Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t6.28

v2.c43.s3.t6.28

Tourmaline of course resembles diamond in lustre and high refractive index, but its hardness (7-1/4) is much less than that of diamond (10). We wonder whether blue sapphire (hardness 9) was misunderstood as blue vaikrānta of so-called ‘high hardness’. RRS (2.65-66) mentioned purification of vaikrānta with salty, alkaline and acidic liquids or solutions, and extraction of metal (2.69-71) or sattvapātana from vaikrānta. In this connection we may recall that Kauṭilya mentioned about a metal vaikṛntaka and its ore vaikṛntaka dhātu. We discussed the problematic identity of these two materials, and opined in chapter 5, that the ore could be magnetite and the metal iron. Did the authors of *RRS* equate vaikrānta or black tourmaline with Kauṭilya’s vaikṛntaka dhātu or magnetite, and proceed to extract metal (sattvapātana) from the former?