A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.t1.39

v2.c32.t1.39

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.†