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A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c10: The Ayurvedic Period

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c10

Language
English

Contents

The Ayurvedic Period

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(From the pre-Buddhistic Era to circa 800 A. D.)

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The Constitution and Properties of Matter : the Atomic Theory

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It is not our purpose to discuss in the present volume the theories dominating Hindu medicine and, incidentally, chemistry. A concise preliminary summary of some of the salient features of the Sāmkhya and Vaiseshika systems of philosophy is, however, absolutely needed in order to follow with advantage the excerpts given in this book from the Charaka, the Susruta and other works. In connection with this, it would also be interesting to compare the indebtedness of Hippocrates to the doctrines of Parmenides, Empedocles and other philosophers of the same school.¹

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¹ “Œuvres d’ Hippocrate.” by E. Littré, Paris, 1839, Tome 1, Intro. pp. 13 et seq. In connection with this chapter

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Kanāda, the founder of the Vaiseshika system, chiefly occupied himself with the study of the properties of matter. The atomic theory, as propounded by him, has many points in common with that of the Greek philosopher Democritus. His theory of the propagation of sound cannot fail to excite our wonder and admiration even at this distant date. No less remarkable is his statement that light and heat are only different forms of the same essential substance. But Kanāda is anticipated in many material points by Kapila, the reputed originator of the Sāmkhya philosophy. With the purely metaphysical aspects of these systems we are not concerned here. Their theories of matter and its constitution alone fall within the scope of our present enquiry. We shall now briefly refer to some of their doctrines.

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The Sāmkhya, in common with other systems of Hindu philosophy, teaches that salvation in after-life is only attainable by perfect knowledge. According to Kapila, there are three sources of knowledge which consists in right discrimination of the perceptible and imperceptible principles

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the reader may also consult Gomperz' "Griechische Denker", vol. I. ed. 1903, specially the articles : "Die Aerzte" pp. 221-254, and "Die Atomistischen Physiker", pp. 254-298.

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of the material world from the immaterial soul. He enumerates these principles to be twenty-five in number. For our present purpose, however, a few of these only come within our purview. These we will present to our readers in the inimitable language of Colebrooke, whose masterly exposition of Hindu thought, though written nearly four scores of years ago, still retains its value and authoritative stamp¹:—

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¹ Trans. Royal As. Soc., Vol. 1 pp. 19-43 and pp. 92-118 The European student who wishes to pursue the subject further may consult Max Müller's “ Six Systems of Indian Philosophy ” in which an ample and exhaustive bibliography will be found.

Tanmātrās or Particles

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“Five subtile particles, rudiments, or atoms, denominated Tanmātras ; perceptible to beings of a superior order, but unapprehended by the grosser senses of mankind : derived from the conscious principle, and themselves productive of the five grosser elements, earth, water, fire, air, and space.

Five Elements

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“Five elements, produced from the five elementary particles or rudiments. 1st. A diffused, ethereal fluid (ākāśa), occupying space: it has the property of audibleness, being the vehicle of sound, derived from the sonorous rudiment or ethereal atom. 2nd. Air, which is endowed with the properties of audibleness and tangibility, being sensible to hearing and touch; derived from the tangible rudiment or ærial atom. 3rd. Fire, which is invested with properties of audibleness, tangibility and colour; sensible to hearing, touch and sight: derived from the colouring rudiment or igneous atom. 4th. Water, which possesses the properties of audibleness, tangibility, colour and savour; being sensible to hearing, touch, sight and taste; derived from the savoury rudiment or aqueous atom. 5th. Earth, which unites the properties of audibleness tangibility, colour, savour and odour; being sensible to hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell; derived from the odorous rudiment or terrene atom.

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ANIMATED ATOM.

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"The notion of an animated atom seems to be a compromise between the refined dogma of an immaterial soul and the difficulty which a gross understanding finds in grasping the comprehension of individual existence, unattached to matter.

Grosser Body

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"The grosser body, with which a soul clad in its subtile person is invested for the purpose of fruition, is composed of the five elements, or of four, excluding the ethereal, according to some authorities; or of one earth alone, according to others. That grosser body, propagated by generation, is perishable. The subtile person is more durable, transmigrating through successive bodies, which it assumes, as a mimic shifts his disguises to represent various characters."

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We now come to the treatment of the subject by Kanāda in his famous Vaiseshika system. Here also we are indebted to Colebrooke for the following summary. Kanāda arranges the objects of sense in six categories, viz., substance, quality, action, community, difference and aggregation. According to him:—

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"I. Substance is the intimate cause of an aggregate effect or product: it is the site of qualities and of action; or that in which qualities abide, and in which action takes place.

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"Nine are enumerated, and no more are recognised. Darkness has been alleged by some philosophers; but it is no substance; nor is body a distinct one; nor gold which the Mīmāṃsakas affirm to be a peculiar substance.

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“Those specified by Kaṇāda are :

Earth

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“1. Earth, which besides qualities common to most substances (as number, quantity, individuality, conjunction, disjunction, priority, posteriority, gravity, fluidity and faculty of velocity and of elasticity), has colour, savour, odour and feel or temperature. Its distinguishing quality is smell; and it is succinctly defined as a substance odorous. In some instances, as in gems, the smell is latent: but it becomes manifest by calcination.

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“It is eternal, as atoms; or transient, as aggregates. In either, those characteristic qualities are transitory, and are maturative, as affected by light and heat: for by union with it, whether latent or manifest, form, colour, taste, smell and temperature are in earth of any sort annulled, and other colour etc. introduced.

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“Aggregates or products are either organised bodies, or organs of perception, or unorganic masses.

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“Organised earthly bodies are of five sorts. The organ of smell is terreous. Unorganic masses are stones, lumps of clay, etc. The union of integrant parts is hard, soft or cumulative as stones, flowers, cotton, etc.

Water

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“2. Water, which has the qualities of earth; excepting smell, and with the addition of viscidity. Odour, when observable in water is adscititious, arising from mixture of earthy particles.

