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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c45: 9. Rasaratnasamuccaya — A Pinnacle in the Indian Iatro-Chemistry

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c45

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9. Rasaratnasamuccaya — A Pinnacle in the Indian Iatro-Chemistry

v2.c45.1

THE ancient or Hindu period in Indian history is supposed to have ended around twelfth century AD with the onset of Muslim influence in the sub-continent. However, the writing of Sanskrit texts continued even after this date. An early fourteenth century compilation — *Rasaratnasamuccaya* (hereafter abbreviated as *RRS*) — would be the terminal point in our discussion, even though some more iatro-chemical texts appeared after *RRS*. (Ray, 1956:158-207)

Technical Terms Related to Mineral and Metal Processing

v2.c45.s1.1

Sri Vāgbhaṭa compiled in *RRS* many details regarding gems, non-gem minerals, metals, alloys, metallic transformations (*lohavedha*) and the transformations of body tissues (*dehavedha*). For the conversion of minerals to a pharmaceutical recipe, acceptable to the body, several steps had been envisaged: purification (*śodhana*), incineration (*māraṇa*), metallic extraction (*satvapātana*), liquefaction (*druti*), etc.

v2.c45.s1.2

*Śodhana* by acidic (*amla*) and/or alkaline (*kṣāra*) material (8.59-8.60) was designed to remove the toxic material. *Satva* was defined as the metallic extract:

v2.c45.s1.3

क्षार अम्लद्रावयुक्तं धमातम् आकरकोष्ठके।
यस्ततो निर्गतः सारः सत्वम् इति अभिधीयते।।
*kṣāra amladrāvayuktam dhmātam ākarakoṣṭhake |*
*yastato nirgataḥ sāraḥ satvam iti abhidhīyate ||*
(*RRS*, 8.34)

v2.c45.s1.4

White flame at the time metal is released is called *śuddhāvarta*:

v2.c45.s1.5

शुद्धावर्तस्तदा ज्ञेयः स कालः सत्वनिर्गमे। *śuddhāvartastadā jñeyaḥ sa kālaḥ satvanirgame* | (*RRS*, 8.56)

v2.c45.s1.6

*Bījāvarta* is the characteristic colour of flame when the metal produced is about to melt (8.57). The metal could be cooled in the furnace (*svāṅga śīta*) or outside, *bahiḥśīta* (8.58).

v2.c45.s1.7

*Māraṇa* means killing or oxidation of metal from which metal can be regenerated (*utthāpana*) (8.39). If the metal is oxidised irreversibly, then it is called *apunarbhava* (8.29). Removal of a metallic impurity by blowing through a bent pipe (*vaṅkanāla*) in a way it is converted to an oxide scum is called *tāḍana* (8.32).

v2.c45.s1.8

*Ḍhālana* meant pouring of molten metal. *Capala* meant easy-melting oxide of lead or *nāga*, tin or *vaṅga*, etc. (8.41-8.44).

v2.c45.s1.9

The concepts of alloy (*miśraloha*) and heat-treatment were first put into literature by Somadeva in his *Rasendra Cūḍāmaṇi*, and *RRS* followed Somadeva. *Nirvāpana* or *nirvāhana* was defined as the art of putting one metal into another through *vaṅkanāla* (8.24-8.25). This was probably practised by introducing zinc vapour into molten copper to make brass. Addition of foreign substance to molten metal was also known as *āvāpa* or *prativāpa* (8.52).

v2.c45.s1.10

Two different procedures of quenching were described. *Abhiṣeka* meant pouring of water all around on a (molten) metal. Dipping of hot metal in liquid or water was known as *nirvāpa* or *svapana*:

v2.c45.s1.11

सलिलस्य परिक्षेपः सः अभिषेकः इति स्तुतः।
तपस्त्य अप्सु विनिक्षेपो निर्वापः स्वपनं च तत्।।
*salilasya parikṣepaḥ saḥ abhiṣekaḥ iti stutaḥ* |
*taptasya apsu vinikṣepo nirvāpaḥ svapanam ca tat* ||
(*RRS* 8.53-54)

v2.c45.s1.12

Some of the technical terms were specifically related to mercury. This liquid metal was purified by *pātana* or distillation, which involved ‘movement of vapour upwards, downwards and obliquely from the distillation equipment and thus removal from impurities such as tin and lead’:

v2.c45.s1.13

मर्दित पारदस्य यन्त्रस्थितस्य
उर्ध्व अधश्च तिर्यक्।
निर्यातनं पातनं संज्ञं उक्तम्
वंगाहि सम्पर्क कंचुकघ्ननम्।।

v2.c45.s1.14

mardita pāradasya yantrasthitasya
urdhvaṃ adhaśca tiryak ।
niryātanaṃ pātanaṃ samjñam uktam
vaṅgāhi samparka kañcukaghṇanam ॥
(RRS, 8.64)

v2.c45.s1.15

Mercury used to be converted to oxide or sulphide or solid amalgam ‘in which fluidity was lost’ (naṣṭa piṣṭa). Viḍa was the treatment with kṣāra, amla, gandhaka, lavaṇa, etc. prior to grāsa or jārana, or amalgamation of metal with mercury (8.67, 8.84). Vedhana or transmutation of base metals to silver or gold was expected by pasting mercury (lepa vedha) on the base metal, or by putting mercury into the molten base metal (kṣepa vedha). Iatro-chemistry had not yet snapped its extravagant alchemical roots.

v2.c45.s1.16

RRS contains a wide-ranging list of implements and equipments to be used in the alchemical laboratory (chapters 5 and 7). Several kinds of crucibles and furnaces (mūṣā, koṣṭhi, puṭa) were described (chapters 5, 9 and 10). The author, Śrī Vāgbhaṭa, openly acknowledged that his predecessor, Somadeva had collected most of the technical terms and their lucid descriptions from the earlier texts of Rasaśāstra, and thus ‘prepared a garland of jewels to be worn in an assembly of scholars’:

v2.c45.s1.17

स्फुटतर परिभाषां रत्नानि हुत्वा . . .
. . . कण्ठमालाम् . . . मण्डनार्थ सभयाम्।
sphuṭatara paribhāṣāṇām ratnāni hutvā . . .
. . . kaṇṭhamālām . . . maṇḍanārtha sabhāyām ।
(RRS, 8.98)

Gem Minerals

v2.c45.s2.1

In one of our previous chapters (chapter 7) we have mentioned the references to ratna or gem minerals in RRS (chapter 2), which is indeed an unique compilation (samuccaya) of rasa — as well as Ratnaśāstra text materials. Here we would merely emphasize that RRS believed the gem minerals to be potential sources of medicine. Hard minerals for example, when suitably administered, were believed to make the human tissues strong. Combined with mercury, precious stones could become medicines. This was another alchemical belief.

v2.c45.s2.2

Emerald was known as tārkṣya, garuḍodgāra, etc. Cat’s eye gem was called viduraka. Diamond was known as vajra as well as bhidura. Diamond was classified under three ‘genders’: masculine, feminine and neutral as well as under four conventional castes (RRS, 4.26-4.30).

v2.c45.s2.3

Vaikrānta has been described (*RRS*, 2.53-2.60) as ‘possessing eight edges, eight facets, six angles, smooth and heavy, associated with one or more of eight kinds of colours, occurring around Vindhya, able to cut down or deform the metals’:

v2.c45.s2.4

विकृन्तयति लोहानि तेन वैक्रान्तकः स्मृतः
*vikṛntayati lohāni tena vaikrāntakaḥ smṛtaḥ*
(*RRS*, 2.60)

v2.c45.s2.5

The above description reminds us of a similar one for diamond (4.27), and it is possible that vaikrānta of *RRS* was indeed diamond of different colours. However the reference to *satvapātana* of the gem or extraction of metal from it (2.69-2.71) makes us wonder whether the name was also applied to some other hard mineral containing iron (magnetite) or manganese. Many authors have translated vaikrānta as tourmaline.

