Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Apr-Jun;13(2):100525.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaim.2021.09.003. Epub 2022 Jan 5.

Panchgavya: A precious gift to humankind

Komal K Bajaj  1 , Vishal Chavhan  1 , Nishikant A Raut  1 , Shailendra Gurav  2
Affiliations
Review

Panchgavya: A precious gift to humankind

Komal K Bajaj et al. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2022 Apr-Jun.

Abstract

Panchgavya represents milk, urine, dung, ghee, and curd, derived from cow and serves irreplaceable medicinal importance in Ayurveda and traditional Indian clinical practices. In Ayurveda,Panchgavya treatment is termed as 'Cowpathy'. In India, the cow is worshipped as a god called 'Gaumata,' indicating its nourishing nature like a mother. Ayurveda recommends Panchagavya to treat diseases of multiple systems, including severe conditions, with almost no side-effects. It can help build a healthy population, alternative sources of energy, complete nutritional requirements, eradicate poverty, pollution-free environment, organic farming, etc. Panchgavya can also give back to mother nature by promoting soil fertility, earthworm production, protecting crops from bacterial and fungal infections, etc. Scientific efforts shall be taken to build evidence for the clinical application of Cowpathy. The present review aims to summarize the health and medicinal benefits of Panchgavya.

Keywords: Ayurveda; Cow products; Cowpathy; Indian cow; Panchgavya.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Components of Panchgavya
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Composition and uses of cow curd. TB: Tuberculosis; HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Composition, health benefits, and medicinal effects of dung.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Composition, health benefits, and medicinal effects of cow ghee. CVD: Cardiovascular diseases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Shah C.P., Patel D.M., Dhami P.D., Kakadia J., Bhavsar D., Vachhani U.D., et al. In vitro screening of antibacterial activity of cow urine against pathogenic human bacterial strains. Int J Curr Pharmaceut Res. 2011;3:91–92.
    1. Dhama K., Rathore R., Chauhan R.S., Tomar S. Panchgavya (cowpathy): an overview. Int J Cow Sci. 2005;1:1–15.
    1. Khan M.Y., Roy M., Saroj B.K., Dubey S., Sharma V.K. A Review-Benefits of Panchgavya therapy (Cowpathy) for health of humans. Asian J Res Pharm Sci. 2015;5:115. doi: 10.5958/2231-5659.2015.00019.3. - DOI
    1. Chauhan R.S. Cowpathy: a new version of ancient science. Indian Cow Sci Econ J. 2008;5:39–40.
    1. Schnürer J., Magnusson J. Antifungal lactic acid bacteria as biopreservatives. Trends Food Sci Technol. 2005;16:70–78. doi: 10.1016/j.tifs.2004.02.014. - DOI