Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t6.27

v2.c43.s3.t6.27

We are not certain about the Sanskrit equivalent of tourmaline. Tagore (1879: 514-15) quoted a text: śvetam harinnilam ativa diptam gandhararatnam khalu vajratulyam and translated this as tourmaline (gandharva) which is white, green or blue and bright like lightning. Vajratulya could also mean ‘hard and sparkling like diamond’. It may be recalled that in GP, 1.77.2 the word gandharva appeared along with pulaka and garnet. This has been quoted before. On the other hand, the text of Rasaratnasamuccaya has equated vaikrānta ‘which possesses eight edges, eight facets, six angles, which is smooth, heavy and associated with mixed colours or play or colours’ miśrita varṇe yukta vaikrānta (RRS, 2.53). It was said to resemble vajra and could cut down or deform the metal: vikṛntayati lohāni tena vaikrāntaka smṛtaḥ (RRS, 2.60).