HIMALAYA, the Journal of the

Association for Nepal and

Himalayan Studies
Volume 39 | Number 1 Article 11

July 2019

Iron Tonics: Tracing the Development from

Classical to Iatrochemical Formulations in
Ayurveda
Dagmar Wujastyk
University of Alberta, University of Vienna, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya

Recommended Citation
Wujastyk, Dagmar (2019) "Iron Tonics: Tracing the Development from Classical to Iatrochemical Formulations in Ayurveda,"
HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 11.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol39/iss1/11

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-

Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
This Research Article is brought to you for free and open access by the
DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester
College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of
the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized
Iron Tonics: Tracing the Development from Classical to Iatrochemical
Formulations in Ayurveda
Acknowledgements
This article was made possible through funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant agreement No.639363.

This research article is available in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies:
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol39/iss1/11
Iron Tonics: Tracing the Development from Classical to
Iatrochemical Formulations in Ayurveda

Dagmar Wujastyk

Around the eleventh century CE, Sanskrit whether the introduction of new substances
medical texts began to record profound and the new methods of drug production can be
changes in the methods used for drug related to notions concerning the potency of
manufacture. New substances, especially substances and formulations.
metallic and non-metallic minerals, were added Keywords: Rasaśāstra, Ayurveda, alchemy, rāsayana, tonics.
to the ayurvedic pharmacopoeia or were given
new prominence. More significantly, however,
new ways of processing raw materials were
introduced that were thought to make them
fit for medical use. Most of the new, but also
many of the traditional substances were now
put through a series of complicated, multi-
stage processes before they were used as
components of compound medicines. In this
article, I will use the example of recipes for
iron-based medicines, which describe the
processing of iron and other substances to
trace the evolution of these changes and to
query whether the changes in drug production
flow from earlier developments, or whether
they represent a more fundamental shift in the
theory and practice of medicine. I also consider

74 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

Introduction

It is October 2015, and I am in a garden shed in Dorset,

perched somewhat uncomfortably on a low stool as I hold
a piece of iron over a gas fire. Once it gets red hot, I will
quench it in a decoction of triphalā, the three myrobalans.
This is one of the steps in preparing an ayurvedic iron tonic.

My research team and I are here for a weekend with

Andrew Mason, who will demonstrate various techniques
of making ayurvedic vitalization tonics, called ‘rasāyana’ in
Sanskrit. Andrew has trained as an ayurvedic practitioner
in the United Kingdom (UK) and has learned traditional
techniques of making rasāyana tonics in Sri Lanka. This
weekend is dedicated to us getting a hands-on experience
of techniques that we otherwise only know from our work
of translating Sanskrit medical and alchemical sources. We
hope the direct experience of the substances and processes
will enrich our historical and philological work, and are
curious whether it might challenge some of the assump-
tions our translations and analyses of the textual materials
are based on.

It is a weekend of shortcuts and make-dos: Andrew

explains that most of the procedures need to be repeated
many times and that we have only a fraction of the time
needed to do everything properly. He will show us one
cycle of procedures for several different tonics, so we can
get a general idea of how they are done.

For our iron tonic, we start off with heavily-corroded Figure 1. Preparing the iron tonic.

pieces of iron which we coat with lemon juice and rock (Ayuryog, 2015)
salt and then bring to a glow over a fire. Once they are red
hot, we dip them in a decoction of the three myrobalans It bears noting that all of this is not an experiment to
(triphalā) or in cow’s urine (Figs. 1-3). This gradually breaks recreate the past: Andrew is showing us what he learned
the iron down to flakes, which are then ground in a mortar in Sri Lanka, albeit translated to circumstances in the UK
for several hours. It is hard and slow work: grinding iron and tailored to our time constraints.1 The past is, however,
is not easy, the scraping sound is unpleasant, and nothing implied in our present actions. In Sri Lanka, Andrew’s
much seems to happen even after rubbing the flakes for instructors’ points of reference were selected Sanskrit
an hour. Although we should continue to grind the flakes medical and alchemical texts and their translations into
until they are a fine powder, we make do, and move on to Sinhalese on the one hand, and indigenous medical knowl-
the next step. This consists of mixing the iron powder with edge handed down through family lineages on the other.
lemon juice and some pre-processed sulfur and shaping The place in which Andrew studied the making of these
the mixture into little tabs. These are placed on an earthen kinds of medicines was a small-scale production site that
plate (in our case, on a terracotta flowerpot saucer from a relied on simple techniques and basic instruments remi-
hardware store) and covered with sulfur. Another plate is niscent of what is described in the Sanskrit medical texts:
placed on top and the container is sealed by luting it with open fires, clay and metal pots, stone and metal mortars,
mud-soaked strips of cloth. The contents are then baked and fire pits. The high-tech infrastructure and instruments
for several hours in an earth pit (puṭa) with cow dung as of pharmaceutical production found in larger ayurvedic
fuel (Figs. 3-6). This is supposed to be repeated about thirty pharmaceutical factories were not available in this setting.
times; we have time for one round of baking. Each step
normally spans several hours or even days, so Andrew fast In the garden shed in the UK, we use a gas fire instead of
forwards the process at several points by using materials an open fire for heating the iron strips, as well as safety
he prepared earlier. gloves and glasses, none of which would have been avail-
able in the times of the early medical treatises. Our fire
HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 75
 Figure 2. Bringing the iron strip to
a glow.

(Ayuryog, 2015)

Figure 3. Quenching the iron in cow’s urine and triphalā decoction. Figure 4. Placing iron and sulfur on a clay plate.

(Ayuryog, 2015) (Ayuryog, 2015)

76 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

 Figure 5. Sealing the clay plates.

(Ayuryog, 2015)

Figure 6. Fire pit for enclosed

roasting (puṭapāka).

(Ayuryog, 2015)

