Pratinidhi Dravya (Substitution): A Boon for Ayurveda

Abstract

Herbs, an effective source of Ayurvedic, traditional and modern medicine are the basic need in pharmaceutical area and are sometimes difficult to procure due to rapid depletion of resources with development of industrialization and civilization. In Ayurveda, single formulation is a combination of many drugs and out of them some were difficult to get while some got destroyed resulting in less availability and scarcity hence to fill the deficit, concept of substitution became more prevalent than before indirectly threatening the integrity of Ayurvedic system of medicine. Therefore ancient seers of Ayurveda introduced concept of Pratinidhi Dravyas or substitute drugs with similar properties which can be taken when original drug is rare/difficult to procure, unavailable for medicinal purpose eventually serving as support in their conservation and sustainability and to produce good quality herbal product. It is not new as it’s enlisted in Bhavprakash under Mishra varga prakaran and Yog ratnakar abhav varga, Laghutrayi and Bhaishajya ratnawali. Pratinidhi Dravya refers to the drugs having similar pharmacological activities and might not have similar appearance as that of original drug. Its selection is based upon Karma (Action), Rasa (Taste), Guna (Property), Virya (Potency), Vipaka (effects on digestion). Present article explored ayurvedic concept of substitution (Pratinidhi dravyas), its types, reasoning and clinical utilization. Understanding the logic behind it might lead to newer methods of identifying alternatives of drug and solve shortage of crude drug.