BHRING RAJ(Eclipta alba)

Charaka advises taking the juice of eclipta alba with honey to prevent the onset of senility, and its oil as the best medicated massage oils for rejuvenation therapies. There are three kinds of eclipta alba – the white-flowering, the yellow-flowering, and the black -fruiting, but all three grow throughout India by marshes, rivers, and lakes or on the foothills of the Himalayas.Contemporary clinical tests have shown this herb contains the alkaloid ecliptine lactones or sulfur- containing peptides, and the antiviral agent glucoside. These properties may explain why Ayurveda has effectively used medicines extracted from this plant in the treatment of jaundice. Indeed, the traditional belief in India is that extracts from the leaf can cure jaundice in a week, and Indian liver tonics always contain this herb, powder made from its roots are used against enlargement of the liver and spleen. Externally, eclipta alba not only provides a valuable medicated massage oil, but it is used all over India as a hair oil. Its Sanskrit synonym, keshraja, means "the king of hair" and Indian women, who pride themselves on the length of their hair , have traditionally massaged oil of eclipta alba into their scalps to add luster.
A combination of the root powder and oil are rubbed on the forehead for headaches, and the plant’s pain - killing property is also recognized in the leaf poultice used for scorpion stings, while a vapor bath from its leaves is considered the time- tested cure for hemorrhoids.