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A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.t1: Antiquity of Alchemical Tantras

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.t1

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English

Antiquity of Alchemical Tantras

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The existence of a vast ancient Tantric literature with alchemy as a component part has now been placed beyond doubt, thanks to the searching examination of the Mahárájá's collection of valuable MSS. of Nepal by the eminent scholars Bendall, H. P. Sástrí and S. Lévi. Of surpassing interest is the discovery of a Tantra belonging to the extinct school Kubjikámata, written in Gupta character and copied about the sixth century A. D. This school, though itself very ancient, presupposes the existence of other schools and we have distinct mention of the Maháyána.[*] We now learn that the gradual fusion and amalgamation of Sivaite and Buddhist Tantras had begun even anterior to the sixth century. The Kubjiká-tantra was evidently composed outside India proper, probably in Nepal. The Goddess Párvatí encourages her consort to proceed to the continent for the spread of the tenets propounded by it.[†] In one place we come across a passage[‡] in which Siva himself speaks of párada (mercury) as his generative prin-

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∗ Cf. "By the side of the tower of king Asoka is built a Samghávása, belonging to the great vehicle, very imposing and elegant. There is also a temple belonging to the little vehicle.........In the college attached to the temple one may see eminent Sramanas from every quarter of the globe."—Beal's "Fah-hian," ed. 1869, p. 105.

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[*] Catalogue of Pa1m-leaf and selected paper MSS. belonging to the Durbár Library, Nepal, by H. P. Sástrí (1905), lxxviii, et. seq.

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दक्षिणे देवयानौ तु पितृयानस्तथोत्तरे । मध्यमे तु महायानं शिवसंज्ञा प्रजीयते ॥

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[†] गच्छ त्वं भारते वर्षेऽधिकाराय सर्व्वतः ।

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[‡] मद्वीर्य्यः पारदो यश्च पतितः स्फुटितं मणः ॥ * * * मद्वीर्य्येण प्रसूतास्ते तावाय्या सूतके वहि । तिष्ठन्ति संस्कृताः सन्तः भस्मा षड् विप्रजारणाम् ॥

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For the passages cited here we are indebted to the industry and courtesy of Pandit H. P. Sástrí, who has wended his way through the bulky MS.

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ciple and eulogises its efficacy when it has been killed six times.* We also find allusions to the transmutation of copper into gold with the aid of mercury. In short, we have ample references to alchemical processes described in the very technical terms in which Rasárnava, Rasaratnákara and other typical works of the Tantric period abound. †

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† e.g. पलेन विहितो वेधः किं व्यञ्जतो न विध्यते । रसविद्धं यथा ताम्रं न भूयस्तामतां व्रजेत् ॥ For the meaning of the word वेध (Vedha) see this Vol., p. 18, footnote, also Vol. i, p. 120.

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It is now only necessary to wind up this chapter with an extract from the work of an eminent Bud-dhologist with this reserva-tion that the growing influence of Tantrism began as we have seen long before the 8th century.

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"The decline of Buddhism in India from the 8th century downwards nearly coincides with the growing influence of Tantrism and sorcery, which stand to each other in the relation of theory to practice. The development of Tantrism is a feature that Buddhism and Hinduism in their later phases have in common. The object of Hindu Tantrism is the acquisition of wealth, mundane enjoyments, rewards for moral actions, deliverance, by worshipping Durgā, the Sakti of Siva—Prajñā in the terminology of the Mahāyāna—through means of spells, muttered prayers, Samādhi, offerings, etc. Similarly the Buddhist Tantras purpose to teach the adepts how by a supernatural way to acquire desired objects, either of a material nature, as the elixir of longevity, invulnerability, invisibility, alchemy; or of a more spiritual character as the power of evoking a Buddha or a Bodhisattva to solve a doubt, or the power of achieving in this life the union with some divinity. There is an unmistakable affinity between Tantrism on one side, and the system of Yoga and Kammatthāna on the other. Tantrism is, so to say, a popularised and, at the same time, degraded form of Yoga, because the objects are commonly of a coarser character, and the practices partly more childish partly more revolting.

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∗ Even at the present day mercury, which has been killed six times in succession, each time with an equal weight of sulphur षड्गुणबलिजारित, is reputed to be one of the most potent of remedies.

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Tāranātha informs us that Tantrism existed and was transmitted in an occult manner in the period between Asanga and Dharmakīrti, but that after Dharmakīrti’s times the Anuttarayoga became more and more general and influential. Substantially his statement is certainly right. He adds that during the reign of the Pāla dynasty, there were many masters of magic, Mantra-Vajrāchāryas, who, being possessed of various Siddhis, performed the most prodigious feats.

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“The kings of the Pāla dynasty, whose sway over Gauda and the adjacent regions lasted from about A. D. 800 to 1050, are known both from the annals and their inscriptions as protectors of the Faith. It was during that period that the monastery of Vikramasīla was a renowned centre of Tantrist learning.

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“The Sena kings, who followed the Pālas in the dominion over Eastern India, though belonging to a Hindu persuasion, were not hostile to the Faith. Still Buddhism declined during their reign and more so after the invasion of the country by the Muhammedans in A D. 1200. The monasteries of Udandapura and Vikramasīla were destroyed; the monks were killed or fled to other countries. The learned Sākysrí went to Orissa, and afterwards to Tibet; Ratnarakshita to Nepāl; Budhamitra and others sought a refuge in S. India, whilst Sangama-Srījñāna with several of his followers betook themselves to Burma, Camboja, etc. And thus the Law of Buddha became extinct in Magadha.

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“Many emigrants from Magadha rejoined their brethren in the South and founded colleges on a modest scale in Vijayanagara, Kalinga, and Konkan. The comparatively satisfactory condition of Buddhism in Dekkhan about that time is attested by the rich donations to the monastery at Dambal.” *

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It will be noted that the monks of the monasteries of Udandapura and Vikramasíla on their dispersion carried with them their learning and arts in the same manner of the Byzantine Greeks on their expulsion from Constantinople bore with them their intellectual treasuries to the Italian cities. In the kingdom of the Deccan and in Tibet the Buddhist refugees found hospitable asylums,† just as the Greek Philosophers did in the Florentine Republic under the Medicii.

