The Story behind the OG Chyawanprash
Journeys down the mythological rabbit hole — Part I
If you grew up in India, you have most definitely heard of, or tasted, Chyawanprash. This ‘super-food’ is a concoction of sugar, honey, ghee, amla, sesame oil, berries and various other herbs and spices.
Thanks to solid marketing by Dabur and others, the mixture has captured the minds of urban and rural India alike and commands a whopping 700cr market in the country.¹
The purported story of its origins, as described in the Rig Veda, is equally fascinating.
Enter Rishi Chyavan
I would love to mark this with an understandable timeline, but as with most mythology, it will be an exercise in futility.
It might suffice to know that Chyavan was the son of Bhrigu, who himself was one of the many children of Brahma. Also, Chyavan was a contemporary of Manu, the Vedic Noah. So, this is a story as old as time itself.
Chyavan was married to one Sukanya. Sukanya was the daughter of Sharyati, son of Manu. Their first meeting was rather amusing. Sharyati and his children were hunting near Chyavan’s hermitage. Chyavan had been meditating for so long that his entire body, save his eyes, were covered in white ants. Sukanya, unknowingly, poked the peering eyes with a stick — apparently rendering Chyavan blind — and Chyavan, unsurprisingly, cursed the entire Sharyati kin in a fit of rage. In a bid to appease the sage, Sharyati offered his daughter Sukanya’s hand to him, because, what else.
But I digress.
Understandably, Chyavan was as old as Sukanya was youthful, yet they got married. This fact is actually relevant to the rest of the story.
Along come the lustful Ashvini Kumaras
The celestial twins Ashvini Kumaras, sons of the Sun God himself, chanced upon Chyavan’s ashrama. Upon seeing the lovely Sukanya they beseeched her to leave the aged Chyavan and be with one of them instead.
AD or BC, men will be men.
Sukanya refused, and impressed by this chastity, the Ashvins, blessed with medicinal talents, agreed to transform the old sage into a handsome youth.
A three-course treatment was undertaken — A herbal paste was prepared for application on the body of Chyavan, which was part of Kayakalp. And a special herbal paste, Chyawanprash was prepared for Rishi to take as medicine. And then, he was to dip himself into a herb-infused pond.
The Ashvins now threw another curveball.
They told Sukanya that both of them will dip into the pond along with Chyavan, and come out looking the same as him. She will have to choose her husband from among them. Clearly, everyone reveled in these games, and it thus transpired.
When the three men came out of the pond, Sukanya successfully identified Chyavan, and got herself a wise and shiny arm candy.
All thanks to good ol’ Chyawanprash.
Postscript
The Ashvins obviously said this was all to test Sukanya’s chastity and stuff. And got a really good deal out of it when joyous over his newfound youth, Chyavan ensured them a share of sacrificial soma at the next yajna he was officiating. But that is a story for another day.
The Chyavanprash we know today is likely only piggybacking on this story for marketing. The recipe, similar to one consumed today, was mentioned in the Charaka Samhita written around 100 BCE.
Disclaimer: Are mythological stories factual, or creative retellings of some actual events or pure figments of imagination? Between creative retellings and imagination — is what I would think. But if it is a good story, does it even matter?
