wujastyk - perfect medicine- mercury in ayurveda

8/11/2019 WUJASTYK - Perfect Medicine- Mercury in Ayurveda

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Perfect MedicineMercury in Sanskrit Medical Literature

Dagmar WujastykUniversity of Zrich

[email protected]

Abstract

This article gives an overview of the earliest uses of mercury in classical South Asian

medicine up to the nineteenth century, tracing and discussing important stages in the

development of mercury processing. The use of unprocessed mercury might date back

to the period when the oldest Indian medical compendia, the Carakasahitand the

Surutasahit, were composed. It is certain that medical compounds containing

apparently unprocessed mercury were used by the time the works ascribed to

Vgbhaa, the Agahdayasahit and the Agasagraha, were written (c.

early seventh century ). However, with one notable exception, it was only from the

thirteenth century onwards that ways of processing mercury were developed or

adopted from alchemical sources in ayurvedic medicine. Elaborate procedures were

applied for the purifying and calcining of mercury and for extracting mercury from

cinnabar. Through these procedures, mercury was meant to be perfected, i.e. made

safe for human consumption as well as ecacious as a remedy. By the sixteenth cen-

tury, the use of processed mercury had become standard in ayurvedic medicine for a

great number of diseases, and processed mercury was considered extremely potent

and completely safe: a perfect medicine.

Keywords

Ayurveda medical history alchemy mercury processing of mercury


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[Its names are]prada, rasadhtu, rasendra, mahrasa, capala, ivavrya,

rasa, sta, ivhvaya.Mercury has all the six avours and is unctuous; itmitigates all three humours and is an elixir of life; it assimilates to itselfand it is a powerful aphrodisiac; it always strengthens eyesight; it is declaredthe destroyer of all diseases and especially removes all skin diseases.

After it has been solidied, it cures disease, having been bound, it letsone move in the sky, having been killed, it gives youth. What is more com-passionate than mercury? Be it an incurable disease or one for whichthere is no treatment, mercury removes the diseases of men, elephants

and horses. , , , , sixteenthcentury

Mercury in the Older Ayurvedic Works:

First to Twelfth Centuries CE

Our knowledge of Indian medical literature is at present far from complete,and any attempt at a survey of particular themes within the ayurvedic corpusis limited by the availability of its texts as well as our knowledge of their exis-tence. According to Meulenbelds comprehensive survey of the corpus ofSanskrit medical literature, more than 100 medical works (that we know of)were composed between the beginning of the Common Era and 1500 .

Of these, four date to the rst half of the rst millennium , 27 to the secondhalf of the rst millennium, and nearly 80 works to the period 10001500 . Inthe following centuries, literary production increased, and several hundredworks were added to the older treatises. It is not possible to consider the con-tents of all these works (which are in any case not all available in either printor manuscript form), and it is very dicult to choose a representative selection

Meulenbeld 19992002. It is often not possible to date ayurvedic works with any accuracy, since the texts (especially

the older ones) often have complicated transmission histories and rarely furnish the reader

with any information on when they were written. The dating of ayurvedic works is in such

cases based on clues from within the texts that point to the place or time of their composi-

tion or on the texts relative chronology to each other.


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from such a large number of works. However, some works are considered morecentral to the ayurvedic tradition than others. There are a number of waysof identifying a work as important to the ayurvedic tradition. For example,

the importance or popularity of a text is indicated by how often its manu-scripts were copied, how often it is quoted in other medical works, how manycommentaries were written on it, whether it was translated into other lan-guages, and nally, whether it is still used in ayurvedic education, research, andpractice today. This lets us arrive at a somewhat more manageable thoughadmittedly not universally accepted list of core texts. A selection of these wereused for the present study, supplemented at times with less important treatisesof particular interest, in the hope that the selected works will highlight some of

the most important trends in the use of mercury in ayurvedic medicine even ifthey do not represent the complete picture.The medical use of mercury in medicine has a long tradition in India. There

are claims that recipes containing mercury can be found in the oldest of theclassical Sanskrit medical texts known to us, the Carakasahit and theSurutasahit (c. rst and third century , respectively). A verse in theCarakasahit in a section on skin disease states that rasa, which cures alldiseases, should be used by persons aicted with skin disease. Accordingto Dutt the commentators interpret rasa as mercury. However, as the termrasasignies many other things besides mercury, such as the sap or juice ofplants or fruits, etc., one cannot decide with any certainty that rasa indeedmeans mercury here, though it also cannot be entirely discounted. In theSurutasahit, we nd a curious reference to mercury in a chapter onpoisons, in which Suruta claims that playing various musical instrumentssmeared with anti-poison will cure food poisoning in animals and humans.One of the ingredients of Surutas anti-poison paste is sutra, which isinterpreted as mercury in alhaas commentary, the Nibandhasagraha

(c. twelfth century ).It is certain that medical compounds containing apparently unpro-

cessed mercury were used by the time the works ascribed to Vgbhaa, the

See Wujastyk 2012, p. 18, on the topic of the core texts of the ayurvedic tradition.

As mentioned, the dating of the older ayurvedic works is fraught with uncertainty. Dating the

Carakasahitto the rst, and the Surutasahitto the third centuries is a very rough

estimate that does not reect their complicated transmission histories. For a more detailed

discussion of the issues surrounding the dating of these works, see Meulenbeld, 19992002,, pp. 10515 (on the Carakasahit) and pp. 33344 (on the Surutasahit).

The passage in question is Carakasahit, Cikitssasthna 7.71.

Dutt 1922, p. 27.

See Surutasahit,Kalpasthna3.1315 and Wujastyk 2003, pp. 789, on this section in the

Surutasahitand the commentator alhaas interpretation.


