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 4 - Extraction of essence of Bimala
First process.
The inner surface of a crucible is to be coated all over with bimala, previously rubbed well with tankana, decoction of lakucha, and ashes of mesha-shringi. The crucible is then to be dried, closed hermetically, and heated by means of six prasthas of charcoal, with the result that bimala discharges an essence resembling lead. Mercury, combined with this essence, becomes a preventer and curer of senility and physical decay.
Second process.
Bimala is to be mixed with kankshi (saurashtra-mrittika), kasisa, tankana, wild shurana, kshara of mokshaka tree, and subjected to bhavana with juices of shigru and banana plant. It is then to be put inside a blind crucible and heated with the result that the bimala will discharge an essence resembling a mixed metal containing sixteen parts of silver and twelve parts of copper.
Conclusion:
This concludes ‘Extraction of essence of Bimala’ 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.