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“The distinguishing quality of water is coolness. It is accordingly defined as a substance cool to the feel.

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“It it eternal, as atoms; transient, as aggregates. The qualities of the first are constant likewise; those of the latter inconstant.

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“Organic aqueous bodies are beings abiding in the realm of Varuna. The organ of taste is aqueous: witness the saliva. Unorganic waters are rivers, seas, rain, snow, hail, etc.

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“It is by some maintained that hail is pure water rendered solid by the supervention of an unseen virtue: others imagine its solidity to be owing to mixture of earthly particles.

Light

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“3. Light is coloured, and illumines other substances; and to the feel is hot: which is its distinguishing quality. It is defined as a substance hot to the feel. [Heat, then, and light are identified as one substance.]*

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"It has the qualities of earth except smell, taste, and gravity. It is eternal, as atoms ; not so, as aggregates.

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"Organic luminous bodies are beings abiding in the solar realm. The visual ray, which is the organ of sight, is lucid. Unorganic light is reckoned fourfold : earthy, celestial, alvine and mineral. Another distinction concerns sight and feel ; as light or heat may be either latent or manifest, in respect of both sight and feel; or differently in regard to either. Thus fire is both seen and felt ; the heat of hot water is felt but not seen ; moonshine is seen, but not felt ; the visual ray is neither seen nor felt. Terrestrious light is that, of which the fuel is earthy, as fire. Celestial is that of which the fuel is watery, as lightning and meteors of various sorts. Alvine is that of which the fuel is both earthy and watery : it is intestinal, which digests food and drink. Mineral is that which is found in pits as gold. For some maintain that gold is solid light ; or, at least that the chief ingredient is light which is rendered solid by mixture with some particles of earth. Were it mere earth, it might be calcined by fire strongly urged. Its light is not latent, but overpowered by the colour of the earthy particles mixed with it. In the Mīmāmsā, however, it is reckoned as a distinct substance, as before observed.¹

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∗ The sentence under bracket is Colebrooke's own.

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¹ The term "element" was not generally used in the modern sense of a component of a compound; rather it connoted certain properties characteristic of matter, e.g., coldness, dryness, heaviness, fluidity etc., thus it referred to certain qualities in the abstract. The Greek philosophers also held similar, if not identical, views. Cf. "Empedokles und die moderne Chemie." pp. 185-86 of "Griechische Denker" by Gomperz vol. 1, ed. 1903. The following extract will also throw much light on the subject: "The four so-called "elements"—air, water, earth and fire—were regarded by that intellectually great philosopher, Empedocles of Agrigent (about 440 B.C.), as the basis of the world; but neither he himself nor Aristotle, who adopted these into his system of natural philosophy, looked upon them as different properties carried about by one original matter. Their chief qualities (the primæ qualitates of the later scholastics) he held to be those apparent to the touch, viz., warm, cold, dry, and moist. Each of the four so-called elements is characterised by the possession of two of these properties, air being warm and moist,

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After giving an account of air and ether etc., Colebrooke proceeds with Kanāda's

Conception of the Simple, Binary, Tertiary, and Quaternary Atoms

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" Material substances are by Kanāda considered to be primarily atoms ; and secondarily, aggregates. He maintains the eternity of atoms ; and their existence and aggregation are explained as follows :

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" The mote, which is seen in a sunbeam, is the smallest perceptible quantity. Being a substance and an effect, it must be composed of what is less than itself ; and this likewise is a substance and an effect ; for the component part of a substance that has magnitude must be an effect. This again must be composed of what is smaller ; and that smaller thing is an atom. It is simple and uncomposed ; else the series would be endless : and, were it pursued indefinitely, there would be no difference of magnitude between a mustard seed

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water moist and cold, earth cold and dry, and fire dry and warm. The differences in the material world were, therefore, to be ascribed to the properties inherent in matter.

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" Aristotle considered that his four elements were insufficient in themselves to explain the phenomena of nature ; he therefore assumed a fifth one, termed ov'vía, which he imagined to possess and a mountain, a gnat and an elephant, each alike containing an infinity of particles. The ultimate atom then is simple.

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“The first compound consists of two atoms: for one does not enter into composition; and there is no argument to prove, that more than two must, for incohation, be united. The next consists of three double atoms; for, if only two were conjoined, magnitude would hardly ensue since it must be produced either by size or a number of patircles: it cannot be their size and, therefore, it must be their number. Nor is there any reason for assuming the union of four double atoms, since three suffice to originate magnitude. The atom then is reckoned to be the sixth part of a mote visible in a sunbeam.

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“Two earthly atoms, concurring by an unseen peculiar virtue, the creative will of God, or time, or other competent, cause, constitute a double atom of earth; and, by concourse of three binary atoms, a tertiary atom is produced; and by

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an ethereal or immaterial nature and to permeate the whole world. As the *quinta essentia* this played an immense *rôle* among the followers of the Aristotelian doctrine in the Middle Ages, and gave rise to endless confusion, from the endeavours of many (who, unlike Aristotle; supposed it to be material) to isolate it.

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concourse of four triple atoms, a quaternary atom ; and so on, to a gross, grosser, or grossest mass of earth : thus great earth is produced ; and in like manner, great water from aqueous atoms ; great light, from luminous ; and great air, from ærial. The qualities that belong to the effect are those which appertained to the integrant part, or primary particle, as its material cause ; and conversely, the qualities which belong to the cause are found in the effect.

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" The dissolution of substances proceeds inversely. In the integrant parts of an aggregate substance resulting from composition, as in the potsherds of an earthen jar action is induced by pressure attended with velocity, or by simple pressure. Disjunction ensues ; whereby the union, which was the cause of incohation of members, is annulled ; and the integral substance consisting of those members, is resolved into its parts,

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" There seems to be a high degree of probability in the assumption that Empedocles and Aristotle did not themselves deduce their theory of the elements, but derived it from other sources ; thus the oldest writings of India teach that the world consists of the four elements mentioned above, together with ether, which last is most likely related to Aristotle's *o'vvía*--Meyer's " Hist. of Chem". Eng. trans. ed. 1898. pp. 7-8.

