Glossary of Materia Medica of the Bhāvaprakāśa 8

English (machine translation) 8

Language: English

8.18 — 1 part
8.36 — 1 part
8.47 — 1 part
8.100 — 1 part
8.124 — 1 part
8.130 — 1 part
8.159 — 1 part
8.175 — 1 part
8.184 — 1 part
8.187 — 2 parts
8.190 — 1 part
8.197 — 1 part
8.198 — 1 part
8.206 — 1 part

8.p1

Now begins the eighth, another name of which is the section on metals and minerals.

8.1

Gold, silver, copper, tin, and zinc, / lead, and iron: these seven are metals originating from mountains.

8.2

Because they sustain (dhārayanti) the body of men by warding off / wrinkles, gray hair, baldness, emaciation, weakness, and the afflictions of old age, they are deemed 'dhātus' (metals/supporters).

8.3

Long ago, having seen the wives of the self-controlled Seven Sages dwelling in their hermitage, / endowed with the splendor of beauty and youth,

8.4

the mind of Agni was overwhelmed by the pride of love; / the semen that fell upon the surface of the earth turned into gold. / It also becomes artificial through the transmutation by mercury.

8.5

Svarṇa is [called] suvarṇa, kanaka, hiraṇya, hema, and hāṭaka;

8.6

and tapanīya, gāṅgeya, kaladhauta, kāñcana, / cāmīkara, śātakumbha, and kārttasvara;

8.7

as well as jāmbūnada, jātarūpa, and mahārajata.

8.8

Red upon heating, white upon cutting, saffron-colored on the touchstone, / free from silver and copper, unctuous, soft, heavy—[such is] genuine gold.

8.9

That which is white, hard, dry, discolored, full of impurities, foliated, / black upon heating and cutting, white on the touchstone, light, and brittle—[such gold] should be discarded.

8.10

Gold is cooling, aphrodisiac, strengthening, heavy, and a rejuvenative, / sweet, bitter, and astringent, sweet in post-digestive taste, and mucilaginous.

Pure, nourishing, beneficial to the eyes, bestowing intellect, memory, and discernment, / cardiotonic, life-prolonging, producing lustre, purity of voice, and firmness of body, / conquering both kinds of poison, consumption, insanity, all three doshas, fever, and wasting.

8.12

It robs strength along with vitality from men, nourishes an array of diseases in the body, / and always produces misery; impure gold can even cause death.

8.13

Improperly incinerated gold destroys strength and vitality, / produces diseases and death; therefore, one should incinerate it with great care.

8.14

For the purpose of slaying Tripura, with unblinking eyes, / Śiva gazed, filled with rage.

8.15

At that moment fire fell from his eye; / from it Rudra arose, blazing like fire.

8.16

From the second, left eye, a teardrop fell; / from that silver was born; one should employ it in the prescribed rites.

8.17

Artificial [silver] is produced through the combination of tin and mercury, etc.

8.18

Rūpya, rajata, tāra, candrakānti, and sitaprabha [are synonyms for silver].

8.18.p1

Heavy, unctuous, soft, white upon heating and cutting, enduring the hammer,
rich in color, clear like the moon—silver possessing these nine qualities is auspicious.

8.19

Hard, artificial, dry, red, yellow-layered, light, / ruined by burning, cutting, or the hammer—[such] silver is declared defective.

8.20

Silver is cold, astringent and sour, sweet in post-digestive taste and taste, laxative, / age-stabilizing, unctuous, scarifying, subdues vāta and pitta, / and certainly destroys urinary disorders and other diseases in no time.

8.21

Impure silver causes heat in the body, brings ruin, produces loss of semen, / destroys vitality, strength, and bodily nourishment, and indeed fosters severe diseases.

8.22

The semen of Kārttikeya that fell upon the surface of the earth, / from that copper was born—so declare those versed in antiquity.

8.23

Tāmra, audumbara, śulva, udumbara, / ravipriya, mlecchamukha, and names synonymous with the sun [are its designations].

8.24

Resembling a hibiscus flower, unctuous, soft, enduring the hammer, / free from iron and lead—such copper is praised for incineration.

8.25

Black, dry, extremely stiff, white, not enduring the hammer, / and contaminated with iron or lead—such copper is declared defective.

