Rasashastra
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Origin
The Kalyāṇakāraka, composed in South India by Ugrāditya, is the earliest medical work to contain alchemical content. It is datable to the early ninth century CE.[5] It gives descriptions for the processing of mercury and uses technical terminology related to the procedures and implements required for alchemy.[6] It is the first work to describe purifying (śodhana) and calcining (māraṇaʼ) mercury for medicinal use. The first work of the Sanskrit alchemical literary genre called rasaśāstra is the 10th century Rasahṛdayatantra. The texts 19 chapters focus on the processing mercury, outlines 18 means to process mercury and discusses the transmutation of metals and the body.[7]
Methods

Early medical texts, especially the
An important feature is the use of metals, including several that are toxic. In addition to mercury, gold, silver, iron, copper, tin, lead, zinc and bell metal are used. In addition to these metals, salts and other substances such as coral, seashells, and feathers are also used.[11]
The usual means used to administer these substances is by preparations called bhasma, Sanskrit for "ash". Calcination, which is described in the literature of the art as śodhana, "purification", is the process used to prepare these bhasma for administration. Sublimation and the preparation of a mercury sulfide are also in use in the preparation of its materia medica. A variety of methods are used to achieve this. One involves the heating of thin sheets of metal and then immersing them in oil (taila), extract (takra), cow urine (gomutra) and other substances.[12] Others are calcined in crucibles heated with fires of cow dung (puttam).[13] Ayurvedic practitioners believe that this process of purification removes undesirable qualities and enhances their therapeutic power.[14]
Toxicity
Modern medicine finds that
Ayurvedic practitioners claim that these reports of toxicity are due to failure to follow traditional practices in the mass production of these preparations for sale,[18] however there is ample evidence of mercury and lead toxicity. The government of India has ordered that Ayurvedic products must specify their metallic content directly on the labels of the product;[19] however, M. S. Valiathan noted that "the absence of post-market surveillance and the paucity of test laboratory facilities [in India] make the quality control of Ayurvedic medicines exceedingly difficult at this time."[19]
See also
References
- ^ "Rasa Shastra – Freedom Vidya". Shrifreedom.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012.
- ISBN 9780203498583.
- ISSN 1573-420X.
- PMID 22754059.
- ^ G. J. Meulenbeld (1999). Meulenbeld, History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. 2A. p. 155.
- ^ "Presentation by Dagmar Wujastyk: On medicine and alchemy in the Kalyāṇakāraka | Ayuryog". www.ayuryog.org. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ISBN 978-90-6980-124-7.
- ^ Dutt, U.C. (1922). The Materia Medica of the Hindus. Calcutta: Adi-Ayurveda Machine Press. p. 27.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ISSN 1573-420X.
- ISSN 1573-420X.
- ^ Mishra, p. 86
- ^ Mishra, pp. 86–88
- ^ Mishra, pp. 87–88
- ^ Mishra, pp. 88
- ^ Toxicological Profile for Mercury. U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. March 1999
- ^ "Lead Poisoning Associated with Ayurvedic Medications – Five States, 2000–2003". Cdc.gov. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ISBN 0-470-43350-7
- ISBN 0-470-43350-7
- ^ a b Valiathan, M. S. (2006). "Ayurveda: Putting the House in Order". Current Science. 90 (1): 5–6.