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Agahdayasahitand the Agasagraha, were written (c. early sev-enth century ). For example, both works prescribe a medicinal paste for thetreatment of the eye disease timira that contains rasendra, an unequivocal

term for mercury. The Agahdayasahitalso has a recipe for a topicalcream against freckles, where the term for mercury is prada. The A-gahdayasahitfurther prescribespradaas an ingredient of a rejuvenatingtonic (rasyana), the rst recipe for the internal use of mercury.

The Jain medical treatiseKalyakraka(c. ninth century ) by Ugrdityais the earliest medical text to mention procedures for purifying (odhana) andcalcining mercury (mraa, killing, i.e., the calcination or powdering of mer-cury which make it t for application as a medicine). If its dating to the ninth

century is correct, its descriptions of mercury processing are among the earli-est in Sanskrit literature available to us at present. The processing and calcina-tion of mercury are also described at length in texts belonging to the genreof rasastra (alchemy), the earliest works of which might predate the

Kalyakraka.No other contemporary medical text we know of at present contains instruc-

tions similar to those of theKalyakraka. The Siddhayoga by Va, whichdates to about the ninth or tenth century, prescribes an ointment made ofdatura (dhattra) and mercury (rasendra) against lice, but does not describeany procedures for processing mercury. The eleventh-century Cikitssagraha

Agahdayasahit, Uttarasthna13.36 andAgasagraha, Uttarasthna49.392.

Agahdayasahit, Uttarasthna32.31.

SeeAgahdayasahit, Uttarasthna39.161.

See Meulenbeld 19992002, IIA, p. 152, on mercury in theKalyakraka.

For example, the early alchemical treatise Rasendramagala of Ngrjuna Siddha con-

tains chapters describing the killing and solidifying, the making into ash and binding of

mercury. See Wujastyk 1984, pp. 778, for an overview of chapter contents of theRasendramagala.It should be noted that alchemical works (rasastra) are considered

a separate genre from medical literature, though alchemical texts often contain large sec-

tions on iatrochemistry. The development of ayurvedic iatrochemistry seems to have its

origins in rasastraliterature, as methods of processing and using mineral- and metal-

based drugs rst described in rasastraworks were incorporated into ayurvedic medi-

cine. Meulenbeld 19992002, IA, p. 4, notes that rasastraand Ayurveda are overlapping

areas and became intimately connected in the course of time. The merging of Indian

alchemical and medical traditions has to date not been studied in any detail and would

provide an interesting area of research. In this article, I use English words for plants where I could nd appropriate translations.

In the other cases, I use botanical terms. Not all ayurvedic plants have English equiva-

lents, and even the botanical identication can be dicult, in which case I provide the

Sanskrit term.

See Meulenbeld 19992002, IIA, p. 80, on mercury in the Siddhayoga.


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(also called Cakradatta) by Cakrapidatta, which gives about nine recipes formercurial medicines, all for internal use, describes a simple procedure for puri-fying mercury which involves macerating mercury with the juice of a number

of plants (ginger, castor oil plant, black night-shade, and Sesbania aculeata),but does not mention calcination processes. Vagasena, who wrote theCikitssrasagrahain around the eleventh or twelfth century, seems to haveknown about some procedures for purifying and thickening or solidifying mer-cury, since he mentions mercury together with the technical termsvimrchita(solidied), mrchana(solidifying), and uddha(puried). However, he doesnot describe the actual procedures for arriving at puried or solidiedmercury.

Mercury Processing in the rgadharasahit:Thirteenth Century CE

Some 400 years after the Kalyakraka (if its dating to the ninth century iscorrect), an elaborately formulated system of processing and using mercuryappears in the rgadharasahit. Its long chapter on mercury contains onequite complicated recipe for the purication of mercury (rasaodhana), onerecipe for purifying sulphur (gandhakaodhana), two recipes for extractingmercury from cinnabar (daradaodhana), four recipes for giving mercury amouth to devour other metals, i.e. to amalgamate with them, four recipes forthe killing, i.e. turning mercury into ash, and nearly 50 recipes for medicinesprepared from the above products.

These are the instructions given in the rgadharasahit for purifyingmercury:

One should place mercury in a receptacle of black mustard and garlic,enclose it with cloth, and steam it with sour gruel (kjika) in the cradleapparatus (dolikyantra) for three days. One should grind the mercury forone day with an equivalent amount of aloe juice, then one should grindit for one day with a decoction of leadwort, and one should also grind itwith the juice of black night-shade for a day. In like manner, mercury is

See Meulenbeld 19992002, IIA, p. 88, on mercury compounds in the Cikitssagraha.For a discussion of the ayurvedic purication processes, see the section Concluding

reections below.

See Cikitssrasagraha, Rasyandhikra264, 287, and 461, respectively.

rgadharasahit2.12.

Kjikais typically fermented rice or barley gruel.


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diligently ground with a decoction of the three myrobalans. One shouldseparate the mercury from them, having rinsed it with sour gruel. Then,having placed the mercury and half its amount of rock salt on a grind

stone, one should grind them continuously with lime juice for one day.Then, the mercury is likewise ground with equal amounts of, rst ofall, ammonium chloride, black mustard, garlic, and with sour gruel. Then,one should dry it, form a round disk and coat it with asafoetida. Oneshould encase it inside a vessel consisting of two bowls. A wise personshould ll the lower pot with salt and should rmly seal it. Having driedit, and having placed a re underneath, one should sprinkle it repeatedlywith water from above.

Then, one should make a strong re underneath it for three hours.That way, one causes upward condensation. The mercury becomes freefrom blemishes. Now, the best of mercury that sticks onto the upper potcan be collected.