8.26

Copper is astringent, sweet, bitter, and sour, pungent in post-digestive taste, laxative, / dispelling pitta, removing kapha, cold, healing, light, and scarifying.

8.27

It dispels anemia, abdominal enlargement, hemorrhoids, fever, obstinate skin disease, cough, dyspnea, consumption, chronic rhinitis, hyperacidity, / edema, worms, and colic pain; others say it is slightly nourishing.

8.28

There is one defect in poison, but eight in improperly incinerated copper: / burning sensation, perspiration, anorexia, fainting, clammier, purging, vomiting, and dizziness.

8.29

Raṅga, vaṅga, trapu, and also piccaṭa are declared [as synonyms for tin]; / tin is said to be of two types: kṣuraka and miśraka.

8.30

Among them, kṣuraka is superior, while miśraka is considered inferior.

8.31

Tin is light, laxative, dry, hot; it cures urinary disorders, kapha, worms, / anemia, and dyspnea; it is beneficial to the eyes and slightly increases pitta.

8.32

Just as a lion slays a herd of elephants, even so tin destroys the entire class of urinary disorders; / it indeed brings comfort to the body, strength to the senses, and nourishment to man.

8.33

Zinc resembles tin and is considered the source of brass; / zinc is astringent, bitter, cold, removing kapha and pitta, / supremely beneficial to the eyes, and cures urinary disorders, anemia, and dyspnea.

8.34

Upon seeing the lovely daughter of a serpent, Vāsuki emitted / semen, from which lead was born, dispelling all diseases of men.

8.35

Sīsa, bradhna, vapra, yogeṣṭa, and nāga [are its names].

8.36

Lead is to be known as having properties similar to tin, especially destroying urinary disorders.

8.36.p1

Lead gives strength equal to a hundred elephants, destroys disease, and prolongs life;
it kindles the digestive fire, provides virile power, and destroys death when consumed continuously.

8.38

When improperly incinerated, tin and lead cause obstinate skin diseases, severe abdominal tumors, / itching, urinary disorders, exhaustion from vāta, edema, fistula-in-ano, and other afflictions.

8.39

Formerly, from the bodies of the Lomina demons slain by the gods in battle, / various kinds of iron were produced. / Loha, śastraka, tīkṣṇa, piṇḍa, kālāyasa, and ayas [are its names].

8.40

Heaviness, hardness, excessive salivation, impurity, producing a burning sensation, / the defect of stone, and extreme foul smell are the seven defects of iron.

8.41

Iron is bitter, laxative, cold, sweet, astringent, heavy, / dry, age-preserving, beneficial to the eyes, scarifying, and aggravating to vāta; it subdues

8.42

kapha, pitta, homicidal poison, colic pain, edema, hemorrhoids, spleen disorder, anemia, / obesity, urinary disorders, worms, and obstinate skin disease; its dross has the very same [properties].

8.43

Impure iron causes impotence, obstinate skin disease, disease, and death; it produces heart disease, colic pain, and urinary calculus, / provokes various pains, and causes nausea.

8.44

If iron is indeed impure and unconsecrated, it takes away life, causes intoxication, / does not bestow sharpness to the body, and brings dreadful pain in the heart.

8.45

One using iron should avoid ash gourd, sesame oil, black gram food, mustard, / alcohol, and sour-tasting substances.

8.46

When smeared with acid, if fine mountain-peak-like particles appear / on the iron, that is called sāra-loha. / The iron named sāra cures duodenal disease and diarrhea,

8.47

hemiplegia and all-over vāta diseases, and colic pain arising during digestion; / it expels vomiting, chronic rhinitis, pitta, dyspnea, and cough.

8.47.p1

In whose vessel a drop of oil does not spread over heated water,
asafoetida loses its odor, and neem bark loses its bitterness,

8.48

heated milk takes the shape of a peak and does not flow to the ground, / and soaked chickpeas turn black—that is declared kānta-loha (lodestone / magnetic iron).

8.49

Magnetic iron cures abdominal tumors, abdominal enlargement, hemorrhoids, colic, indigestion, rheumatism, fistula-in-ano, / jaundice, edema, obstinate skin disease, and consumption.

8.50

Also spleen enlargement, hyperacidity, liver disorder, and headache.

8.51

Magnetic iron conquers all diseases without a doubt; / it produces strength, virility, and bodily nourishment, and enkindles the digestive fire.

