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A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c16.s7: Inorganic substances

A History of Indian Medical Literature v1.c16.s7

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Inorganic substances

v1.c16.s7.1

Inorganic substances⁵⁶⁰ are grouped together as pārthiva or bhauma in character.⁵⁶¹ A list of these substances (Sū.1.70–71a) comprises gold (suvarṇa),⁵⁶² the five metals (loha)⁵⁶³ along with their impurities (mala),⁵⁶⁴ sikatā,⁵⁶⁵ sudhā,⁵⁶⁶ manaḥśilā,⁵⁶⁷ ālā,⁵⁶⁸ (seni-)precious stones (maṇi),⁵⁶⁹ salt (lavaṇa),⁵⁷⁰ gairika,⁵⁷¹ and añjana.⁵⁷²

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Other inorganic substances are: agāradhūma (Ci.23.51; Si.7.25; 9.58);⁵⁷³ adrijatu (Ci.13.78);⁵⁷⁴ amṛtasaṃjña (Ci.7.114);⁵⁷⁵ amṛtasaṅga (Sū.3.10; Ci.14.55; 25.117);⁵⁷⁶ aśmajatu (Ci.12.49; 16.81);⁵⁷⁷ dhūma (Si.7.24);⁵⁷⁸ gandha (Ci.17.125);⁵⁷⁹ gandhaka (Ci.7.71);⁵⁸⁰ girija (Ci.1³.64; 21.130; 30.148);⁵⁸¹ gṛhadhūma (Sū.3.5; Ci.7.87; 23.41, 197, 198, 213; 26.194; 29.149);⁵⁸² kāca (Śā.8.41; Ci.17.125);⁵⁸³ kāṅkṣī (Ci.23.54; 30.121);⁵⁸⁴ kardama (Ci.21.81);⁵⁸⁵ kāsīsa (Sū.3.5 and 10; Ci.7.102, 109, 114, 117, 167; 21.126; 25.115 and 117; 26.254 and 271; 30.79 and 121);⁵⁸⁶ kṛṣṇamṛd (Ci.19.82; 22.44); kṛṣṇamṛttikā (Sū.27.200; Ci.19.64); kṛṣṇasikatā (Ci.22.44); lelītaka (Ci.7.70);⁵⁸⁷ lohitamṛd (Ci.23.101);⁵⁸⁸ lomaśa (Sū.3.4 and 15);⁵⁸⁹ loṣṭa (Sū.18.6; 25.40; I.12.20; Ci.3.112; 4.80; 20.30; 22.45; 23.25; Si.7.14);⁵⁹⁰ mākṣika (Ci.7.70; 16.73, 82, 83; 21.130);⁵⁹¹ mṛd (Sū.4.18; 9.13; 18.6; Śā.1.43; 3.20; Ci.4.79 and 104;

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16.28 and 121; 20.42; 26.224);593 mṛttikā (Sū.14.46; Ci.1².11; 1⁴.21; 2⁴.26; 4.66; 16.27 and 117; 19.65; 27.49, 51, 54; Ka.1.9);594 pāṃśu (Vi.3.7; I.12.28; Ci.1⁴.59; 23.39 and 174); pāṣāṇa (Sū.14.26 and 58; 27.209 and 210; Ci.21.131);595 rasa (Ci.7.71);596 rasottama (Ci.25.116);597 romaśa (Ci.29.152);598 saugandhika (Sū.3.10);599 saurāṣṭrī (Ci.7.114; 15.138);600 saurāṣṭrikā (Ci.30.79 and 98);601 śilāhvaya (Ci.1³.65; 26.99);602 śilājatu603 (Sū.21.24; 24.56; Ci.1³.48, 56, 58, 62; 5.97; 7.72; 13.152 and 153; 16.88; 23.213; 28.242; 29.159);604 sphaṭika (Ci.1⁴.22; 17.125)605 suvarcikā (Sū.2.23);606 suvarṇamākṣika (Ci.7.71);607 svarjikā (Vi.7.17; Ci.23.215);608 tāpya (Ci.16.78; 26.250);609 tuttha (Sū.3.12; Ci.7.108, 114 and 120; 26.250);610 vaigandhika (Ci.23.223);611 veśmadhūma (Ci.26.14).612

v1.c16.s7.4

This survey may be useful in facilitating an assessment of the employment of inorganic substances in the Carakasamhitā613 and comparisons with other texts.614

v1.c16.s7.5

The inorganic substances mentioned are prescribed in various forms, both externally and internally.615 Some of these substances were heated before use.616 Many of them were administered in the form of a powder (cūrṇa, rajas),617 either singly or in combination with other drugs.

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The intricate processes known from alchemical and later āyurvedic treatises are absent from the Carasamhitā,618 though some are convinced that distillation is mentioned.619 The term bhasman is employed in a sense that differs from its alchemical use.620

v1.c16.s7.7

Mercury is not yet known as a medicinal substance. The term rasa621 (Ci.7.71) refers back to the juice extracted (nighṛīta) from the plant called jāti (Ci.7.70).622

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A substance called rasottama, sometimes thought to be mercury,623 is prescribed once, for external use in a lepa (Ci.25.116).624

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The meaning of this term is a problematic issue. The presence of the verse that contains the prescription in a number of treatises gives the opportunity to compare the interpretations of various commentators. Cakra says that rasottama is either pārada (mercury) or ghee. Indu regards it as mercury (pārada). Among the commentators on the Hṛdaya, Aruṇadatta is silent, while the Kairalī agrees with Indu; Śivadāsasena, though identifying rasottama as pārada, adds that some are of the opinion that ghee is meant. The Hṛdayaprakāśa of the Aṣṭāngahṛdayakoṣa records that ghee is meant; though many (predecessors) identify rasottama as pārada. The Śivadīpikā considers it to be rasāñjana. The Kusumāvalī on the Siddhayoga remarks that rasottama is either pārada or ghee according to Cakra(pāṇidatta), or the juice (rasa) of sahakāra (i.e., the mango) according to Jinadāsa. Śivadāsasena comments (ad Cakradatta, vraṇaśotha 101) that rasottama is pārada, while others regard it as ghee. Niścalakara mentions that Cakra sees ghee in it, while Jinadāsa interprets it as the sweet juice of sahakāra; he himself is convinced that ghee is meant, because this is the substance corresponding to rasottama in an equivalent recipe of Jātūkarṇa quoted by him.

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This survey of the various interpretations makes clear that it is far from certain, even improbable, that mercury is mentioned in the Carakasamhitā.

Cites (4)