A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c49.s1.64

v3.c49.s1.64

The passages from the Abhidhānākāmadhenu show that it was an alchemical nighaṇṭu in verse, dealing with the origin, names and varieties of many substances employed in alchemical operations. Distinctive features of the Abhidhānakāmadhenu are, for example: sixteen poisons of vegetable origin, which constitute an unusual series: viṣa, hālāhala, brahmaputra, saurāṣṭrakāhvaya, pradīpana, dārādākhya, kākola, śauktikeyaka, ahicchattra, meṣaśṛṅga, kuṣṭha, haimavata, pippala, pātāla, malina, and kambala (I.4. 5–6); groups of kṣāras, consisting of up to ten items (4.175cd–179); twelve varieties of tīkṣṇaloha: khara, yogala or yogara, vājara, honnāla, pāraśava, sāndra, sāra, auṇḍra, kāliṅga, bhadra, pāṇḍya, and kṛṣṇāyas (II.1.690–695ab); some of the names of rasaka: jasada, caura, śīśakākāra, kharpara, kharparikā, kiṭibha, hematāraja (I.4.282); the series of uparasas: gandha, tāla, śīla, saumya, 25 añjana, 26 tuttha, abdhiphenaka, khaga (= kāsīsa), sindūra, girija, khaṭī, aśman, kācamṛttikā, sphaṭikā, goja, kaṅkuṣṭha, rājāvarta, the salts and the caustics (II.4.4–5).