These instructions describe several of the eight main standard procedures ofmercury processing (aasaskra) detailed in alchemical works. These are1. svedana (steaming), 2. mardana (triturating), 3. mrcchana (thickening/solidifying), 4. utthpana (resurrecting), 5. ptana (distilling), 6. bodhana(awakening), 7. niymana(regulating/restraining), and 8. dpana(kindling).The procedures in the rgadharasahit include svedana (steaming), mar-dana (triturating), and utthpana (sublimation). Though the technical term isnot used here, the second to fourth steps in the procedure (in which mercuryis triturated with leadwort, aloe, and the three myrobalans, and then washedwith sour gruel) could also be categorised as mrcchana (solidifying), therebeing an overlap in technique (of grinding the ingredients together) and sub-stances used.

Three further steps in mercury processing are described in thergadharasahit:

1. Maceration with certain poisonous plant materialsthe nine main poi-sonous plants (via) and the seven mildly poisonous plants (upavia),or with other herbal substances, salts, or even certain insects. This

rgadharasahit2.12.413. See Dole and Paranjpe 2004, pp. 90108 and White 1996, pp. 2659, on the saskrasfor

mercury processing in alchemical literature. There are 18 saskrasaltogether, of which

eight are supposed to be used to prepare mercury medicines.

This is described in rgadharasahit2.12. 1824.


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causes mercury to lose its wings (chinnapaka), i.e., it suppresses its vol-atility. It also gives mercury a mouth (mukha) with which to devour(gras) other metals, i.e. it enhances its ability to amalgamate with other

metals.2. Assimilation of sulphur to mercury (gandhakajraa) by grinding sul-phur and puried mercury together, enclosing them in a sealed containerwith slaked lime and heating the container. This is also supposed toenhance the capability of mercury to absorb other metals.

3. Killing mercury, i.e. reducing it to a ne ash or oxide (bhasman). Thereason for doing this (though not mentioned in this text) is that ash ofmercury, unlike liquid mercury, is thought to be absorbable by the human

body. Mercury ash is produced by mixing mercury with various sub-stances (for example, with soot, sulphur, ammonium chloride, and someacidic liquid) and heating them in a sealed container (a glass bottle, or acrucible made from mud or plant materials).

The recipes for mercury medicines that follow are diverse in production meth-ods, ways in which they are applied and diseases they are meant to treat.A common denominator of all recipes is the occurrence of sulphur as one ofthe ingredients. Mercury is ingested mixed with honey or ghee, as a beverage,or in the form of pills. It is also applied as an eye ointment, smeared into thenose, rubbed into a small incision in the skin, or used topically on areas of theskin afected by skin disease. Diseases or conditions to be treated with thevarious medicines span from fevers (the disease category, not the symptom ofheightened body temperature) to digestive complaints (diarrhoea, constipa-tion, indigestion, colics, etc.), wasting (possibly tuberculosis), and skin dis-eases (including leprosy). Mercury medicines are also prescribed as what wenow term general tonics and aphrodisiacs, which is expressed in phrases, such

as the user becomes capable of copulating with many women or the personobtains radiance in the face and strength in the body.

rgadharasahit2.12.1824. White 1996, p. 461, note 166, explains that clipping the

wings of volatile mercury is the remedy for cpalyadoa,the aw of instability. This is

efected through niymana (regulation), the seventh of the eighteen alchemical

saskras.White givesRasahdayatantra4.5 andRasendracmai16.4, 44, 525, 75, as

his sources. Giving mercury a mouth to devour metals is meant to be the result of the

saskrasof awakening (bodhana) or kindling (dpana). See White 1996, p. 267. rgadharasahit2.12.259.

rgadharasahit2.12.2942.

See rgadharasahit 2.12.135, 136, 1216 and 1903, respectively.

See, for example, rgadharasahit2.12.266 and 275 for descriptions of such efects.


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rgadhara, the author (or compiler) of the rgadharasahit, con-sciously sought to make his work concise and simple to use. He noted that histreatise collects in one place just the bare essentials. Therefore, although we

encounter in this work a much more elaborate description of mercury process-ing and a greater number of recipes for mercurial medicines (for a much widerrange of diseases) than in the older medical works, we can still assume thechapter on mercury medicines to be a selection from much richer source mate-rials. There are clear signs for rgadharas chapter being a synopsis of moredetailed descriptions from other alchemical works. For example, as noted,rgadhara uses alchemical technical terms and metaphorical language forthe procedures: processed mercury has a mouth to devour other metals, or it

has its wings severed. rgadhara also mentions the use of alchemicalapparatuses, such as the dolikyantra (an appliance for steaming drugs con-tained in a cloth; see infra, Fig. 4) or the kacchapayantra(an appliance for dis-tillation), but gives no systematic explanation of their use. There is generallylittle information on methodology. We are, for example, not told why mercuryhas to be puried, bound, amalgamated, or made into ash. Given thatrgadhara denes his work as the bare essentials, he presumably thoughthis readers would beat least to some extentfamiliar with alchemical ter-minology and procedures, and therefore judged further explanations on theoutlined procedures to be unnecessary.

Mercury Processing in theBhvapraka:Sixteenth Century CE

Searching for an ayurvedic work that gives more context and a somewhat clearermethodology for the medical use of mercury brings us to a treatise written

about 300 years later: the Bhvapraka by Bhvamira. In this sixteenth-century work, the processing of mercury is systematically discussed at somelength in two places in the glossary section, namely in a chapter on metals andminerals (Prvakhaa, Dhtvdivarga 86106) and in a chapter on the purify-ing and killing of metals and minerals (Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamra-

rgadharasahit3.13.128. Wujastyk 2003, p. 255.

These terms are found in rgadharasahit2.12. 201. See rgadharasahit2.12.5 and 25 for the mention of dolikyantraand kacchapayan-

tra, respectively. The dolikyantra or dolyantra will be described in detail below. For a

description of the kacchapayantra (as described in theyurvedasaukhya),see Dash and

Lalitesh Kashyap 2002, p. 157.


