Rasa shastra

In Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medical lore of Hinduism, rasa shastra is a process by which various metals, Minerals and other substances, including mercury, are purified and combined with herbs in an attempt to treat illnesses. Its methods correspond to the alchemy familiar in the Mediterranean and Western European worlds. Rasashastra is a pharmaceutical branch of Indian system of medicine which mainly deals with the metals, minerals, animal origin product, toxic herbs and their use in therapeutics. In Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional medical lore of Hinduism, rasa shastra is a process by which various metals, Minerals and other substances, including mercury, are purified and combined with herbs in an attempt to treat illnesses. Its methods correspond to the alchemy familiar in the Mediterranean and Western European worlds. Rasashastra is a pharmaceutical branch of Indian system of medicine which mainly deals with the metals, minerals, animal origin product, toxic herbs and their use in therapeutics. The credit of developing Rasa Shastara as a stream of classical Ayurveda, especially in fulfilling its healthcare-related goals, goes to Nāgārjuna (5the Century CE). It was composed by Nāgārjuna Siddha in the Sanskrit language. P. C. Rây considered this work (which he erroneously called Rasaratnākara) to be amongst the earliest surviving alchemical works, perhaps from as early as the 7th or 8th century. Rasendramangala originally comprised eight chapters, only four of which are found in the manuscripts available today. Manuscripts of the work are found at Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar, at Rajasthan Prachya Vidya Pratishthan, Govt. office Bikaner and elsewhere. An edition and translation was published in 2003. It was created by Shrimad Govind Bhagvatapad, guru of Shankaracharya, around the 7th century. It contains elaborate description of dhatuvada ( metallurgical processes to transform mercury into higher metals as gold or silver). A Sanskrit commentary on this text was contributed by Shri Chaturbhuj Mishra under the name of Mugdhavabodhini. Edited and published in 1908–1910.