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Some eminent orientalists, whose opinions naturally carry weight, have hitherto taken for granted that the knowledge of chemistry such as we find reflected in the Tantras quoted by Mádhava in Rasesvaradarsana * was derived by intercourse with the Arabs. †

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∗ Kern—Manual of Ind. Bud., pp. 133—134. † Cf.—“The Deccan, which from the eleventh century was the refuge and centre of literary activity generally. In Hindustan it had been substantially arrested by the inroads and ravages of the Muhammadans.”—Weber. Hist. Ind. lit. p. 283.

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* Vol. i, Intro. lxxviii, et seq.

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† E.g. Barth : "In regard to alchemy, anyhow in which the Sittars are zealous adepts, they were disciples of the Arabians, although other Sivaites had preceded them in the pursuit of the philosopher's stone. Already, in his exposition of the different doctrines of the Saivas, Sáyana thought he ought to dedicate a special chapter to the Rasesvara-darsana or "system of mercury," a strange amalgamation of Vedantism and alchemy. The object contemplated in this system is the transmutation of the body into an incorruptible substance by means of rasapāna i.e., the absorption into it of elixirs compounded principally of mercury and mica, that is to say, of the very essential qualities of Siva and Gaurí, with whom the subject of the operation is thus at length identified. This species of transubstantiation constitutes the jivanmukti, or state of deliverance commencing with this present life, the sole and indispensable condition of salvation. It is clear that the devotional formulæ of the Vedanta are here only a sort of jargon, under which there lies hid a radically impious doctrine; and it is not less clear that in this doctrine, which had from the fourteenth century produced a rather considerable literature, there is an infusion of Mohammedan ideas. . . . . . . The Arabs of the Khalifat had arrived on these shores in the character of travellers or merchants, and had established commercial relations and intercourse with these parts long before the Afghans, Turks, or Mongols, their coreligionists, came as conquerors."—"Religions of India," ed. 1891, pp. 210-211.

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The attentive reader who has followed us all along could not have failed to notice that it was in the Universities of Nálendá, Udandapura and Vikramasíla, in Central India and Magadha, precisely the regions which were cut off from communication with the external world, that Tantric mysticism with alchemy as an integral part was cultivated and from thence spread to Bhot (Tibet) and the regions lying to the south-east of it, * and South India. †

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† The last rallying point of Hindu learning and sciences was the kingdom of Vijayanagara, which was in the heyday of its glory under Bukka I (A. D. 1354-1371) with Mádhava as his prime Minister. Wilson says :—" The history of Vijayanagara is a subject of considerable interest in the annals of India, as the last barrier that was opposed to Muhammedan invasions, and that preserved the southern part of the Peninsula from foreign rule until a very modern period."—As. Res. Vol. xx (1830), p.

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In Tibet and the Deccan.

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∗ See under colophons to Rasah ridaya and Rasasára respectively.

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¹ See also Sewell's "A Forgotten Empire."—(Vijayanagara).

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Having thus far prepared the ground for believing that alchemy along with other cognate branches of learning was the outcome of Indian intellectual activity, we shall now proceed to follow it up with its further development. At the outset it is, however, necessary to remember that on the decline of Buddhism the vigorous impetus which its followers gave to literature and science was not lost to India. Nay, during and after the revival of Brahminism under the Gupta dynasty and its successions we have some mighty intellectual giants whose productions will continue to shed lustre as long as the Hindu nation exists. Kálidása and Bhavabhúti, Brahma Gupta and Āryabhatta, Samkara and Rámánuja are names which may be regarded as the heritage not of India alone but of the entire civilized world. At the time of the Brahminic revival Buddhist works of acknowledged merit far from being cast aside were held in veneration. Amarasimha in his Lexicon and Vágbhata in his Ashtámgahridaya* as also the psuedo-Vágbhata* commence with an invocation to Buddha, which has never shocked the tolerant spirit of the Hindu. Charaka and Susruta also bear distinct impress of Buddhist retouching. The Buddhist Tantras became likewise a part and parcel of Hindu religio-philosophical literature,† the subject-matter of the former was incorporated into the latter, the names of Tárá, Prajñápáramitá and Buddha being simply changed into those of Párvatí and Siva. In Rasaratnákara itself we have distinct indications that it is an admixture of both.

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∗ Vol. i, p. 76.

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† Speaking of a typical Buddhist production belonging to this category Burnouf observes: "Ce morceau est exclusivement spéculatif, et il nous offre une nouvelle preuve de l'alliance intime que le système des Tantras a contractée avec la philosophie buddhique la plus elevée." (l. c. p. 543 ed. 1844).

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Buddhist alchemical Tantras absorbed into Hindu Tantras.

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It should thus be understood that the works under review in this chapter are based upon their Buddhist counterparts; in short, there is no disposition to ignore the debt of obligation the authors are under to Nágárjuna, Ratnaghosha, Mándavya and others.

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In the introduction to the first volume we stated: "It is to be regretted that the several works quoted by Mádhava [ on the science of mercury ] Rasárnava alone Rasahridaya. seems to have survived to our days" (l. c. lxxxiii). Since then we have been fortunate enough to procure as many as three transcripts of MSS. of Rasahridaya by Govindabhagavat from different quarters. As Mádhava speaks of this author in terms of the deepest reverence and regards him as "ancient," * we think we should not err on the wrong side if we place the author some three centuries before his time. If our surmise be correct, he should have lived about the eleventh century A. D. The only personal allusion which the author has condescended to offer for the edification of posterity is that he wrote his book at the request of the king of the Kirátaland, *i.e.*, the region adjoining modern Bhotan. Portions of this remarkable treatise after a careful collation of three MSS. have been reproduced in the proper place. The worm-eaten fragmentary MS. procured from Benares is 386 years old. Internal evidence equally goes to establish the antiquity of this work. The author was evidently a Buddhist as we learn from the colophon to the Benares MS. (*vide* trans. p. 12). It is, however, not to be found either in the India office or the Nepál MS. This important omission is easily accounted for. It is the reluctance of the latter day Hindus to acknowledge their obligations to a Buddhist author.