Eight Mahārasas

v2.c45.s3.1

*RRS* has named eight mahārasas: *abhraka* (mica), *vaikrānta*, *mākṣika* (pyrites), *vimala* (iron pyrite), *adrija* (bitumen), *sasyaka* (blue vitriol), *capala* (bismuth or lead or tin ores yielding quick-melting metals) and *rasaka* (zinc ore). These were recommended for ‘collection after identification’ (2.1).

v2.c45.s3.2

Abhraka, tentatively translated as mica, was defined as a class of material which binds mercury, and therefore these materials were probably sulphur-bearing mica-like substances. Abhrakas were classified in *RRS* under four categories depending upon their colours and behaviours when put on fire.

v2.c45.s3.3

Pināka variety of abhraka was described as white and ‘setting free its dalas or folds’ when put on fire:

v2.c45.s3.4

पिनाकं पावकप्तप्तं विमुंचति दलोच्चयम्
*pinākaṃ pāvakottaptaṃ vimuñcati daloccayam*
(*RRS*, 2.5)

v2.c45.s3.5

The material could be vermiculite which indeed swells (due to expansion of water-rich lattice and elimination of water molecules) when put on fire.

v2.c45.s3.6

Nāga variety of abhraka is red and ‘produces hissing sound like that of snake when put on fire’.

v2.c45.s3.7

नागाभ्रं नागवत् पावकं संस्थितम्
*nāgābhraṃ nāgavat pāvakaṃ saṃsthitam*
(*RRS*, 2.6)

v2.c45.s3.8

The material could be red lead or, if the colour is not red, even mica-resembling galena; these produce, on reduction, lead or the metal known as nāga or ahi. Maṇḍūka variety is yellow, bursting into fragments when put on fire. Vajra variety of abhraka is black and does not change when put on fire (2.7-2.8). It was believed that yellow mica could produce gold, and white mica could produce silver through reaction with mercury (RRS, 2.9-2.10). This belief led to elaboration of the procedures for satvapātana (metal-extraction) from abhraka (2.27-2.38).

v2.c45.s3.9

We have already mentioned vaikrānta which was known both as a gem as well as one of the mahārasas. Mākṣika was known to occur in two varieties:

v2.c45.s3.10

माक्षिकं द्विविधो हेममाक्षिक स्तारमाक्षिकः mākṣiko dvividho hemamākṣika stāramākṣikaḥ (RRS, 2.81)

v2.c45.s3.11

Hemamākṣika or gold-coloured mākṣika, occurring around Kānyakubja, Tāptī river, etc., was most probably copper pyrite or chalcopyrite which could be reduced by organic materials such as sneha gavyājya (cow’s ghī or butter-fat) to produce the red metal, copper (2.85-2.89). Tāra mākṣika looked silvery and was probably iron pyrite.

v2.c45.s3.12

Vimala also represented pyrite-group minerals and sulphides. There were hema and tāra varieties as in mākṣika, and these were probably the same as chalcopyrite and pyrite. A third variety kāmsya vimala has been identified as arsenopyrite. Another particular variety, most probably galena, was described (2.96-2.102) as ‘cubic in shape, having angles and facets, brilliant, reducible by borax and charcoal to yield sīsaka-type metal’:

v2.c45.s3.13

वर्तुलः कोणसंयुक्तः . . . षट्प्रस्थकोकिलै धर्मतो विमलः . . . सीससन्भः vartulaḥ koṇasaṃyuktah . . . ṣaṭprasthakokilai dharmāto vimalaḥ . . . sīsasannibhaḥ

v2.c45.s3.14

Śilājatu or bitumen was known to be an exudate from the lower part of the Himālayas. It could be sasatva (with metallic content) or niḥsatva (without any metallic content) (2.109).

v2.c45.s3.15

Sasyaka or blue vitriol was likened to the blue neck of a peacock (2.125). Rājanighaṇṭu commented that sasyaka is a natural material, while tuttha or tutthaka (copper sulphate) is artificially prepared. “In the absence of one, the other may be used”. The chemical identity of the two was not firmly established. Similarly, while describing satvapātana or metal extraction from sasyaka by reduction-heating in a crucible, the identity of the red metal ‘looking like indragopa or coccinella insect’ with copper was guessed but not confidently affirmed (RRS, 2.133-2.134):

v2.c45.s3.16

इन्द्रगोपाकृति चैव सत्वं। ताम्ररूपं सत्वं मुंचति सस्यकम्।। indragopākṛti caiva satvam । tāmrarūpaṃ satvaṃ muñcati sasyakam ।।

v2.c45.s3.17

Capala was defined as a material which melts quickly like *vanga* or tin when put on fire *vaṅgavad dravate vahnau capalastena kīrtitaḥ* (RRS, 2.143) and has six edges, brilliance and heaviness. *Capala* could be yellow, white, red or black. Was the heavy black variety galena, yielding low-melting metal lead? As a matter of fact, *RRS* does refer to *nāgasambhūta capala*, or lead-bearing *capala* (8.41-8.42) and *vaṅgasambhūta capala*, another variety containing tin (8.43-44). Some scholars have claimed that a third variety of *capala* contained bismuth.

v2.c45.s3.18

Details about *rasaka* or zinc blende would be mentioned later in connection with zinc metallurgy.

Uparasa Materials

v2.c45.s4.1

Eight drugs of *uparasa* group, useful in *pāradakarma* or fixation of mercury, were stated to be: *gandhāśma* or *gandhaka* (sulphur), *gairi* (red ochre), *kāsīsa* (ferrous sulphate), *kāṅkṣī* (alum), *tāla* (orpiment), *śilā* (realgar), *añjana* (collyrium) and *kaṅkuṣṭha* (rhubarb) (RRS, 3.1).

v2.c45.s4.2

Four varieties of sulphur were known: red or *śukacancunibha*, yellow or *śukapiccha*, white variety, good for reaction with iron, and black sulphur which may be used as an anti-bacterial medicine. Sulphur was purified by boiling or melting in milk and filtration (3.20-3.22).

v2.c45.s4.3

*Gairika* (red ochre) could be deep red (*svarṇa gairika*) or copper-coloured (*pāṣāṇa gairika*) (RRS, 3.46-3.48). An earlier scholar Nandi was quoted to say that *gairika* is itself a *satva* or metal. *RRS* quoted dissenting scholars saying that *satva* (iron) can be obtained from *gairika* (iron oxide) (3.49).

v2.c45.s4.4

*Kāsīsa* (ferrous sulphate) could be of two varieties: *puṣpakāsīsa*, which imparts black colour to hair and removes pimples (*vraṇaghna*), and *bālukākāsīsa* which looks like *aguru-dhuma* and is either alkaline or acidic in solution.

v2.c45.s4.5

क्षाराम्लागुरुधूमाभं
kṣārāmlāgurudhūmābham
(RRS, 3.52)

v2.c45.s4.6

We know that ferrous sulphate hydrolyses, and the solution is not neutral.

v2.c45.s4.7

*Tuvarī* or alum used to be obtained from the mountain rocks of Saurāṣṭra. This was widely used as a mordant to bind and deepen the colour of a dye such as mañjiṣṭha (RRS, 3.59). Two varieties were recognised: slightly yellow, heavy and brilliant phaṭakī or piṭikā, and white, light and amla or sour in taste, phullikā. The latter was known to react with copper sheets (RRS, 3.61-62) indicating the reactivity of copper with the sulphate ion from alum. Kāṅkṣī described as kaṣāya or astringent is also alum.

v2.c45.s4.8

Tālaka/tāla / haritāla (orpiment) could be of two types: many-layered, golden coloured, heavy, brilliant patra tālaka, and massive piṇḍa tālaka containing less satva or pale yellowish metal (RRS, 3.76-77).

v2.c45.s4.9

Manaḥśilā or realgar came under three varieties: yellowish red, heavy śyāmāṅgī, copper-red kaṇavīraka like kaṇavīra or karavī flower and deep red, heavy khaṇḍakhyā which contains more metal (3.89-90).