8.52

The slag of heated iron is called maṇḍūra. / It is also called lohasiṃhānikā, kiṭṭī, and siṃhāna. / Whatever pharmacological property is stated for a given iron, its slag possesses that same pharmacological property.

8.53

There are seven secondary minerals: svarṇamākṣika (chalcopyrite), tāramākṣika (marcasite), / tuttha (blue vitriol), bell metal, brass, red lead, and shilajit.

8.54

In all secondary minerals, the pharmacological properties of their respective metals are present; / however, they are secondary in these [substances] because their respective metallic components are small in quantity.

8.55

Svarṇamākṣika is called tāpīja and madhumākṣika;

8.56

it is also known as tāpya, mākṣikadhātu, and madhudhātu. / Because it contains a little gold, it is called svarṇamākṣika.

8.57

It is a secondary mineral of gold and possesses some of gold's pharmacological properties; / and therefore, in the absence of gold, svarṇamākṣika is administered.

8.58

However, because it is a substitute, its pharmacological properties are slightly inferior [to gold]. / It is not that svarṇamākṣika possesses only the pharmacological properties of gold;

8.59

it also has other pharmacological properties due to its contact with other substances. / Svarṇamākṣika is sweet, bitter, aphrodisiac, and rejuvenative;

8.60

it is beneficial to the eyes and destroys bladder disorders, obstinate skin disease, anemia, urinary disorders, toxic abdominal enlargement, / hemorrhoids, edema, poison, itching, and even the three doshas.

8.61

This unpurified tāpīja causes dullness of the digestive fire, severe loss of strength, constipation, eye diseases accompanied by obstinate skin disease, / and likewise an ulcerated chain of cervical glands.

8.62

Another is tāramākṣika, which resembles silver; / because it contains a little silver, it is called tāramākṣika.

8.63

As a substitute for it, its pharmacological properties are taught to be inferior. / Tāramākṣika does not possess only the pharmacological properties of silver,

8.64

for it is sweet in post-digestive taste, slightly bitter in taste, aphrodisiac, and rejuvenative. / It is beneficial to the eyes and destroys bladder disorders, obstinate skin disease, anemia, urinary disorders, toxic abdominal enlargement, / hemorrhoids, edema, wasting, itching, and even the three doshas.

8.65

In the same way, this unpurified tāpīja produces dullness of the digestive fire, severe loss of strength, constipation, eye diseases accompanied by obstinate skin disease, / and likewise an ulcerated chain of cervical glands.

8.66

Tuttha is also [called] vitunnaka, śikhigrīva, and mayūraka. / Tuttha is indeed a secondary mineral of copper, for it contains some copper.

8.67

Therefore, it possesses some of copper's pharmacological properties, as well as the pharmacological properties to be described. / Tuttha is pungent, alkaline, astringent, emetic, and light;

8.68

it is scarifying, purgative, cold, beneficial to the eyes, and pacifies kapha and pitta. / It destroys poison, urinary calculi, obstinate skin disease, and itching; kharpara (calamine) also possesses the same pharmacological properties.

8.69

Bell metal, produced from copper and tin, is called ghoṣa and kaṃsaka. / Bell metal is a secondary mineral of two [metals]: copper and tin.

8.70

The pharmacological properties of bell metal should be known by people as similar to its sources; / due to the specific therapeutic action arising from combination, other pharmacological properties are also taught for it.

8.71

Bell metal is astringent, bitter, hot, scarifying, clear, and mobile; / it is heavy, beneficial to the eyes, dry, and supremely removes kapha and pitta.

8.72

Brass is [called] ārakūṭa, āra, and rīti. / [Its varieties are] rājarīti, brahmarīti, kapilā, and piṅgalā.

8.73

Brass is also a secondary mineral of copper and zinc. / The pharmacological properties of brass should be known by people as similar to its sources;

8.74

due to the specific therapeutic action arising from combination, it also has other pharmacological properties taught.

8.75

Both types of brass are dry, bitter, and salty in taste; / they are purifying, destroy anemia, destroy worms, and are moderately scarifying.

8.76

Sindūra is called raktareṇu, nāgagarbha, and sīsaja. / Red lead is a secondary mineral of lead, and by its pharmacological properties it is considered like lead.