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∗ Cf. Vol. i, Intro. lxxx. तत्रपञ्चस्तु गोविन्दभगवत्पादाचार्यसब्बज्ञरामेश्वरभट्टारकप्रभृतिभिः प्राचीनैराचार्यैर्निरूपितः । The qualifying epithet भगवत् is only applied to venerable Rishis of old.

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Rasárnava which has been noticed at length in the first volume and to which was assigned the 12th century A. D., as also Rasaratna-samuchchaya, (13th to 14th century), need not further arrest our attention.

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The presentation of the various treatises of the Tantric and iatro-chemical periods under discussion in their exact chronological sequence is not an easy task; in the absence of more definite information, we are afraid, we shall now and then have to hazard a conjecture.

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The introductory lines of Books viii and ix of Rasaratnasamuchchaya, in which Somadeva is mentioned as the author of the descriptive part, led us to suspect that they are merely reproductions from "a standard work on the subject by Somadeva, no longer extant."* Our surmise has proved to be partially correct. We have at last been able to recover the supposed lost work. A transcript of a MS. of Rasendrachúdámani by Somadeva, preserved in the Library of the Deccan College, Poona, reveals to us the fact that practically all the important portions of this book have been woven into the text of Rasaratnasamuchchaya; and this gives us an additional opportunity of collating many doubtful passages in both. But the present work itself does not lay claim to originality. It makes a candid admission that it culls all its materials from pre-existing chemical treatises.* It further puts forward the alchemist Nandi as the inventor of the process of sublimation and of the Koshthí apparatus (Vol. i, pp. 69 and 89).† Nágárjuna, Dandí, Sambhu and the sage Brahmajyoti are also spoken of as sources of his inspiration. We get very little inkling into the personal history of Somadeva, except that he was the ruler of a city named Karaválabhairava. The fact that R. R. S. lays Rasendrachúdámani so amply under contribution would suggest that the latter had become somewhat rare or that its contents had been well nigh forgotten when the former was compiled. Its date may therefore be put down between the 12th and 13th centuries A. D.

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∗ Vol. i, p. 118.

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* अथ यन्त्राणि वक्षान्ते रसतन्रान्यनेकषः ।
समालोक्य समासेन सोमदेवेन साम्प्रतम् ॥
† ऊर्ध्वपातनयन्त्रं हि नन्दिना परिकीर्तितम् ।
कोष्ठिकायन्त्रमेतद्धि नन्दिना परिकीर्तितम् ॥

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Another important work of this period is Rasaprakása-sudhákara by Yasodhara. The author of R. R. S. in the opening lines mentions the names of 27 alchemists to whom he is beholden, among which occurs that of Yasodhana. We have little doubt the correct reading is Yasodhara. We now find that there is very little original matter in R. R. S., it being made up of citations from Rasárnava and the works of Somadeva and Yasodhara. We should not, however, be understood to retract the high encomiums we thought fit to bestow upon R. R. S. for "its methodical and scientific arrangements of the subject-matter, which would do credit to any modern work."* Its author has never laid claims to originality, but on the contrary has freely acknowledged the sources he drew upon. The student of Hindu chemistry, however, like a weary but devout pilgrim, must wind his way through intricate and thorny paths and feel ineffable joy at being able to approach the original fountain undefiled. It now transpires that the credit for the accurate observations on the metallurgy of zinc (Vol. i, pp. 88 & 156) really belongs to Yasodhara. While the author of R. R. S. always scrupulously admits that his work is a mere compilation, Yasodhara, on the other hand, is anxious to let the world know that the processes he describes have been verified by experiments performed with his own hands.∗ Among the authorities he cites are Nágárjuna, Devísástra (probably Rasárnava), Nandi, Somadeva, Svachchhandabhairava and Manthanabhairava. As Yasodhara quotes Somadeva, he must have been posterior to the latter by at least a hundred years and he should therefore be placed in the 13th century A. D.†

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∗ Vol. i, Intro. lxxxvi.

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∗ *Cf.* स्वहस्तेन कृतं सम्यक् जारणं न श्रुतं मया। स्वहस्तेन भवयोगेन कृतं सम्यक् श्रुतेन हि॥ धातुबन्धस्ततोऽसौ स्वहस्तेन कृतो मया। दृष्टप्रत्यययोगोऽयं कथितो नात्र संशयः॥

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† We are using a copy of the MS. preserved in the Runbír Library, Kásmír. The readings are on the whole accurate.

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Rasakalpa likewise seems to belong to this period. It is in the shape of a Tantra, but curiously enough it is not much troubled with consistency. In the opening salutation Siva, "the king of mercurial lore" and his consort Chandiká are reverentially bowed to—a procedure scarcely reconcilable with the position of a revealed document. The colophon at the end of each Chapter (उल्लास) claims the work to be a part and parcel of Rudrayámala Tantra; at the same time due acknowledgment is made to the contributions of Govinda, the author of Rasa-hridaya, Svachchhandabhairava and other adepts.∗ Towards the end the author says: "The processes described have all been verified by me and not borrowed at second-hand from my teachers." Needless to add here that the God Siva would not have been at pains in justifying the necessity of his production with such a timorous apology. From internal evidence it is abundantly clear that it could not have been composed earlier than the 13th century A. D.

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∗ E. g. सर्बाचार्यैरुदीरिताः ।

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As the author has confined himself solely to a description of the metals, minerals and the processes of "killing" them with the agency of various apparatus and has not gone into the treatment of diseases with the aid of mineral preparations, he has been able to condense much important information within the narrow compass of a few short chapters.