v2.c45.s4.10

Five varieties of añjanas or collyrium were described: sauvirāñjana, srotāñjana, nīlāñjana which were antimony sulphide, carrollite (copper-cobalt sulphide) etc.

v2.c45.s4.11

Navasāra, also known as cullikā lavaṇa was produced by burning shoots of bamboos, or pilu woods. Typified as a kṣāra or alkali (3.127-129) it was likely to contain potassium carbonate and potassium chloride; Ray (1956:176) claimed this to be sal-ammoniac or ammonium chloride but confessed that ‘sal-ammoniac, however, cannot be an alkali’.

v2.c45.s4.12

Identity of some of the cited minerals could not be firmly established: Kampillaka from Saurāṣṭra, which looks like brick powder, ‘white or quartz-like gauripāṣāṇa which yields a white satva’, yellow marine nodules varāṭikā, girisindūra ‘inside rocks of big mountains which becomes red on drying’, etc.

v2.c45.s4.13

Mṛddāraśṛṅga was probably litharge or lead monoxide from which lead could be extracted. It ‘came from Gurjara province near the Arbuda mountains, coloured yellow with lamellae yielding lead and used as a hair-tonic’

v2.c45.s4.14

सदलं पीतवर्णं गुर्जरमण्डले
अर्बुदस्य गिरेः पार्श्वे जातं
मृदारशृङ्गकं सीसत्वं केशरं जनमुत्तमम्।।
sadalam pītavarṇam gurjaramaṇḍale
arbudasya gireḥ pārśve jātam
mṛddāraśṛṅgakam sīsasatvam keśaram janamuttamam ||
(RRS, 3.146)

v2.c45.s4.15

Hiṅgula/darada or cinnabar was known to occur in two varieties: inferior grade śukaṭuṇḍa and white-lined, coral-like haṃsapāka (RRS 3.139).

v2.c45.s4.16

Hiṅgula when distilled, released its satva ‘which is definitely like suta or mercury, and has the property of the material which is fixed by sulphur’

v2.c45.s4.17

दरदः पातनयन्त्रे पातितश्च जलाश्रये
तत् सत्वं सुतसंकाशं जायते नात्र संशयः
एतस्मादाहुतः सुतो जीर्णगन्धसमो गुणैः
daradaḥ pātanayantre pātitaśca jalāśraye
tat satvaṃ sutasaṃkāśaṃ jāyate nātra saṃśayaḥ
etasmādāhutaḥ suto jīrṇagandhasamo guṇaiḥ
(RRS, 3.141 and 3.144)

v2.c45.s4.18

It may be noted that the author fell short of saying that the metal obtained from mercuric sulphide was mercury itself — merely stated the close resemblance between the two. As a matter of fact, the metal extracted from hiṅgula in an apparatus like vidyādhara or ḍamaru yantra was called hiṅgulākṛṣṭa and not rasa or mercury (RRS, 8.37 and 9.56-57). Probably it was believed that the property of the end-product (metal) was dependent on the raw material from which it was extracted.

v2.c45.s4.19

For the metallurgical practices, special crucibles were made for which specific raw materials were necessary. Toyamṛttikā, a water-proof paste was made by mixing fine powder of maṇḍūra (rusted iron), guḍa (molass), cūrṇa (limestone) and watery extract of acacia indica; crucible made of this paste was fired before use. Vahnimṛttikā or fire-clay crucibles and seals were made using khaḍiā (chalk), lavaṇa (salt), maṇḍūra (iron rust), milk, etc. This resists intense heat and is impervious to mercury-liquid and as well as vapour. ‘Mercury sealed by this mixture, known to Nāgārjuna, Nandi, Somedeva etc., cannot escape, just like a man bound with an ardent love of a mature lustful lady’ (RRS, 9.64).

v2.c45.s4.20

एतया मृत्न्या रुद्धो न गन्तुं क्षमते रसः।
विदग्ध वनिता प्रौढ़ प्रेम्ना रुद्धः पुमानिव।।
etayā mṛtsnyā ruddho na gantuṃ kṣamate rasaḥ
vidagdha vanitā prauḍha premnā ruddhaḥ pumāniva ||

v2.c45.s4.21

In the tenth chapter of RRS, different kinds of lavaṇa (salt), kṣāra (alkali), amla (acidic liquids) were mentioned. We have stated them in the previous chapters. RRS mentioned that:

v2.c45.s4.22

क्षाराः सर्वे मलं हन्युः अम्लं शोधनजारणम्
kṣārāḥ sarve malam hanyuḥ amlam śodhanajāraṇam
(RRS, 10.96)

v2.c45.s4.23

All the alkalies destroy impurities and the acids are used for śodhana (purification) etc.

v2.c45.s4.24

Many specific plant and animal products such as *taila* (oil), *vasā* (fat), etc. were mentioned and used as reductants, with the belief that they played specific roles, apart from serving the general purpose of reducing minerals to metals in a furnace.

v2.c45.s4.25

Organic and inorganic fluxes (such as *ṭankaṇa* or borax), called *drāvaṇa*, were used ‘to aid in the melting of metals which are otherwise difficult to melt’, i.e., to lower the fusion point:

v2.c45.s4.26

दुर्द्राव अखिल लोहादेः द्रावणाय गणो मतः
durdrāva akhila lohādeḥ drāvaṇāya gaṇo mataḥ
(*RRS*, 10.95)

Some Salts and Natural Products

v2.c45.s5.1

Ray (1956: 201-32) has commented on some of the terms related to salts and natural products mentioned in the *Rasaśāstra* texts including *RRS*, and we may summarise these comments.

v2.c45.s5.2

Romaka has been described: ‘also called *Śākāmbari*, is the salt produced from the Sambar Lake near Ajmer’. We however believe that this was some material imported from the Roman empire.

v2.c45.s5.3

Audbhida has been identified by Ray (1956: 204) as the saline deposit *reh* obtained as an efflorescence, containing chloride and sulphates of sodium. But this *reh* has always been known in India as *sarjikā mṛttikā* or *sājimāṭi*. Audbhida was most likely the potassium-containing ash from the plants (*udbhida*), which also contained chlorides to ‘kill’ mercury.

v2.c45.s5.4

Viḍa/viṭ or black-salt probably used to be prepared by fusing common salt with sodium sulphate or *sājimāṭi* and organic materials like the fruit of *T. Chebula*. The reddish brown colour of *viḍa* is due to reduction of the sodium sulphate to sulphide which converts the iron impurity (this as well as sulphate come from the common salt) to the coloured sulphide. The material was used medicinally to aid digestion. (Ray, 1956: 205)

v2.c45.s5.5

Sauvarcala stands for saltpetre in *Rasārṇava* and other *Rasa* texts. Its use in fireworks or *Yogavartikā* was mentioned by Daṇḍi (sixth century AD) in his *Daśakumāracarita*. It occurred extensively as an efflorescence on the soil in North India. There is a seventeenth century description of its preparation at Ajmer by lixiviation of the soil, evaporation and crystallisation. (Ray, 1956: 229)

v2.c45.s5.6

Alum has been known as *saurāṣṭra* (from Saurāṣṭra or Sūrat), as well as *kāmkṣī* and *tuvarī*. Ferrous sulphate was known as *kāsīsa* and copper sulphate as *sasyaka*. These alteration products originated from rocks and mines. Several nineteenth century literatures described their manufacture (in Cutch, Rajasthan, etc.) by successive operations of lixiviation, evaporation and crystallisation. (Ray, 1956: 230-33) Similar processes must have existed earlier for many centuries.

v2.c45.s5.7

Kamkuṣṭham was possibly an efflorescence of magnesium and sodium sulphate occurring at the foot of the Himālayas (RRS, 3.109). The yellow colour was due to admixture with ferruginous dirt. This material was used as a purgative. (Ray, 1956: 201)

