Shilajit

Shilajeet (Sanskrit: शिलाजतु, śilājatu,Salajit in urdu) or mumijo is a thick, sticky tar-like substance with a colour ranging from white to dark brown (the latter is more common), found predominantly in Himalaya, Karakuram, Tibet mountains, Caucasus mountains, Altai Mountains, and mountains of Gilgit Baltistan . Shilajeet (Sanskrit: शिलाजतु, śilājatu,Salajit in urdu) or mumijo is a thick, sticky tar-like substance with a colour ranging from white to dark brown (the latter is more common), found predominantly in Himalaya, Karakuram, Tibet mountains, Caucasus mountains, Altai Mountains, and mountains of Gilgit Baltistan . It is used in Ayurveda and Unani, the traditional Indian system of medicine. It has been reported to contain at least 85 minerals in ionic form, as well as triterpenes, humic acids and fulvic acid. The English word shilajeet is a phonetic adaptation of 'śilājīt' (Hindi: शिलाजीत), which in turn goes back to Sanskrit (Sanskrit: शिलाजतु, śilājatu). The literal meaning of the Sanskrit compound is 'mountain tar', the first element शिला (śilā) meaning 'pertaining to, or having the properties of a rock, mountain', the second - जातु (jatu) denoting 'gum, lac; any tarry substance' Shilajeet comes from the Sanskrit compound word shilajatu meaning 'rock-tar', which is the regular Ayurveda term. It is also spelled shilajeet (Hindi: शिलाजीत) and salajeet (Urdu: سلاجیت‎). Shilajeet is known universally by various other names, such as mineral pitch or mineral wax in English, black asphaltum, Asphaltum punjabianum in Latin, also locally as shargai, dorobi, barahshin, baragshun (Mongolian: Барагшун), mummenayyee (Farsi مومنایی), tasmayi (Kazakh: тасмайы, lit. rock oil), brag zhun (Tibetan: བྲག་ཞུན་), chao-tong, wu ling zhi (Chinese: 五灵脂, which generally refers to the excrement of flying squirrels), badha-naghay (Burushaski for 'feces of a featherless flying squirrel), baad-a-ghee (Wakhi for 'devil's feces'), and arkhar-tash (Kyrgyz: архар-таш). The most widely used name in the former Soviet Union is mumiyo (Russian: мумиё, variably transliterated as mumijo, mumio, momia, and moomiyo), which is ultimately from Latin (mumia) body-preserving, a borrowing of the medieval Arabic mūmiya (مومياء) and from a Persian mūm (موم) or mūmiya (مومیا). Several researchers have noted that Shilajeet is unlike mineral tar seeps and is most likely of vegetable origin. The cactus like plant Euphorbia royleana has been observed growing near collection sites and is suggested as a likely origin as its gum has a similar composition. One more recent hypothesis states that the species of Asterella, Dumortiera, Marchantia, Pellia, Plagiochasma and Stephenrencella-Anthoceros have been growing in shilajeet neighborhood and it is these plants, mosses and liverworts that during centuries have been fueling the Shilajeet deposits generation According to ancient Indian sources Shilajatu was born from a friction of the celestial spheres during Samudra Manthana episode. The Devas and the Asuras agreed to churn the primal Ocean in order to obtain the beneficial Amrita substance. They wrapped the king snake Vasuki Naga around Mount Mandara, which was used as a churning rod, and mixed the primordial Milk Ocean The Gods and Demons had been sweating hugely during the elaborous churning process. And their sweat interacted with the divine nectar. So originated Shilajeet deposits were distributed about the mountains of the world