Copper in Ancient India c12.s2.2

c12.s2.2

(1) *Mākshika* or pyrites—the following recipe is given in both *Rasārnava* and *Rasaratna-samuchchaya*: “*Mākshika*, repeatedly steeped in honey, oil of the seeds of *ricinus communis*, urine of the cow, clarified butter and the extract of the bulbous root of *musa sapieutum* when gently roasted in a crucible yields an essence in the shape of copper.”¹