Metals and Alloys in RRS

v2.c45.s6.1

Rasaratnasamuccaya (RRS) provided a definition and classification for the metallic systems. The word metal or loha was defined as

v2.c45.s6.2

धातुलोहे लुह इति गतः स अपि कर्षार्थवाची dhāturlohe luha iti gataḥ sa api karṣārthavācī (RRS, 5.1)

v2.c45.s6.3

derived from the root luha which means to be extracted. Four śuddha or pure lohas were named: suvarṇa, rajata, tāmra and loha (iron). Low melting-point metals such as nāga (lead) and vaṅga (tin) were known as pūtilohas. Pittala (brass), kāṃsya (bell-metal) and vartaloha (five metal alloy) were known as miśralohas or alloys. It is noted that by the time of RRS, iron came to be known as loha or lauha, and brass as pittala or pītala, derived from pīta tāla or yellow metal. Along with bell-metal, brass was known as a kṛtrima loha or miśra loha (10.66).

v2.c45.s6.4

Gold was categorised; it could be prākṛta (native), sahaja (natural), vahni-sambhūta (fire-produced), khani-sambhūta (from the mines) or rasendra-vedasanjāta (transmuted from a base metal). One method of purification was to heat gold leaf with salt and red ochre (5.2).

v2.c45.s6.5

Silver was described as ‘compact, clear, bright, heavy, white on cutting, soft, free from fissures, like śaṅkha (conch) in colour’ (5.26). Silver melted with lead and borax undergoes purification (5.34). The process is practically that of cupellation. Copper or tāmra used to come from Nepal (nepālaka) or some other foreign country (mlecchaka) (5.44). Nepālaka is soft, red and resistant to strong hammering.

v2.c45.s6.6

Vaṅga or tin was stated to be of two kinds: khuraka and miśraka. The former is endowed with superior qualities: White, soft, cool (to the touch), readily fusible and bright, and does not clink when bent or struck (5.154). Miśraka variety of tin is dirty white and was used after killing as an anthelmintic and a curative for urinary disorders (5.155).

v2.c45.s6.7

Nāga or sīsa has been described as

v2.c45.s6.8

द्रुतद्रावं महाभारं च्छेदे कृष्णमुज्ज्वलम्
पूतिगन्धं बहिः कृष्णं शुद्धम् सीसम् अतः अन्यथा।
drutadrāvaṃ mahābhāraṃ cchede kṛṣṇasamujvalam
pūtigandhaṃ bahiḥ kṛṣṇaṃ śuddham sīsam ataḥ anyathā ।
(5.171)

v2.c45.s6.9

Readily fusible, very heavy, presents a black and bright appearance on fracture, is of foetid odour and black exterior’.

v2.c45.s6.10

Apart from gold and copper, the three other metals which played important roles in the history of the ancient India were mercury, zinc and iron, and we would discuss their references in RRS later and separately. Now we would discuss some of the alloys mentioned in RRS.

v2.c45.s6.11

A composition of bronze known as kāṃsya or ghoṣa was described as

v2.c45.s6.12

अष्टभागेन ताम्रेण द्विभाग कुटिलेन च
विद्रुतेन भवेत् कांस्यम्।।
aṣṭabhāgena tāmreṇa dvibhāga kuṭilena ca
vidrutena bhavet kāṃsyam ।।
(5.205)

v2.c45.s6.13

Twenty per cent tin bronze is obtained by melting eight parts of copper with two parts of tin, ‘best done at Saurāṣṭra’.

v2.c45.s6.14

There was a process for recovering copper from ghoṣa or bell-metal

v2.c45.s6.15

स्वल्पतालयुक्तं कांस्यं वंकनालेन ताडितम्
मुक्तरंगं हि तत् ताम्रं घोषाकृष्टं उदाहृतम्
svalpatālayuktaṃ kāṃsyam vaṅkanālena tāḍitam
muktaraṅgaṃ hi tat tāmraṃ ghoṣākṛṣṭaṃ udāhṛtam
(8.37)

v2.c45.s6.16

When molten bell-metal is heated with a little tāla or orpiment and blown with a bent tube, it is freed of tin of raṅga, and what we get is ghoṣākṛṣṭa tāmra (copper extracted from bell metal).

v2.c45.s6.17

Copper-lead alloy made from mākṣika or pyrites was known as śulvanāga (8.18-19). Sixteen parts of silver and twelve parts of copper melted together was known as chandrārka (8.23).

v2.c45.s6.18

*Varanāga* was probably an iron-antimony alloy:

v2.c45.s6.19

तीक्ष्णं नीलांजनोपेतं ध्मातं हि बहुशो दृढम्।
मृत्कृष्णं द्रुद्रावं वरनागं तदुच्यते।।
*tikṣṇam nīlāñjanopetam dhmātam hi bahuśo dṛḍham*
*mṛdukṛṣṇam drutadrāvam varanāgam taducyate* ||

v2.c45.s6.20

*Varanāga*, a low melting alloy was made by melting cast iron or steel with *nilāñjana* or antimony sulphide. *Varaloha* was obtained by melting copper with cast iron or steel (8.12).

v2.c45.s6.21

*Vartaloha* has been described as:

v2.c45.s6.22

कांस्य अर्क रीति लोह अहिजातं तत् वर्तलोहकम्।
तदेव पंचलोहाख्यं लोहविद्भिः उदाहृतम्।।
*kāmsya arka rīti loha ahijātam tat vartalohakam* |
*tadeva pañcalohākhyam lohavidbhiḥ udāhṛtam* ||
(5.212)

v2.c45.s6.23

An alloy of five metallic systems (*pañcaloha*) of *kāmsya*, copper (*arka*), brass (*rīti*), iron and lead’.

v2.c45.s6.24

Fused mass of multi-metallic alloy, if grey or yellow, used to be called *piñjarī* (8.21).

Rasa and Rasaka in RRS

v2.c45.s7.1

Mercury was reckoned as a very important metallic element in Indian alchemy and believed to be able to ‘transmute’ base metals to gold, and to provide an ‘elixir of life’. It was known as: *raso rasendraḥ sutaśca pārado miśrakastathā ‘rasa, rasendra, suta, pārada and miśraka’* (1.68). *Rasa* is that *rasanāt sarvadhātunām rasa iti abhidhīyate* which consumes all metals into liquid’ or amalgamates (1.77). *Pārada* ‘takes the persons across the oceans of diseases’.

v2.c45.s7.2

Mercury was obtained by distillation of cinnabar or *hingula/darada* in a *Vidyādhara Yantra* (9.57). The distillate was called *hingulākṛṣṭa rasa* (8.37). Cinnabar was known to occur in two varieties: low quality *śukaṭuṇḍa* or *carmāra* and good quality *haṃsapāda*, having white lines and looking like coral (3.141-144).

v2.c45.s7.3

Yaśodhara had quoted Nāgārjuna in his *Rasaprakāśasudhākara*: *pārado rasakaścaiva dehalohakarāvubhau* that both *rasa* or *pārada* (mercury) and *rasaka* (zinc ore/metal) when administered, make the body strong. Both the metals are distillation products, and hence the similarity in the names: *rasa* and *rasaka*.

v2.c45.s7.4

RRS stated that rasaka or calamine occurred in two forms: durdura, full of flakes or laminated, and kāravellaka, which is non-laminated (2.149). Other Rasaśāstra texts have provided other synonyms for rasaka such as kharpara, netrarogāri(zinc salt might have been used in eye-ointments), rītikṛt, tāmrarañjaka, etc. Mṛttikā type ore is yellow, rich in metal, not losing weight when heated. Guḍa and pāṣāṇa varieties are of inferior quality.

