Dashmool: The Ten Roots, Postpartum Kadha and Real Cautions

Dashmool (dashamoola, “ten roots”) is the bitter brown kadha that Indian and Pakistani grandmothers boil for a new mother in the first weeks after birth. It’s a classical Ayurvedic group of ten roots, sold as dry chips, churna, kadha packs and the fermented tonic dashmoolarishta. Here’s what the ten roots are, what the postpartum tradition is really about, why the arishta carries alcohol, and why a breastfeeding mother should check before she drinks any of it.

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What are the ten roots in dashmool?

Classical texts split them into two groups of five. Plant identities vary by region and supplier, and some are substituted when the true root is scarce, so take these names as the usual ones.

Brihat panchamool (the five “big” roots, from trees)

• Bilva (bael)
• Agnimantha (arani)
• Shyonaka (sonapatha)
• Patala (padal)
• Gambhari (gamhar)

Laghu panchamool (the five “small” roots, from shrubs and herbs)

• Shalaparni
• Prishniparni
• Brihati (badi kateri)
• Kantakari (choti kateri, a spiny wild nightshade)
• Gokshura (gokhru)

In practice, the bark or stem of the tree group is often used instead of the root, because digging up a whole tree for its root isn’t sustainable. That’s a reason two packs of “dashmool” can look and taste different.

The postpartum kadha tradition: what it is really about

In many homes, the forty days after birth (chilla, or jaapa in Rajasthan and Gujarat) come with rules: warm food, no cold water, oil massage, gond and ajwain laddu, and a daily cup of dashmool kadha.

Much of what this tradition does right has nothing to do with the roots. It makes sure someone feeds the mother warm, cooked food, keeps her resting and keeps her drinking fluids. Those are genuinely good things in the weeks after birth.

What people say, what tradition says, and our honest take

What people say

Online, dashmool is credited with shrinking the belly after delivery, increasing breast milk, clearing “dirty blood”, fixing back pain for good, and pulling the uterus back into shape, usually by relatives who mean well and by sellers who bundle it into “jaapa kits” with gond, ajwain and a bottle of arishta at a price that assumes nobody will compare. Big promises.

What tradition says

Classical texts list dashmool for vata disorders, pain, swelling, cough and the care of women after childbirth, usually as a decoction or the fermented arishta.

Our honest take

The roots have some anti-inflammatory chemistry in lab work, yet there’s no good human evidence that dashmool shrinks the uterus faster, raises milk supply or prevents infection. The womb shrinks back on its own over about six weeks. Lochia (the bleeding after birth) is normal and isn’t “dirty blood” that needs clearing. Depends A warm kadha in a supportive home is a comfort ritual many women enjoy. It’s not a medicine for anything that worries you.

Myth: dashmoolarishta is a harmless herbal tonic

Arishtas are made by fermenting a herbal decoction with jaggery and dhataki flowers. The yeast turns the sugar into alcohol, just as in any home brew. Nobody adds alcohol; it makes itself.

• Labels often state “contains self-generated alcohol”, sometimes with a percentage. Read it.
• The amount is lower than in spirits, yet it isn’t zero and it’s taken daily for weeks.
• It also carries the leftover sugar from the jaggery.

For readers who avoid alcohol for faith reasons, this matters too: ask your own scholar how they view self-generated alcohol in medicine. We don’t rule on it.

Myth: anything given to a new mother passes harmlessly into milk

Alcohol does pass into breast milk, at roughly the same level as in the mother’s blood. Herbs can pass too, and for most of the ten roots nobody has measured what reaches the baby.

That doesn’t mean one cup of kadha is dangerous. It means “natural” isn’t the same as “tested in breastfeeding”, and the arishta form deserves a clear “ask first”. Our guide to weight loss after pregnancy while breastfeeding covers the food side of these weeks, and postpartum hair fall explains another thing new mothers get sold remedies for.

How to buy dashmool and make a kitchen-style kadha

Tradition makes kadha by long, slow boiling. How much and how often is something your practitioner or the pack should set; the method below is just the household technique.

1. Buy from a known maker with a printed batch number and expiry; on herbal packs in Pakistan, check for a DRAP enlistment number.
2. Look at the chips. They should be dry, woody and free of mould, webbing or tiny holes (insects).
3. Rinse the measured chips under running water for 30 seconds.
4. Put them in a steel pan with water as your label directs, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the liquid has reduced, as many traditional recipes describe.
5. Strain through a fine sieve and let it cool to drinking warmth, around 50 °C.
6. Throw away leftovers after 24 hours, even in the fridge. A sour smell or fizz means it has started to ferment.
7. Store dry chips or powder in an airtight jar in a cool cupboard; they lose aroma after a few months.

Bitter. Earthy, too. Tradition sometimes softens it with a little jaggery, which is fine as food, but count it if you have diabetes.

After birth: symptoms no kadha should wait for

Go to hospital the same day, whatever the elders say, for any of these.

• Bleeding that soaks a pad in an hour, or clots larger than a plum.
• Fever of 38 °C or more, or foul-smelling discharge.
• Severe headache, blurred vision or swelling of the face and hands (blood pressure problems can start after delivery).
• One painful, swollen calf, chest pain or breathlessness.
• A red, hot, painful patch on the breast with fever.
• Low mood that doesn’t lift after two weeks, or any thought of harming yourself or the baby. Tell someone today.

More honest guides to classical preparations live on our Unani & Herbal, Decoded hub, and Ayurveda or allopathy, condition by condition helps you decide where each fits.

Dashmool questions new mothers and families ask