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Rasarájalakshmí also deserves some prominence here not because of its intrinsic worth but because of the references to previous Tantras and alchemists, amongst which are Rasárnava, Kákachandísvara, Nágárjuna, Vyádi, Svachchhanda, Dámodara, Vásudeva and Bhagabat Govinda. We have also categorical mention of the purely Ayurvedic works, such as Charaka, Susruta, Háríta and Vágbhata, to which our author is equally indebted.∗ From the colophon to the MS. procured from Benares we learn that the author Vishnudeva was Court Physician to king Bukka.∗ If this statement be accepted—and *prima facie* there is no reason to question it—this treatise must have been compiled in the latter part of the 14th century. Internal evidence equally supports this date.

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∗ Vide Sanskrit Texts, pp. 80-81.

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∗ *Vide ante.*, footnote, xlix.

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C. 1350 A. D.

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We now proceed to examine the contents of another series of works belonging also to the Iatro-Chemical period; the one characteristic feature of which is that opium is recognised as an official drug in the materia medica portion. These may be taken to date from the middle of the 14th century A. D.

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Rasanakshatramáliká by Mathanasimha, physician to the king of Malwa, should find a place in this chapter. For particulars as to the contents the reader may consult p. 22. The date given by the copyist of the MS. is Samvat 1557 i.e. 1500 A. D. The work itself is therefore older.

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Rasaratnákara by Siddha Nityanátha, son of Párvatí, comes under this category.[*] The author gives the sources of his information and explains the object of his compilation.

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∗ Two editions of this somewhat voluminous work have been published—one by Ganesa Chandra Ghose (Calcutta),

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Rasaratnákara by Nityanátha.

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tion in the following words: "Whatever has been revealed by Siva in Rasárnava under the preparations of mercury; the Dípiká of Rasamamgala on mercury; all that has been said by Nágárjuna for the benefit of people afflicted with diseases, as also by Siddha Charpati, by Vágbhata and Susruta,—all these and many other treatises on mercury and minerals being consulted, I have, after rejecting the drugs and medicaments which have become rare and difficult to procure, put together [ in my work ] the essential features thereof. * * * * All that I have learned from my teachers and have been in a position to subject to practical tests has been incorporated into my work for the benefit of mankind." In addition to the authorities cited above Nityanátha quotes from Chakrapáni and Rasendrachúdámani (ante liv).

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the other at the "Venkatesvara Press" (Bombay). We have compared the readings of these two editions with the MS. in the Library of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta. They agree fairly well.

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*Rasendrachintámani* will next claim our attention. We have before us the printed copy, edited by Umesa Chandra Sena Gupta, late librarian, Sanskrit College, Calcutta, in which the text has been adopted, as the editor informs us in the preface, after collation of 3 or 4 MSS. We have carefully gone over this edition and compared its readings with those of a MS. procured from Benares and another from the Runbír Library, Kásmír. All these agree in the main, but there happen to be certain omissions and additions, which form an interesting chapter in the history of interpolations in the literature of this description. To begin with: there is a dispute over its very authorship. Some MSS. ascribe it to *Dhundhukanátha*, disciple of *Kálanátha*, others to *Rámachandra*. After the customary salutation there occur two couplets in the Calcutta edition, which are not met with in the Benares and Kásmír exemplars. In these the author is made to justify his *raison d'etre* for undertaking his task in these words: “I shall give publicity only to such processes as I have been able to verify by my own experiments.” Such protestations have already been noticed more than once.* In another place we have: “Those mercurial operations alone have found a place in my book, which I have been able to put to tests. Those who teach without being able to perform experiments labour in vain.” This last couplet is quite out of place as it hangs like a tail to a long extract from Rasárnava and is in fact conspicuous by its absence in the Benares and Kásmír MSS.† For the second time we find calomel designated as Rasakarpúra (lit. camphor of mercury; vide vol. i, p. 250). This preparation no doubt occurs in the older

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[^ *]: Such pretentions put forth on behalf of the author, especially in the first person singular, lead one to suspect that they are later interpolations. In the Arabian alchemy Geber is often made to declare to the same effect: e. g. “J'ai expérimenté moimême tout ce que je rapporte.”—Berthelot, “La Chimie au moyen Age,” t, i. p. 338. The well known egoistic couplet in Susruta, Ch. i, अहं हि धन्वन्तरिरादिदेवो is generally regarded as an interpolation.

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[^ †]: The extract commences with त्वं माता सर्वभूतानां .

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works, e. g. Rasárnava; but it is described there as the white "ash" of mercury (sveta-bhasma). The recipé for calomel as given in the Calcutta edition, however, is quite different from that in the Benares and Kásmír MSS. and it is altogether wanting in one of the MSS. in the Calcutta Sanskrit College Library. We are therefore not without suspicion that it has been foisted into the original composition. The author refers to Rasárnava, Nágárjuna, Govinda, Nityanátha, Siddha Lakshmísvara, Trivikramabhatta and Chakrapáni. There is a lengthy colophon but no direct information can be derived from it as to the age of the author.

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Rasasára: It is a comprehensive but purely chemical work dealing with 18 operations on mercury; various chemical processes are incidentally described, a good many of which, however, overlap each other. There does not seem to be any justification for coining a multiplicity of technical jargons to connote each of these. But prolixity was never regarded in the light of a vice by the alchemical writers of the middle ages either in India or in Europe. The contents of Rasasára often remind us of a poem on alchemy by George Ripley, canon of Bridlington in Yorkshire (b. about 1460), of which Rodwell says:—

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“ But we cannot point to a new fact which he elucidated. He divided all chemical operations into twelve processes—calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, putrefaction, congelation, cibation, sublimation, fermentation, exaltation, multiplication and projection. Several MS. copies of his poem exist in the British Museum, bound up with copies of the works of Roger Bacon and earlier writers. Here is a specimen of his rugged rhymes:—

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The first chapter shall be of natural Calcination;
The second of Dyssolution, secret and phylosophycall;
The third of our elementall Separation;
The fourth of Conjunction matrimoniall;
The fyfth of Putrefaction then followe shall:
Of Congelation Albyficative shall be the Sixt,
Then of Cybation, the seaventh shall follow next.” *

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∗ Vide “Birth of Chemistry.”