v2.c45.s7.5

Calamine was supposed to be purified by roasting and plunging in acidic lemon juice, urine, or sour gruel (2.154-155). Zinc ore of Rajasthan occurs in calcitic and dolomitic gangue. Probably the operation recommended in RRS removed carbonates by thermal decomposition and acidic dissolution. Smelting involved reduction-roasting of zinc ore with carbonaceous materials and borax in brinjal-shaped crucible or vṛntāka mūṣā:

v2.c45.s7.6

वृन्ताक आकार मूषायां नालं द्वादशांगुलम्
धत्तुरपुष्पवत् च उर्ध्वं सुदृढं श्लिष्टपुष्पवत्।
अष्टांगुलं च सच्छिद्रं सा स्यात् वृन्ताक मूषिको
अनया खर्परादीनां मृदुनां सत्वमाहरेत्।।
vṛntāka ākāra mūṣāyāṃ nālaṃ dvādaśāṅgulam
dhattura puṣpavat ca urdhvaṃ sudrḍhaṃ śliṣṭapuṣpavat ।
aṣṭāṅgulaṃ ca sacchidraṃ sā syāt vṛntāka mūṣiko
anayā kharparādīnāṃ mṛdunāṃ satvamāharet ।।
(RRS, 10.22-23)

v2.c45.s7.7

Vṛntāka mūṣā or brinjal-shaped crucible is attached with a twelve-angula long tube over it like an inverted flower of dhattūra. A hole is made at the length of eight angula in the tube. This crucible is used for the extraction of satva (metal zinc) from the soft drugs like kharpara, etc.

v2.c45.s7.8

Several techniques of smelting were discussed. According to the first method, the dried charge was to be heated in the crucible, closed and stacked one over another (mūṣām mūṣopari nyasya) and the reduction was supposed to be complete as soon as the blue flame (due to carbon monoxide) turned white (jvāla bhaved nilā sitā yadi), when the crucible was to be gripped by a pair of tongs and tilted to pour the molten metal (2.157-161). The second method involved mixing the charge thoroughly with binders and putting this in the crucible as pellets (gutikākrti) (2.163-164). The third method involved disillation of the produced zinc metal in the inverted crucible (adhomukham mūṣā) and collection of the condensed vapour in a vessel filled with water kept in a hermetically sealed container below the crucible (patitam sthālikā nīre satvam) (2.165-166). This last method was commercially followed in India.

v2.c45.s7.9

RRS described several varieties of brass or *pittala*:

v2.c45.s7.10

अथ पित्तलम् रीतिका काकतुण्डी च द्विविधं पित्तलं भवेत्। सन्तप्ता कांजिके क्षिपता ताम्राभा रीतिका मता।। एवं या जायते कृष्णा काकतुण्डीति सा मता।। गुर्वी मृद्वी च पीताभा सारांगी ताड़नक्षमा। सुस्निग्धा मक्ष्णांगी च रीतिरेतादृशी शुभा।। पूतिगन्धा तथा लघ्वी रीतिर्नेष्टा रसादिषु।।

v2.c45.s7.11

*atha pittalam* *ritikā kākatuṇḍī ca dvidvidhaṃ pittalaṃ bhavet* | *santaptā kāñjike kṣiptā tāmrābhā ritikā matā* || *evaṃ yā jāyate kṛṣṇā kākatuṇḍīti sā matā* || *gurvī mṛdvī ca pītābhā sārāṅgī tāḍanakṣamā* || *susnigdhā masṛṇāṅgī ca ritiretādṛśī śubhā* || *pūtigandhā tathā laghvī ritirneṣṭā rasādiṣu* ||

v2.c45.s7.12

*Pittala* is of two kinds — *ritikā* and *kākatundī*. The former on being heated and plunged into sour gruel, turns copper-coloured; the latter one turns black by the above treatment (5.191-193).

v2.c45.s7.13

A good variety of *ritikā* or *rīti* was stated to be heavy, soft, yellow, resistant to hammering or malleable (*tāḍanakṣamā*), brilliant and smooth. An unsatisfactory variety is pale yellow, hard, rough with spots, not malleable, foul-smelling (high sulphur?) and not suitable for medicinal purposes (5.193-194).

v2.c45.s7.14

Presumably the ‘good variety of *ritikā* or *rīti*’ is alpha-brass which is known to withstand a remarkable degree of deformation by cold work without the slightest sign of fracture. The other variety of *ritikā*, which is not malleable, could be either high zinc (more than 30 per cent) beta-brass, having low ductility, or leaded brass.

v2.c45.s7.15

For making statues, 1-4 per cent lead is added in brass to help in fluidity during casting. But lead is almost insoluble in the liquid and solid brass phases, and thus a little excess of lead appears as black globules and elongated grains; this also causes the turnings to break up into small pieces. *Kākatundī* was probably leaded brass, the source of lead being the zinc ore itself. The *RRS* mentioned (8.18-19) that lead was often used to make *śulvanāga* or copper-lead alloy.

v2.c45.s7.16

Brass used to be killed for medicinal purposes by heating with sulphur, orpiment, etc. (2.167 and 5.201).

Ferrous Materials in RRS

v2.c45.s8.1

The *RRS*, though primarily a medicinal text, provides valuable informations regarding the twelfth-fourteenth centuries AD status of Indian knowledge related to the ferrous materials. Such a detailed coverage (*RRS*, 5.70-5.99) had hardly been presented in any earlier literature.

v2.c45.s8.2

It was stated that there are three kinds of iron: *muṇḍam* (wrought iron), *tīkṣṇam* (cast or carburised iron or steel) and *kāntam* (the magnetic variety or the variety made from magnetite) (*RRS*, 5.70).

v2.c45.s8.3

*Muṇḍaloha* could be *mṛdu* type, which softens quickly, is smooth or glossy and does not break or is without fissure (*abisphotam*); it could be of *kuntham* variety which expands with great difficulty on hammering; or it could be *kadāram* type which breaks when struck with a hammer and has a black fracture (5.71-72).

v2.c45.s8.4

There are six varieties of *tīkṣṇam* (5.76). The *khara* variety is hard, breaks on bending, free of *pogaras* (hair follicles or hair-like lines) and on fracture, exhibits mercury-like shining surfaces (5.77). The *sāra* variety, ‘obtained from white earth’, has *pogaras* and its edges can be destroyed quickly (5.78). The *hṛnnāla* variety is whitish black, has *pogara* and is hard to pierce (5.79). The brittle variety looking like hair follicle is known as *aṅga/vaṅga/pogara/tārāvaṭṭa* (5.80). *Vājira* looks greyish black, and is full of hard *pogaras*, overspread by dense thin linings (5.81). *Kālāyasa* is bluish black, dense, smooth, bright, and its sharpened edge is not spoiled by hammering (5.82). These *tīkṣṇa* varieties are hundred times better (*śatottaram*) than other non-*tīkṣṇa* varieties (5.83).

v2.c45.s8.5

The *kāntalohas* could be classified according to colour as *pīta*, *rakta* and *kṛṣṇa* after the trinity gods (5.84-86), or according to their magnetic properties:

v2.c45.s8.6

भ्रामयेत् लोहजातं यत् तत् कान्तं भ्रामकं मतम्।
चुम्बयेत् चुम्बकं कान्तं कर्षयेत् कर्षकं तथा
साक्षात् यत् द्रावयेत् लोहं तत् कान्तं द्रावकं मतम्।
तत् रोमकान्तं स्फुटितात् ततो रोमोद्गमो भवेत्।।
*bhrāmayet lohajātaṃ yat tat kāntaṃ bhrāmakaṃ matam |*
*cumbayet cumbakaṃ kāntaṃ karṣayet karṣakaṃ tathā*
*sākṣāt yat drāvayet lohaṃ tat kāntaṃ drāvakaṃ matam |*
*tat romakāntaṃ spuṭitāt tato romodgamo bhavet ||*

v2.c45.s8.7

*Bhrāmaka* type is weakly magnetic, causing movement of ferrous materials; *cumbaka* type ‘kisses’ or causes adherence; *karṣaka* attracts, and *drāvaka* is strongly magnetic. The fifth variety of *kāntaloha*, giving rise to hair-like structures is called *romaka* (5.90-91).

v2.c45.s8.8

We conjecture that *kāntaloha* was made by reduction of magnetitic ore

v2.c45.s8.9

क्षेत्रं खात्वा ग्रहीतव्यं तत् प्रयत्नेन धीमता।
मारुतात् पविक्षिप्तं वर्जयेत् नात्र संशयः।।
*kṣetraṃ khātvā grahitavyaṃ tat prayatnena dhīmatā |*
*mārutāt pavikṣiptaṃ varjayet nātra saṃśayaḥ ||*

v2.c45.s8.10

‘obtained by carefully digging it out of the mines; that which had remained exposed to the sun and the atmosphere was avoided’ (5.94), presumably because the oxidised hematite on the surface mines would have different reducibility properties.

