Rasendracudamani 16
English (machine translation) 16
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16.1
Rasendracūḍāmaṇi, 16
Now therefore is expounded the meritorious digestion which brings about mercurial success,
easy to perform, with easily obtainable ingredients, and tested previously.
16.2
Whoever gives a morsel devoid of leaves [of mica] to mercury here,
by him Gaurī's lord is pleased through the gift of the three worlds.
16.3
Whoever strives for mercurial fixation without having clipped the wings
by means of seeds—that wicked-minded one seeks liberation through attachment to sense objects!
16.4
Except for mica essence, there is nothing else that clips the wings of mercury;
with clipped wings and its path blocked, mercury is coloured and fixed.
16.5
Even mica sheet free of lustre, when digested in mercury,
would move divided sevenfold, and when consumed, it would vomit it out.
16.6
Even when a fourth part of its essence has been digested, mercury applied in respective formulations
yields results quickly and abundantly in respective diseases.
16.7
Where essence is liquefied as a seed in the operation of mercurial digestion,
it is also indicated as superior, and likewise [endowed] with eightfold qualities.
16.8
Mica and mercury are the final bodily substances of Śiva and Śivā;
from the union of these two, where is death and where is poverty for mortals?
16.9
Indeed, mercury does not swallow pure mica essence alone;
even if swallowed with great difficulty, it would not become all-pervading in its body.
16.10
Therefore, combined with other metals and joined with metallic essences,
prepared with mica and alkali, it solely bestows bodily perfection.
16.11
The unification of metals by means of mica is now thoroughly described.
16.12
With lac, jaggery, and resin of Shorea robusta, along with Dhataki, bdellium, and borax,
ground with breast milk in equal parts, [adepts] unite even difficult-to-blend metals with lodestone.
16.13
A pair of metals combined with pyrite powder will certainly unite,
like milk into milk, by blowing two or three times.
16.14
Indeed, mica essence joined with an equal share of pyrite essence,
reduced to residual mica by blowing, becomes easy to digest.
16.15
Or else, doubled pyrite held within mica essence
and digested inside it quickly brings about mercurial success.
16.16
In this way mercury can consume mica essence with tin and with lead;
that essence is praised for alchemy, but condemned for bodily perfection.
16.17
These two, lead and tin, are fetid and great flaws, wholly base;
when consumed, they quickly proliferate diseases indeed.
16.18
Having strained that essence along with its granules through a cloth,
and having ground it with mercury placed in a vessel made of one-tenth copper,
16.19
pure mercury combined with a sixty-fourth part of that,
accompanied by alkalis, acids, and salts, should be heated in a mortar for three days.
16.20
Having washed it with hot fermented wash and placed it in a glass vessel,
having applied alchemical flux above and below it to the extent of an eighth part of the mercury,
16.21
having placed birch bark at its opening, one should tie it with a single string;
having wrapped the vessel with a cloth, according to the procedure of the swing apparatus,
16.22
one should steam it for three days with sour gruels accompanied by all acids and cow urine;
then, placing it in a vessel of iron, stone, or conch,
16.23
having washed it with hot fermented wash and taken out that liquid with a cloth,
having dried it and rubbed with the hand the mercury that adhered, for a moment,
16.24
and having placed it in a fourfold cloth, if by firm squeezing
all of the mercury comes out, then the morsel has melted within its womb.
16.25
If any residue remains of the morsel, one should steam it again with alchemical flux;
in this manner, having given three morsels again with diligence according to tradition,
16.26
after the internal liquefaction of the remaining sixty morsels,
in the apparatus known as the tortoise described in the fifth chapter,
16.27
the mercury combined with alchemical flux should be heated in an enclosed vessel with a gentle fire of cow-dung cakes;
having removed it from the apparatus and washed it again with hot sour gruel,
16.28
one should triturate it for just one watch according to the method stated for grinding,
in order to produce purity; being pure, it takes up colours.
16.29
Therefore, mercury should be triturated diligently at every morsel and in every firing;
when thoroughly triturated, it becomes endowed with the power to destroy diseases.