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avidhiprakaraa 143204). We also nd many recipes for mercury medicinesscattered throughout the therapy section of the treatise.

In the chapter on metals and minerals, the section on mercury begins

with an abbreviated retelling of the mythical origin of mercury, according towhich semen of the god iva fell on the ground and then became mercury.Bhvamira diferentiates between four kinds of mercury: white, red, yellow,and black mercury. These are found in four diferent regions and each is asso-ciated with one of the four Vedic divisions of classes in society (brahmaa,katriya, vaiya, and dra). According to Bhvamira, white mercury is best forcuring diseases, red mercury for rejuvenation therapy, yellow for the transmu-tation of metals, and black for moving in the sky. Mercury is dened as having

all the six avours (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent, and astringent) and asbeing unctuous. Signicantly, it is understood to mitigate all three humours,i.e. to redress any potential disturbance to their quantity or movement throughthe body. This makes it a panacea, and indeed, Bhvamira calls mercuryan elixir of life and the destroyer of all diseases that will cure even incur-able diseases. Specic applications include using it as an aphrodisiac, tostrengthen eyesight and particularly to remove all skin diseases. Bhvamiraadds that (a)fter it has been solidied (mrcchita), it cures disease, havingbeen bound (bandhanam anubhya), it lets one move in the sky, having beenkilled (mta), it gives youth.

On the mythical origination of mercury see Sarma and Sahai 1995, especially pp. 1535.

On the property of mercury of moving in the sky (or letting move in the sky) when bound,

see White 1996, p. 212: Mercury, when bound, is said to become khecari, possessed of the

power of ight, a power it transmits to the alchemist who holds a capsule of said mercury

in his mouth. Whites source for this isRasrava2.89; 11.151; see White 1996, p. 461, note 165.

TheRasrava is one of the earliest Indian alchemical works transmitted to us at present.

The doctrine of the three humours, wind (vta), bile (pitta) and phlegm (kapha), is oneof the key concepts in ayurvedic medicine, though the classical texts display some dispar-

ity in their denition of how the humours function. In the seminal seventh-century trea-

tise Agahdayasahit, they are dened as both necessary substances in the body

that fundamentally sustain its functioning and as potential sources for the arising of dis-

ease. Disease may arise when there is an imbalance in the proportional quantity of the

humours, i.e. a pathological predominance of one or two of the humours or conversely

their pathological diminution; if one or several of the humours spread outside their nor-

mal pathways; or if one or several of them are hindered from owing through their nor-

mal pathways. Mitigating a humour means to counteract its abnormal growth and thusavoiding its overow from the area that is supposed to contain it, or to counteract its

diminution and its decreased ow and functioning in the body. SeeAgahdayasahit

Strasthna11. Also see Benner 2005, pp. 38545.

Bhvapraka, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdivarga945.


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TheBhvaprakaon the Dangers of Mercurial Treatments andAppliances to Process Mercury

The following section (verses 905) is dedicated to the dangers of mercurialtreatments. Bhvamira explains that mercury can have two kinds of faults,innate (naisargika) and acquired (updhija) ones. The innate faults of mer-cury are dened as dirt (mala), poison (via), re (vahni), heaviness(gurutva), and being unsteady (capala); the acquired faults are the admixtureof tin (vaga/ trapu) and lead (nga). Each fault is associated with a par-ticular problem: dirt causes fainting, poison kills, re causes a severe burningsensation, heaviness leads to exhaustion and unsteadiness to the loss of viril-

ity; tin produces skin disease (kuha: perhaps leprosy) and lead causes impo-tence. Bhvamira notes that some physicians mention further faults inmercurythis is probably a reference to the seven coatings (kacuka) of mer-cury that are outlined in rasastraliterature. The faults of re, poison, anddirt are considered the most severe, and Bhvamira warns that special atten-tion must be given to their eradication. In the chapter on purication methods,he explains that aloe removes dirt (mala), the three myrobalans remove re(here: agni) and leadwort removes poison (via), and that therefore, mercuryshould be triturated seven times with a mixture of these substances. Theglossary section on mercury concludes with the emphatic warning that mer-cury must be puried before use, since consuming mercury that has not beensubjected to diferent processes would destroy the body or give rise to severediseases, such as leprosy.

The methods Bhvamira suggests for ridding mercury of its impurities arelaid out in Bhvapraka, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhipra-karaa 143204.General procedures for purication processes and the appa-ratuses used for them are described in the same chapter, in verses 2142,

following a section on the purication of gold.The rst procedure outlined by Bhvamira is pit cooking (puapka).

Pit cooking is meant to reduce metal to ash, so that it cannot transmute anyfurther. For this, a pit is dug and lled with dried cow pats. The sealed ves-sel (containing the mercury and other substances) is placed on top and cov-ered with an equal amount of cow pats which are then set on re. Dependingon how big the pit is, the procedure is called mahpua (great pit),gajapua

One should note that neither tin nor lead are considered poisonous substances on theirown (once they have been puried), but are listed as medicinal substances inBhvapraka,

Prvakhaa, Dhtvdivarga 2932 (tin) and348 (lead).

See Dole and Paranjpe 2004, p. 75, on the coatings or layers of impurities called kacuka.

Bhvapraka, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhiprakaraa165.



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(elephant pit),vrhapua(boar pit), kaukkuapua(cock pit) or kapoapua(dove pit).

Bhvamira further lists the following appliances:

1. Govarapua (pulverised cow dung pit, see Fig. 1): a big earthen pot is usedinstead of a dug-out pit. It is lled with shredded cow dung. A sealed con-tainer is placed on the cow dung and also covered by it.

Govarapua

2 Bhapua (pot pit, see Fig. 2): a big pot is lled with paddy husk. Thesealed container is placed on top and the pot is covered with a lid. A reis lit underneath.