v2.c45.s8.11

It was known that *kāntaloha* (iron obtained from magnetite) vessel was not wetted by oil

v2.c45.s8.12

तैलबिन्दुर्न लिप्तम् पाके दुग्धं भवति
शिखराकारकं नैति भूमौ
*tailabindurna liptam pāke dugdhaṃ bhavati*
*śikharākārakam naiti bhūmau*

v2.c45.s8.13

or boiling milk ‘which does not overflow but rises high like a peak’ (5.95). The surface of *kāntaloha* probably adsorbed odoriferous and organo-leptic compounds, as *gandhaṃ hiṅgum tyajati ca tiktatām nimbalkah* it was stated that asafoetida gives up its odour, and the bitterness of *nima* (Azadirachta indica) decoction is lost when these materials are kept in a vessel made of *kāntaloha* (5.95). Such accurate observations about the non-wetting by oil or milk, and adsorption properties of the *kāntaloha* surface are indeed very fascinating.

v2.c45.s8.14

The different varieties of iron were ‘killed’ for medicinal purpose by roasting in air or with mercury, sulphur or cinnabar (5.96-5.148). It was known that

v2.c45.s8.15

ये गुणा मारिते मुण्डे ते गुणा मुण्डकिट्के
तस्मात् सर्वत्र मण्डरं रोगर्शान्त्यै प्रयोजयेत
*ye guṇā mārite muṇḍe te guṇā muṇḍakiṭṭake*
*tasmāt sarvatra maṇḍaraṃ rogarśāntyai prayojayet*

v2.c45.s8.16

the qualities of ‘killed’ *muṇḍaloha* (roasted in air) and of the *muṇḍakiṭṭaka/maṇḍara* or the rust of iron are the same, and therefore the latter was also acceptable for medicinal purposes (5.148). We know from modern science that both are oxides of iron.

v2.c45.s8.17

The high reactivity of mercury (an intoxicated elephant) with *kāntaloha* (bent hook to restrain or fix the animal) was poetically described (5.91):

v2.c45.s8.18

मदोन्मत्तगजः सुतः कान्तम् अंकुशम् उच्यते
*madonmattagajaḥ sutaḥ kāntam aṅkuśam ucyate*

Some Tentative Interpretations

v2.c45.s9.1

We may now attempt to provisionally interpret some of the *RRS* terms related to the ferrous materials. Nearly 2500 years before *RRS* was composed, India had made for the first time wrought iron by solid state carbothermic reduction process. The samples naturally contained some inclusions of slag.

v2.c45.s9.2

Over centuries, it was found that the soft variety of wrought or pure iron could be carburised by contact with hot burning charcoal, and this produced some hardening of the samples at least on the surface. Evidently, austenite, ferrite and pearlite phases were formed in the carburised samples. There was a reference to hot forging in the *Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra* (7.3.8-9).

v2.c45.s9.3

तेजो हि संधान कारणम्। नातप्तं लोहं लोहेन संधत्त इति
*tejo hi saṃdhān kāraṇam । nātaptam lohaṃ lohena saṃdhatta iti*

v2.c45.s9.4

Third century BC Pandurajar Dhibi samples of sickle were found to contain 0.22 weight p.c. carbon and distinct grains of tempered martensite (De and Chattopadhyay, 1989) which must have arisen due to intentional quenching, hardening, and conversion from the austenite phase (solid solution of carbon in gamma-iron). Hadfield reported that the second century BC Taxilā samples contained 1.2 to 1.5 per cent carbon.

v2.c45.s9.5

We do not know when India started producing crucible or ‘wootz’ iron/steel which contained more than 1.7 per cent carbon. Probabaly this technology also was started before the Christian era, as inferred from the Greek and Roman travellers-cum-writers. Such a high percentage of carbon resulted in the cementite (Fe₃C) phase, which contributed to hardness as well as brittleness. The Wootz swords and implements could however be made ductile by careful forging at a not-too-high temperature of 650ºC-850ºC, when the coarse cementite grains were compressed and elongated in one direction, surrounded by pearlite and ferrite matrix. Reheating and quenching would result in some martensitic transformation. On selective etching, these ‘Damascus steel swords’ would show white cementite streaks. The finished product, a high carbon steel with cementite streaks in pearlite-graphite-martensite matrix possessed ideal combination of hardness (even at the edges) and ductility. These steel materials, sword, etc. were described as ‘of a dull blue colour, marked with ten millions of meandering lines’ which were the distinctive ‘damask’ or surface pattern of seggregated white cementite (Sherby and Wadsworth, 1985).

v2.c45.s9.6

The Gupta era (fourth and fifth centuries AD) in India witnessed spectacular iron technology in Ujjain, where big iron objects were forged in special furnaces. The fourth century iron pillar, now at Meharauli, Delhi, and the tenth century Dhar pillar (43'8" high, the highest in the world) of king Bhoja are unique examples of hot forging of wrought iron.

v2.c45.s9.7

Both Subandhu (AD 400) in his work *Vāsavadattā*, and king Bhoja (AD 1000-1055) in his *Yuktikalpataru* referred to iron works, pillars and *lohaśāstra* texts on iron technology. Subandhu specifically mentioned in his work the then knowledge on different kinds of magnets and magnetised iron. We have mentioned in the previous chapter Varāhamihira’s detailed description about quenching of steel swords (*Br. Saṃ.*, 50.23-26) which definitely resulted in martensitic transformation and hardening of steel. Uses of water, oil, milk, blood and other quenching media resulted in different rates of cooling and different degrees of martensitisation and hardening.

v2.c45.s9.8

With the aforesaid brief historical and technical discussion we may now interpret the *RRS* terms provisionally.

v2.c45.s9.9

Mundaloha was presumably wrought iron obtained by direct solid state reduction. The name probably originated from Mundiā, one of the metalsmith tribes in the district of Bastar, whose ancient iron-making process has been scientifically observed and recorded by Prakash and Igaki (1984). Low carbon materials *mrdu* was soft; *drutadrāva* is better translated as ‘softening quickly’ rather than ‘melting quickly’, since wrought iron would not have a low melting point. With more carbon, *kuntham* and *kaḍāram* varieties became less ductile. *Kaḍāram* was even brittle; black fracture indicated graphite at the interface.

v2.c45.s9.10

Tikṣṇam represented in general, carburised iron with appreciable hardness, which could be hypoeutectoid (less than 0.83 per cent carbon) or hypereutectoid (more than 0.83 per cent carbon) steel. *Pogaras* meant hair-like lines which may be surmised as white cementite streaks, coarse enough to be seen by naked eyes (microscope had not been discovered yet). In the *khara* variety, cementite *pogaras* were too fine to be seen, but the brittleness and the ‘mercury-like shining fracture surface’ were evident. In the *hṛnnāla*, *vājira* and *kālāyasa* varieties, hot forging and quenching had resulted in hardness as well as ductility. We have explained this point earlier while discussing the medieval practice of damascening of swords. The *hṛnnāla* variety was *chedane atiparuṣam* very hard to pierce. *Vājira* was described as *pogara vajra samkāśa sūkṣmarekhā* full of hard *pogaras* and overspreaded by dense thin linings. *Kālāyasa* variety was described (5.82) as

v2.c45.s9.11

नीलकृष्ण प्रभ सान्द्रं मसृणं गुरु भास्वरम्।
लोहाघाते अपि अभंगात्मधारं कालयसं मतम्।।
*nīlakṛṣṇa prabha sāndraṁ masṛṇaṁ guru bhāsvaram |*
*lohāghāte api abhaṅgātmadhāraṁ kālayasaṁ matam ||*

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bluish black, dense, smooth, heavy, bright and its sharpened edge not spoiled by hammering. This description is close enough to that of the damascened steel swords ‘of a dull blue colour and with meandering lines’.