16.30
The material to be incorporated—endowed with sour gruel combined with Convolvulus, the salt group, and natron—
and all [ingredients] such as essences and stones, served with excellent copper leaves and acid, is praised for mercurial consumption.
16.31
This sour gruel, triturated for seven days with a number of roots of plantain, salt, the three myrobalans, Gloriosa superba, turmeric, Moringa, and Achyranthes aspera,
[enables] mercury here to swallow the moistened mass of metals.
16.32
Impregnated ten times with the four alkalis and six salts mixed with liquid acids,
this alchemical flux is prescribed for effecting internal liquefaction of mica essence and metals like gold.
16.33
{The staff-bearer}
When purified mercury, having consumed mica essence weighing five śāṇas in a fire of sixty-day-rice alkali [ashes],
reaches its true nature in equal degree, it moves swiftly, smoking with essence; and being equal to that, it is called the 'staff-bearer' by the sages.
16.34
{Test for staff-bearer}
When a blade of grass thrown into mercury containing internalized liquefaction stands upright,
holding its staff erect, this is considered the staff-bearer mercury.
16.35
{Mercury with digested equal amount of mica: medicinal use}
If a mortal takes this mercury that has digested an equal amount of mica, in a dose of a single guñjā each day for just one month,
according to the regimen of the moon's phases through morsels, he will attain a hundred-year lifespan accompanied by happiness and welfare, freed from the disorders of old age,
16.36
free from wrinkles and grey hair, and also free from disease.
16.37
The great elixir is to be administered through this or that combination.
{Mica essence: medicinal properties}
Mica essence produces a sharp appetite and removes the host of diseases.
16.38
{Second morsel = mercury with digested double mica}
The second morsel is to be given in the manner of an eighth part;
and its moving and liquefying are arranged just as before.
16.39
Digestion is also to be carried out in the apparatus named 'tortoise';
and the tortoise apparatus is described in the fifth chapter.
16.40
[When] essence produced from mica, measuring a pala, is digested in twenty puṭas with forty movements arranged in the mercury,
when that is cast into the excellent mercury containing digested double-mica, resembling milky mud, it takes the form of buzzing mercury with sound.
16.41
{Mercury with digested double mica: medicinal properties}
Used daily in a dose of a single guñjā for just a year, the king of mercuries that has digested double mica
produces an excellent regimen, making one equal to ocean-born Kāmadeva and obtaining a long lifespan measuring a thousand years.
16.42
This mercury in a dose of a guñjā, taken with calotropis water,
will cure all diseases beginning with consumption, even those that are difficult to cure.
16.43
{Mercury with digested triple mica}
In this sequential manner, the third morsel is to be given;
and enclosing the substance in the intermediate apparatus described in the fifth chapter,
the alchemist should perform digestion.
16.44
{Third morsel => leech-bound => upward distillation => clipping of wings}
If the mercury, combined with fruitful mica, swallows it thirty times equally, it takes the form of a leech;
having cast off its entire body, it rises up and falls again into its own vessel; that mercury is [then] one whose wings have been clipped.
16.45
{Mercury with digested triple mica: medicinal use}
When mercury has thus formed, its body nourished by a morsel of threefold mica, turned to calx and combined with diamond calx and the like in the measure of a barleycorn,
if a mortal takes it regularly, he attains a divine body and will live at will for thirty hundred years of a kalpa.
16.46
Swooned with chalcopyrite calx in the measure of two white mustard seeds,
it destroys all diseases in a patient within seven doses.
16.47
{The fourth morsel}
Bound or brought to a calx, taken by men in the measure of a white mustard seed,
accompanied by the three pungents, embelia, and honey, used for four months,
16.48
it surely makes a human being free from wrinkles and grey hair,
rich in the pride of an intoxicated elephant, handsome as Kāmadeva in form.
16.49
Having a form that conquers the pride of Kāmadeva, free from sin and torment,
a man will live here for thirty-eight hundred years;
and from its use, he sports likewise with a hundred women.
16.50
By mere touch, this mercury that has attained binding effortlessly and surely delights
an excellent, heavy woman equal to iron.