Bhapua

3. Vlukyantra (sand apparatus, see Fig. 3): a sealed glass bottle contain-ing the mercury, etc. is placed in an earthen pot, which is then lled with

ne sand. The pot is placed on a re.

Bhvaprak, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhiprakaraa 219.

This sketch was prepared by Brigitta Gerke-Jork.

Ibid.


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A nineteenth-century version of the Vlukyantra

4. Dolyantra(see Fig. 4). A number of drugs and mercury are maceratedand made into a ball, which is enveloped in leaves and then fastened withstring. A pot is half lled with sour (fermented) liquid, and placed on anoven. The bolus is tied to a stick placed over the mouth of the pot. Theliquid is brought to the boil so that it will foment the drugs inside thebolus.

A nineteenth-century version of the Dolyantraor Dolikyantra

Ray 1903, p. 271.

Ibid., p. 273.


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5. Svedanayantra(see Fig. 5). Water is placed into a pot. The mouth of thepot is covered with a thick cloth. The drugs to be steamed are spread overthe cloth, which is then covered with a tight lid. The pot is kept on a re.

As the water boils, its steam cooks the drugs.

A nineteenth-century version of the Svedanayantra

6. Vidydharayantra (see Fig. 6). Mercury is macerated with other sub-stances and made into a paste. The paste is smeared onto the inside of apot. A second pot is placed over the rst and their joint is sealed withmud. The upper pot is lled with water, and both pots are set on a re for15 hours. After the pots have cooled down, mercury is found adhering tothe bottom of the top pot.

A nineteenth-century version of theVidydharayantra

Ibid.

Ibid., p. 279.


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7. Bhdharayantra (earth-bearing apparatus; see Fig. 7): mercury is macer-ated with other drugs and made into a paste, which is put into a crucible(ma). The sealed crucible is placed into a pit in the ground that is then

lled with sand. Heaps of cow dung are placed on top and set on re.When the pot has cooled down, the drugs are taken out and made use of.

Bhdharayantra

8. Damaruyantra (drum container; see Fig. 8): the mouths of two pots ofequal size are placed together and sealed with mud. The pots are addi-tionally fastened with ropes.

Damaruyantra

This sketch was prepared based on Chandra Murthy 2008, p. 86 (artist: Brigitta

Gerke-Jork).

Bhvaprak Prvakhaa Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhiprakaraa3042.

This sketch was prepared based on Sen Gupta 1999, p. 41, and Chandra Murthy 2008, p. 78

(artist: Brigitta Gerke-Jork).


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TheBhvaprakas section on the purication of mercury follows the rst vesteps mentioned as the standard saskrasin alchemical literature: rst 1. sve-dana (steaming), then 2. mardana (trituration), followed by 3. mrcchana

(thickening/solidifying), 4. rdhvaptana (upward distillation), and nally 5.adhaptana (downward distillation). Similar concepts of the nal threealchemical saskras, i.e. awakening (bodhana), taming (niymana), andkindling (dpana), are briey described in verses 1678, where Bhvamiraexplains how mixing mercury with certain substances turns mercury into aeunuch, i.e. makes it inactive; how steaming it with other drugs makes mer-cury strong again; and how boiling it with another substance returns its lustre.Below the vesaskrasare explained in more detail:

1. Svedana(steaming)Bhvamira gives two recipes for purifying mercury through subjecting it tosteaming (svedana). According to the rst, the husks of a variety of grains areremoved. The grains are then placed in a large mud pot and covered with water.The pot is covered with a lid and kept undisturbed until the liquid in it hasfermented. A number of plants are made into a paste and added to the sourliquid. The fermented liquid is known as dhnymla (sour grain gruel). Ifdhnymla is not available, one can also use ranla (fermented rice and bar-ley water). Bhvamira does not use the term dolyantrafor his apparatus, buthis description seems to match Fig. 4.

Additional plants and salt are mixed with some of the sour liquid and madeinto a paste. This paste is smeared onto a small piece of cloth. Mercury is placedon it and covered with some more paste. The cloth is folded into a bundle, fas-tened well with threads and then tied to a stick. The stick is placed over themouth of the pot so that the bolus containing mercury will be exposed to thesteam of the sour liquid, once it has been brought to the boil. The pot is kept on

a re for three days. In the second set of instructions, there is an alternativerecipe for the herbal and salt paste that contains fewer plants.

2. Mardaa(trituration)There are two recipes:In the rst, mercury is rubbed together with brick powder, slaked lime, curds,jaggery, rock salt, black mustard seeds, and chimney-soot. In the second, mer-cury is rubbed together with a decoction of kumrika, leadwort, black mustard

seeds, Solanum indicum(bhat), or else the three myrobalans (emblic, belliric,

Bhvapraka, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhiprakaraa14653.


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and chebulic myrobalans alias Emblica ocinalis, Terminalia bellerica, andTerminalia chebula) for three days continuously.

3. Mrcchaa(thickening)A decoction is made containing the three peppers, the three myrobalans, thetwo types of Solanum indicum, leadwort, sheeps wool, turmeric, alkaline ash,and the sap of aloe, blue madar, and ironwood (kanaka). Mercury is rubbedtogether with this decoction seven times. Bhvamira asserts that by thismethod, mercury is thickened and parts with its seven coverings.

4. rdhvaptana(upward distillation)

Pulverised mercury is mixed with blue vitriol and iron pyrites and prepared inavidhydharayantra (as described above, see Fig. 6).

5. Adhaptana(downward distillation)Mercury is mixed with the sap of a number of herbs and salt and made into apaste, which is smeared on the upper pot of a bhdharayantra (earth-bearingapparatus, see Fig. 7).

