History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c28.s3: The Common Rasas

History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c28.s3

Language: English

The Common Rasas

c28.s3.1

*Kampilla*, *chapala*, *gaurīpāshāna*, *navasāraka*, *kaparda*, *agnijāra*, *hingula*, *girisindura*, *mriddārasringakam*, ; these are the eight common *rasas* regarded as useful adjuncts to chemical operations by Nagarjuna and other experts. 120-121

c28.s3.2

*Kampilla* is like brick-dust. ..a purgative. ..a natural product of Surat....and a vermifuge (It is not clear, what *kampilla* denotes )

c28.s3.3

*Gauripashana* is of the lustre of rock-crystal, conch and turmeric respectively.....its white essence is to be extracted like that of orpiment. (This also cannot be identified.) 124-125

c28.s3.4

NAVASARA AND OTHER RASAS

c28.s3.5

*Navasara* (sal-ammoniac is produced by the decomposition of the shoots of bamboos and of the wood of *Careya arborea*; *navasara* is an alkali, its another name is *chulikalavana* (lit. salt deposited in the hearth) ; it is produced during the burning of the brick....it kills mercury, liquefies iron, is a stomachic, an absorbent of the spleen, and aids digestion after much eating. 127-129

c28.s3.6

(Sal-ammoniac cannot, however, be an alkali ; a confusion of salts with alkalies. )

c28.s3.7

*Varataka* (cowrie or marine shell).—Alchemists prefer shells which are of yellow colour, knotty and possessed of circular lines on the dorsal side...... macerated for three hours in sour gruel, it undergoes purification. 130-134

c28.s3.8

*Agnijara* is a substance discharged from the womb of a kind of sea-crocodile and dried in the sun. (This cannot be identified.) 135

c28.s3.9

*Girisindura* (lit. vermilion derived from the rocks) occurs along the big mountains (inside the rocks.) 137

c28.s3.10

*Hingula* (cinnabar, syn. *darada*) .—Quicksilver extracted from it is as efficacious as killed- sulphur. When darada is placed in a retort and its essence collected in water, it yields the same substance as quicksilver—of this there is no doubt. 141-144