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The author, Govindáchárya, as a devout Hindu, begins with his adoration of Siva and Vishnu and tells us at the outset that his treatise is a compilation and epitome based upon standard works on the subject and the contributions of the adepts. We have every reason to be thankful to him for the many hints he throws on the sources of his information. Of surpassing interest is his declaration that for a knowledge of certain processes he is indebted to the Buddhists of Tibet.∗ This must be taken to mean that the cultivation of alchemy had become neglected and almost forgotten in India proper and the earnest searchers for this lore had to repair during the time of our author to Tibet. Confirmatory evidence to this effect is equally

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∗ एवं बौद्धा विज्ञानन्ति भाटदेशनिवासिनः ।

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Towards the close of his work the author again acknowledges his obligation to the Buddhists.

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बौद्धमतं तथा ज्ञात्वा रससारः कृतो मया ।

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We have in our possession five transcripts of the MSS. of Rasasára procured from the Libraries of Kásmir, Tanjore, Ulwar, Madras and the Temple of the Goddess Kálí, at Ramná, near Dacca, Bengal.

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furnished in the colophon to Rasahridaya (trans. p. 12). During the decadence of Buddhism and the corresponding ascendancy of Brahminism in Bengal, say about the 11th to 13th centuries A. D., this branch of science also found a safe retreat in the land of the Kirátas as we have already seen. Burnell, under the influence of his preconceived notion, namely that Indian alchemy owed its origin to the Arabs, very naively remarks: "By Bauddhas he (the author) probably means the Muhammedans (cf. the vernacular Malayálam use of the word), though studies of this nature were much pursued by the later Buddhists."*

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Some idea of the date of Rasasára may be formed from the fact that there is mention of opium in it. But our author was evidently quite in the dark as to its origin; for, says he: "There are 4 different kinds of poisonous sea-fish, and it is from their foam that 4 different kinds of opium are derived, namely, white, red, black and yellow; while others maintain that it is derived from the foam of the snake and it is very properly used for chemical operations," * e. g.,—killing and fixation of mercury. From the context it is, however, doubtful if the narcotic drug is really alluded to here. But independently of the use of this term we may safely place this work in the 13th century A. D.

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∗ Catalogue of the Tanjore Palace MSS. pt. I, p. 70. Burnell draws his conclusions from the reference to Buddhists in the colophon; but we have quoted above another passage in which distinct mention is made of the Buddhists of Tibet.

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* समुद्रे चैव जायन्ते विषमत्यास्तृविधाः ।
तेभ्यः फेनं समुत्पन्नम् अहिफेनो विषं स चतुर्विधं ।
केचिद्वदन्ति सर्पाणां फेनं स्यादहिफेनकं ।
यथा—धारणं श्वेतवर्णं च रक्तवर्णं च जारकं ।
सारणं पीतवर्णं च कृष्णवर्णं च मारणं ।
विषविदुत्तमं फेनं युज्यते रसकर्मणि ।

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The Sanskrit word for opium, "ahiphena," lit., foam of the snake, is of modern date. It is generally held that this word has been Sanskritised from the Arabic "aphiyūn."

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These identical distichs also occur in the commentary on Sārngadhara by Adhamalla with the additional line, षापजः (खाखजः) क्षीरविशेषः, namely, it is the milky juice of poppy; proving that during the time of the latter its real origin was known, at the same time its supposed origin was not disbelieved.

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Śārṅgadhara-saṃgraha—a compilation by Śārṅgadhara : its peculiarity is that it is based upon the Āyurvedas (Charaka, etc.) on the one hand and the Tantric chemical treatises on the other. In the chapter on the purification and incineration of metals, 7 of these are recognised, but strange to say there does not occur any mention of zinc. Later on, 9 metals are named including two alloys, brass and bell-metal, after the 9 planets, the significance of which will be discussed in the proper place.

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The date of Śārṅgadhara can be ascertained with accuracy, as besides this medical compendium he is the author of the Paddhati, a voluminous miscellaney, containing, with other matters, a poetical anthology. The author dates his work in samvat 1420 or A. D. 1363. The name of the author's father is Dāmodara and that of the grandfather Rāghavadeva. The latter was highly considered by Rájá Hammíra, the Chauhan.[*]

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[*] After the sack of Chitor by Alla-ud-din in A. D. 1303, Mewar was occupied by the garrisons of Delhi. Hammíra There is a big commentary on this work by Adhamalla, whose ancestors settled in the city founded by Hammīra.*

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Rasendrasārasamgraha: The author, Gopālakrishna, begins by admitting that his treatise is a mere compilation based upon many Tantras, though he mentions by name only two, namely, Rasamañjarī and Chandrikā. Special stress is laid on the therapeu-

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recovered his ancestral throne and during his prosperous rule of sixty-four years (1301-1365) and that of his successors arts and literature found liberal patrons (vide Tod's "Annals of Rājastan.") The court of Hammīra attracted another distinguished physician named Saugata Simha as we gather from the colophon to a noted recipe,

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एषा सौगतसिंहनामभिषजा लोके प्रकाशीकृता हम्मीराय महीभुजे * * संभोजभाजि मृशम्। tic efficacy of mineral preparations.* Like *Rasendrachintámani* it assigns a minor place to the ancient Ayurvedic method of treatment by *kasháyayoga*, *i. e.*, by herbs and simples; as far as the knowledge of chemical processes goes, it must be held inferior to the former. Numerous medicinal recipés

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∗ Adhamalla gives an account of his family. His Grandfather was one Chakrapāni, not to be confounded with the celebrated medical author of Bengal (Vol. i, Intro. liv) and he himself was attached to the court of a ruler named, Jaitrasimha, whose capital Hástíkántapurí was situated on the river Charmanvatí. We reproduce in the next page the text which is somewhat corrupt from the copy preserved in the Library of the Sanskrit College, Benares.