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The technique of producing ‘Damascus steel and sword’ from Indian wootz was learnt and perfected by the Arabs in Damascus. Around the time when the RRS was written in India, the city of Damascus was conquered by Timur or Tamerlane (AD 1401), and the best metalsmiths were taken to Samarqand. (Pant, 1985) Thus, the Indian technology was gradually taken to the Middle East and Central Asia.

v2.c45.s9.14

The kāntaloha, as we have explained, was the iron made from magnetitic ore, and specially magnetised. Probably it was believed that iron made from magnetite and hematite had different properties. The different types of kāntaloha merely referred to the different levels of magnetisation. The classification under headings of bhrāmaka, cumbaka etc. had existed for at least one millennium before RRS. Subandhu (~ AD 400) had mentioned these types in his work Vāsavadattā.

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Rgveda to Rasaratnasamuccaya represents a wide time-span of three millennia, during which the Indian literature recorded the progress of knowledge in the areas of minerals, metals and alloys. Archaeological evidences of ancient Indian metallurgy are no doubt more direct and conclusive but are necessarily mute. The underlying philosophy and concepts, evident only in the literary evidences, would be discussed in the next chapter.

Extracts from Rasaratnasamuccaya: Different methods of making zinc from its ore (rasaka)

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अथ रसकः— रसको द्विविधः प्रोक्तो दुर्दुरः कारवेल्लकः। सदलो दुर्दुरः प्रोक्तो निर्दलः कारवेल्लकः।।149।। खर्परः परिसन्तप्तः सप्तवारं निमज्जितः। वीजपूररसस्यान्तर्निर्मलत्वं समश्नुते।।

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नृमूत्रे वाश्वमूत्रे वा तक्रे वा काञ्जिकेऽथवा। प्रताप्य मज्जितं सम्यक् खर्परं परिशुध्यति।।154-155।। हरिद्रात्रिफलालसिन्धुभूमैः सटङ्कणैः। सारुष्करैश्च पादांशैः साम्लैः सम्मर्द्य खर्परम्।। लिप्तं वृन्ताकमूषायां शोषयित्वा निरुध्य च। मूषां मूषोपरि न्यस्य खर्परं प्रधमेत्ततः।। खर्परे प्रहृते ज्वाला भवेन्नीला सिता यदि। तदा सन्दंशतो मूषां धृत्वा कृत्वा त्वधोमुखम्। शनैरास्फालयेद्भूमौ यथा नालं न भज्यते।। वङ्गाभं पतितं सत्त्वं समादाय नियोजयेत्।।157-161।। लाक्षागुडासुरीपथ्याहरिद्रासज्जर्टङ्कणैः। सम्यक्सञ्चूर्ण्य तत्पक्वं गोदग्धेन घृतेन च। वृन्ताकमूषामध्ये निरुध्य गुटिकाकृति। धमात्वा धमात्वा समाकृष्य ढालयित्वा शिलातले। सत्त्वं वङ्गाकृति ग्राह्यं रसकस्य मनोहरम्।।163-164।। यद्वा जलयुतां स्थालीं निखनेत्कोष्ठिकोदरे। सच्छिद्रं तन्मुखे मल्लं तन्मुखेऽधोमुखं क्षिपेत्। मूषोपरि शिखित्रिांश्च प्रक्षिप्य प्रधमेदृढम्। पतितं स्थालिकानीरे सत्त्वमादाय योजयेत्।।165-166।। तत्सत्त्वं तालकोपेतं प्रक्षिप्य खलु खपरे। मर्द्येल्लोहदण्डेन भस्मीभवति निश्चितम्।।167-168।।

v2.c45.s10.4

*atha rasakaḥ* —

v2.c45.s10.5

*rasako dvidviḍhaḥ prokto durduraḥ kārvellakaḥ* । *sadalo durduraḥ prokto nirdalaḥ kāravellakaḥ* ।। 149 ।। *kharparaḥ parisantaptaḥ saptavāraṃ nimajjitaḥ* । *vijāpūrarasasyāntarnirmalatvaṃ samaśnute* ।। *nṛmūtre vāśvamūtre vā takre vā kāñjike’thavā* *pratāpya majjitaṃ samyak kharparaṃ pariśudhyati* ।। 154-155 ।। *haridrātriphalārālasindhubhubhāmaiḥ saṭaṅkaṇaiḥ* । *sāruṣkaraiśca pādāṃśaiḥ sāmlaiḥ sammardya kharparam* ।। *liptaṃ vṛntākamuṣāyāṃ śoṣayitvā nirudhya ca* । *mūṣāṃ mūṣopari nyasya kharparaṃ pradhamettataḥ* ।। *kharpare prahṛte jvālā bhavennīlā sitā yadi* । *tadā sandaṃśato mūṣāṃ dhṛtvā kṛtvā tvadhomukhim* । *śanairāsphālayedbhūmau yathā nālaṃ na bhajyate* ।। vaṅgābhaṃ patitaṃ sattvaṃ samādāya niyojayet || 157-161 || lākṣāguḍāsurīpathyāharidrāsarjjataṅkanaiḥ | samyaksañcūrṇya tatpakvaṃ godugdhena ghṛtena ca | vṛntākamūṣikāmadhye nirudhya guṭikākṛti | dhmātvā dhmātvā samākṛṣya dhalayitvā śilātale | sattvaṃ vaṅgākṛti grāhyaṃ rasakasya manoharam || 163-164 || yadvā jalayutāṃ sthālīṃ nikhanetkoṣṭhikodare | sacchidraṃ tanmukhe mallaṃ tanmukhe’dhomukaṃ kṣipet | mūṣopari śikhitrāṃśca prakṣipya pradhameddṛḍham | patitaṃ sthālīkānīre sattvamādāya yojayet || 165-166 || tatsattvaṃ tālakopetaṃ prakṣipya khalu kharpare | marddyellohadaṇḍena bhasmībhavati niścitam || 167-168 ||

Extracts from Rasaratnasamuccaya: On Lead and Brass

v2.c45.s11.1

Rasaratnasamuccaya

v2.c45.s11.3

अथ सीसकम्— द्रुतद्रावं महाभारं छेदे कृष्णमुज्ज्वलम्। पूतिगन्धं वहि:कृष्णं शुद्धं सीसमतोऽन्यथा।।171।। पलविंशतिकं नागमधस्तीव्रानलं क्षिपेत्। द्रुते नागे क्षिपेत् सूतं शुद्धं कर्षमितं शुभम्।। विघटच निक्षिपत् क्षारमेकैकं हि पलं पलम्। अर्जुनस्याक्षवृक्षस्य महाराजगिरेरपि। दाड़िमस्य मयस्य क्षिप्ता क्षारं पृथक् पृथक्।। एवं विंशतिरात्राणि पचेत् तीब्रेण वहिना। विघटयन् दृढं दोभ्यां लोहदर्या प्रयत्नतः।। रक्तं तज्जायते भस्मं कपोतच्छायमेव वा।।176-179।। शिलया रविदुग्धेन नागपत्राणि लेपयेत्।। मारयेत् पुटयोगेन निरुत्थं जायते तथा।।184-185।।

v2.c45.s11.4

*atha sīsakam* — *drutadrāvaṃ mahābhāraṃ chede kṛṣṇasamujjvalam* | *pūtigandhaṃ vahiḥkṛṣṇaṃ śuddhaṃ sīsamato’nyathā* || 171 || *palaviṃśatikaṃ nāgamadhastivrānalaṃ kṣipet* | *drute nāge kṣipet sūtaṃ śuddhaṃ karṣamitaṃ śubham* || *vighatya nikṣipet kṣāramekaikaṃ hi palaṃ palam* | *arjunasyākṣavṛkṣasya mahārājagirerapi* | dāḍimasya mayarasya kṣiptā kṣāraṁ pṛthak pṛthak । evaṁ viṁśatirātrāṇi pacet tīvreṇa vahninā । vighaṭṭayan dṛḍham dorbhyāṁ lohadarvyā prayatnataḥ । raktaṁ tajjāyate bhasmam kapotacchāyameva vā ।। 176-179 ।। śīlayā ravidugdhena nāgapatrāṇi lepayet mārayet puṭayogena nirutthaṁ jāyate tathā ।। 184-185 ।।