Mraa(Killing Mercury)

These procedures are followed in Bhvamiras text by the so-called killing(mraa), i.e. reducing to ash, of mercury. Five methods of turning mercuryinto ash are described, including recipes for producing rasakarpra(lit. mer-cury that is like camphor, a mixture of calomel and corrosive sublimate), andrasasindra(lit. mercury that is red, synthetic cinnabar), the most commonlyused forms of mercury in ayurvedic medicine. The other methods repeat those

from the rgadharasahitmore or less verbatim (with slightly diferentreadings).

SeeBhvapraka, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdivarga1578.

Bhvaprak, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhiprakaraa15960.

Bhvapraka (Bhv.),Prvakhaa (Prv.), Dhtvdiodhanaprakaraa (Dhp.) 16973

follow rgadharasahit(r.) 2.12.2934,Bhv., Prv., Dhp.1758 follow r. 2.12.35

8, Bhv., Prv., Dhp. 17980 follow r. 2.12.3840, Bhv., Prv., Dhp. 181 follows r.

2.12.412. Bhvamiras method for producing rasasindrais very similar to rgadharasbhasmanrecipe (2.12.2934), but uses only mercury and sulphur, leaving out alum and

ammonium chloride. There is no equivalent for rgadharas recipe in 2.12.259 in the

Bhvapraka, though one could understand it as a diferent method of preparing

rasasindra.


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Bhvamiras recipe for rasakarpraspecies that puried mercury shouldbe mixed with equal parts of red ochre, brick dust, chalk, alum, rock salt, earthfrom an ant-hill, sodium sulphate, and red earth (usually used for colouring

pots). The mixture is strained through cloth and placed in an earthen pot,which is covered with another pot, mouth to mouth. The pots are luted togetherwith clay and cloth, then placed on a re, and heated for four days. After theyare opened, the white camphor-like deposit in the upper pot is collected foruse. The section concludes with a summary of the medical uses of mercury,and its characteristics, basically a reiteration of what was said in the deni-tions given in the chapter on metals and minerals.

Mercury in theBhaiajyaratnval:Eighteenth to Nineteenth Century CE

The Bhaiajyaratnval by Govindadsa is the rst ayurvedic compendium todevote an entire chapter (chapter 97, pradavikracikitsprakaraa) to thesubject of mercury poisoning. The chapter includes a description of remediesagainst mercury poisoning. The main part of this treatise was written (or com-piled) in the eighteenth century, but substantial materials were probablyadded in the nineteenth century, and the chapter on mercury poisoning in alllikelihood belongs to the later additions.

There is also a section on the processing of mercury: chapter two(odhanamraaprakaraa), verses 113 describe the characteristics of mer-cury, its impurities, how to extract it from cinnabar, and how to purify it.Cinnabar is dealt with separately in verses 768, where its names, puricationmethod, and applications are described. Generally, the Bhaiajyaratnvalssection on the purication of mercury is much less elaborate than that of the

Bhvaprakaand the gadharasahit, though we also nd some addedinformation or diferent interpretations on some common subjects. An exam-ple of the latter case: Govindadsa lists eight kinds of imperfectionswhichhe does not categorise as innate or acquiredas lead (nga), tin (vaga),dirt (mala), re (vahni), unsteadiness (ccalya), poison (via), heaviness

See Bhvapraka, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdiodhanamraavidhiprakaraa 18290.

Recipes for making rasakarpra, or similar products, can be found in older alchemical

works, as for example in the Rasendracintmai (thirteenth to fourteenth century). SeeRay 1903, p. 251.

See Meulenbeld 19992002, IIA, p. 336, on the dating of theBhaiajyaratnval. According

to Meulenbeld, chapters two and four, and 76106 may have been added by Brahmaa-

kara Mira in the nineteenth century.


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(giri/guru), and the inability to withstand re (asahygni). The last item onthe list is a new addition to the faults already listed in the Bhvapraka.Presumably, asahygnirefers to the characteristic of mercury to change aggre-

gate if heated. Govindadsa advises that since these imperfections causeulcers, skin disease, insensibility, a burning sensation, loss of virility, death,apathy, and boilsan extended list to that of the Bhvaprakaphysiciansshould only use puried mercury. He notes that mercury that has not beenfreed of its impurities is a poison, but that puried mercury is a nectar thatcontrols death and fever.

The following verses describe the extraction of mercury from cinnabar.Cinnabar is ground into coarse grains, placed in an earthen vessel and

immersed in a lot of lemon juice and the juice of wood-sorrel (cger) forthree days. The mixture is distilled in a sealed vessel, the mercury collecting inthe top, which is kept cooler than the rest of the vessel by placing a pot of wateron it throughout the heating process. This procedure is similar to what isdescribed in the rgadharasahit(2.12.1617). Govindadsa also gives analternative and rather simpler recipe for purifying mercury, in which mercury(not cinnabar) is macerated with the juices of garlic, betel leaves, and the threemyrobalans and then washed with sour gruel (verses 1213). This is reminiscentof rgadharas recipe (2.12.57), where mercury is ground with various plantjuices, including those of garlic and the three myrobalans (but excluding betelleaves), and then washed with sour gruel. However, this is presented as oneamong several steps rather than as the main procedure. In verse 77, Govindadsafurther describes the maceration of cinnabar in lemon juice and goats urineand its subsequent steaming in a cradle-apparatus (dolikyantra, Fig. 4). Thechapter on mercury poisoning seems disproportionally more developed, butone should remember that it was probably added to the main compilation ofGovindadsa at a later time.

The list given in chapter 97 for symptoms of mercury poisoning reiteratesthose of Bhvamira, but adds many more: destruction of the bridge of thenose, catarrh, falling out of teeth, bulging of the eyes, spreading eruptions andspots on the skin, itching, severe headache, discoloration of the skin, sores inthe nose, etc., tender nodules and swelling in the scrotum, stifness, and trem-ors. Specically, damage to the gums (ulceration and pain) is described atsome length, as is the loosening of teeth and salivation, symptoms conspicu-

It seems a bit odd that death (mraa) is so casually included in this list of symptoms,and one could understand it to refer to virility (vrya) as well, i.e. loss or cessation of

virility, and possibly also substituting virility with semen, another meaning of vrya.