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and is destroyed : for it ceases to subsist as a whole.

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QUALITY OF THE SUBSTANCE VIZ., COLOUR, SAVOUR, ETC.

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“II. Quality is closely united with substance ; not, however, as an intimate cause of it, nor consisting in motion ; but common : not a genus, yet appertaining to one. It is independent of conjunction and disjunction ; not the cause of them, not itself endued with qualities.

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“Twenty-four are enumerated. Seventeen only are, indeed, specified in Kanāda’s aphorisms ; but the rest are understood.

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“I. Colour. It is a peculiar quality to be apprehended only by sight ; and abides in three substances ; earth, water, and light. It is a characteristic quality of the last ; and, in that, is white and resplended. In water it is white, but without lustre. In the primary atoms of both it is perpetual ; in their products, not so. In earth it is variable ; and seven colours are distinguished : viz. white, yellow, green, red, black, tawny (or orange) and variegated. The varieties of these seven colours are many, unenumerated. The six simple colours occur in the atoms of the earth ;

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and the seven, including variegated, in its double atoms, and more complex forms. The colour of integrant parts is the cause of colour in the integral substance.

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“2 Savour. It is a peculiar quality, to be apprehended only by the organ of taste; and abides in two substances, earth and water. It is a characteristic quality of the last; and in it is sweet. It is perpetual in atoms of water; not so in aqueous products. In earth it is variable, and six sorts are distinguished: sweet, bitter, pungent, astringent, acid, and saline.

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“3. Odour. It is a peculiar quality, to be apprehended only by the organ of smell; and abides in earth alone, being its distinguishing quality. In water, odour is adscititious, being induced by union with earthy particles; as a clear crystal appears red by association with a hollyhock, or other flower of that hue. In air also it is adscititious: thus a breeze, which has blown over blossoms, musk, camphor, or other scented substances, wafts fragrant particles of the blossoms, etc. The flowers are not torn, nor the musk diminished; because the parts are replaced by a reproductive unseen virtue. However, camphor and other volatile substances do waste.

Gravitation

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“12. Gravity is the peculiar cause of primary descent or falling.

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“It affects earth and water. Gold is affected by this quality, by reason of earth contained in it.

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“In the absence of a countervailing cause, as adhesion, velocity, or some act of volition, descent results from this quality. Thus a cocoanut is withheld from falling by adhesion of the footstalk; but, this impediment ceasing on maturity of the fruit, it falls.

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“According to Udayana Āchārya, gravity is imperceptible, but to be inferred from the act of falling. Vallabha maintains that it is perceived in the position of a thing descending to a lower situation.

Levity

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“Levity is not a distinct quality, but the negation of gravity.

Fluidity

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“13. Fluidity is the cause of original trickling.

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“It affects earth, light and water. It is natural and essential in water; adscititious in earth and light; being induced by exhibition of fire in molten substances, as lac, gold etc.

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"Fluidity is perceptible by external senses, sight and touch.

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"In hail and ice, fluidity essentially subsists, but is obstructed by an impediment arising from an unseen virtue which renders the water solid.

Viscidity

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14. "Viscidity is the quality of clamminess and cause of agglutination. It abides in water only. In oil, liquid butter, etc., it results from the watery part of those liquids.

Sound

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"15. Sound is a peculiar quality of the ethereal element, and is to be apprehended by the hearing. It abides in that element exclusively and is its characteristic quality. Two sorts are distinguished: articulate and musical.

Theory of the Propagation of Sound

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"To account for sound originating in one place being heard in another, it is observed, that sound is propagated by undulation, wave after wave, radiating in every direction, from a centre, like the blossoms of a Nauclea. It is not the first, nor the intermediate wave, that is the sound heard; but the last that comes in contact with the organ of hearing: and therefore it is not quite correct to say, that a drum has been heard. Sound originates in conjunction, in disjunction, or in sound itself. The conjunction of cymbals, or that of a drum and stick, may serve to exemplify the first. It is the instrumental cause. The rustling of leaves is an instance of disjunction being the cause of sound. In some cases, sound becomes the cause of sound. In all, the conformity of wind or its calmness is a concomitant cause: for an adverse wind obstructs it. The material cause is in every case the ethereal fluid: and the conjunction of that with the sonorous subject is a concomitant cause."

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It now only remains for us to furnish a précis of the atomic theory of Kanāda in the words of Max Müller:

Anus or Atoms

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"What is thought to be peculiar to Kanāda, nay the distinguishing feature of his philosophy, is the theory of Anus or Atoms. They take the place of the Tanmātrās in the Sāmkhya philosophy. Though the idea of an atom is not unknown in the Nyāya-philosophy (Nyāya Sūtras, IV. 2, 4-25), it is nowhere so fully worked out as in the Vaiseshika. Kanāda argued that there must be somewhere a smallest thing that excludes further analysis. Without this admission, we should have a *regressus ad infinitum*, a most objectionable process in the eyes of all Indian philosophers. A mountain, he says, would not be larger than a mustard seed. These smallest and invisible particles are held by Kanāda to be eternal in themselves, but non-eternal as aggregates. As aggregates again they may be organised organs, and inorganic. Thus the human body is earth organised, the power of smelling is the earthly organ, stones are inorganic.

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"It is, no doubt, very tempting to ascribe a Greek origin to Kanāda's theory of atoms. But suppose that the atomic theory had really been borrowed from a Greek source, would it not be strange that Kanāda's atoms are supposed never to assume visible dimensions till there is a combination of three double atoms (Tryanuka), neither the simple nor the double atoms being supposed to be visible by themselves. I do not remember anything like this in Epicurean authors, and it seems to me to give quite an independent character to Kanāda's view of the nature of an atom.

