A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.t1.43

v2.c32.t1.43

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.