However, one would expect these words to be connected by an and, which they are not.

See verses 417.


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ously missing from the accounts of the authors mentioned earlier. Hereagain, poisoning is understood to be the result of contact with unpuried mer-cury, either through taking improperly prepared medicines, or through inhaling

mercury steam (stabpa). Both theBhvaprakaand theBhaiajyaratnvalprescribe fumigation therapy against a disease calledphiragaroga(possibly acorrelate of syphilis), in which pills made from a mixture of mercury, sulphur,and rice grains are burnt and their smoke directed at the afected body parts.The term used for fumigating, however, is to apply dhma(smoke) rather thanbpa(steam). The mention of mercury vapour may point to industrial con-texts, such as mercury mining and mercury processing factories. This is howKanjiv Lochan interprets this passage in his translation (which has a commen-

tarial character). However, we cannot be sure that the author of this section oftheBhaiajyaratnvalhad factories or mercury mining in mind. Mercury min-ing does not seem very likely, since there are no mercury mines in India (thoughthere are some in what today is Afghanistan). However, there were certainlymercury processing factories in India by the nineteenth and even the eigh-teenth century, so that the author could have easily had rst-hand experiencewith the results of industrial mercury processing.

Salivation (udgra) is mentioned as a symptom of mercury poisoning in the sixteenth-

century alchemical and iatrochemical work Rasaratnasamuccaya(2.132). Rice prepared

with sour milk and black sh (kamna) with cumin are prescribed as treatments.

SeeBhvapraka, madhyakhaa59, 1819 andBhaiajyaratnval97, 1819.

See White 1996, pp. 645, who seems to suggest that there were mercury processing facto-ries in India as early as the sixteenth century: [. . .] we know that the Indian port cities of

Surat (Gujarat), Murshidabad (Bengal), Calcutta, and Madras have long been centres for

the fabrication of synthetic cinnabar and calomel (mercurous chloride), using native

Indian minerals and imported mercury, since at least the sixteenth century AD. This

statement, however, seems to be at least partly based on conjecture. White refers to Watts

Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (V., p. 233) as his source, but Watt merely

notes that Ainslie states that it [cinnabar] was, in his time, an export from Surat to

Madras, and a recent communication states that it is still manufactured in that place to a

small extent and exported through Bombay to China. Ainslie (p. 542) indeed states thatcinnabar is an export from Surat to Madras, also from China and Batavia, but since he

was writing about his time, we can assume a rather later date for this (late eighteenth

century at the earliest). Neither Watt nor Ainslie mention mercury processing in the

named Indian cities.


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Treating Mercury Poisoning

One of the special features of theBhaiajyaratnval is that it describes a num-

ber of treatments against mercury poisoning; the main one among them isthe intake of puried sulphur with honey. The author also suggests makingdecoctions of mixtures of various herbs (including herbs that Bhvamira andrgadhara used for the purication of mercury), and further gives instruc-tions on diet and regimen (using particular ointments, taking cold baths, andother cooling treatments). He also recommends using medicines otherwiseemployed againstvtaoita(a diseased state of the humour wind and blood,today associated with gout or rheumatism), kuha(a group of skin diseases,

including leprosy) or upadaa (genital chancres). The prescriptions in theBhaiajyaratnvalare antedated by a number of earlier (mostly alchemical)works that also tackle the question of how to treat mercury poisoning.

The Rasrava, an alchemical text dating to about the twelfth century,suggests purging the poison of mercury (pradavia) from the body by drink-ing sour gruel, sodium carbonate, and bitter gourd juice together with cowsurine and rock salt; or to drink cows urine mixed with the root of the ve-leaved Chaste tree, the juice of the small bitter gourd, and sonchal salt. In the

Rasasaketakalik (composed by Cmua in 1474), the author prescribesdrinking citrus juice with dried ginger and rock salt, or the root of the smallbitter gourd mixed with cows urine against mercury sickness (rasasya vikti).The Rasaratnasamuccaya(an alchemical and iatrochemical treatise dated toabout the sixteenth century) lists various symptoms of mercury poisoning dis-played by the patient and prescribes simple remedies accordingly:

These are the means against mercury sickness: in the case of salivation,[eat] rice prepared with sour milk and black sh with cumin; in the case

of trembling caused by wind, massage with Nryana oil, etc; in the caseof apathy, pour cold water on the head; in the case of thirst, [drink] coco-nut water and green gram soup with brown sugar.

And the Vaidyavallabha, composed by the Jain author Hastiruci in about themiddle of the seventeenth century, recommends sulphur with milk for remov-ing the poison of mercury.

On the dating of theRasrava, see Meulenbeld 19992002, IIA, p. 684. Rasrava 18.1412.

On Cmuas works, see Meulenbeld 19992002, IIA, pp. 1636.

Rasaratnasamuccaya11.1325.

Vaidyavallabha8.8.


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In modern ayurvedic iatrochemistry (rasastra), mercury poisoning causedby mercury treatment still seems to be an issue. The authors Dole andParanjpe, both physicians of Ayurveda and rasastra, a medical discipline

of alchemy in itself note, for example, that treatment with rasakarpra canlead to severe reactions in the patient, such as vomiting, retrosternal burning,and abdominal pain. This is explained in terms of overdosing, rather than alack of proper processing. In contrast to the older texts, they consider calomela very toxic substance that has to be administered with great care. As an emer-gency measure in cases of adverse reactions, they recommend the administra-tion of egg white as an antidote, explaining that the albumen in the egg whitewould interact with the rasakarprato form a nontoxic substance that is insol-

uble in water.

