A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c9.s2.3

v1.c9.s2.3

Before we proceed further it would be advisable to take a hasty glance at the origin of the Tantric Cult, as Indian Alchemy very largely derives its colour and flavour from it. In almost every country the progress of chemistry can be traced to medicine and the belief in the artificial gold-making,—the search after *elixir vitæ* and the philosopher's stone. In India, however, these ends have played a secondary part in promoting a knowledge of the chemical processes. Here the origin of astronomy, geometry and anatomy is to be sought in the exigencies of religious rites.¹ No less is the case with alchemy. We have already seen how the Atharva-veda deals almost exclusively in charms, sorcery, exorcism of diseases by means of amulets and so on. It is sometimes supposed that the A.V. represents the latest of the Vedas. This is evidently a misimpression.¹ The truth seems to be that human frailty has always fought shy of the tedious and laborious methods of gaining an object. The spiritual hankering as foreshadowed in the prayers of the Rik, and later on so fully developed