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श्रीवास्तव्यकुलप्रकाशमणयो ये पूर्वजा विश्रुताः श्रीहम्मीरपुरे * * * * * तदन्वये किं बहुना प्रसिद्धश्रीचक्रपाणिः कुलकैरवेयुः(न्दुः)
* * * * * * * तस्य बुडिसुभगस्य तनूजो भावसिंह इति भूपतिमान्यः ।
* * * * * * * तस्यात्मजो दीर्घमतिः प्रहृष्टो नामाढमल्लो * * । तेन * * वीनाश्यते (?) (विन्यस्यते) शार्ङ्गधरप्रकाशः । हस्तीकान्तपुरी पुरा पुरजिता काशीव विद्वज्जनै- र्व्याप्ता यत्र सरःसरिद्गणवरा चर्मण्वती पापहा । यस्यां ह्रद्वतवासुदेवचरणद्वन्द्वाम्बुजः क्ष्मापतिः ख्यातो धर्मइवास्ति धर्मगतिषु श्रीजैत्रसिंहः प्रभुः ॥ तस्यां शार्ङ्गधरोक्तानां योगानां च प्रकाशिनौ । क्रियते साढमल्लेन संहितायाः प्रदीपिका ॥ agree word for word with those in Rasendrachintāmani, which only proves that both have drawn on a common stock. There is no question of the one borrowing from the other, as internal evidence proves that both belong to the same period. Abhayānanda Gupta in the preface to his edition says :—" There is a tradition to the effect that Gopāla Kavibhūshana of Dakshina Banga is the compiler of this book ; but this can scarcely be accepted as he lived not long ago." Again. "Its commentator, Rāmasena Kavīndramani (author of Arthabodhikā) was court physician to Nawáb Jaffer Ali Khan of Bengal (Mir Jaffer) some 200 years ago." Rāmasena himself quotes from 3 commentaries of this book ; hence it was recognised as of some degree of importance at that time and must have been composed long before. This work is very popular in Bengal and is a vade mecum of the local Kavirājas.

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∗ For a description of some of these *vide* "Journal des Savants." April 1898.

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Rasendrakalpadruma is another work of this period. It deals chiefly with mineral preparations and is a mere compilation from Rasárnava, Rasamaṅgala, Ratnákara, Rasámrita and Rasaratnasamuchchaya; the numerous citations with which it is replete are of some use in correcting many doubtful readings in these latter. Our MS. is incomplete, the first few couplets and the sequel being lost; for the opening lines of the work see Aufrecht’s Catalogue of the Bodleian Library, MSS., pt. I., p. 321.

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Dháturatnamálá: This epitome is devoted exclusively to short processes of killing metals and minerals. Six metals are recognised at the outset, namely, gold, silver, copper, lead, tin and iron as in the ancient works; but strange to say later on kharpara,* which is the mineral calamine, is taken as synonymous with jasada or zinc. We have before us a MS. procured from Benares. It is full of corrupt readings. The copy noticed in the Bodleian Library Catalogue seems to be more correct. From the colophon in the latter we learn that the author is one Devadatta of Gujaráta, but in the Benares exemplar this portion has been coolly tampered with, so that this poor compilation may be palmed off as an integral part of a Samhitá of the Asviníkumáras, the divine physicians, and thus entitled to the respect due to revelation. This work cannot be placed earlier than in the 14th century. Here we have a serious side-light into the history of literary forgeries.

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∗ Vol. i, p. 158.

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MODERN PERIOD.

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1500—1600 A. D.

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We have now arrived at what may be termed the modern period in Hindu chemistry and materia medica. The characteristic of this period is that over and above opium, we have some other foreign drugs incorporated into the materia medica. By the beginning of the 16th century A. D. the Portuguese had fairly established themselves at Goa and some other parts of India,∗ and as a result of intercourse with them, that dreadful scourge—the venereal disease—had made its appearance. Sanskrit medical treatises from the Charaka and Susruta downwards and ending with Sárngadhara are silent about this malady though they give fairly accurate descriptions of diseases of the genital organs (उपदंश). But syphilis had now to be reckoned with and a new name had to be coined for it. Accordingly we find Rasapradípa, one of the standard works of this period given to Tantric method of treatment, prescribing calomel and chobchini (China root, Smilax China, Linn.) for what is now termed for the first time Phirangaroga or the disease of the Portuguese. According to Flückiger and Hanbury "the use of this drug as a remedy for syphilis was made known to the Portuguese at Goa by Chinese traders about A. D. 1535." Thus from an independent source we can arrive at the approximate date of Rasapradípa. This work also gives us a detailed process for the preparation of mineral acids by distillation which is here termed samkhadrávaka (lit. a solvent for conch shells) and is described as "endowed with the property of dissolving metals." It is thus evident that the use of mineral acids as a solvent for metals was unknown in India before this time.* A very noteworthy circumstance in connection with this is that the Bhávaprakása, which is posterior to Rasapradípa, is silent about samkhadrávaka, which had come to be prescribed by this time as a favorite remedy for indigestion and derangement of liver and spleen; the solvents being borax, treacle, etc.—(cf. vol. i, p. 130). In the Bhávaprakása among the acids we have only the juices of acid fruits. This is only another instance of the danger one is liable to incur by drawing inferences from argumentum ex silentio.

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∗ The political influence of the Portuguese as early as 1533 A. D. is evident from the fact that Sultan Bahadur, king of Gujaráta, entered into a treaty with them and through their assistance raised a force of 6,000 Abyssinians—"Memoirs of Humayun".

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∗ Vide Note on mineral acids, vol. i, p. 185.

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Rasakaumudí is another compilation belonging to this period and as far as its contents go it is comparable to Rasapradípa in many respects; both opium and mineral acids are prescribed. From the colophon in the Calcutta Sanskrit College Library MS. we gather that the author is a physician named Mádhava. Curiously enough he is often confounded with the celebrated Mádhavakara, the author of the Nidánasamgraha, who preceded the former by some 8 or 9 hundred years.