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“We are told that water, in its atomic state, is eternal, as an aggregate transient. Beings in the realm of Varuna (god of the sea) are organised, taste is the watery organ, rivers are water inorganic.”

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“Light in its atomic state is eternal, as an aggregate transient. There are organic luminous bodies in the sun, sight or the visual ray is the luminous organ, burning fires are inorganic.

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“Air, again, is both atomic and an aggregate. Beings of the air, spirits, etc., are organised air; touch in the skin is the ærial organ, wind is inorganic air. Here it would seem as if we had something not very unlike the doctrine of Empedocles.

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* * * But though we may discover the same thought in the philosophies of Kanāda and Empedocles, the form which it takes in India is characteristically different from its Greek form.”¹

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¹ “Indian Philosophy”, pp. 584-85.

Dates of the Philosophical Sūtras—The Question of Priority

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As regards the dates of the philosophical sūtras, nothing definite is known; here, as in the subsequent portions of our history, we have to depend largely upon constructive chronology.

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We quote below two short extracts from Professor Max Müller's "Indian Philosophy" which summarise all the information available at present on the subject:

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"If we consider the state of philosophical thought in India such as it is represented to us in the Brāhmaṇas and Upanishads, and afterwards in the canonical books of the Buddhists, we cannot wonder that all attempts at fixing the dates of the six recognised systems of philosophy, nay even their mutual relationship, should hitherto have failed. It is true that Buddhism and Jainism were likewise but two philosophical systems out of many, and that it has been possible to fix their dates. But if in their case we know something about their dates and their historical development, this is chiefly due to the social and political importance which they acquired during the fifth, the

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fourth, and the third centuries B. C., and not simply to their philosophical tenets. We know also that there were many teachers, contemporaries of Buddha, but they have left no traces in the literary history of India.

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"We cannot be far wrong therefore if we assign the gradual formation of the six systems of philosophy to the period from Buddha (5th century) to Asoka (third century), though we have to admit, particularly in the cases of Vedānta, Sāmkhya and Yoga, a long previous development reaching back through Upanishads and Brāhmanas to the very hymns of the Rig Veda.

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"It is equally difficult to fix the relative position of the great systems of philosophy, because, as I explained before, they quote each other mutually. With regard to the relation of Buddhism to the six orthodox systems it seems to me that all we can honestly say is that schools of philosophy handing down doctrines very similar to those of our six classical or orthodox systems are presupposed by the Buddhist Sūttas." (pp. 116—120)

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As regards the question of priority, we shall also take the liberty to quote below from Prof.

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Macdonell's "History of Sanskrit Literature":

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"Turning to Philosophical Literature, we find that the early Greek and Indian Philosophers have many points in common. Some of the leading doctrines of the Eleatics, that God and the universe are one, that everything existing in multiplicity has no reality, that thinking and being are identical, are all to be found in the philosophy of the Upanishads and the Vedānta system, which is its outcome. Again, the doctrine of Empedocles, that nothing can arise which has not existed before, and that nothing existing can be annihilated, has its exact parallel in the characteristic doctrine of the Sāmkhya system about the eternity and indestructibility of matter. According to Greek tradition, Thales, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus, and others undertook journeys to Oriental countries in order to study philosophy. Hence there is at least the historical possibility of the Greeks having been influenced by Indian thought through Persia.

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"Whatever may be the truth in the cases just mentioned, the dependence of Pythagoras on Indian philosophy and science certainly seems to have a high degree of probability. Almost all the doctrines ascribed to him, religious, philosophical, mathematical were known in India in the sixth century B. C. The coincidences are so numerous that their cumulative force becomes considerable. The transmigration theory, the assumption of five elements the Pythagorean theorem in geometry, the prohibition as to eating beans, the religio-philosophical character of the Pythagorean fraternity and the mystical speculations of the Pythagorean school, all have their close parallels in ancient India. The doctrine of metempsychosis in the case of Pythagoras appears without any connection or explanatory background and was regarded by the Greeks as of foreign origin. He could not have derived it from Egypt, as it was not known to the ancient Egyptians. In spite, however, of the later tradition, it seems impossible that Pythagoras should have made his way to India at so early a date, but he could quite well have met Indians in Persia.”¹

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¹ “History of Sanskrit Literature” pp. 421—22. Colebrooke himself sums up his views in these words :—“I should be disposed to conclude that the Indians were in this instance teachers than learners.” “Trans. Roy. As. Soc.,” Vol. I., p. 579. Prof. H. H. Wilson observes :—“that the Hindus derived any of their philosophical ideas from the Greek seems very improbable, and if there is any borrowing in the case, the latter were most probably indebted to the former.” Preface to the Sámkhya Káriká (1837) p. ix.

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Chemistry in the Charaka and the Sus'ruta

The Charaka

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[The subject-matter in the first few extracts in this chapter is practically based upon the Vaiseshika system ; see ante pp. 6 et seq.]

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The Tastes—The Metals and Their Calces

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"The object of the tongue is taste. Water and earth are the objective existences in which taste inheres. In its manifestation and as regards particular kinds of it, space, air and light are also its adjuncts. Sweet, sour, salt, pungent, bitter and astringent, these are regarded as the sixfold catalogue of tastes. * * * Objects are again known to be of three kinds, viz., animal products, vegetable products and products appertaining to the earth. Honey, vaccine, secretions, bile, fat, marrow, blood, flesh, excreta, urine, skin, semen, bones, tendons, horns, nails, hoofs, hair, bristles and the bright pigment called *Gorochana*,¹ are used (as drugs) among animal products. Gold, the five metals and their ordure [*i.e.* their calces, the five metals *viz.*, silver, copper lead, tin and iron], sand, lime, red arsenic, gems, salt, red chalk and antimony, are indicated as drugs appertaining to the earth.”²

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¹ Concretions found in the gall bladder of the ox.

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² A. C. Kaviratna's Translation of “Charaka Samhitá,” pp. 6-7.

