Rasa Jala Nidhi, vol 2: Minerals (uparasa)
by Bhudeb Mookerjee | 1938 | 28,803 words | ISBN-10: 8170305829 | ISBN-13: 9788170305828
This second volume of the Rasa-jala-nidhi deals with the purification, incineration and medicinal uses of various minerals (uparasa), as well as preventing faults due to misuse. It is continued in the third volume which deals with the various metals. The Rasa-jala-nidhi (“the ocean of Iatrochemistry, or, chemical medicine) is a compendium of Sansk...
Part 1 - Characteristics of Kankustha (an ore containing tin)
It is produced at the foot of the Himalayas and is of three different kinds, viz. (1) nalika, (2) white, and (3) renuka, The first is yellow-coloured, heavy, soothing, and the best of all varieties. The second, i. e. the white one is inferior to the first, and has very little essence in it. The third variety, viz. renuka, is blackish yellow, light, devoid of essence, and is not suitable for medicinal purposes. Kankustha is an ore containing tin.
Kankustha is bitter, pungent, producer of hot effect on the system, and highly purgative. It is efficacious in carbuncle, udavarta, colic, gulma, enlargement of the spleen, piles, and fistula. It cures rheumatism and causes purgation very quickly. It also effects a quick cure of an exceptionally enlarged spleen and of dropsy.
Conclusion:
This concludes ‘Characteristics of Kankustha (an ore containing tin)’ included in Bhudeb Mookerjee Rasa Jala Nidhi, vol 2: Initiation, Mercury and Laboratory. The text includes treatments, recipes and remedies and is categorised as Rasa Shastra: an important branch of Ayurveda that specialises in medicinal/ herbal chemistry, alchemy and mineralogy, for the purpose of prolonging and preserving life.