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The next work which should now claim our attention is the well known Bhávaprakása of Bhávamisra. It is a voluminous compilation in which the Ayurvedic method of treatment has been mainly adopted and as such ample citations are given from the Charaka, Susruta, Vágbhata, Háríta, Vrinda and Chakrapáni. But the Tantric remedies could not altogether be given a wide berth and accordingly one or two chapters have been devoted to mineral preparations; but these have been borrowed chiefly from Rasapradípa, Rasendrachintámani, Sárngadhara and other standard works. Bhávamisra has been scrupulously candid in his acknowledgments to the various authorities quoted by him. Phirangaroga is mentioned as also its treatment with the help of calomel and chobchini. The author lived about the time of the Emperor Akbar and evidently in that part of India which is now known as the United Provinces and it is not to be wondered at that Mussulman influence is discernible in his book.

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We conclude our survey of this period with the notice of a remarkable production entitled Dhátukriya or “operations with metals”; it is in the shape of a dialogue between Siva and Párvatí; in short, it pretends to be a part and parcel of the Rudrayámala Tantra.* The work cannot be placed earlier than the 16th century A. D., as it contains reference to the country of the Phirangas and to Rúma, the Arabic name for Constantinople. For the first time we come across the very appropriate term dáhajala (lit. burning water) coined to denote sulphuric acid. The information about the metals is of a very meagre and poor description and it has been needlessly spun into an inordinate length. The author evidently considers it a pious fraud to make such statements as follow emanate from the mouth of Siva himself:—

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“By using coins made of imitation gold one can carry on exchange . . . and thus enrich oneself.”

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∗ We have in hand transcripts of two MSS.—one from the Library of the Mahárájá of Ulwar; the other named somewhat differently, Dhátumañjarí, from Benares. They agree very closely.

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The curious reader who is referred to the translations of the selected portions of the text given elsewhere will not fail to recollect similar passages in the Leyden Parchment where the dishonest goldsmith gives numerous recipes for "augmenting gold."* Fraudulent attempts in the direction of palming off alloys of base metals, possessing bright, yellow lustre, for gold, have been made in all ages and in all climes (*cf.* extracts from Rasárnava, Vol. i, p. 74).

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Arkaprakása or a treatise on the preparation of medicinal tinctures and essences should also find a place here; † its authorship is ascribed to Rávana, the mythical king of Ceylon. The contents of the work, however, reveal its date. For instance, mercury, treated with Samkhadrávaka, is prescribed as the remedy for "Phirangaroga" (syphilis).

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∗ Berthelot: "Collection des Alchimistes grecs" (trad. p. 287). "La Chimie au Moyen Âge," t. I, p. 31.

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† There is a Calcutta edition published by Gaṇesa Chandra Ghosha; we have compared it with a MS. procured from the Sanskrit College, Benares. They agree remarkably well.

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Opium also is prescribed; while the term yasada is used to indicate zinc. As a distilling apparatus a tinned copper vessel is recommended. Mahommedan influence is distinctly discernible in this hybrid production. The very title of the book is no doubt Sanskritised from the Persian arrak (essence).

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It is unnecessary to proceed further. We have before us the MSS. of Rasamañjarí by Sálinátha, of Rasarañjana, of Gandhakakalpa (a Tantra), of Rasárnava (quite distinct from the standard work bearing the same title,) of Rasaratnákara (altogether different from that of Nityanátha) and several others. As all of these repeat ad nauseam the processes already described, we refrain from examining their contents here.

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INDIGENOUS ORIGIN OF INDIAN ALCHEMY.

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The reader who has been able to follow us throughout with patience will not have been slow to recognise that alchemy in India has been developed all along on independent lines. Its origin and growth are interwoven with a phase of religious activity—the outcome of purely indigenous traits—which has been discussed at length in chapter i.

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The only instance in which we find some allusion to adepts outside the pale of Hindu institutions occurs in Rasaratnasamuchchaya.* But the term Mlechchha used there is a generic one applied indiscriminately to the Sakas, the Yavanas (Greeks or Bactrians), the Chínas (Chinese), etc. The Hindus have never been shy of acknowledging their obligations to the Yavanas; Varāhamihira for instance expresses his admiration for the proficiency of the latter in the field of astronomy and would gladly learn at their feet.* In the Mahábhárata again we find the services of the Yavana architect, Purochana, requisitioned. We have not, however, come across a single passage, which may be construed into implying a hint to alchemists in the West. That the term Mlechchha in R. R. S. really refers to the Kirátas is evident from the colophon to Rasahridaya. †

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∗ म्लेच्छसाधकान्. Vide Vol. i, Sans. texts, p. 56; a variant in the Poona edition has मेलकसाधकान्, which must be rejected as both the Benares and Kásmír MSS. accept the former.

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† Sans. texts, p. 39; there the four castes (चतुर्वर्ण) are distinctly mentioned and the kirátas evidently included under the Mlechchhas.

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Those scholars who have hitherto maintained that Indian alchemy is of exotic origin, have, we are afraid, done so on a priori

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* म्लेच्छा हि यवनास्तेषु सम्यक् शास्त्रमिदं स्थितं।
ऋषिवत्तेऽपि पूज्यन्ते किं पुनर्दैवविद्विजः॥

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∗ म्लेच्छा हि यवनास्तेषु सम्यक् शास्त्रमिदं स्थितं। ऋषिवत्तेऽपि पूज्यन्ते किं पुनर्दैवविद्विजः॥

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grounds. Indeed the frame of mind which they have brought to bear upon this subject is not calculated to lead to a judicial and dispassionate verdict. The fact that the Hindus are indebted to the Greeks for substantial improvements in their astronomy is too often urged whenever it is necessary to support such a view.* There is, however, very little affinity in the mode of growth of alchemy in India and of its congener in the West. The progress of magic, witchcraft and alchemy can be traced from the Atharvavedas onwards to the later Tantras according to the laws of evolution without any breach of continuity.

