A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c51.s8.3

v3.c51.s8.3

Chapter one (386 verses) deals with: the names and characteristics of mercury (7–9), its blemishes (10–12), and its purification (13–18); the taptakhalla (19); the aghoramantra (20);¹⁵² rasanigaḍa (21); the purification of mercury again (22–36); ūrdhvapātana (37–38); adhaḥpātana (39–41); tiryakpātana (42–43); bodhana (44–46); mercury prepared from cinnabar (47–55); mūrchana (56–57); māraṇa (58–61);¹⁵³ rasasindūra (62–72); rasakarpūra (73–75); sarvāṅgasundararasa (76–81);¹⁵⁴ kṛṣṇabhasman (82–85);¹⁵⁵ the vajramūṣā (86–88); various groups of substances (89–108); the uses of mercurial products (109–113); the uparasas (114–115), their purification and killing; gandhaka (116–125),¹⁵⁶ vajra (127–134), vaikrānta (135–138),¹⁵⁷ abhraka (139–167),¹⁵⁸ tālaka (168–187),¹⁵⁹ (manaḥ)śilā (188–193), kharpara (194–196), śikhituṇḍa (= tuttha; 197–201), vimala (202–204), (hema)mākṣika (205–213),¹⁶⁰ kāśīsa (214–215), kāntapāṣāṇa (216–219), varāṭa (220–224), añjana (225), hinguḷa (226–231), gairika (235–237), śaṅkha (243–244), bhūnāga, taṅkaṇa (238–242), and śilājatu (232–234); the purification of kaṅkuṣṭha is also dealt with in the verses on the uparasas (235–237); the purification of bhūnāga, although listed as one of the uparasas (114–115), is not discussed; the purification and killing of the metals and alloys (245–357): gold (245–258), silver (259–267), copper (268–278), brass (pittala) and bronze (kāṃsya) (279), lead (280–287), tin (288–295), iron (296–352), maṇḍūra (353–357); the purification and killing of gems (358–364); the purification of the major poisons (viṣa; 365–369),¹⁶¹ the minor poisons (370–371), and some other substances (jayapāla, snuhīkṣīra, the seeds of vṛddhadāraka, nimbu, rājavṛkṣa, etc.; 372–374 and 378–386); the purification of leeches (375–377).