8.77

Due to the specific therapeutic action arising from combination, other pharmacological properties are also taught for it: / red lead is hot and removes erysipelas, obstinate skin disease, itching, and poison; / it brings about the union of fractures, and cleanses and heals wounds.

8.78

In summer, the mountains heated by the sun's rays / exude the essence of minerals like a resin; that is proclaimed as shilajit.

8.79

It is of four kinds: derived from gold, from silver, from copper, and from iron. / It is also called śilājatu, adrijatu, and śailaniryāsa,

8.80

as well as gaireya, aśmaja, girija, and śailadhātuja. / Shilajit is pungent, bitter, hot, pungent in post-digestive taste, and rejuvenative;

8.81

it is excising, catalytic, and destroys kapha, urinary disorders, urinary calculi, and gravel, / dysuria, wasting, dyspnea, vāta-type hemorrhoids, anemia,

8.82

epilepsy, insanity, edema, obstinate skin disease, abdominal enlargement, and worms.

8.83

The gold-derived variety has the color of a hibiscus flower; in taste it is / sweet, pungent, and bitter; it is cooling and pungent in post-digestive taste.

8.84

The silver-derived variety is pale, cold, pungent, and sweet in post-digestive taste. / The copper-derived variety resembles a peacock's neck, and is sharp and hot.

8.85

The iron-derived variety resembles the wing of Jaṭāyu; it is bitter and salty, / pungent in post-digestive taste, cold, and proclaimed to be the best of all.

8.86

Because mercury is tasted (ingested) by people desiring rejuvenation, / it is therefore called rasa; it is also regarded as a mineral.

8.87

Semen dropped from the body of Śiva fell upon the surface of the earth; / and because it originated from the essence of his body, it was white and clear.

8.88

According to differences of location, Śiva's semen is to be known as fourfold: / white, red, yellow, and black in succession, / corresponding to brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, and śūdra by caste.

8.89

The white is praised for destroying disease, the red for rejuvenation, / the yellow in alchemy, and the black for movement in the sky.

8.90

Pārada is called rasadhātu, rasendra, and mahārasa;

8.91

it is capala, śivavīrya, rasa, sūta, and named after Śiva. / Mercury has six tastes, is unctuous, pacifies all three doshas, and is rejuvenative;

8.92

it is catalytic, exceedingly aphrodisiac, constantly grants visual power, / is declared to cure all diseases, and particularly eradicates all obstinate skin diseases.

8.93

Uncombined mercury is Brahmā, bound [solidified] it is known as Janārdana (Viṣṇu), / and when colored and processed with mica, it is Lord Maheśvara in person.

8.94

Swooned (sublimated), it takes away disease; undergoing fixation, it causes movement through the sky; / dead (calcined), it makes one ageless. What other source of compassion is there than mercury?

8.95

Whatever disease is incurable and has no treatment, / mercury destroys that disease in men, elephants, and horses.

8.96

Mala (impurity), viṣa (poison), vahni (fire), and mountain-born restlessness are proclaimed as the natural defects in mercury; / two adventitious defects, arising from contact with tin and lead, are taught in mercury by the lords of sages.

8.97

From mala comes fainting; from viṣa, death; from vahni, severe burning pain in the body; / from the mountain-defect, perpetual dullness of the body; and from restlessness, loss of virility in men; / from tin comes obstinate skin disease; and from lead, impotence: therefore, it must be thoroughly purified.

8.98

Vahni, viṣa, and mala are the three primary defects in mercury; / these cause, in succession, burning sensation, death, and fainting in men.

8.99

Even if other defects are also spoken of in mercury by physicians, / nevertheless these three defects must be removed especially.

8.100

Whoever consumes king mercury devoid of processing, indeed it brings harm to him; / it certainly destroys the body and produces painful diseases in men.

8.100.p1

Sulphur, cinnabar, mica, orpiment, realgar, stibnite, borax,
lapis lazuli and loadstone, with alum, conch shell, chalk, red ochre,

8.101

green vitriol, calamine, cowrie shells, sand, myrrh, and garcinia,
and alum earth are considered secondary minerals of mercury, sharing somewhat in its properties.