pit is perhaps closer to what was used in the past: we dig sulfur is pharmaceutical grade, extracted in the Frasch
out a hole in the ground, cover the bottom with cowpats, process, and bought from a chemical supplier in the UK.
place the earthen container on top, and cover it with more The myrobalan powder is imported from India, as are some
cowpats, which we then set on fire. Cowpats, still a staple of the salts.
fuel in India, are hard to get in the UK. Andrew collected
After the weekend, we find that people try not to stand
cow dung from a somewhat amused neighboring farmer
too close to us on our train journey home: we reek of
and made the pats himself.
cow’s urine and sulfur. But apart from the stench, we
The raw materials we are using perhaps constitute the also take home a sense of deeper understanding of the
biggest difference to what was used in the past. They are procedures involved in making rasāyana tonics. Despite
partly sourced from India and partly from the UK. The iron all the shortcuts and alterations to the procedures, the
strips are scrap metal from a boat found on the beach; the practical engagement with the procedures has given us
HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 77
a real sense what they entail in terms of time, effort, and One of the differences between the older and newer
skill. I am struck by how simple, but also how laborious rasāyana formulae is the increased use of metallic and
and time-consuming, the methods of production are. non-metallic minerals, and especially of mercury, in
This is partly due to the products Andrew chose for the later works. A further distinction lies in the introduction
weekend. Other materials would have necessitated more of more complicated procedures for making the medi-
complicated apparatuses and greater care in submitting cines. From about the eleventh century, we find both
them to the various procedures. Generally, we are alerted an increased use of new materials, and new techniques
to how much information is missing from the recipes in of dealing with raw substances that reflect medicine’s
the ayurvedic works.2 Andrew often explains the function engagement with alchemy, and mark the emergence of
of the processes, such as that coating the iron with an iatrochemistry in both medical and alchemical literature.6
acidic substance will help break down the iron, or that the
But how different were these new recipes and the tech-
heating and quenching will make the iron brittle, so that it
niques associated with them? How do they compare with,
will become possible to grind it. He also describes how the
for example, recipes for metallic and non-metallic
end product should look and feel: a fine powder that will
mineral-based medicines in the older works? Was the
stick to the lines in the skin of the hand and float on water.
emerging trend towards iatrochemistry in medicine just
None of this is explained in the ayurvedic works that I am
a matter of iatrochemical formulae being used more
familiar with. My colleague remarks on the circularity
widely or frequently, or was there a deeper change? In
of the processes and the concomitant passing of time:
the following, I will trace some of the developments in
Again, something that is not immediately apparent from
pharmaceutical production methods and the concomi-
the descriptions of iron tonic manufacture in the Sanskrit
tant changes in the understanding of raw and processed
medical texts.3
materials, using the production of iron-based tonics as
We reflect on the differences between the early medical described in the earliest and in later Sanskrit medical
treatises’ rasāyana formulations and those of the later ones. works as an example.
Techniques for making rasāyana tonics were developed
Both of the earliest Sanskrit medical treatises, the
over centuries: our oldest sources for them are the early
Carakasaṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā, describe the making
Sanskrit medical works, the compendia of Caraka, and
of iron formulations. In the Carakasaṃhitā, the recipe for
Suśruta, both of which roughly date to the early centuries
an iron tonic occurs in its chapter on vitalization tonics
CE.4 Their rasāyana recipes were carried forward to the
(rasāyana).7 The Suśrutasaṃhitā gives three somewhat
newer medical works, each work adding new formulae,
similar recipes for iron medicines in its chapter on serious
often introducing new materials.
and advanced skin diseases (mahākuṣṭha), one of which
The iron tonic we make under Andrew’s instructions will be discussed in detail here.8 Both treatises state that
incorporates ways of making rasāyana formulations the described methods for working iron into a medicinal
attested in both older and newer Sanskrit medical litera- product can be applied to other metals as well. Several
ture. Two elements of the procedures in particular diverge centuries later, a highly complex recipe for an iron tonic
from what we know of procedures for making metallic is described in the in the eleventh-century Cakradatta,
medicines from early Sanskrit medical sources, namely a treatise on medicine composed by an author called
the use of sulfur, and the roasting of the materials in an Cakrapāṇidatta. As I hope to show, this recipe shows
enclosed capsule of clay saucers in a fire pit. The early significant changes from the older recipes that exemplify
Sanskrit medical works did not include sulfur in their the beginning of what might be called the iatrochemical
descriptions of making iron tonics or other rasāyana turn in medicine. Finally, I will showcase a section dedi-
formulae. In general, sulfur was rarely mentioned in the cated to the processing of iron for medical purposes from
early Sanskrit medical works’ recipes, but it seems to have the sixteenth-century medical treatise Bhāvaprakāśa, which
become a more common ingredient after the eleventh represents a mature stage of iatrochemistry in Ayurveda.
century. For example, sulfur was described as an ingre-
dient of a copper tonic in the eleventh-century medical The Carakasaṃhitā’s Iron Tonic (Carakasaṃhitā,
work Cakradatta and occurs frequently as a prominent Cikitsāsthāna 1.3.15-23)
ingredient in rasāyana preparations in the twelfth-cen-
One should successively quench red hot leaves of
tury Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā.5 Similarly, the method of roasting
‘sharp iron’ that are four fingers long and of the
substances by enclosing them in a sealed container of clay
thickness of a sesame seed in the juice of the three
probably first occurs in the Cakradatta.
myrobalans, cow’s urine and alkali prepared from

78 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

 salt, zachum oil tree (iṅgudi) and also flame-of-the- go. The text does not explicitly prescribe repetitions of the
forest.9 (15-16) actions of heating and quenching, though there is some
indication that they may be repeated until a certain result
Having ascertained that they resemble collyrium,
has been achieved, namely that the iron leaves become
one should grind them into a fine powder. The pow-
similar in appearance to collyrium.
der is mixed with honey and the juice of the emblic
myrobalan like an electuary and placed in a jar that The recipe details that this collyrium-like product is
has been greased with clarified butter. An experi- ground to a powder, mixed with honey and the juice of the
enced person should store it for a year in a barley emblic myrobalan, and then stored for a year, after which
grainery, giving it a good stir every month. (17-19ab) the mixture is taken together with honey and clarified
butter. The text does not elaborate on the potentially
After a year has passed, it is taken with honey and
different functions of the ingredients. Is there a difference
clarified butter every morning. Once it is digested,
between the liquids used for quenching the heated iron
one who hopes for strength [should take] appropri-
leaves and the substances mixed with the iron powder,
ate food. (19cd-20ab)
or those added for the intake of the medicine? Are the
And the one who partakes of metallic formulations juice of the myrobalans, cow urine, or the various alkali
as described is not assailed by either injury or sick- understood as medicinally active components of the
ness, ageing or death; he will have the vigour of an medicine which add to its therapeutic potency, or is their
elephant and always have acute senses. (20cd-21) function merely to break down the metal? In the case of
the myrobalans, at least, it seems quite likely that their
A man who takes this iron tonic for a year will juice is meant to add to the medicine’s efficacy, as the
become intelligent, famous, one who has perfected Carakasaṃhitā dedicates a big part of its rasāyana section to
speech and who retains what he has heard and very the health-, longevity-, and rejuvenation-promoting qual-
wealthy. (22) ities of the myrobalans.13 However, no parallel information
The application of both gold and silver through this is present on cow urine or alkalis. Finally, what differenti-
method accomplishes the extension of lifespan and ates the honey and the juice of the emblic myrobalan that
removes all disease. (23)10 the iron powder is mixed with before being stored for a
year from the honey and clarified butter that are added
One of the notable features of this recipe is its lack of detail when the medicine is taken? The recipe provides no clarifi-
in regard to the specifics of preparing it. To begin with, cation of these issues.
it seems to start in medias res, with the thin pieces of iron
being quenched in liquids. The recipe does not describe We also do not learn anything about the dosage for this
the method of bringing the iron pieces to a glow. Also, tonic beyond the time frame of a year for its continuous
while it specifies the size of the iron leaves (four fingers intake.14 While the outline of how to make the tonic and
long, of the thickness of a sesame seed), no instructions how to apply it is thus somewhat brief, the text is never-
are given on how to obtain metal leaves of that size theless assertive in attributing extensive effects to this and
and shape, leaving the question open as to whether the other metallic medicines, whose projected actions cover
person making the medicine has done some preliminary the whole range of vitalization tonic (rasāyana) effects:
metal work in preparation for the main procedures, or health, juvenescence, longevity, sensory and cognitive
has purchased ready-made iron leaves. We do not know power, wealth, fame, and perfection of speech.15
how iron was sourced by physicians in the times the early A very similar recipe is found in the seventh-century
Sanskrit medical treatises were composed: the treatises Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha’s chapter on vitalization tonics
give no description of mining or of buying metals from (Uttarasthāna 49.53-54). This recipe simplifies the
suppliers. However, we know that iron was a readily avail- procedures by only prescribing the use of the juice of the
able material at the time, so that it seems very possible emblic myrobalan for the quenching of the heated iron
that a physician could simply have bought iron leaves in pieces, and also using it for mixing it with the iron powder
the needed size.11 before it is stored. Interestingly, the recipe gives some of
The recipe also does not give quantities for any of the the information missing in the Carakasaṃhitā, such as how
ingredients.12 Furthermore, while the word ‘successively’ often the procedure of heating and quenching is repeated
(krameṇa) implies that the iron leaves are dipped into (twenty one times); the amounts of iron (100 pala); that the
each listed liquid separately, it is not quite clear whether immersion in the juice of the emblic myrobalan for several
the iron leaves should be reheated between dippings, or months serves to dissolve the iron leaves;16 and the dosage
whether the successive dippings would be done all in one for the daily intake (a portion of about the size of the first

HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 79

digit of the thumb). The recipe also gives more detailed Perhaps their function is replaced by the coating of the
instructions on the regimen for the ingestion of the tonic, iron pieces with salt before they are heated on a fire. The
which is preceded by cleansing procedures (purgation and Suśrutasaṃhitā also lists the Sal tree (śālasāra) group of
emesis) and takes place in a special chamber. timbers for the quenching process. This group is defined in
Suśrutasaṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 38.9 as comprising twenty three
Suśruta’s Iron Tonic (Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 10. 11) different plants, which are indicated for kuṣṭha, and meha
and pāṇḍu diseases, and fat (medas; or obesity): all condi-
Now, in the following, I shall describe the prepara-
tions addressed by the Suśrutasaṃhitā’s iron medicine.
tion of iron.17
Indeed, one of the recipes preceding its iron preparation
One should coat thin leaves of ‘sharp iron’ with the against kuṣṭha is based on the śālasāra group of timbers
group of salts, bring them to a glow over a fire fueled (Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 9.10). While not stated explic-
by cowpats and then quench them with a decoction itly in the iron medicine recipe, this points to the function
of the three myrobalans and the group (of timbers) of the materials used for quenching as directly contrib-
beginning with sal tree (śālasāra) sixteen times.18 uting to the medicine’s potency and efficacy.
Then, they should be made red-hot on coals of cate-
In contrast to the Carakasaṃhitā’s recipe, the
chu wood, and once cooled, ground to a fine powder
Suśrutasaṃhitā’s recipe makes note of a repetition of
and strained through a coarse cloth.
procedures, prescribing that the heating and quenching of
One should use an appropriate (yathābalam) quantity the iron should be repeated sixteen times. A final heating
mixed with clarified butter and honey. Once it has is concluded without a quenching in liquids and the iron is
been digested, one should take food free of acid and then powdered and passed through a cloth. Just as in the
salt as is suitable for the disease. In this way, after Carakasaṃhitā, the medicine is taken with honey and
having taken one tulā (ca. four kilograms), one eradi- clarified butter, but without having been mixed with
cates skin diseases (kuṣṭha), urinary diseases (prame- honey and the juice of the emblic myrobalan and stored
ha), obesity, swelling, anemia (pāṇḍu), insanity and for a year beforehand.
falling disease and one lives for a hundred years. For
each tulā, there is an increase of one hundred years The Cakradatta’s Iron Tonic (Cakradatta 66. 34-125)
(of lifespan). Hereby, the methods for preparing iron
The Cakradatta’s recipe for ‘immortality-essence iron
and for all metals have been explained.19
(tonic)’ (amṛtasāralauha) is a highly complex, multi-stage
The Suśrutasaṃhitā’s recipe differs slightly from the formulation. It is presented as deriving from Nāgārjuna’s
Carakasaṃhitā’s and is a little shorter, but gives some of Lauhaśāstra (Treatise on Metals), a work that is not available
the detail missing in the Carakasaṃhitā, such as instruc- to us at present, other than through references to it in
tions on how to heat the iron strips (whose dimensions, some medical and alchemical works.20 The Cakradatta’s
however, it does not provide). There are no instructions on passage is the most extensive reference to the Lauhaśāstra,
the quantities of the ingredients needed for the making of but it is presented as a paraphrase rather than as a direct
the medicine, and advice on the amounts a patient should quotation of Nāgārjuna’s work. The iron tonic recipe takes
take are somewhat vague (“an appropriate quantity”), a central place in the Cakradatta’s chapter on vitalization
though the effects of the medicine seem to be bound to the tonics (rasāyana): the author devotes ninety one of the
total amount taken over time. As the recipe occurs in the chapter’s altogether 201 verses to it. For brevity’s sake,
chapter on the disease group of mahākuṣṭha, i.e., serious I will summarize the described procedures rather than
diseases that present on the skin, the medicine’s main indi- translate the full recipe.
cation is for this group of diseases. However, several other
The recipe is structured into several stages and begins with
disease categories are also mentioned, and the medicine
a description of preliminary preparations and quantities
also is attributed with a characteristic typical of vitaliza-
of ingredients (verses 1–50). The section can be subdivided
tion tonics, or rasāyana, namely the prolongation of life up
into the following parts:
to one hundred years and more.
1. attribution of the recipe to Nāgārjuna’s Treatise
Some of the plant materials used for quenching the
on Metals (Lauhaśāstra) (34)
heated iron are different from those mentioned in the
Carakasaṃhitā. The Suśrutasaṃhitā concurs with the 2. enumeration of the ingredients of iron, the
Carakasaṃhitā in its use of the juice of myrobalans for three myrobalans (triphalā) and milk and their
quenching the metal, but does not mention the alkalis. relative quantities as well as the allocation of

80 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

 these quantities to the processes called ‘killing’ medium, or solid and appropriate for use against disorders
(māṛaṇa), ‘enclosed roasting’ (puṭana), ‘roasting of the humors bile (pitta), wind (vāta), or phlegm (kapha),
in a pan’ (sthālīpāka), and ‘(final) roasting of iron’ respectively. Further herbal substances may be added at
(lauhapāka) (35–44) the late stage of cooking the iron.

3. enumeration of plants used for removing the Verses 85–88 describe the storage and application of the
defects of iron; the amount of clarified butter used medicine and its side products. The final product is kept
during the final roasting of iron; and the quantities in an iron vessel or alternatively in a vessel lined with
of the above-mentioned plants in relation to the clarified butter or in a milk-pail; any excess clarified butter
quantity of iron (45–50). can be kept for medicinal purposes.

The next section (verses 52–62) describes the processes Verses 89–91 detail an alternative method for the final
associated with the ‘killing’ (māraṇa) of the iron, i.e., its roasting of the iron (lauhapāka).21 This section describes
calcination. This involves various ritual acts to begin with, the use of purified and powdered mica (abhra) as an alter-
such as setting up an altar to worship Śiva, lighting a fire native to the aforementioned materials used in the final
and making oblations according to Vedic rules, and giving roasting. The resulting preparation is stated to relieve thirst
gifts to attending brahmins and the blacksmith (karmakāra, and hunger as well as promoting strength and alleviating
lauhakāra) (52–54). The ‘killing’ process proper begins problems associated with the humor bile (pitta). However,
with the purification of the iron through pasting it with a the use of mica necessitates its prior purification and
number of plant materials (55–56) and continues with its ‘killing,’ which are described in verses 92–97. This section
subsequent heating, liquifying, and quenching, after which describes how to identify the right kind of mica for making
it is ground into a powder (57–62). medicine and how to cleanse and ‘kill’ it in multiple steps
to ready it for use in the iron tonic: maceration with herbal
The text then describes three methods for roasting (pāka)
substances, washing, pan-roasting, enclosed roasting, and a
the iron, which seem to follow on from each other:
final heating. In the final heating process, powdered mica,
1. ‘Sun-roasting’ (bhānupāka), verses 63–64: For this, now shaped into a ball, is enclosed in palm leaves and put on
the iron is ground to a powder, washed with water, a fire and then finally quenched in milk and washed, rubbed,
dried on a fire and then in the sun, and then ground and strained. This results in a product that no longer shines
in an iron mortar once more. or sparkles as unprocessed mica would.

2. ‘Roasting in a pan’ (sthālīpāka), verses 65–66: This The final section of the recipe (verses 98–123) gives
involves roasting the iron (powder?) in an open instructions on the intake of amṛtasāralauha and the accom-
vessel with a decoction of the myrobalans until the panying regimen. These include directions on worshiping
moisture has evaporated and repeating the process Śiva; choosing an auspicious day for the intake of the medi-
with a series of plant juices or a mixture of them. cine; appropriate initial dosage; the final preparation of the
medicine accompanied by recitation of specific mantras; its
3. ‘Enclosed roasting’ (puṭapāka—referred to as
intake together with appropriate drinks; the regimen and
puṭaṇa earlier), verses 67–75. This entails the baking
diet after intake of the medicine; more detailed instruc-
of ingredients in a sealed container that is placed in
tions on dosage and length of intake; and a description of
a fire pit. The method of enclosed roasting involves
the effects of the tonic. The tonic is described as giving
several repetitions, each of which is preceded by
the consumer a stable and lustrous body that is free from
the preliminary maceration of iron powder with
disorders within three weeks. Finally, the recipe concludes
herbal liquids, the drying of the mixture through
with a summary in verses 124-125.
‘roasting in a pan,’ and the admixture of nine plants
with the iron before sealing the container for an- Some Comparisons Between the Older and Newer
other round of roasting in the fire pit. Recipes

Verses 76–84 describe the first method for the final The Cakradatta’s recipe contains a number of notable
roasting of the iron (lauhapāka). This entails a further elements. In comparing this recipe with those of the
round of cooking the iron with the rest of the myrobalan Carakasaṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā, some differences are
decoction, clarified butter and milk in a pan made of immediately obvious, the perhaps most striking being the
iron, brass or copper and pasted with mud. The degree length of the Cakradatta’s recipe, the increased number
of roasting, i.e., how much liquid is allowed to evaporate, of steps the preparation of the tonic involves, and the
produces a different final product, which may be soft, amount of detail given for each step.

HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 81

Generally speaking, given that the recipe in the Cakradatta three others mentioned in favour of rasa (mercurial
is so extensive and elaborate, it is surprising that so little preparations) in the Rasendrasārasaṃgraha (1.4).27
space is allocated to the effects of treatment. The text It clearly indicates that Lauhaśāstra, precursor of
merely states: Rasaśāstra, was struggling hard to sustain its posi-
tion in competition with the latter.
Thus, one who partakes of this nectar attains a
brightness and a durably stable body within three The authorities mentioned by Sureśvara here place
weeks. It furthermore removes all diseases.22 lauhaśāstra into both a medical context through his
reference to the ayurvedic authorities Suśruta and Hārīta,
By comparison the older treatises had more to say about
and into an alchemical one through the reference to the
the power and wide applications of their iron tonics, and
alchemical masters Vyāḍi and Nāgārjuna.28 A clarification
it remains unclear why one should favor the Cakradatta’s
is needed here regarding the use of the term ‘alchemy’
complex iron medicine over older formulations.
for the Indian context. Often, Indian alchemy is used as a
In the Cakradatta, both the making of the medicine and its synonym for rasaśāstra, the body of knowledge concerned
intake are preceded or accompanied by rituals, the recita- with the methods for producing and using mercurials and
tion of mantras or worship of Śiva, features that are absent its associated literature.29 This literature describes the
from the Carakasaṃhitā’s and Suśrutasaṃhitā’s iron tonic making and use of mercurials in terms of transmuting
recipes described here. However, it should be mentioned substances, and ultimately transforming the consumer
that ritual and mantras (though not the worship of Śiva) of the transmuted substances. The transmutation of
are referred to in the early medical treatises in their the practitioner may span a spectrum of transforma-
chapters on vitalization tonics (rasāyana). For example, tions from eradicating disease and endowing him with
both the Carakasaṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā refer to health; allowing him to attain extraordinary capabilities
ritual acts, such as offering oblations to a sacrificial fire or superhuman powers (siddhi); to reaching of state of
and the recitation of hymns or mantras in the context of liberation, godhood, or oneness with the Absolute. The
preparing or taking tonics.23 Therefore, the ritual elements attainment of good health is a predominant concern in
and the use of mantras do not constitute a change in how many rasaśāstra works (especially later ones), thus blurring
medicines and their intake was handled from the older to the distinction between medicine and alchemy. In some
the newer medical works. However, the mention of Śiva cases, reference to Indian alchemy (here more in the sense
worship does. This element reinforces the Cakradatta’s of early or proto-chemistry) comprises Indian metallur-
recipe’s (in any case undisputed) provenance from an gical knowledge more broadly, including technologies of
alchemical source: Much of Sanskrit alchemical literature metal-working not associated with specific philosophical
presents Śiva as the main deity and representation of the underpinnings or soteriological aims or a particular body
Absolute.24 A theory proposed by Sharma (1993) is worth of literature. The discipline of metals (lauhaśāstra) referred
noting here, namely that there existed a separate disci- to by Sharma seems to be dedicated to the medicinal use
pline called lauhaśāstra that was dedicated to the medicinal of metals rather than to any metaphysical aims or the
use of metals and especially iron and that was a precursor manufacture of metal objects. Its association with alchemy
to, and competitor with, rasaśāstra, i.e., the alchemical is nevertheless present in one of the sources named by
discipline that focused in particular on the use of mercury. Sharma, the Lauhasarvasva.30 This work at least seems to
In the introduction to his translation of the Cakradatta’s deal with the transmutation of materials through puri-
recipe, Sharma (1993: 35) notes that fication, ‘killing,’ and extraction of essences, albeit with
a medical aim in mind.31 It also is quoted in a number
(t)he existence of Lauhaśāstra (science of metals, of rasaśāstra texts, showing that although lauhaśāstra
particularly iron) is proved by the extensive liter- may have had a separate origin from rasaśāstra, the two
ature on this branch of technology, some of which disciplines integrated with each other to form a wider
is quoted in the commentaries. Niścala Kara refers alchemical tradition.
to ‘Lauhaśāstravidah’ (experts in Lauhaśāstra) in his
commentary on the Cakradatta (CD).25 I would suggest that the Cakradatta similarly stands
between medicine and alchemy with its iron tonic
Sureśvara, son of Bhadreśvara, mentions in his recipe by using some production techniques developed
work entitled ‘Lauhasarvasva’26 (Chowkhamba Vidya
in medical contexts, adding new procedures and then
Bhavan, Varanasi, 1965) the names of his sourc-
interpreting both old and new methods with an idiom
es, such as Suśruta, Hārīta, Vyāḍi, Nāgārjuna, etc.
first developed in alchemical milieus. Though none of the
(6,23). He adds one more point (laghupākitā—easy
techniques described in the Cakradatta follow the heating
digestibility) in favour of lauha in addition to the

82 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

and quenching procedures outlined in the older treatises’ process. The vessel used for enclosing the materials shields
recipes, the Cakradatta’s procedure of ‘roasting in a pan’ them from direct contact with the fire.37 The Cakradatta
(sthālīpāka) has a precedent in another recipe for an iron recommends repeating the puṭapāka process three or
tonic in the Suśrutasaṃhitā, which follows on from the one four times, each time including the rubbing of the iron
described above.32 This recipe describes boiling iron with with several plants and their juices. In alchemical liter-
various plant juices in a pan on a fire fueled by cow dung ature, recommendations in regard to the repetition of
(sthālyāṃ gomayāgninā vipacet).33 However, the Cakradatta’s enclosed roasting vary. For example, one passage in the
presentation of ‘roasting in a pan’ as a separate ‘method’ Rasaratnasamuccaya, a relatively late (ca. sixteenth century)
(vidhi) that is set within a wider context of a program of but also influential alchemical work, recommends ten to
actions, formalizes the procedure in an unprecedented a hundred repetitions of enclosed roasting for making
way.34 The Cakradatta also introduces new or differently medicines, a hundred to a thousand repetitions for making
applied technical terms for the various metal-processing vitalization tonics (rasāyana), and ten to five hundred repe-
techniques, using a vocabulary that is typical for alchem- titions for making medicines that enhance sexual power.38
ical literature. For example, to my knowledge, the term One can, however, also find smaller numbers of repeti-
‘killing’ (māraṇa) for the calcination process is not used in tions in the Rasaratnasamuccaya’s descriptions of puṭapāka
earlier medical works, but is very common in alchemical for iron specifically. For example, in its first method for
literature and is frequently found in medical works that calcining iron in chapter 5, verses 106-107, only four
postdate the Cakradatta.35 repetitions are prescribed.39
The term ‘enclosed roasting’ (puṭapāka) does occur in
The Concept of Removing Defects
the Suśrutasaṃhitā in the context of eye treatments, but
designates a method of obtaining juice from substances by The consistency of metals makes it necessary to process
wrapping them in leaves pasted with earth and cooking them in some way to make them ingestible: try biting on
the bolus on charcoal to finally extract a juice.36 In the a piece of iron! However, beyond such practical consider-
Cakradatta’s puṭapāka, the enclosure is no longer made of ations, the procedures described in the Cakradatta reflect
leaves but is a more solid vessel made out of clay or metal a shift in understanding in regard to the nature of medic-
or other materials, and the result of the cooking is not a inal substances. I would like to draw particular attention
juice but a calcined material. Descriptions of puṭapāka that to the idea that the admixture of certain plants to iron
are similar to what the Cakradatta describes occur often serves to remove the defects of iron. This concept is, for
in alchemical literature. Hellwig (2009: 303) notes that in example, expressed in verses 46–47 with the mention that
alchemy, the goal of enclosed roasting in a pit is to accom- the three myrobalans, the three pungent substances and
plish the ‘killing’ of the roasted material, which entails the false black pepper serve for “the removal of the defects
heating of substances in a pit whose size is determined, of black iron” (kālāyasadoṣahṛti); in verse 47, which notes
using a vessel made of specific materials, and a specified that the plant kāntakrāmaka40 on its own is able to remove
amount of particular fuel materials. These requirements the defects of iron (kāntakrāmakam ekaṃ niḥśeṣaṃ doṣam
are all fulfilled in the Cakradatta, which specifies: apaharaty ayasaḥ); and in verse 54, which describes the
‘killing’ process as something that will “free [the iron]
1. the size of the pit: a cubic square measuring
from impurity” (nirmalam kuryāt). An alternative term
about eighteen inches (one hasta) in depth, length
often found in alchemical works and later medical works
and breadth
is ‘purification’ (śodhana). The Cakradatta also sometimes
2. by how much this is filled with fuel: by half at refers to materials as having been ‘purified’ (śuddha).41
first, onto which the enclosing vessel is placed, after Given that the associated procedures involve admixture of
which the rest of the space is filled with more fuel other substances, it is clear that they do not produce what
we might today understand to be a pure, unadulterated
3. what fuel is used: cow dung, husk and wood product. Rather, the concept of freeing a substance from
4. what materials the enclosing vessel can be: iron, defects involves ridding a material of unwanted attributes.
or clay. ‘Purifying’ a substance thus can be understood as a process
of perfecting it for its intended use.42
Although this is not explained in the Cakradatta, the size
of the pit and the chosen fuels are key to a successful This idea of a material having a defect or blemish (doṣa,
enclosed roasting, as they impact on what temperature is mala) that can, and indeed must, be removed through
reached (and sustained) and the duration of the roasting procedures involving other substances does not occur in
the early Sanskrit medical works.43 Similarly, the function

HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 83

of a plant as something that can be used to remove unpurified iron, followed by directions on how to purify
blemishes or faults in other substances is also not found it and three different methods of ‘killing’ iron so that it
in the earlier works. However, it should be noted that the becomes an ash (bhasma). It then outlines the properties
Cakradatta’s recipe provides no reasons for processing of iron ash and the dose in which it would be applied. The
the materials. That is, we learn that the impurities or section concludes with some dietary advice on which foods
blemishes must be removed, but we are not told why the should be avoided during the period of intake. I would like
substances must be purified (see Gerke 2019 for a similar to draw attention to the first part of the Bhāvaprakāśa’s
case in Sowa Rigpa). We can only infer an underlying exposition regarding its explanation about the effects of
concept of a substance’s inherent qualities that include a using unprocessed iron. It states:
judgment about the effects of contaminants or impurities.
It causes limping, serious skin diseases, and death.
Perhaps it is self-evident that one would want to remove
It effects heart disease and chest pain and kidney
an impurity. However, in the case of the procedures for
stones. And an unpurified iron preparation may
mica, dirt or blemishes are not mentioned, only that
also effect the outbreak of various diseases and
the final product will be lustreless. This again raises the
cause heart palpitations.48
question what the procedures are for. An approximately
eleventh- or twelfth-century lexicon of materia medica, the Thus, we are finally given the reason why iron must be
Dhanvantarīyanighaṇṭu44 provides some information on the processed before use: purifying and killing iron frees it of
effects of using unpurified or improperly processed iron: its negative characteristics. What was effectively a poison
is made fit for use as a medicine. This seems to reflect an
Iron that is unpurified and not well-processed will
assumption that iron in its ‘raw’, i.e., unprocessed state,
cause faults and diseases for sure. It very quickly
is always unfit for use. A different passage (Bhāvaprakāśa,
spreads in the body and causes intense pain in
Pūrvakhaṇḍa 1.8.40) provides some information on the
the heart.45
nature of iron’s bad qualities (doṣa). It lists them as heavi-
Similar statements are found in several alchemical works, ness (gurutā), hardness (dṛḍhatā), corroding (utkleda),
e.g. the Rasaratnākara (1.9.1) and the Rasaratnasamuccaya being dirty (kaśmala), causing burning (dāhakāritā),
(5.73). However, this kind of information did not make its causing kidney stones (aśmadoṣa), and having a bad smell
way into the Sanskrit medical textbooks for a while. For (durgandha). This shows the faults of iron to include both
example, the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā, which dates to around extraneous contaminants, such as dirt, and also intrinsic
the thirteenth or fourteenth century, devotes a full characteristics, such as heaviness or hardness that are
chapter to the processing of metals and minerals canceled out through the purification and calcination.49
(2. 11, dhātuśodhanamāraṇādhyāya), and another one to the During our workshop in Dorset, Andrew Mason suggested
processing of mercury in particular (2. 12, rasakalpanād- that the processing of iron and other metals was necessary
hyāya). However, even though this work provides much to ensure their bioavailability, i.e., to make their absorption
more information on the various methods for processing possible. I have, however, not been able to find direct refer-
raw materials and uses many technical alchemical terms, ence to the digestibility of iron in the ayurvedic works.
we are still not given much by way of explanation what
One subject that is not raised at all in the ayurvedic
these processes are for. The author simply states at the
sources is whether the procedures for cleansing and killing
beginning of the chapter on processing metals, that:
iron and other materials also have the function of height-
Gold, silver, brass, copper, lead, tin, and iron ening the material’s power and its medical efficacy (other
are known as the seven metals. The wise should than through making it useable at all). Iron and other
purify them.46 metals are portrayed as powerful medicinal substances
once properly cleansed and calcined. But, notably, they do
Iron-Processing in the Bhāvaprakāśa (Pūrvakhaṇḍa not seem to be attributed with a better efficacy or potency
2.3.89-105) than herbal ingredients. Mercury alone is ascribed with
a special potency and a wide application, but this only
Finally, the sixteenth-century medical treatise
occurs in late ayurvedic literature.50 An iatrochemical
Bhāvaprakāśa provides more information on why metals
work from about the fifteenth or sixteenth century, the
and some other substances need to be purified. This infor-
Rasendrasārasaṃgraha51 gives further reasons for the supe-
mation is placed in a separate “section on the methods
riority of mercurials:
of purifying and killing metals, etc.”47 The Bhāvaprakāśa’s
section on the processing of iron (verses 88-105) begins [Medicine based on] mercury is better than herbal
with a statement on the negative effects of using medicines because it requires small doses in its

84 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

 application, it does not cause loss of appetite and alter substances (especially metallic and non-
restores health quickly. Herbal medicine is pre- metallic minerals) to make them fit for medical use.
scribed by doctors in curable cases, but in incurable
More significantly, these changes are underpinned with
cases, mercurial medicine is given. It is therefore
new concepts regarding the nature and functioning of
considered the best.52
substances. One of the marked differences between the
However, iron, and metallic medicines in general, were older methods of drug production and the newer ones is
credited with a different characteristic that recom- the concept that some materials in their ‘raw’ state cannot
mends their use: a prolonged shelf-life. The new kinds be used for medical purposes, but need to be purified and
of metallic medicines were thought to be more or less ‘killed’ first. This idea is not expressed or even alluded to
imperishable. This characteristic is first pointed out in the in the early medical treatises. Similarly, the idea that herbs
Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā, which states that a herbal substance and minerals may have not only a medicinal function but
loses its qualities (guṇahīna) after one year; a powder will also can be used to change and optimize the properties of
lose its potency (hīnavīryatva)) after two months from the other substances, i.e., that they can be used as a kind of
day of preparation; pills and electuaries become defective medicine for other materials, is found only in the newer
(hīna) after about a year; medicated oils and butters after works. The eleventh-century Cakradatta represents a kind
four months; and medicines prepared through a light of intermediate stage in the development of these concepts
heating process lose their potency (nivīrya) after a year. By in that it prescribes the removal of impurities in metallic
contrast fermented preparations, metallic preparations, and non-metallic minerals, but does not define what
and mercurials retain their qualities (guṇa) forever.53 the impurities are and also does not explain why their
Thus, metallic mineral medicines (with the exception removal is necessary. The sixteenth-century Bhāvaprakāśa
of mercurials) were not considered to have a stronger represents a more developed argument for the neces-
potency than the classical, non-metallic formulations, sity of the purification and calcination procedures,
but to have a longer-lasting potency. Whether the older explaining both the nature of the materials’ impurities
metallic medicines were also considered to have the same or bad qualities and their effects. It is also clearer in
long-lasting potency as the newer metallic formulations, explaining the function of herbal and other substances in
or whether the new extended processing procedures were treating minerals etc., to make them fit for medical use.
thought to be instrumental in producing the longer shelf- The greatest difference between the older and the newer
life of metallic medicines, cannot be extrapolated from the descriptions of making metallic medicines does not lie so
passage in the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā. much in the multiplication and complexity of procedures,
but in the meaning attached to the procedures and the
Conclusion reinterpretation of the characteristics of materials.
To recapitulate, even the oldest Sanskrit medical texts Notably, the new methods of drug production are not
describe procedures for making mineral medicines that explicitly linked to a heightened potency of drugs: with the
partly lay the grounds for later developments in the exception of mercurials, the new mineral medicines do not
making of similar medicines. There are, however, signifi- seem to be attributed with a greater potency or efficacy
cant differences between the older and newer procedures. than the older mineral and herbal medicines. However,
The recipes from works from the eleventh century intro- one characteristic that contrasts the new mineral medi-
duce not only new materials, but also new concepts to the cines from older herbal ones (and possibly from the older
making of medicines, showing engagement with alchem- mineral ones, though that is not clear) is their extended
ical methods of drug production. shelf-life, as noted in the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā. The latter
states the power of medical substances wanes after a
These newer methods of drug production differ from the
certain period, but the potency of metallic formulations
older ones in several ways:
remains unaffected by the passing of time. Only mercu-
1. an increased use of metallic and non-metallic rials were specifically credited with both greater efficacy
minerals and potency than herbal and, by inference, other mineral
medicines. But even this is only explicitly stated in some
2. the development of more complex procedures
of the late medical and iatrochemical works, such as the
and new techniques for processing metallic and
Rasendrasārasaṃgraha and the Bhāvaprakāśa.
non-metallic minerals

