The Garden of Life - Hardcover

Patnaik, Naveen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385424698 ISBN 13: 9780385424691

Publisher: Doubleday, 1993

Synopsis

A reexamination of the discoveries made by India's greatest sages thousands of years ago is divided into five sections--Sacred, Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic, and Aromatic--and features discussion of the applications of seventy plants. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo.

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Reviews

Patnaik ( A Desert Kingdom: The Rajputs of Bakur ), who is the brother of the novelist Gita Mehta, gives us a unusual and pictorially lovely survey of which natural plants, herbs, fruits and essences are known in India to offer balm to the ill. Ginger, says the author, will help one to recover from motion sickness, and it wards off the build-up of cholesterol; plantain leaves can be applied to wounds; hemp fights migraines. Then, of course, there is the lotus, both real and mythical in power, and a central symbol in kundalini yoga: while various potions can be wrung from it, its beauty alone is "considered a medicine." The mango, too, has many purposes: the twigs can serve as "antiseptic" toothbrushes, while the seeds successfully thwart dysentery. Sandalwood paste can "tranquilize a believer"; drunken, it will soothe ulcers. This lore is copious and well told, and the pictures, commissioned by Patnaik from eight Indian artists "to reflect a cross section of Indian art," are outstanding: delicate yet lush, they seem to ease pain, too.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this engaging book, with 70 lavish paintings by eight Indian artists, Patnaik introduces the reader not only to the healing plants of India, but also to Ayurveda, a philosophy founded thousands of years ago in the Himalayas. The fundamental philosophy of Ayurveda (which means knowledge of life) is that suffering is disease and contentment is good health. No person is truly healthy who does not possess a sound body, a sound mind, and a sound soul. The book describes the properties and uses--sacred, medicinal, culinary, cosmetic, and aromatic--of 70 plants. A sacred plant is lotus, a symbol of enlightenment; swallowwort is one of the medicinal plants, used for the treatment of asthma and bronchitis; and in the culinary section one will find the mango, perhaps India's best-known fruit. This is no substitute for our health system, but there's much here that makes a lot of sense. George Cohen

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385424698
• ISBN 13: 9780385424691
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 195