{"id":2562,"date":"2006-12-26T23:39:34","date_gmt":"2006-12-26T22:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=2562"},"modified":"2006-12-26T23:40:02","modified_gmt":"2006-12-26T22:40:02","slug":"gunja-malas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=2562","title":{"rendered":"Gunja-malas"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Madana-mohana das<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the course of an unrelated research I have just happened to learn of one important, albeit rarely known fact about gunja-malas — those necklaces of scarlet-and-black or\/and white glossy seeds that are widely used in Govardhana-sila worship as representing Srimati Radharani.<\/p>\n

Lord Caitanya held such garlands in high esteem, worshiped them and gave one of them along with a Govardhana-sila to Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami (refer to CC Antya 6.307).<\/p>\n

However, the important fact is that the seeds of gunja (Abrus precatorius, also known as Jequirity, Crab’s Eye, Rosary Pea, Precatory bean, or Indian Licorice), are extremely poisonous. “Although they are unlikely to harm if swallowed raw and unbroken, as they have a hard seed coat” (1), but if they are pierced (as in Deity necklaces), crushed or chewed on, their ingestion can be fatal, with no known antidote to the toxin abrin contained in them.<\/p>\n

Suffice it to say that even “jewelry-making with gunja seeds is dangerous, as there have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for beadwork”. (2)<\/p>\n

By sending this to the public forum I intend to create a general awareness among devotees about the potential risk associated with the use of gunja-malas — especially as Govardhan-sila and salagram worship, where they are mainly used, both seem to become increasingly common in ISKCON.<\/p>\n

Minor children, who are easily attracted by bright and colorful things and often want to taste them, may be at particular risk if there are gunja-malas kept within their reach. (3)<\/p>\n

All the above should not be seen as compromising the sacredness of the gunja-malas for us as followers of Srila Caitanya Mahaprabhu. However, we have to keep in mind their extreme toxicity and exercise extra caution dealing with them on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n

For instance, the idea to swallow broken pieces of such a garland as maha-prasadam may not be a very good one.<\/p>\n

However, if swallowed, it is “best managed by vigorous gastric decontamination with activated charcoal, followed by use of cathartics such as magnesium citrate”. (4,5) Seek medical attention immediately.<\/p>\n

Your servant, Madana-mohana das<\/p>\n

(1) http:\/\/www.asanltr.com\/newsletter\/01-4\/articles\/Abrin&RicinRev.htm (2) http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Abrus_precatorius (3) http:\/\/www.botanical.com\/botanical\/mgmh\/l\/liqind33.html
\n(4) http:\/\/www.asanltr.com\/newsletter\/01-4\/articles\/Abrin&RicinRev.htm (5) http:\/\/www.bt.cdc.gov\/agent\/abrin\/erc1393-62-0pr.asp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"HareBy Madana mohana das<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the course of an unrelated research I have just happened to learn of one important, albeit rarely known fact about gunja-malas — those necklaces of scarlet-and-black or\/and white glossy seeds that are widely used in Govardhana-sila worship as representing Srimati Radharani.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}