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∗ Cf.—" It was, however, Greek influence that first infused a real life into Indian astronomy. This occupies a much more important position in relation to it than has hitherto been supposed ; and the fact that this is so, eo ipso implies that Greek influence affected other branches of literature as well, even though we may be unable at present directly to trace it elsewhere." Weber: Hist. Sans. Lit. ed. 1892, p.

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²⁵¹ In justice to Weber, however, we should quote here his views on the independent origin of Hindu medicine; namely, "the weights and measures to be used by the physician are expressly enjoined to be either those employed in Magadha or those current in Kalinga; whence we may fairly presume that it was in those eastern provinces, which never come into close contact with the Greeks, that medicine received its special cultivation."—p. 269.

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One of the most favourite doctrines of the neo-Platonists was that the metals were engendered in the womb of the earth under the influence of the planets. According to Olympiodorus (5th century A. D.) lead is begotten by Saturn, "electrum" * by Jupiter, iron by Mars, copper by Venus, tin by Hermes, gold by the Sun and silver by the Moon. † Now, such a fascinating astrological belief was pre-eminently calculated to appeal to the Hindu instinct, especially as there was a "commercial and lively intellectual intercourse," to quote Weber's own words, between Alexandria and the West Coast of India. Varāhamihira's Vrihatsamhitá, if anything, is a repertory of astrological notions. In vain do we look even there for any such chance and solitary reference.* The alchemical literature of India is equally silent about it. † True it is there are two metals which are often designated as the sun and the moon respectively, namely copper and silver.* But this has nothing to do with the planetary generation of these metals. In the imagery of the Sanskrit poet the crimson tint of the rising sun and the pale white lustre of the moon are comparable to the colour of copper and silver respectively.

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∗ An alloy of gold and silver was known by this name. Later on it disappeared from the list of metals, tin being assigned to Jupiter, and mercury to Hermes.

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† The influence of the astral bodies on the production of the metals can be traced to Proclus' commentary on the Timæus.—Berthelot: "Les origines de l'Alchimie:" p. 49; also Coll. des. Alch. Grecs. trad. p. 100.

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∗ Chapter xvi of this work treats of "countries, people and things belonging to the domain of each planet." Among sundry other things "the Sun is the lord of gold and fire." Thousand and one articles are said to be presided over by the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Ráhu and Ketu; but nowhere is there any connection between the planets and the metals. Vide Kern's trans., pp. 97—101.

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† The mythical origin of some metals is given in the Puránas; but no reference to the astral bodies is to be found. Thus silver originated from the tears of the God Siva, copper from the semen of the God Kártikeya, lead from the semen of the Snake God Vásuki, iron from the different parts of the body of the demons called Lomilas; and gold from the semen of the God of fire. Some vague and remote connection only can be established between this sort of nomenclature and that of the old Greco-Egyptian alchemists. According to the latter mercury is sometimes designated as the semen of Hermes; whilst in the Tantras it is the semen of Siva (हरबीज). Vide "Intro. a l'étude de la chimie des anciens," p. 11.

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The old Greek writers repeatedly refer to the mystic relationship between the seven planets and the seven metals. In the Sanskrit literature, however, beginning with the Susruta and coming onwards to Rasaratnasamuchchaya, we invariably find six metals recognised, alloys being rigorously excluded from the list and regarded simply as "artificially made."† It is only in the Sárngadhara and other later works that we find seven metals enumerated; ‡ but this author is guilty of a curious inconsistency, since in a subsequent part of his book he adds two more to the list and quietly lays down that there are nine metals, which derive their names from the nine planets.* This may be read as a sort of vague and indistinct connection between the metals and the astral bodies.

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∗ रवि, अर्क and other synonyms are as a rule applied to copper but rarely to gold. † Vide Vol. i, pp. 48, 72 and 127. ‡ (आर) brass being taken as the additional metal; zinc was evidently unknown to Sárngadhara. स्वर्णतारताम्राणि नामवङ्गौ च तीक्ष्णकम् । धातवः सप्त विज्ञेयाः . . . . ।

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The Arabs who adopted many of the Greek doctrines of alchemy also represented the seven metals by the seven planets. In fact it was through the medium of the Arabs

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[^ *]: “Kámsya” (bell-metal) and “Vrittaloha” or “Vartaloha” (cf.—Vol. i. p. 114) make up the number. Ráhu and Ketu are the two mythical planets; they are in reality the ascending and descending nodes in the ecliptic. Ráhu is supposed to cause the eclipse of the sun and the moon by swallowing it up.

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Sárñgadhara stops here, but his prolix commentator, Adhamalla supplies the deficiency by making copper stand for the Sun, silver for the Moon, brass for Mars, iron for Saturn, gold for Jupiter, tin for Venus, lead for Mercury and bell-metal and vartaloha for Ráhu and Ketu respectively.

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It will also be noticed that lead is here represented by Mercury; but in the Hindu alchemy mercury always stands as the visible manifestation of the God Siva, it being generated from his semen, hence the name हरबीज given to it.

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and the Jews that a knowledge of the Greek sciences including alchemy filtered to the European nations during the middle ages.* We have already seen that Rájputána had been overrun and even occupied for a brief period by the Mussulman conquerors shortly before the time of Sáṅgadhara and it is reasonable to suppose that he had gleaned some astrological notions from that quarter.

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We now advert for a moment to the main question of the connection of the comparatively modern and scientific phase of Hindu astronomy with the science of Alexandria. Although it is admitted by all those who are entitled to speak with authority on the subject that the Hindus borrowed from the Greeks and thus improved upon their older system, many points have yet to be cleared up. Professor Whitney who has carefully studied the subject is struck with the circumstance that the Súryya and other Siddhántas bear resemblance to the system of Hipparchus rather than that in the Syntax.* In other words the transmittance of astronomical knowledge must have taken place before the time of Ptolemy. Now the period of lively intercourse is precisely that covered by the age of Ptolemy and that of his followers, and yet the Indian astronomers seem to be unaware of his teachings.†

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