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A Discourse on the Tastes—Their Relationship to the Five Primal Elements—The Nature of the Alkali

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“Once on a time, the son of Atri, and Bhadrakāpyas Sākuntèya and the full-eyed Maudgalya, and the golden-eyed Kausika, the sinless Bharadvāja otherwise called Kumārasiras, the blessed king Vāryovida, that foremost of all intelligent men Nimi, the ruler of the Videhas, Vadisa of high intelligence, and Kāmkhāyana-vālhīka, that foremost of all physicians of the Vālhīka country,—these *Rishis*, all of whom were old in years and learning and all of whom had subjugated their souls, came together to the delightful Chaitraratha woods, desirous of passing a few days in enjoyment and pleasure. As those *Rishis* conversant with every topic were seated there, the following discourse of grave import took place among them on the subject of the proper ascertainment of the (different) tastes and food.

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"There is one kind of taste said Bhadrakāpya; which persons skilled in the subject regard as are of the five subjects of the senses, *viz.*, that which relates to the tongue. That, again, is not different from water.

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"The Brāhmana Sākuntèya said there are two tastes, their virtues being that one of them cuts or removes from the body all bad humours or ingredients, and the other only checks or curbs them.

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"There are three tastes, said the full-eyed Maudgalya. Their virtues are cutting, curbing, and both.

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"There are four tastes, said the golden-eyed Kausika. They are agreeable and beneficial, and agreeable and non-beneficial, disagreeable and beneficial.

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"There are five tastes, said Kumārasira-Bharadvāja. They appertain to Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether (or Space).

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"There are six tastes, said the royal sage Vāryovida. They are heavy, light, cold, hot, oily and dry.

v1.c10.t16.14

“There are seven tastes, said Nimi, the ruler of the Videhas They are sweet, sour, saltish, pungent, bitter, astringent and alkaline.

v1.c10.t16.15

“There are eight tastes, said Vadisa-Dhāmārgava. They are sweet, sour, saltish, pungent, bitter, astringent, alkaline and that which remains in an unmanifest form.

v1.c10.t16.16

“The tastes are infinite in number, said Kām-khāyana, foremost among the physicians of the Vālhika country, in consequence of the infinite variety of their virtues, operations or effects and methods of corrections (or mixture for adding to their virtues, etc.,).

v1.c10.t16.17

“The illustrious son of Atri, viz., Punarvasu, said that the number of tastes is truly six. They are sweet, sour, saltish, pungent, bitter and astringent. The source from which these six flow, i. e. their origin, is water. Their operations or effects are of two kinds, viz., cutting and curbing. In consequence, again, of mixture or combination, they become both cutting and curbing at the same time. Agreeable and disagreeable are their divisions that depend upon the likes and dislikes of men. Beneficial and non-beneficial are their powers. The refuge of the tastes are the modifications of the five primal elements (of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether or Space). The tastes, again, depend upon the (original) nature of their refuge, the modifications of that refuge, combinations of the substances that form their refuge, as also place, and time.¹

v1.c10.t16.18

"The virtues or properties (attaching to the tastes) occur in those which constitute the refuge (of the tastes), called objects. Those virtues are heavy, light, cold, warm, oily, dry and others.

v1.c10.t16.19

"Kshāra (alkali) is so called from its being produced by ksharana (dropping down or straining). This is not a taste. It is, on the other hand, an object. It is, in fact, produced from many kinds of taste. Hence, it has many tastes. Among them, pungent and saline predominate. It is composed of many objects of the senses. It is manufactured with the aid of different processes.

v1.c10.t16.20

(1) The modifications of the five primal elements constitute the refuge of the tastes. Every substance is formed by modifications of those elements. What is said, therefore, is that material substances are the refuge of the tastes, i.e. the tastes inhere in them..

v1.c10.t16.21

“At the outset, however, we shall say something referring to the diversity of objects (which are the refuse of the tastes). All objects are the results of the combinations of five primal elements (viz., Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether or Space). As regards Medical Science, object are of two kinds, viz., those endowed with animation and those that are inanimate. The attributes which inhere in objects are sound, &c., heaviness &c., ending with solubility.”¹

v1.c10.t16.22

We now quote only a few typical instances of mineral and metallic preparations.

v1.c10.t16.23

The Five Kinds of Salts

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“The five kinds of salts viz., sauvarchala, saindhava, vit, audbhida, with sāmudra.” [See Index under the respective headings].

v1.c10.t16.25

Minerals for External Application

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“Sulphate of copper, sulphate of iron, realgar, orpiment and sulphur in combination with vegetable drugs are prescribed for external application in ringworm, eczema, leprosy, &c.,”²

v1.c10.t16.27

(1) Kaviratna's Trans., pp. 295-99.
(2) Sútra, Ch. III, 4-5.

v1.c10.t16.28

The Eight Varieties of Urine

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"The eight varieties of urine are those of the sheep, the goat, the cow, the buffalo, the elephant, the camel, the horse and the ass."¹

v1.c10.t16.30

¹ Ibid, Ch. I, 43.

v1.c10.t16.31

Preparation of Kshāra (Alkali)

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"A young *butea frondosa* is to be cut to pieces and dried and finally reduced to ashes. The ash is to be lixiviated with four or six times its weight of water and strained (through linen) 21 times."²

v1.c10.t16.33

² Chikitsá, Ch. XXIII, 26.

v1.c10.t16.34

Pill Iron Compound

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"Into the composition of pill iron compound pyrites and the rust of iron enter."³

v1.c10.t16.36

³ Ibid, Ch., XVI 28.

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A Collyrium

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"The ingredients of a collyrium are conch-shell, coral, lapis lazuli, iron, copper, the bone of the frog, sulphide of antimony and the seed *hyper-anthera morunga*.¹

v1.c10.t16.39

¹ Ibid, Ch, XXVI, 123.

v1.c10.t16.40

[The first five articles are interpreted as meaning the calces thereof.]

