Rasa shastra

In Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medical lore of Hinduism, rasa shastra is a process by which various metals and other substances, including mercury, are purified and combined with herbs in an attempt to treat illnesses. Its methods correspond to the alchemy familiar in the Mediterranean and Western European worlds.

The credit of developing Rasa Shastara as a stream of classical Ayurveda, especially in fulfilling its healthcare-related goals, goes to Nāgārjuna (5the Century CE).

It was composed by Nagarjuna in sanskrit language . It is believed to be of 7th or 8th century , or most probably 11th century as Chakrapani has included many metallic and mineral preparations for treatment of diseases in his works. Rasendramangala originally comprised eight chapters, only only four of which are available today. Most of its present day compilation is based on manuscripts available at Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar and Rajasthan Prachya Vidya Pratishthan, govt. office Bikaner. Compilation of Rasendramangala has proved to be extremely tedious as the Jamnagar copy has no serial no. but verses are given chapterwise containing 37 folia, whereas the Bikaner copy is serially numbered containing 56 folia. This text describes 18 refining processes of mercury as well as various alchemy processes.

It was created by Shrimad Govind Bhagvatapad- guru of Shankaracharya in around 7th century.It contains elaborate description of dhatuvada ( metallurgical processes to transform mercury into higher metals as gold or silver). It is well organised and complete. A Sanskrit commentary on this text was contributed by Shri Chaturbhuj Mishra under the name of Mugdhavabodhini.

It is a 13th century text by Acharya Yashodhar Bhatt. It was first published by Acharya Yadavji Trikam in 1910. Its second edition was published in 1912 under guidance of Shri Jivaram Kalidas Vyas. It is well organised and complete. It contains 13 chapters describing both Lauhavad (use of metallurgical processes to convert lower metals to higher metals), and Chikitsavad ( use of metals and minerals for therapeutic use). It also describes origin of mercury, properties, 18 samskaras (processing techniques ) of mercury as well as the tools and techniques involved.

It was created by Aacharya Somadeva in around 12th or 13th century. It contains 13 chapters which give elaborate description of mercury and its processing for medicinal use; definition and description of equipments and Puta ( temperature requirements and regulation during processing ).It can be inferred that at the time of its creation the Gurukula system of education was prevalent as it contains description about Shishyopnayana samskara ( ritual performed at the time of admission ). Specific contribution of this text include high degree of organization followed during compilation and description of 64 divya-aushadis (drugs with miraculous effect) for the very first time.

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