Concluding Reections

To conclude this brief overview of the use of mercury in selected ayurvedicmedical texts, I would like to highlight and discuss some points.

First, mercury does not seem to have been a widely (if at all) used drug atthe time when the earliest medical compendia, the Carakasahit and theSurutasahit, were written. Even in later works, such as Vgbhaas treatises(the Agahdayasahit and the Agasagraha), the Siddhayoga byVa or the Cikitssagrahaby Cakrapidatta, its use was very limited.

Second, the use of mercury in medicine precedes techniques for processingmercury. The early formulations for mercury medicines seem to have con-tained unprocessed mercury (liquid quicksilver), or at least do not mentionprocessing methods such as calcination (though Cakrapidatta does mentionmacerating mercury with plant materials to purify it).

Third, an elaborately formulated system of processing mercury seems tohave emerged by the ninth century, if the dating of Ugrdityas Kalyakrakais correct. This little-studied work deserves closer attention, as it seems tobridge developments in both alchemy and medicine.

Fourth, it is only in the thirteenth century with the composition of thergadharasahit that processed mercury medicines become standardamong ayurvedic medicines. Since rgadharas treatise was deliberately keptconcise, it does not give comprehensive information on how (or why) mercury

Dole and Paranjpe 2004, p. 144.

In their very accessible Textbook of Rasashastra(2004), Dr Vilas Dole is presented as the

Head of Department of Rasashastra at the Tilak Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya in Pune, and

Dr Prakash Paranjpe as the Director of the Ayurveda Research Foundation at Pune.


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was processed for medical use. The sixteenth-century Bhvapraka givesmore detailed information which is also more clearly structured. It provides abrief introduction to the mythological origins of mercury, lists its characteristics

in ayurvedic terms (i.e. that mercury mitigates all humours, that it combines initself all tastes, and that it is unctuous), explains the reasons why it needs to beprocessed before it can be used as a medicine, and then lays out the proce-dures of mercury processing step by step. Bhvamira also gives fairly compre-hensive descriptions of appliances and methods employed in the puricationprocess and even explains to some extent the choice of plant materials used(i.e. which plant acts on which kind of impurity).

Both the rgadharasahit and the Bhvapraka heavily depend on

alchemical works, but it seems to me that there is a diference in their treat-ment of the subject that goes beyond the matter of giving less or more infor-mation. It is, for example, striking that all of rgadharas recipes for mercurymedicines contain both mercury and sulphur, while Bhvamira lists manyrecipes in which mercury is not combined with sulphur. This might be a signi-cant diference, as the combining of mercury and sulphur plays a central rolein alchemical practice. According to White, the merging of mercury with sul-phur in alchemical practice is a re-enactment of the sexual union of iva andakti. Mercury is understood to be the essence (the semen) of iva and sulphurthe menstrual blood of the goddess akti, which is at the same time her procre-ational uid. The union of iva and akti and the mingling of their procreativesubstances creates and sustains the universe. This makes mercury and sul-phur the two elements which are the most essential in alchemical practices,both for the enactment of the alchemical ritual, and for the end-result achievedby the ritual. The culmination of alchemical practice is the intake of the powersubstance created in the alchemical ritual, which is ultimately meant to renderthe alchemists body immortal while endowing him with insight into the high-

est reality. The alchemist becomes ajvanmukti, one who has found liberationin the body, and as such controls the universe.

This is unlikely to be the aim of the physician administering a mercury med-icine to a sick patient, but the question arises why the merging of mercury withsulphur remains the basis of each medicinal mercury formulation in thergadharasahit. Bhvamira still explicitly refers to mercury as the semenof iva and to sulphur as the menstrual blood of ivas spouse, Parvat.

White 1984, pp. 467.

White 1996, p. 194.

See White 1984, p. 57.

Bhvaprak, Prvakhaa, Dhtvdivarga87.



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However, the combination of mercury with sulphur, while still important, is nolonger central to his medicinal formulations, pointing to a shift away from thealchemical world-view. This might be an overinterpretation of a simple matter

of developments in drug formulation, the two treatises representing earlierand later stages of iatrochemistry. But in any case, a comparison of iatrochemi-cal elements and their development in both alchemical and medical literaturewould be a rewarding subject of research that could provide crucial insightinto the relation between Indian alchemy and medicine.

Finally, the concept of purication (odhana) deserves some discussion.Dole and Paranjpe comment on the confusion created by the translation ofpurication for odhana:

[A]ny student who has studied the basics of chemistry is bound to getconfused. [. . .] Metals and metallic compounds when they are heatedand dipped in various organic liquids, most of them of acidic nature,are bound to get converted into some other substance due to chemicalreaction. Similar are the cases where substances are roasted or liqueedand dipped into various liquids. It means almost every puricationmethod makes the substance impure, and still the procedure is calledpurication.

Dole and Paranjpe go on to explain that these purication procedures do notproduce what we might today understand to be a pure, unadulterated product,but rather create a product that can be absorbed by the body and will not harmit when it is absorbed. Negative or undesired characteristics of the substancesare counteracted, the innate toxicity of a substance is removed, or heavy sub-stances (which are thought to put too much strain on the organism) are madelight. At the same time, the positive or desired innate properties of the sub-

stance are enhanced by adding other substances with similar characteristics toit (e.g., in order to enhance the ability of mercury to absorb other metals intoan amalgam). Perhaps translating odhana as perfecting would be moreappropriate than purifying. The end product is then considered extremelypotent and completely safe. This is an important point, since the early modernwriters (up to the nineteenth century) only discuss the question of toxicity inmercury medicines in terms of them not having been properly processed andcleansed of their impurities or rid of their innate faults. Otherwise, mercury

preparations are depicted as the best of all remedies, truly perfect medicines.

Dole and Paranjpe 2004, p. 84.


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