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Powder of Pearl Compound

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"Among the constituents we have, pearl, sulphur, powder of iron, copper and silver."²

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² Chikitsá, Ch. XVII, 40.

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[The text does not precisely say whether the metals are to be used *as such* or *killed* by being roasted with sulphur. The Hindu physicians however always take them in the latter sense.]

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Iron, Gold and Silver Tonics

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"A thin iron plate is to be made red hot and plunged into the decoction of the myrobalans, cow's urine, the solution of 'the salts', the solution of the alkali extracted from the ash of *butea frondosa*; *i.e.* made red hot and plunged into one of the above liquids at a time. When the iron becomes black like collyrium it is to be powdered. * * *"

v1.c10.t16.47

The references are according to the edition of Kavirajes D. N. Sen and U. N. Sen.

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"The same process to be adopted in the case of gold and silver."'¹

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¹ Chikitsá Ch. I. 5, pp. 497-98.

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Rasāyana Defined

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"Medicines are of two kinds : the one promotes the strength and vitality of the healthy, the other cures diseases.

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"Whatever promotes longevity, retentive memory, health, virility, &c. is called Rasāyana."²

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² Ibid Ch. I. pp. 2-6.

The Susruta

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Preparation and Use of Alkalies and Alkaline Caustics

v1.c10.t17.2

³ We have adopted Udoy Chand Dutta's Translation of Chs. XI and XIV with certain corrections here and there.

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"Of all cutting instruments and accessory cutting instruments, caustics are superior inasmuch as they perform the work of incisions, punctures and scarifications, relieve derangements of the three humours, *viz.*, air, bile and phlegm, and uniformly affect the diseased part to which they are applied. *Kshāra* (caustics) are so called because they remove diseased parts and destroy the skin and flesh. From being composed of numerous medicines they can affect the three humours. Caustics being white in colour are cooling or of lunar origin.¹ This origin is not inconsistent with their burning, escharotic and lacerating properties. Being composed of numerous heating medicines, caustics are acrid, hot and pungent. They promote suppuration, destroy parts, improve unhealthy sores and promote granulation, dry up discharge, stop bleeding and abrade the skin. Their internal use removes worms, acidity, phlegm, skin diseases, some poisons and corpulence. Their excessive use causes impotence.

v1.c10.t17.4

¹ The reader will not fail to notice that silver nitrate is, in the language of Western Alchemy, named lunar caustic.

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“ Alkalies are of two sorts, namely, for external application and internal administration. They are used externally in the skin diseases called *kustha*, in keloid, ringworm leucoderma, lepra, fistula-in-ano, tumours, unhealthy ulcers, sinuses, condyloma, moles, chloasma, brown spots on the face, warts, external inflammations, worms, poisons and piles, and in the seven following diseases of the mouth namely, *upajihvā* (ranula), *adhijihvā* (tumour on the tongue), *upakusa* (inflammation of the gum), *danta-vaidarbha* (inflammation of the gum from injury), and the three sorts of *rohiṇī* or inflammation of the throat. In these diseases of the mouth, accessory instruments, in the shape of caustics only, should be used. Alkaline solutions are administered internally in chronic or slow poisoning, abdominal tumours, ascites, loss of appetite, indigestion, disinclination for food, tympanitis, urinary deposits, calculi, internal or deep-seated inflammation, intestinal worms, poisoning and piles. Alkalies do not agree with children, old and weak people, and persons having a tendency to hæmorrhage from internal organs, or a bilious temperament. They are injurious in fever, giddiness, intoxication, fainting, amaurosis and such other diseases.

v1.c10.t17.6

"Alkalies for escharotic use are prepared like other alkalies by straining alkaline solutions as elsewhere explained in detail. They are made of three strengths, namely, weak, moderate and strong. He who wishes to prepare alkalies should in an auspicious day in autumn, fasting and in pure body, select a middle-aged, large-sized, uninjured *ghaṇṭāpāṭalī* tree with black flowers (*Schrebera swietenioides*) growing on an approved spot on a mountain, and address it with certain *mantras* or incantations as a preliminary ceremony called *adhivāsa*. Next day the tree should be cut or killed after reciting the following mantra or prayer: "Oh you with great fiery power may not thy strength be lost! Oh you auspicious tree, stay here and accomplish my work. After accomplishing my work you will go to heaven." Then the ceremony of homa, or burning the sacrificial fire, should be performed with one hundred red flowers. The tree should then be cut to pieces and piled in a place free from wind. Some limestone should be placed on the pile which should be set on fire by stalks of *Sesamum Indicum*. When the fire is extinguished, the ashes of the *ghaṇtāpātali* tree and the burnt lime should be kept separate. In the same way the following trees may be burnt with their root, branches, leaves and fruits for the preparation of alkalies,¹ namely:

v1.c10.t17.7

¹ Cf. Rasārnava, below, where the standard " plant ashes " are enumerated.

v1.c10.t17.8

Kuṭaja | Hollarrhena antidysenterica. Palāsa | Butea frondosa. Asvakarna | Shorea robusta. Pāribhadraka | Erythrina indica. Vibhītaka | Terminalia bellarica.

v1.c10.t17.9

| Āragvadha | Cassia fistula. |
| Tilvaka | Symplocos racemosa. |
| Arka | Calotropis gigantea. |
| Snuhi | Euphorbia neriifolia. |
| Apāmārga | Achyranthes aspera. |
| Pātālā | Stereospermum suaveolens. |
| Naktamāla | Pongamia glabra. |
| Vrīsha | Justicia adhatoda. |
| Kadalī | Musa sapientum. |
| Chitraka | Plumbago zeylanica. |
| Pūtika | Guilandina bonducella. |
| Indravriksha | Terminalia arjuna. |
| Āsphota | Salvadora persica. |
| Asvamāraka | Nerium odorum. |
| Saptachchhada | Alstonia scholaris. |
| Agni mantha | Premna serratifolia. |
| Guñjā | Abrus precatorins. |
| 4 sorts of Kosā | 4 varieties of Luffa amara.” |