8.102

Hiṅgula, darada, mleccha, iṅgula, and cūrṇapārada [are its synonyms]. / Darada is said to be of three kinds: carmāra, śukatuṇḍaka,

8.103

and the third is haṃsapāda, each possessing progressively superior qualities.

8.104

Carmāra is white in color, śukatuṇḍaka is yellow, / and haṃsapāda, resembling the hibiscus flower, is the highest.

8.105

Cinnabar is bitter, astringent, and pungent; it cures eye diseases and removes kapha and pitta. / It destroys nausea, obstinate skin diseases, fever, jaundice, splenomegaly, rheumatism, and homicidal poison.

8.106

When cinnabar is cooked in the ḍamaru apparatus by the technique of upward sublimation, / its mercury is pure indeed; one need not purify it [further].

8.107

Formerly, in Śvetadvīpa, as the goddess was sporting, her fine silk cloth / became drenched with her menstrual flow; when she bathed in the ocean of milk with that garment,

8.108

the flow that spread out gave rise to sulphur. / It is called gandhaka, gāndhika, and also gandhapāṣāṇa;

8.109

it is also named saugandhika, bali, and balirasa. / Sulphur is declared to be of four kinds: red, yellow, white, and black.

8.110

The red is recommended for gold operations, and the yellow in rejuvenative therapy; / the white is for application on ulcers and the like; the black is the best and very rare.

8.111

Sulphur is pungent, bitter, hot in potency, astringent, mobile, / pitta-increasing, pungent in post-digestive taste, and overcomes microbes, itching, and erysipelas; / as a rejuvenative, it destroys obstinate skin diseases, consumption, splenomegaly, kapha, and vāta.

8.112

Unpurified sulphur certainly causes obstinate skin disease, irregular burning sensation in the body, / and destroys happiness, beauty, strength, vital essence, and semen, and vitiates the blood.

8.113

In ancient times, the wielder of the thunderbolt raised his thunderbolt to slay Vṛtra; / from it, sparks flew scattered across the sky.

8.114

With a thunderous crash, they fell onto the peaks of mountains; / from them arose mica on those various mountains.

8.115

It is called vajra because it was born from the thunderbolt, abhra because it arose from the sound of clouds, / and gagana because it fell from the sky.

8.116

It is of four varieties according to the divisions of Brahmin, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya, and Śūdra, / by color respectively: white, red, yellow, and black.

8.117

The white is praised for silver operations, and the red in rejuvenative therapy; / the yellow for gold, and the black for diseases as well as for liquefaction.

8.118

It is of four kinds: pināka, dardura, nāga, and vajra. / Pināka, when thrown into fire, sheds its layer upon layer of flakes;

8.119

eating it out of ignorance produces severe obstinate skin diseases. / Dardura, thrown into fire, produces a croaking sound like a frog;

8.120

forming numerous round masses, it brings about death. / Nāga, when placed in fire, emits a hissing sound like a serpent;

8.121

when consumed, it inevitably produces anal fistula. / But vajra remains like a diamond and undergoes no alteration in fire.

8.122

Among all varieties of mica, vajra is the best; it dispels disease, old age, and death.

8.123

Mica arising from the northern mountains has abundant essence and superior qualities; / that born on the southern hills has little essence and yields inferior properties.

8.124

Mica is astringent, sweet, very cold, life-prolonging, and increases bodily tissues; / it destroys the three doshas, ulcers, urinary disorders, obstinate skin diseases, splenomegaly, abdominal enlargements, tumors, toxins, and worms.

8.124.p1

It destroys diseases, firms up the body, increases virility,
endows with youthfulness, and enables a man to constantly take pleasure with a hundred women.

8.125

It begets long-lived sons equal to lions in prowess; / incinerated mica, when consumed regularly, continually removes the fear of death.

8.126

Unpurified mica produces various distresses in men: obstinate skin diseases, consumption, anemia, and edema, / and causes pain in the heart and flanks; imperfectly incinerated, it is heavy and causes burning sensations.

8.127

Haritāla is also called tāla, āla, and tālaka. / Haritāla is declared to be of two kinds: named patra (foliated) and named piṇḍa (lump).

