A History of Indian Medical Literature v4.c63.216

Language: English

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1 Edition: Rasa-jala-nidhi or Ocean of Indian chemistry, medicine and alchemy, compiled in Sanskrit by Bhudeb Mookerjee, with English translation by the author; rasajalanidhiḥ, mukhopādhyāyopādhikena siddhavaidya-śrībhūdeva devaśarmmaṇā rasācāryeṇa...vi-racitaḥ, vols. I-V, published by the author, Calcutta 1926, 1927, 1929, 1936, 1938 [Vols. I-III: IO.San.D.418/1-3]; *repr.*, Chowkhamba Orientalia, Kashi Ayurveda Series 15, Varanasi 1984. Reviews: J. Filliozat, JA 223, 1933, 110-112; *Nature 126, 1930, 467. *The wealth of Indian alchemy and its medicinal uses, Indian Medical Science Series 63-64, Sri Satguru, Delhi 1998. 2 More often called utthāpana. 3 Usually called bida. 4 Compare I, 91, where nine poisons are listed. 5 Compare I, 91, where seven upaviṣas are enumerated. 6 Described as a pupil of Śukrācārya. 7 Brahmajyotis described a particular method of killing diamonds. 8 Candrasena described a particular method of killing diamonds. 9 King Candrasena's description of the topaz (puṣparāga) is quoted. Candrasena, to whom the Rasacandrodaya is attributed, is one of the Rasasiddhas; he is also quoted in the Yogaratnākara. 10 A Siddha, referred to on the subject of rasabhasman. Lakṣmīśvara and Kālānātha were Rāma's teachers in alchemy according to Bhudeb Mookerjee (see Vol. V, Intr. XXII). 11 He distinguished eight kinds of iron. 12 The author of the Rasendracūḍāmaṇi.

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13 The formula of śukralauha, employed in the treatment of haemorrhoids, is ascribed to the alchemist Śukrācārya, who is one of the Rasasiddhas and the teacher of Ādima in the Rasajalanidhi. 14 The author of the Rasacintāmaṇi; not mentioned as a Rasasiddha in any other list. 15 The author of the Rasajalanidhi. 16 Referred to as an alchemical author by G. Hāldār (Vṛddhatrayī 322-323) and P. Rāy (1956: 128); not classified as a Rasasiddha in any other list; mentioned in the Rasendracūḍāmaṇi and Rasaratnasamuccaya. Brahmajyotis described the killing of diamonds (III, 181). 17 Not mentioned as a Rasasiddha in any other list. 18 The author of the Rasaratnākara. Also mentioned as a Rasasiddha in Catur bhuja's commentary on the Rasahṛdaya (1.7) and in the Pāradasaṃhitā (1.102). 19 Not mentioned as a Rasasiddha in any other list; he is referred to as Rāvaṇa's enemy. Bhudeb Mookerjee claims that Rāma, the hero of the Rāmāyaṇa, was an expert in alchemy and the author of a treatise on this subject, called Rāmarājīya; the Rasaratnasamuccaya and Bhāvaprakāśa are said to be much indebted to this work; B. Mookerjee regards the Rasendracintāmaṇi too as a work of king Rāma (Vol. V, Intr. XXII-XXV). 20 The author of the Rasendracūḍāmaṇi; not mentioned as a Rasasiddha in any other list. 21 Compare Rasajalanidhi III, 65. 22 The author of the Rasaratnasamuccaya; not mentioned as a Rasasiddha in any other list. 23 I, 89 (see Rasakāmadhenu III.3.147-150ab);

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I, 95-96 (see Rasakāmadhenu III.3.169cd-175); I, 97 (see Rasakāmadhenu III.3.189-192). 24 II, 253 (see Rasakāmadhenu II.1.111cd-113). 25 I, 37, verse one = Rasaratnākara I.1.27; I, 71-72 (see Rasakāmadhenu I.3.1-7ab); I.216 = Rasaratnākara I.2.15-20; I, 218-219 = I.3.34-41. 26 I, 250-281 = Rasaratnasamuccaya 9; I, 285-293 = 10.1-31; I, 293-298 = 10.47-63; I, 311-320 = 11.60-92; II, 3-12 = 2.2-25; II, 45-46 = 2.26-33; II, 49 = 2.34-35; II, 51-52 = 2.37-49, etc. 27 I, 223 = Rasārṇava 8.80-85; III, 14-16 = 6.40-50ab. 28 I, 61 (see Rasakāmadhenu III.3.91-95). 29 I, 60 (see Rasakāmadhenu III.3.87cd-90); I, 63 (see Rasakāmadhenu III.3.120cd-122ab). 30 I, 12-13 = Rasendracūḍāmaṇi 3.3-11ab; I, 14 = 3.16-20ab; I, 248 = 4.1-7cd-111; III, 384 (śulvanāga) = 4.22-25; I, 385 (ghoṣākṛṣṭatāmra) = 4.43; I, 386 (varaṇāga) = 4.52cd-53ab; I, 386 (pataṅgirāga) = 4.74cd-75; I, 387 (āvāpa) = 4.76; I, 387 (abhiṣeka, nirvāpa) = 4.77-78ab. 31 III, 41-48 = Rasendrasārasaṃgraha 1.300-335. 32 The presence of śodhana is unusual; anuvāsana is regarded as a separate saṃskāra in this series; mūrchana is almost always the third saṃskāra; bāhyadruti is omitted; māraṇa and bhasmīkaraṇa are rarely mentioned as saṃskāras; sāraṇa, krāmaṇa and sevā are absent from the list. 33 The description is borrowed from the Rasaratnasamuccaya (9.5), which calls it svedanī-yantra. A second svedanī- or kandukayantra, described in the Rasaratnasamuccaya (9.74-75), is absent from the Rasajalanidhi.

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34 The Rasaratnasamuccaya describes these yantras as two distinct types (9.6-8 and 24-25). 35 See D. Joshi (1986: 173) on nāgasindūra. 36 It is called āmānī in the vernacular. 37 The treatment of the diseases is incomplete, it is not known to me whether volumes six to eight, planned by the author (see AIAD, 1937: 102) have ever been published. 38 See maṅgala of volume I and AIAD (1937): 102.