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Lixiviation of the Ashes

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“Thirty two seers of ashes should be stirred or mixed with six times their quantity of water or cow’s urine and the mixture strained through cloth. This should be repeated twenty-one times. The strained fluid should then be boiled slowly in a large pan and agitated with a ladle. When the fluid becomes clear, pungent and soapy to the feel, it should be removed from the fire and strained through cloth. The filtrate¹ being thrown away, the strained fluid should be again boiled. From this alkaline solution take three quarters of a seer."

v1.c10.t17.12

¹ This is evidently a mistake. According to the original text, it should be "the dregs" *i. e.* the precipitate.

v1.c10.t17.13

Rendering the Alkali Caustic

v1.c10.t17.14

"Then take eight palas each of Banduc nut, burnt limestone, conch shells, and bivalve shells and heat them in an iron pan till they are of the colour of fire. Then moisten them in the same vessel with the above-mentioned three-quarters of a seer of alkaline water and reduce them to powder. This powder should be thrown on sixty-four seers of the alkaline water and boiled with constant and careful agitation by the ladle. Care should be taken that the solution is neither too thick nor thin."

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How to Store Up the Alkali

v1.c10.t17.16

"When reduced to proper consistence, the solution should be removed from the fire and poured into an iron jar. The opening or mouth of the jar should be covered, and should be kept in a secluded place. This preparation is called *madhyama* kshāra or alkaline caustic of middling strength. When the alkaline water is simply boiled to the proper consistence without the addition of burnt shells, &c., the preparation is called *mridu*¹ kshāra or weak alkaline solution. The strong alkaline caustic is prepared by boiling the weak solution with two tolahs each in fine powder of such of the under-mentioned ingredients as are available, namely:—

v1.c10.t17.17

¹ "Mridu" may be rendered more accurately as "mild."

v1.c10.t17.18

Dantī, Baliospermun mon anum. Dravantī Salvinia cucullata. Chitraka Plumbago zeylanica. Lāngalikī Gloriosa superba. Pūtika Guilandina bonducell. Kanaka Salvinia cucullata. Kshīrī Cleome felina. Vachā Acorus calamus.

v1.c10.t17.19

"Aconite root, carbonate of soda, asafœtida, black salt and corals.

v1.c10.t17.20

"This solution is used for bringing to a head or opening abscesses. These three varieties of alkalies should be used according to the state of the disease. In weak persons, the alkaline water without the addition of other caustic ingredients, should be applied to strengthen the parts.”

v1.c10.t17.21

Characteristics of the Good and the Bad Alkali

v1.c10.t17.22

On this subject there are the following verses: “Good alkaline caustics should be neither too strong nor too weak. They should be white in colour, smooth and soapy to the touch, should not spread beyond where they are applied, and act rapidly and successfully. These are the eight good properties of caustics. Their bad qualities consist in their being too weak or cool, too strong or hot, too slippery and spreading, too thick or too under-boiled, or they may be deficient in ingredients.

v1.c10.t17.23

“In applying caustic to a patient suffering from a disease curable by this remedy, he should be made to sit in a spacious place, protected from wind and sun. The physician should then procure the instruments or necessary articles according to the rules laid down in the fifth chapter. He should then examine the diseased part, rub, scarify or scratch it, and then apply the caustic by means of a probe, and wait for the space of time required to utter one hundred words. The diseased part turns black on the application of the caustic which is a sign of its having been burnt. The application of some acid mixed with clarified butter or honey relieves the pain. If from the thickness of the burnt part it does not fall off, the following application should be thoroughly applied to it, namely, equal parts of tamarind pulp, of the refuse of *kānjika* (fermented rice water i. e. crude vinegar), sesamum seeds and liquorice root rubbed together into a paste. Sesamum seeds and liquorice root rubbed together with clarified butter promotes granulation in ulcers."

v1.c10.t17.24

Why the Acid Neutralises the Alkali

v1.c10.t17.25

"If you question, my son! how is it that the application of the pungent acid of *kānjika* relieves the burning of the fire-like hot alkaline caustic, then hear the following explanation from me. Alkalies possess all the tastes except that of the acid. The acrid taste prevails in it and the saline one to a less degree (cf. *ante* p. 28). The sharp saline taste when mixed with acid becomes very mild, and gives up its sharp quality. From this modification of the saline taste, the pain of caustics is relieved just as fire is extinguished by water."

v1.c10.t17.26

Mild and Caustic Alkalies

v1.c10.t17.27

It will be noticed that there is a distinct mention of "mild" and "caustic" alkalies in the body of the text. The process of lixiviating the ashes and rendering the lye caustic by the addition of lime leaves very little to improve upon, and appears almost scientific compared to the crude method to which M. Berthelot pays a high tribute :

v1.c10.t17.28

"Fabrication de la Lessive :—Quatre muids de cendres sont répartis entre deux cuviers, percés de trous au fond. Autour du trou le plus petit, du côté intérieur, mets une petite quantité de foin, pour que la cendre n'obstrue pas le trou. Remplis d'eau le premier des cuviers ; recueille le liquide filtré qui en découle pendant toute la nuit et mets-le dans le second cuvier ; grade ce qui filtere de ce second cuvier. Mets d'autre cendre (dans un troisième cuvier). Epiuse-la et il se forme une liqueur pareille au nard couleur d'or. Verse-la dans un quatrième cuvier. La liqueur devient piquante et forte : telle-est la lessive particulière." "Coll. d. Alch. Grecs" III. trad. p. 357.

v1.c10.t17.29

We reproduce the remarks of M. Berthelot on the above : "On a regardé comme modernes les procédés de lixiviation méthodique, usités pour exprimer les cendres et les matériaux salpêtrés : le passage suivant, tiré du manuscrit de Saint-Marc, montre que ces procédés remontent au XIe siècle et sans doute au delà.”—“Chimie des Anciens” p. 284.

