the most powerful country of the world the USA has been badly affected, and

millions of people are infected by this virus causing the death of the population at

large scale. India is also facing the similar situation with the spread of the virus at fast

rate. As stated above, there is no drug or vaccine available to control COVID-19,

and, therefore, the preventive measures are the only option which may play a vital

role to control the spread of COVID-19 to some extent. In this regard the WHO and

the National Health Departments of GOI have come up with some guidelines to

follow the countrymen, how to minimize the spread of the disease. These are to

maintain the social distancing, bearing mask, not to shake hands with infected

person, not to go in crowds, washing hands with soap time and again, use of

sanitizer, etc. But these are the temporary measures effective only to some extent

to prevent the spread of the disease till the invention of some vaccine which works

against the disease. Worldwide efforts are being made in this direction including

India, and it is hoped that in near future we shall be able come up with such vaccine.

But the protocol involved in developing such vaccines is a time-consuming process,

and till that we should follow the preventive methods carefully.

Medical science correlates with the immune system of a person to fight against

the attack of virus and bacteria. In the present scenario, it is strongly emphasized to

develop and enhance the immunity by various ways to fight against COVID-19. As

discussed above, living with Ritucharya lifestyle and food habits and practicing

Yoga make the body healthy with strong immune system; Ayurveda has also a vital

role to enhance immunity by the use of Aushadhi Dravya the medicinal plants. The

classic texts documented by ancient Ayurvedic scholars and Rishi like Charka,

Sushruta, Bhagvatta, and others and numerous references are available regarding

the use of plants as medicine against the various ailments. According to the thera-

peutic time tested actions of the plants, these have been grouped variously, and one

of such group of medicinal plants which enhances the immunity of the body is

classified as Rasayana. In this group some herbs, shrubs, and trees have been kept

which yield different forms of the crude drugs derived from the morphological parts

of the specific plants recommended for use as food supplements either as single-herb

or compound formations. These formulations are use as decoction, infusion, Avaleh,

powder, raw, cooked, and the like. Chyavanprash Avaleha is one of the examples of

Rasayana’s well-known Ayurvedic formulation for enhancing the immunity of

the body.

In the present COVID-19 hit circumstances prevailing in country, the AYUSH

Ministry, GOI, and the state departments of Ayurveda have advised the use of some

herbal-based Kwath/Kadha against the corona infection. One such preparation under

the name of AYUSH Kadha is said to be highly effective in the decease and is

recommended by the AYUSH Ministry, GOI, for the use as safety measure against

COVID-19 and to be taken as decoction. It is a mixture of four crude drugs: tulsi

(Ocimum sanctum) 40%, Kali Marich (Piper nigrum) 20%, ginger (Zingiber

officinale) 40%, and Dalchini (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) 20%. There is a long list

of medicinal plants which can be used as immunity booster, as relevant remedy

against the virus indirectly.

28

Strengthening Immunity: Ayurveda and Medicinal Plants

533