A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c12.t1: Book I
A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c12.t1
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- English
Book I
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Salutation to him—the excellent, the greatest physician of the world by the nectareous ocean of whose benign glance, resplendent with brilliance, born of everything that is joyous and auspicious and which acts like unfailing elixir, the diseases of his devotees, such as birth, death, old age and worldly attachment, are cured in an instant.¹ I
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¹ I
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(1) The salutation is strictly Buddhistic and is on all fours with the opening lines of Vāgbhaṭa's Ashṭāngahridaya and of Amarakosha, both of which are known to be by Buddhist authors; cf. also Lalitavistara :
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वेद्यः सर्वस्य लोकस्य वन्देऽहमपि त्वां विभो । VII. p. 123, R. L. Mitra's ed
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जराव्याधिक्लिष्टानां प्रादुर्भवतो भिषग्वरः । xii, p. 150.
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Ādima,¹ Chandrasena, Lankesa, Bisārada, Kapāli, Matta, Māndavya, Bhāskara, Sūrasenaka, Ratnakosa, Sambhu, Sāttvika, Naravāhana, Indrada. Gomukha, Kambali, Vyadi, Nāgārjuna, Surānanda, Nāgabodhi, Yasodhana, Khanda, Kāpālika, Brahmā, Govinda, Lampaka and Hari—these are the twenty seven experts on Alchemy as also Rasāmkusa, Bhairava, Nandī, Svachchhandabhairava, Manthānabhairava, Kākachandīsvara, Vāsudeva, *Rishyasringa*, the compiler of alchemy, the ascetic Rasendratilaka, Bhāluki, who has got the appellation of Maithili, Mahādeva, Narendra, Ratnākara and Harīsvara. 2-7
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¹ The Benares Ms. reads Āgama.
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This treatise on well-tried mercurials and minerals, named “Rasaratnasamuchchaya,” adapted to the treatment of diseases, is being compiled by the son of Simhagupta, after having consulted the works of the aforesaid adepts and others. It will treat of mercury, the minerals and the metals, the construction of the apparatus, the mystical formulæ for the purification of the metals, the extraction of the essences (active principles), liquefaction and incineration. 8-10
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[Here follows a description of the virtues of mercury and its mythical origin.]
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By partaking of mercury, men are freed from a multitude of diseases, arising out of the sins of former existence—of this there is no doubt. 26
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He who falls foul of mercury, which is the generative principle of Siva, will rot in the hell æon after æon. 29
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From the mouth of the God of fire * * mercury dropped into the country of Darada¹ and it has there remained ever so long. The soil of that region, on being subjected to distillation, yields mercury. 89-90
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Colophon
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Here ends Book first of Rasaratnasamuchchaya, composed by Vāgbhata, son of Simhagupta, Prince of Physicians.
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(1) Dardistan,the mountainous region about Kásmír, is famous for the ores of cinnabar from which mercury is extracted. Darada is in fact a name of cinnabar. The auriferous region of the Daradas is mentioned by Humboldt (Kosmos II. p. 513 E. C. Otte) who places it either in the Thibetan highlands east of the Bolor chain, west of Iskardo, or towards the desert of Gobi described also as auriferous by Hiouen Thsang. Regarding Párada and Darada see also Lassen's Alterthumskunde, I. pp. 848-49. It seems probable that "párada" (quicksilver) and "darada" (cinnabar) owe their names to the countries from which their supply was obtained.
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BOOK II
Linked texts (1)
- Rasaratnasamuccaya — Vāgbhaṭa (alchemist), Sanskrit