavari, Bahumula, Vari, Kesika, Pivari, Phanijihva, Sahasravirya, Dashashatanghri, Darakantika, Madabhanjini, Bahuputrika, Bahimula, Mahdani, Bhirupatri, Dvipashatru, Uttamarani, Mahaushadhi.
Relevant text
Search found 13 books and stories containing Shatavari, Śatāvarī, Satavari; (plurals include: Shatavaris, Śatāvarīs, Satavaris). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
The Garuda Purana (by Manmatha Nath Dutt)
Chapter CXCVII - Preparations of medicinal oils and Ghritas < [Dhanvantari Samhita]
Chapter CXCV - Medical treatment of female complaints < [Dhanvantari Samhita]
Chapter CXCVI - Therapeutic properties of drugs < [Dhanvantari Samhita]
Sushruta Samhita, volume 4: Cikitsasthana (by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna)
Chapter XXVII - Elixirs (rasayana) for invulnerability to disease
Chapter XV - The medical/surgical treatment of the fetus
Brihat Samhita (by N. Chidambaram Iyer)
Appendix 8 - Glossary of Medical and Botanical terms
Chapter 44 - Lustration Ceremony (nīrājanavidhi)
Chapter 76 - Erotic remedies, Spermatic drugs and Medicines (kāndarpika)
Rasa Jala Nidhi, vol 5: Treatment of various afflictions (by Bhudeb Mookerjee)
Chapter 23 - Bhrama (vertigo), Nidra (sleeping disease), and Tandra (drowsiness)
Chapter 10 - Symptoms and treatment of Shula (pain in the belly)
Chapter 26 - Symptoms and treatment of Amavata (gout and rheumatism)
Sushruta Samhita, volume 1: Sutrasthana (by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna)
Chapter XXXIX - Purificatory and Palliative Drugs
Chapter XXXVIII - Groups of drugs
Rasa Jala Nidhi, vol 3: Metals, Gems and other substances (by Bhudeb Mookerjee)
Part 14 - Dietary presecriptions and prohibitions when taking iron < [Chapter IV - Metals (4): Lauha (iron)]
Part 7 - Incineration of iron (26) < [Chapter IV - Metals (4): Lauha (iron)]
Part 5 - Purification of iron < [Chapter IV - Metals (4): Lauha (iron)]