A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c10.t16.17

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