A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.t1.27

v2.c32.t1.27

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.