Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c44.s6.11

v2.c44.s6.11

Initially, the recipes of Patañjali, Caraka, Suśruta and the Mahāyāna mystic Nāgārjuna provided some impetus. After second century AD Indian alchemy came in contact with the Chinese tradition which believed in the efficacy of cinnabar or mercuric sulphide composed of Yin (female) and Yang (male) principles. The Indians adapted the Chinese idea, and evolved a Tāntric notion of alchemy by associating mercury with God Śiva’s semen and sulphur with Goddess Pārvatī’s menstrual discharge. Cinnabar became the symbol of the entire creation. Possibly the Mahāyāna Buddhists like Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga, who had access to both the Chinese (Taoist) and Indian (Tāntric) traditions, initiated the Tāntric variety of Indian alchemy, which gradually blossomed during the period AD 700-1300.