History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c17.5

c17.5

The character of the Hindu medical wisdom and its basis have been beautifully elucidated by Zimmer in his well-known book "Hindu Medicine". The same holds good also for alchemy, which is closely associated with the religious cult of the Tantras. Tantric Cult is characterised by a curious admixture of alchemical processes on the one hand, and grotesque, obscene and sometimes revolting rites on the other—all centred round the worship of Siva and his consort Parvati. The Tantras have thus become the repositories of gross superstitious beliefs, the hideous incantations, sorcery, magic and alchemy, as also of the speculative, metaphysical and esoteric phases of spiritual aspirations. Tantric Cult came into vogue since the decline of Buddhism in India and exercised a considerable influence on the society till the middle ages, circa 1300 A D. But the worship of Siva was recognized from much earlier times, like those of the great epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. For, there are passages in Mahabharata which make mention of the adoration of Siva under the emblem of the phallus In fact, the phallus-worship may be traced still further back to the time of the Indus Valley Civilization, which possibly in course of time came to be adopted by the Aryans from the so called Dasyus or Dravidians. In some respects, Tantric rites bear close similarity with those prescribed in the Atharvaveda, which, as we have seen, also deals with sorcery, witchcraft, magic, incantations, exorcism of diseases by means of amulets and alchemical ideas. The practice of alchemy, therefore, inspite of its being inseparably linked up with the Tantric rites, had its origin as early as in the Vedic times. Even in Rigveda we find that *soma rasa* (juice of soma plant) has been described as an *amrita* (allied to the Greek *ambrosia*), which conferred immortality upon the gods, and as a medicine for a sick man. In *soma rasa* and its attributes, it may, therefore, be said that we have the dawn of Hindu alchemy. But it was during the Tantric Period that the practice of alchemy reached its highest development in India.