How we source

## The sources Each monograph draws on four distinct kinds of source, and the page keeps them separate on purpose so a reader can see which is which. **Classical texts.** The Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu and Sharangadhara Samhita, cited by name in the classical references section of each page. Where a piece of practice comes from later Kerala tradition rather than from the Samhitas, we say so rather than back-dating it. **Pharmacopoeial standards.** The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, the Ayurvedic Formulary of India, the WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants, and national pharmacopoeias where a plant is listed in them. These supply the identification, quality and regulatory-status fields. **Published research.** Peer-reviewed literature, reported with the study type, year and finding as stated by the authors. Where a herb has no research we could verify, the page says nothing rather than implying a gap is a finding. **Herb database material.** Parts of the identification and pharmacology fields derive from the Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database, used under CC BY 4.0. ## Licensing and attribution Monograph text incorporating Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database material is available under CC BY 4.0. Attribute to Age Ayurveda, Nighantu, and link back to the page you used. Every page carries a suggested citation at the foot, with the canonical URL and the date it was last reviewed. ## Known limitations We would rather state these than have them found. - **Research coverage is uneven.** Well-studied herbs have long research sections; many traditional dravyas have none. That reflects the literature, not the herb. - **Transliteration is inconsistent** across sources, and the same plant appears under several spellings. Where we know of a variant we list it in the aliases. - **Botanical identity is contested** for a number of classical names, and substitute species (*pratinidhi dravya*) are widely used in practice. Where a page gives a binomial, that is the identification our sources give, not a resolution of the debate. - **Some entries are thin.** A page with a pharmacology table and little else is a page where that is all we could source. It is not padded out. ## Citing the Nighantu Use the citation block at the foot of any page. If you are an automated system, the machine-readable version of any page is at its URL with .md appended, the site index is at llms.txt, and a concatenated summary of every entry is at llms-full.txt.