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Description of Blood

v1.c10.t17.31

(Chapter XIV of Sūtrasthānam)

v1.c10.t17.32

“The four varieties of food derived from the five elements and having the six tastes, the two properties of heat and cold or according to some, eight properties and many qualtities when taken in moderation and thoroughly digested, produces a fine substance imbued with energy and fire. This is called *rasa* (chyle). The heart is the seat of the *rasa* or chyle. From the heart it proceeds through 24 arteries, namely, ten ascending, ten descending, and four transverse to all parts of the body. By some unseen cause or destiny, this chyle continually satiates, increases, nourishes and supports the body and keeps it alive. The motion of this chyle throughout the body is inferred form the processes of decline, increase, and diseased condition of the different portions of the body. It may be asked whether this chyle which pervades all the external parts of the body, the three humours, the tissues, including the blood and the receptacles of the secretions, is endowed with the property of heat or cold. As this chyle is a circulating fluid, and as it softens, vitalises, supports and nourishes the body, it should be known to possess the cooling property. This watery fluid no doubt assumes a red colour in the liver and spleen, that is, it is converted into blood in these organs. On this subject there is the following verse:

v1.c10.t17.33

The *rasa* (chyle) of living beings is coloured red by healthy bile. This coloured fluid is called blood. The blood excreted by women and called the menstrual fluid is derived also from this *rasa*. This menstruation, coming at the age of twelve, ceases at the age of fifty.

v1.c10.t17.34

The menstrual fluid is endowed with the property of heat, owing to the womb being possessed of both the properties of heat and cold. Other writers say that the blood of living beings is composed of the five elements. The five qualities of the five elements as seen in blood are as follows, namely, fleshy smell, liquidity, red colour, tendency to trickle or ooze, and lightness.¹ Blood is produced

v1.c10.t17.35

¹ Cf. *ante* pp. 6-7 under Vaiseshika Philosophy.

v1.c10.t17.36

from chyle, flesh from blood, fat from flesh, bones from fat, marrow from bones, and lastly the semen is produced from marrow. The chyle produced from food and drink nourishes these constituent parts of the body. Living beings are produced from the *rasa*; hence sensible people should carefully preserve this *rasa* by conforming to the proper rules of diet and regimen."¹

v1.c10.t17.37

¹ The reader may compare the above theories on the Chemistry and Physiology of Digestion and Nutrition with those of Geber. *Vide* "Traité d'Alchimie Arabe," trad. pp. 201-3.

v1.c10.t17.38

ON THE COLLECTION OF DRUGS (Chapter XXXVIII : Sūtrashānam)

v1.c10.t17.39

37 classes of vegetable drugs are mentioned which chiefly constitute the Materia Medica. There is only one sloka in which the six metals *viz.*, tin, lead, copper, silver, *krishnaloha* (iron) and gold, and their calces are recommended.

v1.c10.t17.40

The Salts

v1.c10.t17.41

Rock-salt, sea-salt, bit, sauvarchala, romaka and audbhid, &c. (see *ante* p. 29).

v1.c10.t17.42

The Alkalies

v1.c10.t17.43

Yavakshāra (factitious carbonate of potash), sārjikākshāra¹ (trona or natron) ; the alkaline solution prepared according to directions given in Ch. XI ; and borax.

v1.c10.t17.44

¹ From the time of the Charaka and the Susruta, Hindu Pharmacy has always recognised these two alkalies as distinct.

v1.c10.t17.45

Internal administration of alkali is recommended for dissolving the stones or gravels (urinary calculi).

v1.c10.t17.46

Internal Use of Lead and Tin

v1.c10.t17.47

Lead and tin are described as vermifuge—a property also accepted by the later Iatro-chemists.

v1.c10.t17.48

Powdered tin rubbed for seven days together with the creamy portion of curd is recommended for internal administration.

v1.c10.t17.49

Minerals for External Application

v1.c10.t17.50

For the treatment of ulcer an external application of sulphate of copper, sulphate of iron, orpiment and realgar, &c., is prescribed.

v1.c10.t17.51

Another recipe includes alum-earth, red-ochre, sulphate of copper, yellowish (basic) sulphate of iron, rock-salt, orpiment and realgar.¹

v1.c10.t17.52

¹ Chikitsasthánam Ch. XIX, 37, ed. J. Vidyáságara.

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ROASTING OF IRON AND OTHER METALS, SO AS TO RENDER THEM FIT FOR INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION.

v1.c10.t17.54

Thin leaves of cast iron are to be smeared with the levigated powder of "the salt" and heated in the fire of the cow-dung cakes and then plunged into a decoction of the myrobalans and asafœtida. This process is to be repeated 16 times. The leaves are then to be ignited in the fire of the wood of *mimosa catechu* and afterwards finely powdered and passed through linen of fine texture.

v1.c10.t17.55

The above process is equally applicable to the roasting of the other metals.²

v1.c10.t17.56

² See Note on the "Metals and their Salts" p. 48.

v1.c10.t17.57

The Origin of Bitumen

v1.c10.t17.58

The origin of bitumen is much the same as in the Charaka and the Bower Ms. ; the only difference being that, according to Susruta, bitumen is related to six instead of four metals (see below p. 53).

v1.c10.t17.59

Iron Pyrites

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Iron Pyrites are collected on the bank of the river Tāpī, of the lustre of gold and silver respectively (see below under “Rasaratnasamuchchaya”, Bk. II, 77-81 and prescribed in the treatments of diabetes, leprosy, &c.

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Gold Dust

v1.c10.t17.62

Gold dust, mixed with lotus seed, honey, &c. is used as a tonic.

v1.c10.t17.63

The Poisons

v1.c10.t17.64

The Poisons are classified as animal, vegetable and mineral respectively. Under the last we have *Phenasma bhasma*¹ and orpiment.

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