A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c51.s1.76

v3.c51.s1.76

Two varieties of mākṣika 82 are mentioned, yellow and white in colour (7.5). Their usual names, suvarṇa- and raupyamākṣika, are absent from the Rasārṇava, where they are called tāpya and āvartaka (7.14). Three varieties of vimala are distinguished: yellow, white and red (7.5); their usual names, hema-, tāra- and kāṃsyavimala, are absent. The two varieties of śilājatu, patita and apatita (7.18), not known from other texts, may correspond to those usually called gomūtra- and karpūraśilājatu.⁸³ The four varieties of capala, white, yellow, red and black (7.23), are also mentioned in the Rasapaddhati, Rasaratnākara and Rasendrapurāṇa; the Rasārṇava and Rasapaddhati agree in regarding the white and yellow varieties as useful for alchemical purposes. The three varieties of rasaka, resembling mṛttikā, guḍa and pāṣāṇa (7.28–29), are peculiar to the Rasārṇava; its sattva, which may be zinc, is said to resemble tin (kuṭila; 7.35). The verses on sroto’ñjana (7.53–54) do not refer to the other varieties of añjana, described in many rasaśāstra texts.