16.51
A mortal can raise the dead by merely casting it into the eyes;
when inhaled, it quickly destroys all diseases; there is no doubt.
16.52
{The fifth morsel}
And thus the fifth morsel is to be given as an eighth part;
placed in a vessel and heated with fire, it does not escape in any way.
16.53
It is called 'one whose wings have been clipped', freed from all bad qualities;
this mercury, taken for three months in the measure of a black mustard seed
16.54
with embelia, the three myrobalans, and honey, brings union with the gods in the sky;
by mere smelling, the king of mercuries destroys all diseases.
16.55
These virtues of mercury have been declared by the alchemists;
all these virtues proclaimed by Bhairava are true.
16.56
{The sixth morsel}
The sixth morsel is also to be given as four palas, as before;
this [mercury], having digested sixfold mica, produces virtues equal to nectar.
16.57
In the measure of a mustard seed, combined with candy sugar for a month,
within a month it makes the body live for a lifespan of a hundred [years].
16.58
When bound and held in the mouth, it produces movement in the sky;
it also wards off weapons, even divine ones, by the thousands.
16.59
Endowed with the strength of ten elephants, glorious, revered in all worlds,
properly coloured, led across, and endowed with penetrating power,
it becomes an agent of transmuted millions; unbound, it pierces like a spear.
16.60
No one on the surface of the earth is able to speak the virtues of this mercury,
whether Śrī Somadeva or another; Śaṅkara alone knows its power.
16.61
{The seventh morsel}
The seventh morsel is to be given through the addition of two turns;
its liquefying and digestion should be performed just as before.
16.62
This mercury, turned to calx and consumed in the measure of a nit,
with the three myrobalans and candy sugar, within half a month makes a man
16.63
endowed with the beauty of ten million Kāmadevas, possessing valour equal to Indra,
worshipped by all the gods, having a lifespan of an era of Veda-kalpas,
16.64
endowed with knowledge, conquering time, possessed of knowledge of the three times,
capable of cursing and blessing, and charming hundreds of celestial women;
there is no doubt in this, because it is the word of Nandin.
16.65
Coloured, led across, and endowed with penetrating power,
it will surely transmute through smoke; no doubt should be entertained here.
16.66
{The eighth morsel}
And then the eighth morsel is to be given in an equal share;
the king of mercuries, having digested eightfold mica essence, even when blown
16.67
with hundreds of bellows, does not depart at all, nor is it diminished in the least;
this is called 'fire-enduring' by name, giving rise to virtues beyond count,
16.68
rich in radiance beyond count, of marvelous potency, and of great strength;
this king of mercuries, consumed in the measure of a nit along with white sugar,
16.69
At a single dose it makes a man handsome in all limbs, / possessing great sovereignty equal to Rudra, and valour equal to Viṣṇu,
16.70
with a fine complexion like the moon, splendour equal to the sun, / a lifespan equal to the Four-faced [Brahmā], and eyes like those of Garuḍa.
16.71
Suitably coloured, caused to flow, and endowed with penetrating power, / it becomes an arrow that hits its mark by sound, omnidirectional like Śiva.
16.72
Only one like Manthānabhairava and others, through hundreds of crores of extensive treatises / and with crores of verses in their entirety, can praise the great virtues / of this mercury, just like the waves in an ocean.
16.73
Due to a lack of devotion in the practitioner, through the displeasure of Śaṅkara, / through ignorance of the drugs as they really are, through incorrectly gathered medicines,
16.74
through lack of knowledge of Gandhavatī, and through improper procedure, / mercury does not succeed in the Kali age for those who perform it with doubt.
16.75
{Characteristics of clipped wings}
Incapable of flying up and falling down, with its paths obstructed, not possessing an ugly lustre, / mercury with mica digested within it is called 'clipped-winged'.
16.76
{Mercury: "age" according to mica}
When an equal amount of mica is digested, it is a child; with twice the mica, a youth; / one that has consumed four times the mica is a young man; one having digested six times the mica,
16.77
is old; and with eight times the mica it becomes very old. / But as a child, by proper preparation, it brings about transmutations of both body and metal.