8.128

Of the two, the first is best in virtues; the other is inferior in qualities. / Gold-colored, heavy, unctuous, layered like sheets of mica—

8.129

one should know that to be foliated orpiment, rich in virtues and a rejuvenative. / Devoid of layers, resembling a lump, low in essence, and heavy,

8.130

suppressing menstruation in women, and poor in virtues is lump orpiment. / Orpiment is pungent, unctuous, astringent, and hot; it removes poisons, / itching, obstinate skin diseases, mouth diseases, vitiated blood, kapha, pitta, body hair, and ulcers.

8.130.p1

And orpiment takes away the natural beauty of the body,
generates intense burning sensations and the pain of contracture of the limbs,

8.131

increases kapha and vāta, and causes obstinate skin diseases, / if it is consumed unpurified or improperly incinerated.

8.132

Manaḥśilā, manoguptā, manohvā, nāgajihvikā, / naipālī, kunaṭī, golā, and śilā are recorded as names of this divine mineral.

8.133

Realgar is heavy, beneficial to complexion, mobile, hot, scarifying, pungent, / bitter, unctuous, and dispels poisons, dyspnea, cough, evil spirits, kapha, and vitiated blood.

8.134

Without purification, realgar certainly renders a creature deficient in strength; / it causes constipation, retention of urine, and dysuria with gravel.

8.135

Añjana, yāmuna, and kāpotāñjana [are synonyms of collyrium]. / That sroto'ñjana is black, whereas sauvīra is declared to be white.

8.136

Shaped like the crest of an anthill, when broken resembling collyrium, / but when rubbed appearing like red ochre—this is known as sroto'ñjana.

8.137

Sauvīra is to be known as equal to sroto'ñjana, but it is pale. / Sroto'ñjana is remembered as sweet, beneficial to the eyes, and pacifies kapha and pitta.

8.138

It is astringent, scarifying, unctuous, bowel-binding, and cures vomiting and poisons. / It cures pityriasis versicolor, consumption, and bleeding disorders, is cold, and should always be used by the wise.

8.139

All the properties of sroto'ñjana are also considered by the wise to belong to sauvīra; / however, between the two collyriums, sroto'ñjana is considered the superior.

8.140

Borax stimulates digestive fire, is dry, pacifies kapha, and generates vāta and pitta.

8.141

Sphaṭī is also called sphaṭikā, śvetā, śubhrā, raṅgadā, / dṛḍharaṅgā, raṅgadṛḍhā, and raṅgāṅgā.

8.142

Alum is astringent and hot; it pacifies vāta, pitta, kapha, and ulcers; / it destroys vitiligo and erysipelas, and causes contraction of the vagina.

8.143

Rājāvarta, nṛpāvarta, rājanyāvartaka, / āvartamaṇi, and likewise āvarta [are its names].

8.144

Lapis lazuli is pungent, bitter, cooling, and pacifies pitta; / lapis lazuli overcomes urinary disorders, and relieves vomiting and hiccups.

8.145

Cumbaka, kāntapāṣāṇa, ayaskānta, and lauhakarṣaka [are synonyms of lodestone]. / Cumbaka is scarifying (attenuating), cold, and removes fat, poison, and artificial poison.

8.146

Gairika, raktadhātu, gaireya, and girija [are synonyms of red ochre]. / Suvarṇagairika, however, is distinct, being indeed redder than that.

8.147

Both varieties of gairika are unctuous, sweet, astringent, cold, / beneficial to the eyes, and relieve burning sensation, bleeding disorder, kapha dosha, hiccups, and poison.

8.148

Khaṭikā, kaṭhinī, and lekhanī are declared [synonyms of chalk]. / Khaṭī relieves burning sensation and bleeding disorder, is cold, sweet, and overcomes poison and swelling.

8.149

These properties are declared [to arise] from external application; when ingested, it is similar to earth. / Khaṭī and white khaṭī are both proclaimed to be equal in properties.

8.150

Bālukā, sikatā, śarkarā, and retajā are spoken of [as synonyms of sand]. / Sand is scarifying (attenuating), cold, and destroys ulcers and chest wounds.

8.151

Kharparī and tutthaka are known to be zinc ore (calamine), which is distinct from tuttha (blue vitriol). / Whatever properties are stated for tutthaka are understood to belong to rasaka.

8.152

Kāśīśa, dhātukāśīśa, and also pāṃśukāśīśa [are synonyms of green vitriol / ferrous sulfate]. / That which is somewhat yellow is called puṣpakāśīśa.

