A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c48.s16.67

v3.c48.s16.67

Chapter three is about the process that prepares abhraka (mica) for its combination with mercury (abhrakacāraṇa); this amalgamation of mercury and mica is a prerequisite for the process called pakṣaccheda (3). The preparation of crude mica is achieved by a process called jāraṇa (4), which makes it pure and devoid of its lustre (niścandrika; 5). 157 Two varieties of cāraṇa are described: nirmukha- and samukhacāraṇa (5–7 and 12); samukhacāraṇa is one of the steps leading to the making of artificial gold and silver. Three other varieties, characterized by the relative quantities of mercury and mica in the mixture, are called grāsa, piṣṭī and garbha (13). A number of methods for the cāraṇa of mercury and mica are given (16–19). Verse 20 introduces sulphur (gandhaka), which is necessary for giving colour (rāgadāyin) to mercury, for the jāraṇa of a bīja, the clipping of the wings (pakṣaccheda), and the bandha of mercury. A mixture of mica and sulphur, added to mercury, results in pakṣaccheda (21–23). The addition of hemapiṣṭī (= hemabhasman) is described in the next verses (24–25).