16.78
When having reached the state of an amalgam paste, it is a youth that brings about transmutations of body and metal. / Mercury caused to flow with gold is a young man that accomplishes perfection.
16.79
Reduced to an ash, it is old, bringing about transmutations of body and metal. / Mercury that is very old and aged, held in the mouth, bestows all perfections.
16.80
There, the child and youth are not desired in rejuvenation therapy; / the young man is for the destruction of disease as well as the protection of the body.
16.81
Both the old and the very old bring about transmutations of body and metal.
{Mercury: influence of digested mica on physical properties}
Mercury with an equal amount of mica digested becomes somewhat fire-resistant and brilliant.
16.82
When twice the amount of mica is digested, it does not turn to smoke at all; / mercury with thrice the mica arrives at a solidification like curd.
16.83
Mercury brings about perfection of the body when four times the mica is digested; / but having six times the mica digested, mercury bestows the lifespan of Brahmā.
16.84
Having seven times the mica digested, it powerfully bestows long life; / when eight times the mica is digested, it grants the lifespan of Śaṅkara.
{Measures against indigestion of morsels}
Having sublimated mercury suffering from indigestion of morsels, one should kindle it again and digest it.
16.85
Then, having prepared seeds of copper, cast iron, / lodestone, silver, and gold, one should thoroughly digest them.
16.86
{Mercury: digestion with copper}
Liquefaction and likewise digestion occur according to the method stated for mica; / digestion with cast iron, lodestone, and copper is declared to be colouring for mercury.
16.87
Undertaken carefully with steamings of the respective alkalis and acids, it acts; / indeed, copper extracted a hundred times with cinnabar, [taken] threefold to mercury,
16.88
makes it through digestion resemble liquefied ruby. / Through copper, mercury becomes strong, with valour equal to the sun.
16.89
This mercury fully revives [a patient] brought to exhaustion by the three bodily humours. / Used for a month, measured each day as a guñjā, / this mercury will make a mortal equal to Bhīma, endowed with valour in sexual discharge and eating.
16.90
{Mercury: digestion with cast iron}
Penetration, digestion, transmutation, colouring, and imparting of swift velocity / will arise in mercury from a morsel of cast iron extracted a hundred times with cinnabar.
16.91
Mercury digested with an equal part of cast iron, consumed in a dose of a quarter-[māṣa] for two months, / makes a mortal free from fear of death, possessed of great strength, with diseases destroyed, and blessed with good sons.
16.92
When mercury has digested two, three, four, or five times the amount of cast iron, / by whom in this world can its progressively increasing virtue be described?
{Mercury: digestion with lodestone}
And thus mercury with digested lodestone becomes ten-million-fold in its virtues.
16.93
Mercury with twice the digested lodestone destroys the affliction of disease and completely removes the distorting spasm of illness in an instant; / the king of elixirs eliminates wrinkles, grey hair, morbid changes, suffering, poverty, and death, and produces excellent, virtuous offspring.
16.94
{Mercury: digestion with gold}
By a quarter part, a half part, three-quarter part, an equal part, / by two parts, three parts, and likewise by five parts,
16.95
when gold extracted a hundred times with pyrite is digested, the great elixir / becomes worthy of worship in the three worlds, with an efficacy equal to the wish-fulfilling jewel.
16.96
{Alchemical flux: for digestion of mercury with gold}
Sulphur impregnated a hundred times with cow's urine that has been cast with alkali from the five parts of radish and strained, / is an alchemical flux for the digestion of gold and other metals.
16.97
{Mercury: digested with equal gold: medicinal properties}
Mercury with an equal amount of gold digested, most worshipful through all its powers, consumed for only a single month in a dose of just a māṣa, / frees one from manifold diseases, strongly removes old age, and creates an unbridled digestive fire firm as the belly of a wolf.
16.98
It destroys completely barrenness and incurability in a man, / there is no doubt; and it makes a man possessor of a hundredfold wealth.
Linked texts (1)
- Rasendracūḍāmaṇi — Somadeva (alchemist), Sanskrit