3. the use of herbal and mineral substances and

animal products (milk, urine) to cleanse or otherwise

HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 85

 Indian alchemy (rasaśāstra) and the new medical recipes
Dagmar Wujastyk is Associate Professor in History and
and techniques associated with it. Regarding the dating of
Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Alberta the emergence of Indian iatrochemistry to the eleventh
and Principal Investigator of the ERC-starting grant research century, it should be noted that an earlier medical work,
project AyurYog (ayuryog.org) at the University of Vienna. the ninth-century Kalyāṇakāraka by Ugrāditya, already
Her research focuses on the connected histories of classical displays advanced knowledge of mercury-processing
Indian medicine (Ayurveda), alchemy and iatrochemistry procedures and uses specialist technical vocabulary to
(rasaśāstra), and yoga. Her publications include Modern and describe them that shows the author’s familiarity with
Global Ayurveda: Pluralism and Paradigms (SUNY Press) alchemical thought. However, the placement of the
and Well-Mannered Medicine: Medical Ethics and Etiquette Kalyāṇakāraka’s chapter on mercury-processing at the end
in the Sanskrit Medical Classics (OUP NY). of the work and especially the fact that the work contains
very few recipes with mercury in the preceding chapters
This article was made possible through funding from the European may point to the chapter being added at a later time. The
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under question of the dating of this part of the Kalyāṇakāraka
grant agreement No.639363.
deserves more study. Because of the uncertainty of its
dating, I work with the assumption here that the increased
use of iatrochemical methods more or less starts with the
eleventh-century Cakradatta.
Endnotes 7.  Carakasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 1.3.15-23.
1.  This contrasts our workshop with the experiments
8.  The ayurvedic disease category of kuṣṭha, and more
conducted by Lawrence Principe and his colleagues,
specifically of mahākuṣṭha is today often interpreted as
described in a special issue of Ambix (Vol. 62, no. 2), in
leprosy. By the modern biomedical definition, leprosy
which the authors reconstruct various procedures from
is an infection by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae or
various alchemical literatures. See in particular Fors,
Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Given that microorganisms
Principe and Sibum (2016: 85-92) on experiment as a tool
as causative factors for diseases were not known until
for historians of science.
the nineteenth century and that M. leprae was only
2.  Omissions in recipes found in ayurvedic literature may identified in 1873 by the Norwegian physician Gerhard
point to a parallel oral transmission of medical knowledge. Armauer Hansen, the correlation of kuṣṭha with leprosy
For information on how omissions in Sanskrit medical is rather uncertain, though there is certainly an overlap
texts are dealt with in modern ayurvedic education and in symptoms. In any case, even in ayurvedic sources, it is
practice, see the studies by Roşu (1982, 1984). See Gerke evident that the category of kuṣṭha has somewhat porous
2019 for a similar case in Tibetan medical texts. boundaries. The Carakasaṃhitā states in Nidānasthāna 5.4
that there are seven, eighteen, or indeed innumerable
3.  See also Christèle Barois’ blog post on this subject at kinds of kuṣṭha. See Emmerick (1984: 97).
<http://ayuryog.org/blog/philology-through-experiment>
(accessed on 08 May 2019). 9.  The identification of ‘sharp iron,’ rendered from tīkṣṇa
(sharp) and ayas (iron) is uncertain. Later medical and
4.  On the dating of Caraka’s compendium (Carakasaṃhitā) alchemical works differentiate between different types
and its complicated transmission history, see Meulenbeld of iron (ayas, loha), called kānta, tīkṣṇa and muṇḍa, each
(1999-2002: IA, 115) and Maas (2010). For Suśruta’s of which has different medicinal and other properties.
compendium (Suśrutasamhitā), see Meulenbeld (1999-2002: See Hellwig (2009: 127-128). However, the Carakasaṃhitā
IA, 342-344). does not provide any classification of types of iron. The
Suśrutasaṃhita’s iron medicine recipes in Cikitsāsthāna
5.  Recipes in the early medical works that mention 10.11 and 10.12 use the terms ‘sharp iron’ (tīkṣṇaloha), and
sulfur include Carakasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 7.73, ‘iron’ (ayas), respectively. Iṅguḍī is identified as Balanites
Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā 4.19.24, and 4.22.19, Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha, roxburghii Planch. / B. aegyptiaca (L.) Delile / B. Indica Tiegh.
Cikitsāsthāna 21.70. by Nadkarni (1976: vol.1, 166).

6.  The term ‘iatrochemistry’ describes the use of 10.  triphalāyā rase mūtre gavāṃ kṣāre ca lāvaṇe /
alchemical procedures in the making of medicines. krameṇa ceṅgudīkṣāre kiṃśukakṣāra eva ca // (15.2)
The term derives from European understandings of tīkṣṇāyasasya pattrāṇi vahnivarṇāni sādhayet /
alchemy and is in particular associated with the medical caturaṅguladīrghāṇi tilotsedhatanūni ca // (16)
applications of alchemical concepts and procedures jñātvā tānyañjanābhāni sūkṣmacūrṇāni kārayet /
developed by the Swiss alchemist Paracelsus in the tāni cūrṇāni madhunā rasenāmalakasya ca // (17)
sixteenth century. Here, I apply the term to the context of yuktāni lehavatkumbhe sthitāni ghṛtabhāvite /