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अथ पित्तलम्— रीतिका काकतुण्डी च द्विविधं पित्तलं भवेत् । सन्तप्ता काञ्जिके क्षिप्रा ताम्राभा रीतिका मता।। एवं या जायते कृष्णा काकतुण्डीति सा मता।।192-193।। गुर्वी मृद्वी च पीताभा साराङ्गी ताड़नक्षमा। सुस्निग्धा मसृणाङ्गी च रीतिरेतादृशी शुभा।।195।। पूतिगन्धा तथा लघ्वी रीतिर्नेष्टा रसादिषु।।196।।

v2.c45.s11.6

*atha pittalam* — *rītikā kākatuṇḍi ca dvidvidhaṁ pittalaṁ bhavet* । *santaptā kāñjike kṣiptā tāmrābhā rītikā matā* ।। *evaṁ yā jāyate kṛṣṇā kākatuṇḍīti sā matā* ।। 192-193 ।। *gurvī mṛdvī ca pītābhā sārāṅgī tāḍanakṣamā* ।। 195 ।। *susnigdha masṛṇāṅgī ca ritiretādṛśī śubhā* ।। 196 ।।

Extracts from Rasaratnasamuccaya: On different kinds of Iron (ayas) — muṇḍa, tīkṣṇa and kānta

v2.c45.s12.1

Rasaratnasamuccaya

v2.c45.s12.3

अथायः— मुण्डं तीक्ष्णं च कान्तं च त्रिप्रकारमयः स्मृतम्।

v2.c45.s12.4

*athāyaḥ* *muṇḍaṁ tīkṣṇaṁ ca kāntaṁ ca triprakāramayaḥ smṛtam* ।

v2.c45.s12.5

अथ मुण्डम्— मृदु कुण्ठं कड़ारं च त्रिविधं मुण्डमुच्यते।।70।। द्रुतद्रावमविस्फोटं चिक्कणं मृदु तच्छुभम्। हतं यत्प्रसरेद्दुःखात् तत्कुण्ठं मध्यमं स्मृतम्।। यद्धतं भज्यते भङ्गे कृष्णं स्यात्तत्कड़ारकम्।।71-72।।

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*atha muṇḍam* — *mṛdu kuṇṭhaṁ kaḍāraṁ ca trividhaṁ muṇḍamucyate* ।। 70 ।।

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*drutadrāvamavisphotam cikkanam mrdu tacchubham* | *hatam yatprasaredduḥkhāt tatkuntham madhyamam smṛtam* || 71-72 || अथ तीक्ष्णम्— . . . षड्विधं तीक्ष्णमुच्यते || 75 || परुषं पोगरोन्मुक्तं भङ्गे पारदवच्छवि। नमने भङ्गुरं यत् तत् खरलोहमुदाहृतम्||76|| वेगभङ्गुरधारं यत् सारलोहं तदीरितम्||78|| *atha tīkṣṇam* — . . . *ṣaḍvidhaṃ tīkṣṇamucyate* || 75 || *paruṣaṃ pogaronmuktaṃ bhaṅge pāradavacchavi* | *namane bhaṅguraṃ yat tat kharalohamudāhṛtam* || 76 || *vegabhaṅguradhāraṃ yat sāraloham tadīritam* || 78 || अथ कान्तम्— भ्रामकं चुम्बकं चैव कर्षकं द्रावकं तथा। एवं चतुर्विधं कान्तं रोमकान्तं च पञ्चमम्।। एकद्वित्रिचतुःपञ्चसर्व्वतोमुखमेव तत्। पीतं कृष्णं तथा रक्तं त्रिवर्णं स्यात् पृथक् पृथक्।।84-85।। भ्रामयेल्लोहजातं तु तत् कान्तं भ्रामकं मतम्।। चुम्बयेच्चुम्बकं कान्तं कर्षयेत् कर्षकं तथा। साक्षाद्यदद्रावयेल्लोहं तत् कान्तं द्रावकं भवेत्।। तदरोमकान्तं स्फुटितादयतो रोमोद्गमो भवेत्।।88-89।। मदोन्मत्तगजः सूतः कान्तमङ्कुशमुच्यते।। क्षेत्रं खात्वा ग्रहीतव्यं तत्प्रयत्लेन धीमता। मारुतातपविक्षिप्तं वर्जयेन्नात्र संशयः।।92-93।। पात्रे यस्य प्रसरति जले तैलबिन्दुर्न लिप्तं गन्धं हिङ्गु त्यजति च तथा तिक्तां निम्बकल्कः।। पाके दुग्धं भवति शिखराकारकं नैति भूमिं कान्तं लोहं तदिदमुदितं लक्षणोक्तं न चान्यत्।।94।। *atha kāntam* — *bhrāmakaṃ cumbakaṃ caiva karṣakaṃ drāvakaṃ tathā* | *evaṃ caturvidhaṃ kāntaṃ romakāntaṃ ca pañcamam* || *ekadvitricatuḥpañcasarvvatomukhameva tat* || *pītaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ tathā raktaṃ trivarṇaṃ syāt pṛthak pṛthak* || 84-85 ||

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bhrāmayellohajātaṁ tu tat kāntaṁ bhrāmakaṁ matam ||
cumbayeccumbakaṁ kāntaṁ karṣayet karṣakaṁ tathā ||
sākṣādyaddrāvayellohaṁ tat kāntaṁ drāvakaṁ bhavet || 88-89 ||
tadromakāntaṁ sphuṭitādyato romodgamo bhavet || 88-89 ||
madonmattagajaḥ sūtaḥ kāntamaṅkuśamucyate ||
kṣetraṁ khātvā grahitavyaṁ tatprayatnena dhīmatā |
mārutātapabikṣiptaṁ varjayennātra saṁśayaḥ || 92-93 ||
pātre yasya prasarati jale tailabindurna liptam |
gandhaṁ hiṅgu tyajati ca tathā tiktatāṁ nimbakalkaḥ |
pāke dugdhaṁ bhavati śikharākārakaṁ naiti bhumim ||
kāntaṁ lohaṁ tadidamuditaṁ lakṣaṇoktaṁ na cānyat || 94 ||

v2.c45.s12.9

Biswas, Arun Kumar, 1987, ‘Rasaratnasamuccaya and Mineral Processing State-of-art in the 13th century AD India’, In Indian Journal of History of Science, 22, 1, 1987, pp. 29-46.

v2.c45.s12.10

De, S., and Chattopadhyaya, P.K., 1989, ‘Iron Objects from Pandurajar Dhibi’, In Steel India, Vol. 12, no.1, April 1989, pp. 33-41.

v2.c45.s12.11

Pant, G.N., 1985, ‘The Saga of Indian Damascus Steel’, In Scientific and Technological Exchanges between India and Soviet Central Asia, Indian National Science Academy, pp. 203-16.

v2.c45.s12.12

Prakash, B., and Igaki, K., 1984, ‘Ancient Iron Making in Bastar District’, In Indian Journal of History of Science, 19(2), pp. 172-85.

v2.c45.s12.13

Rasaratnasamuccaya of Vāgbhaṭa, Ānandāśrama Press, Pune; text and translation in English by Joshi, Damodar, Indian National Science Academy, serially published in Indian Journal of History of Science, 22, 2, April 1987 Supplement.

v2.c45.s12.14

Ray, Priyadaranjan, 1956, History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India (edited), Indian Chemical Society, Calcutta, incorporating History of Hindu Chemistry, 1908, by Ray, Prafulla Chandra. Partial translation and text of Rasaratnasamuccaya, pp. 165-95 and 371-403.

v2.c45.s12.15

Sherby, O.D., and Wadsworth, J., 1985, ‘Damascus Steels’, In Scientific American, Feb., 1985, pp. 112-20.

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