A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c48.s2.7

v3.c48.s2.7

Chapter one (sūtasādhanādhyāya; 597 verses and prose passages) deals with the following subjects, after paying homage to Śiva, Śivā and Heramba (1–2) and a number of verses introducing the subject of the treatise (3–15): the doṣas of mercury (16–22ab); the necessity of its purification (22cd–25ab); the quantity of mercury one should employ in the purificatory processes (25cd–27ab); the ritual to be performed before starting the work (27cd–30ab); the mortar (khalva) and pestle (mardaka) (30cd–31); opinions on the number of the saṃskāras (32); a list of eighteen saṃskāras: svedana, mardana, mūrchana, utthiti, patana, rodha, niyāmana, samdīpana, gaganabhakṣaṇamāna, saṃcāraṇa, garbha-gatā drutiḥ, bāhyā drutiḥ, jāraṇā, rāga, sāraṇa, saṃkrāmaṇa, vedha, and śarīrayoga (33–34); the first eight saṃskāras, to which the author restricts himself (35); a list of nineteen saṃskāras, i.e., the previous list, to which anuvāsana has been added (36); svedana (37–48); mardana (49–54ab); mūrchana (54cd–62); utthāpana (= utthiti) (63–67); pātana (68–85); bodhana (= rodha; 86–94); niyamana (95–100); samdīpana (101–103); anuvāsana (103–104); jāraṇa of sulphur, gold, mica and the essence of mica, together with many related subjects (107–251);³ garbhadṛuti and related subjects (252–306);⁴ bāhyadṛuti (307); sāraṇa (308–311); krāmaṇa (312); rañjana (313–318); vedha (319–326) and related subjects (327–350: rājavatī vidyā and hemavatī vidyā); bandha (351–390); mūrchana (391–396); the reduction to ashes (bhasmīkaraṇa) of mercury, followed by the preparation of rasasindūra and rasakarpūra (397–435); the killing (māraṇa) of mercury (436–463); jalaukābandha (464–469ab); the preparation of the pill called khecarī guṭikā (469cd–480); sevana (the consumption of the mercurial product and the rules to be observed; 481–555), and finally, a number of rasayogas (556–597).