86 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

saṃvatsaraṃ nidheyāni yavapalle tathaiva ca // (18) 21.  That this procedure is an alternative to the first
dadyādāloḍanaṃ māse sarvatrāloḍayan budhaḥ / lauhapāka is expressed through the use of the word ‘or’
saṃvatsarātyaye tasya prayogo madhusarpiṣā // (19) (athavā) in verse 89.
prātaḥ prātarbalāpekṣī sātmyaṃ jīrṇe ca bhojanam /
eṣa eva ca lauhānāṃ prayogaḥ saṃprakīrtitaḥ // (20) 22.  Cakradatta 66.123. evaṃ tad amṛtam aśnan kāntiṃ labhate
nābhighātairna cātaṅkairjarayā na ca mṛtyunā / cirasthiraṃ deham / saptāhatrayamātrāt sarvarujo hanti kiṃ
sa dhṛṣyaḥ syādgajaprāṇaḥ sadā cātibalendriyaḥ // (21) bahunā.
dhīmān yaśasvī vāksiddhaḥ śrutadhārī mahādhanaḥ /
bhavetsamāṃ prayuñjāno naro lauharasāyanam // 23.  See, for example, Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna
(22)anenaiva vidhānena hemnaśca rajatasya ca / 27.8, which describes oblations to a sacrificial fire and
āyuḥprakarṣakṛtsiddhaḥ prayogaḥ sarvaroganut // (23) hymns to accompany the intake of a false black pepper
All translations my own, unless marked otherwise. (viḍaṅga) tonic. Or Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 28.4, 5,
and 7, which describe sanctifying tonics with oblations
11.  See, for example, Bhardwaj (1979: 143-162) on iron to a sacrificial fire before taking them. Carakasaṃhitā,
metallurgy in ancient India. Cikitsāsthāna 1.23 prescribes the worship of gods before
the patient enters the therapy hut. In regard to the
12.  This contrasts this recipe with the other recipes in the use of mantras, reference is found, for example, in
chapter, which all give quantities for their ingredients. Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 28.25, which states that the
Gāyatri mantra should be spoken during the making of
13.  See Carakasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 1.1–4. the formulations; and Cikitsāsthāna 30.27, which prescribes
the incantation of a mantra during the harvest of divine
14.  The absence of dosage is not peculiar to the metallic herbs. Mantras also occur in Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna
formulation. Most of the recipes in the Carakasaṃhitā’s 28.25, Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā, Uttarasthāna 39.89 and
rasāyana section contain information on the quantities Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha, Uttarasthāna 49.83 in the context of
needed for making a medicine and the period of time in taking an oil against serious skin diseases (kuṣṭḥa); and in
which the preparation should be consumed, but do not Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha, Uttarasthāna 49. 262-263 in the context of
specify daily amounts. taking a medicine against diseases caused by the humors
wind and phlegm. Mantras are, however, not mentioned
15.  On the typical functions of rasāyana medicines, see
in the rasāyana chapter of the Carakasaṃhitā.
Wujastyk (2017).
24.  On the prominence of Śaiva metaphysics in Sanskrit
16.  The text states: “Thus, the iron leaves become liquid/
alchemical literature, see White (2011: 490-493).
absorbed after a year”—evaṃ tāni lohapattrāṇi saṃvatsarāt
dravībhavanti. 25.  Niścalakara’s commentary on the Cakradatta probably
dates to the middle of the twelfth century according to
17.  The term used is ayas, which can mean iron, or metals.
Meulenbeld (1999-2002: IIA, 105-109).
18.  This group of timbers is listed in Suśrutasaṃhitā,
26.  The Lauhasarvasva (or Lohasarvasva) by Sureśvara is
Sūtrasthāna 38.9 and comprises twenty-three different plants.
a work on the medical use of metals dated to about the
19.  ata ūrdhvam ayaskṛtīr vakṣyāmaḥ tīkṣṇalohapatrāṇi twelfth century, see Meulenbeld (1999-2002: IIA, 751-752).
tanūni lavaṇavargapradigdhāni gomayāgniprataptāni
27.  The three reasons to favor mercurial preparations
triphalāsālasārādikaṣāyeṇa nirvāpayet ṣoḍaśavārān tataḥ
put forward in the Rasendrasārasaṃgraha (1.4-5.) are that
khadirāṅgārataptāny upaśāntatāpāni sūkṣmacūrṇāni
they require small doses in their application, they do not
kārayed ghanatāntavaparisrāvitāni tato yathābalaṃ
cause loss of appetite and they restore health quickly. The
mātrāṃ sarpirmadhubhyāṃ saṃsṛjyopayuñjīta jīrṇe
Rasendraṣarasaṃgraha may date to the fifteenth or sixteenth
yathāvyādhyanamlamalavaṇamāhāraṃ kurvīta evaṃ tulām
century or later. See Meulenbeld (1999-2002: IIA, 730).
upayujya kuṣṭhamehamedaḥśvayathupāṇḍurogonmādāpasmārān
apahatya varṣaśataṃ jīvati tulāyāṃ tulāyāṃ varṣaśatam utkarṣa 28.  On Hārīta, the author and compiler of the Hārītasaṃhitā,
etena sarvalauheṣv ayaskṛtayo vyākhyātāḥ // (11.1). see Meulenbeld (1999-2002, IIA, 59-60). On Vyāḍi and
Nāgārjuna, see White (1996: 125-126 and 66-77), respectively.
20.  References to a Lauhaśāstra are found in Cakradatta
69, 34; Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā, Rasāyanādhikāṛa 474, and 29.  See, for example, the work of Ray (1956), White (1996),
Rasendracintāmani chapter 9, 76; see Meulenbeld (1999- or Hellwig (2009).
2002: IIB, 703, note 177). The Rasaratnasamuccaya (chapter
5, verse 98-99), while not naming either the Lauhaśāstra, 30.  The other works referred to by Sharma, such as the
nor the Cakradatta, makes reference to parts of the mantra Pātañjalalauhaśāstra or Amoghayogatantra are not available
in Cakradatta 66.103. at present; we know of them only through citations.

HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 87

31.  See Meulenbeld (1999-2002: IIA, 751-752) on the 42.  On the idea of purification as counteracting negative
Lohasarvasva. or undesired characteristics of the substances, see Dole and
Paranjpe (2004: 84) and Wujastyk (2013: 37).
32.  Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 10.12 describes two
further recipes for making iron tonics. The one referred to 43.  That is, other than through washing with water.
here is the first of the two.
44.  On the date of the Dhanvatarīyanighaṇṭu, see
33.  In later alchemical literature, heating and quenching Meulenbeld (1999-2002 IIA, 172–173).
reappear as methods of processing iron. See, for example,
Rasaratnasamuccaya (102-103). This work also shows 45.  Dhanvantarīyanighaṇṭu 6.29. doṣakāri gadakāri cāyasaṃ
some familiarity with the methods described in the cedaśuddham asusaṃskṛtaṃ dhruvam/pāṭavaṃ na tanute
Cakradatta, as evidenced by its reference to the mantra oṃ śarīrake dāruṇāṃ hṛdi rujaṃ karoti ca //.
amṛtodbhavāya svāhā and the associated procedures. See
Rasaratnasamuccaya 5. 98-99 and Cakradatta 66.103. 46.  Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā, 2.11.1. svarṇatārāratāmrāṇi
nāgavaṅgau ca tīkṣṇakam / dhātavaḥ sapta vijñeyās tatas tān
34.  The Cakradatta depicts several procedures or steps śodhayed budhaḥ //.
in making the medicine as a ‘method.’ This is marked
in the text by the formulaic use of “iti … vidhiḥ”, “thus, 47.  dhātvādiśodhanamāraṇavidhiprakaraṇa.
the method for ...”. These comprise 1) the specifications
48.  Bhāvaprakāśa, Pūrvakhaṇḍa 2.3.89.
regarding the measurement and preparation of ingredients
khañjatvakuṣṭhāmayamṛtamṛtyukārī hṛdrogaśūlau kurute
(iti sādhyasādhanaparimāṇavidhiḥ) 2) the purification of
‘śmarīñ ca /nānārujānāṃ ca tathā prakopaṃ kuryāc ca hṛllāsam
the iron through ‘killing’ (iti lauhamāraṇavidhiḥ), 3) the
aśuddhalauham //A similar list of effects, but adding
roasting of iron in the sun (iti bhānupākavidhiḥ), 4) the
impotence and intoxication is given in the Bhāvaprakāśa’s
roasting in a pan (iti sthālīpākavidhiḥ), 5) the roasting
chapter on the properties of metals, Bhāvaprakāśa,
in a pit (iti puṭapākavidhiḥ), 6) the final roasting of the
Pūrvakhaṇḍa 1.8. 43-44.
iron (iti lauhapākavidhiḥ), 7) the processing of mica
(ityabhrakavidhiḥ) and 8) the ingestion of the tonic and the 49.  See also Wujastyk (2013), which describes the
associated regimen (iti bhakṣaṇavidhiḥ). Bhāvaprakāśa’s definition of the faults of mercury.
35.  This term is also found in the Kalyāṇakāraka, but see 50.  See the thirteenth- or fourteenth-century
footnote 6. The term ‘killing’ for calcination is used for one Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā 2. 12. 1, which describes mercury as a
of several steps in the procedures (saṃskāra) for processing substance that conquers all diseases and confers strength;
mercury described in Sanskrit alchemical literature. For or the sixteenth-century Bhāvaprakāśa, Pūrvakhaṇḍa 1.8.10-
a summary and discussion of these saṃskāras in Sanskrit 15, which describes mercury as a panacea that can cure
alchemical literature, see White (1996: 266-269). ‘Killing’ even incurable diseases.
is also one of the procedures applied to iron and to other
metallic minerals. For a discussion of what the different 51.  See Meulenbeld (1999-2002, IIA, 730) on the date of the
kinds of procedures applied to metals and minerals tell us Rasendrasārasaṃgraha. This work might be later than the
about the classification of materials in Sanskrit alchemical estimated fifteenth or sixteenth century.
literature, see Hellwig (2014).
52.  Rasendrasārasaṃgraha 1.4-5. alpamātropayogitvād arucer
36.  See Suśrutasaṃhitā, Uttaratantra 18.33-38 on the aprasaṅgataḥ/kṣipram ārogyadāyitvād auṣadhebhyo ‘dhiko
method of puṭapāka. rasaḥ //sādhyeṣu bheṣajaṃ sarvamīritaṃ tattvavedinā /
asādhyeṣvapi dātavyo raso ‘taḥ śreṣṭha ucyate//.
37.  Notably, this is information given in some alchemical
texts. See Hellwig (2009: 303-304) for passages in 53.  See Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā 1.1.51-53: guṇahīnaṃ
alchemical texts in which the reasons for the size of the pit bhaved varṣād ūrdhvaṃ tadrūpam auṣadham/māsadvayāt
and the fuel used are stated. tathā cūrṇaṃ hīnavīryatvam āpnuyāt //(51)// hīnatvaṃ
guṭikālehau labhete vatsarāt param/hīnāḥ syur ghṛtatailādyāś
38.  See Hellwig (2009: 304-305). caturmāsādhikāt tathā //(52)//oṣadhyo laghupākāḥ syur
nirvīryā vatsarāt param/purāṇāḥ syur guṇair yuktā āsavā
39.  See Dole (2008: 198) for the passage in question.
dhātavo rasāḥ //(53)//.
40.  I have not been able to identify this plant.