8.153

Kāśīśa is sour, hot, bitter, and astringent. / It pacifies vāta and kapha dosha, is beneficial to the hair, removes eye itching and poison, / and is proclaimed to destroy dysuria, urinary calculus, and vitiligo.

8.154

Saurāṣṭrī, tuvarī, kālī, mṛttālaka, and surāṣṭrajā [are synonyms of alum-earth],

8.155

and it is also known as āḍhakī, mṛtsnā, and suramṛttikā. / All the properties of alum are declared to belong to saurāṣṭrī as well.

8.156

Mṛt, mṛd, mṛttikā, mṛtsnā, and kṣetrajā [are synonyms of earth]; kṛṣṇamṛttikā [is black earth]. / Black earth removes trauma, burning sensation, bleeding disorder, menorrhagia, kapha dosha, and pitta dosha.

8.157

Paṅka, jalakalka, culuka, kardama, mala, / cikila, palita, drāpa, palala, and niṣadvara [are synonyms of mud]. / Mud destroys burning sensation, bleeding disorder, and swelling; it is cooling and laxative.

8.158

Kapardaka, varāṭa, kapardī, and varāṭikā [are synonyms of cowrie shell]. / It cures ear discharge and impaired digestion, and destroys bleeding disorder and kapha dosha.

8.159

Śaṅkha, samudraja, kambu, sunāda, and pāvanadhvani [are synonyms of conch shell]. / Conch shell is beneficial to the eyes, cooling, cold, light, and overcomes pitta dosha, kapha dosha, and bleeding disorder.

8.159.p1

Bola, gandharasa, prāṇa, piṇḍa, and goparasa are synonymous [for myrrh].
Bola checks bleeding, is cold, intellect-promoting, a digestive stimulant, and a digestant;

8.160

it is sweet, pungent, and bitter, and conquers burning sensation, sweating, and all three doshas; / it destroys fever, epilepsy, and obstinate skin diseases, and purifies the uterus.

8.161

Kaṅkuṣṭha is produced on the foothills and peaks of the Himavat. / There, one kind is red-black, and another is known as daṇḍaka.

8.162

The first kaṅkuṣṭha, yellowish in lustre, heavy, and unctuous, is the best. / The one that is dark-hued, yellow, light, and devoid of essence, namely aṇḍaka, is not desirable.

8.163

Kaṅkuṣṭha, kākakuṣṭha, viraṅga, and kolakākula [are synonyms of kaṅkuṣṭha].

8.164

Kaṅkuṣṭha is purgative, bitter, pungent, hot, and imparts complexion; / it removes parasites, swelling, abdominal diseases, flatulence, abdominal tumors, constipation, and kapha dosha.

8.165

Because all people desiring wealth delight (ramante) in it exceedingly, / it is therefore called a gem (ratna) by experts in the science of words (grammar).

8.166

Ratna is neuter; maṇi is stated in the masculine and also in the feminine. / It is a variety of stone, and pearl and the rest are also called that.

8.167

Emerald, topaz, and ruby, / sapphire, hessonite, and cat's eye, / pearl, and coral: these are said to be the nine gems.

8.168

Pearl, diamond, cat's eye, ruby,

8.169

topaz, hessonite, sapphire, emerald, / and coral: these together are indeed the nine precious gems (mahāratnas).

8.170

Diamond is hīraka in the masculine, vajra in the neuter or masculine, candra, and maṇivara. / White, it is known as Brāhmaṇa; red, it is known as Kṣatriya; / yellow, as Vaiśya; and black, as Śūdra: thus it consists of four classes.

8.171

The Brāhmaṇa is regarded as rejuvenative and bestowing all perfections. / The Kṣatriya is known to destroy disease and dispel old age and death.

8.172

The Vaiśya is declared to bestow wealth and produce firmness of the body. / The Śūdra destroys diseases and causes halting of aging.

8.173

Now, of this [gem] which is of three kinds according to the distinction of male, female, and neuter: / the male, female, and neuter are to be recognized here by their characteristics. / Those that are well-rounded, complete in facets, endowed with brilliance, and comparatively large,

Linked texts (1)

Bhāvaprakāśanighaṇṭu — Bhāvamiśra 1550, Sanskrit

Glossary of Materia Medica of the Bhāvaprakāśa 8

Contents