41.  See, for example, the recipe for a copper tonic in

Cakradatta 66. 129-135, which follows the iron tonic recipe.

88 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019

References Vaṅgasena Saṃhitā or Cikitsāsāra Saṃgraha of Vaṅgasena.
Text with English Translation, Notes, Historical Introduction,
Primary sources Comments, Index and Appendices by Nirmal Saxena. 2004. 2
vols. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office.
[Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā] Vāgbhaṭa’s Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam, Text,
English translation, Notes, Appendix and Indices, translated Secondary Sources
by K.R. Srikantha Murthy. 1999-2000. 3 vols. 4th edition.
Varanasi: Krishnadas Academy. Bhardwaj, Hari C. 1979. Aspects of Ancient Indian Technology.
Delhi, Varanasi, Patna: Motilal Banarsidass.
[Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha] Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgraha of Vāgbhaṭa, Text,
English Translation, Notes, Indices etc., translated by Dole, V. A. 2008. Rasaratnasamuccaya. Translation and
K.R. Srikantha Murthy. 1995-1997. 3 vols. Varanasi: Commentary in English. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit
Chaukhamba Orientalia. Series Office.

Bhāvaprakāśa of Bhāvamiśra, Text, English Translation, Notes, Dole, V. A. and P. Paranjpe. 2004. A Text Book of Rasashastra,
Appendeces [sic] and Index, translated by K.R. Srikantha Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskrit Pratisthan.
Murthy. 1998-2000. 2 vols. Varanasi: Krishnadas Academy. Emmerick, Ronald E. 1984. Some Remarks on the History of
Carakasaṃhitā, Agniveśa’s Treatise Refined and Annotated by Leprosy in India. Indologica Taurinensia 12: 93-105.
Caraka and Redacted by Dṛḍhabala, Text with English transla- Fors, Hjalmar, Lawrence M. Principe and H. Otto Sibum.
tion, edited and translated by Priyavat Sharma. 2003. 4 vols. 2016. From the Library to the Laboratory and Back Again:
8th edition. Varanasi: Chaukhamba Orientalia. Experiment as a Tool for Historians of Science, Ambix
Cakradatta. Text with English Translation. A Treatise on 63(2): 85-97.
Principles and Practices of Ayurvedic Medicine. (1994). Gerke, Barbara. 2019. The Potency of Tradition: Turquoise,
Varanasi, Delhi: Chaukhamba Orientalia. Coral, and Pearl in Sowa Rigpa. HIMALAYA 39(1).
Dhanvantarīyanighaṇṭu, Oliver Hellwig’s online Digital Hellwig, Oliver. 2009. Wörterbuch der mittelalterlichen
Corpus of Sanskrit (DCS), <http://kjc-fs-cluster.kjc.uni-hei- indischen Alchemie. Groningen: Barkhuis.
delberg.de/dcs/index.php> (accessed on 09 May 2019).
. 2014. Materialgruppen in der indischen Alchemie.
[Rasaratnākara]. Rasaratnākara-Rasakhaṇḍam: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 164(2):
sapariśiṣṭa “Rasacandrikā” Hindīvyākhyopetam/ 451-468.
Nityanāthasiddhaviracitam; vyākhyākāraḥ Indradeva Tripāṭhī ;
bhūmikālekhakaḥ Ke. En. Uḍpā; pariśiṣṭa-lekhakah Lālabahādura Maas, Philipp A. 2010. On what became of the
Siṃha. 1985. Vārāṇasī: Caukhambā Amarabhāratī Carakasaṃhitā after Dṛḍhabala’s revision. eJournal of Indian
Prakāśana: Caukhambā Saṃskr̥ta Pustakālaya. Medicine 3(1): 1-22.

[Rasaratnasamuccaya] Srī Vāgbhatāchārya’s Rasaratnasamuccaya. Meulenbeld, Jan Gerrit. 1999-2002. A History of Indian
Translation and Commentary in English by Dr. V.A. Dole. 2008. Medical Literature. 5 vols. Groningen: Egbert.
Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office. Nadkarni, A. K. 1976. Indian Materia Medica With Ayurvedic,
[Rasendrasārasaṃgraha], Rasendra Sāra Saṅgraha of Sri Gopala Unani-Tibb, Siddha, Allopathic, Homeopathic, Naturopathic
Krishna Bhatt. Sanskrit Text with English Translation. English & Home Remedies, Appendices & indexes. 2. vols. Bombay:
Translation by Dr. G. Prabhakara Rao. 2015. Varanasi: Popular Prakashan.
Chauwkhamba Orientalia. Ray, P. C. 1956. History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval
[Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā] Śārṅgadhar-Saṃhitā (A Treatise India. Calcutta: Indian Chemical Society.
on Āyurveda) by Śārṅgadhara. Translated into English Roşu, Arion. 1982. Le renouveau contemporain de
by Āyurveda-Vidwān Prof. K. R. Srikantha Murthy. l’Ayurveda. WZKS 26: 59-82.
Jaikrishnadas Ayurveda Series no 58. 2006. Varanasi: Delhi:
Chaukhamba Orientalia. . 1984. Les traditions Ayurvediques à Bénarès aux
temps modernes. Indologica Taurinensia 12: 219-224.
[Suśrutasaṃhitā] Suśruta-saṃhitā with English Translation
of Text and Ḍalhaṇa’s Commentary Along with Critical Notes, Sharma, Priya Vrat. 1993. A Fragment of The Lauhaśāstra
edited and translated by Priya Vrat Sharma. 2010-2013. 3 of Nāgārjuna. Indian Journal of History of Science 28(1): 35-50.
vols. Varanasi: Chaukhambha Visvabharati.

HIMALAYA Volume 39, Number 1 | 89

White, David. G. 2011. Rasāyana. In Brill Encyclopedia of
Hinduism, edited by Knut A. Jacobsen et al., 489-499, Vol. 3.
Leiden, Boston: Brill.

. 1996. The Alchemical Body. Siddha Traditions in

Medieval India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wujastyk, Dagmar. 2013. Perfect Medicine. Mercury in

Sanskrit Medical Literature. Asian Medicine 8(3): 15-40.

. 2017. Acts of Improvement: On the Use of Tonics

and Elixirs in Sanskrit Medical and Alchemical Literature.
History of Science in South Asia 5(2): 1-36.

90 | HIMALAYA Spring 2019