Atharvaveda and Charaka Samhita
by Laxmi Maji | 2021 | 143,541 words
This page relates ‘Rasaratnakara (Ayurveda book)’ found in the study on diseases and remedies found in the Atharvaveda and Charaka-samhita. These texts deal with Ayurveda—the ancient Indian Science of life—which lays down the principles for keeping a sound health involving the use of herbs, roots and leaves. The Atharvaveda refers to one of the four Vedas (ancient Sanskrit texts encompassing all kinds of knowledge and science) containing many details on Ayurveda, which is here taken up for study.
Rasaratnākara (Āyurveda book)
Rasaratnākara—The oldest book on chemistry, Nāgārjuna's Rasaratnākara, was written in the seventh and eighth centuries AD. Chemistry or scripture was included are the treatment of various diseases like mercury and other metals such as oxidation, refining, mixing, etc., extraction of arka or ārakas, alkali and acidification, analysis of the quality of herbs, etc., included various processes in chemistry. Nāgārjuna proves that mercury becomes more volatile as it consumes one metal after another. Mercury can cure many incurable diseases.
In Indian medicine, he is called the pioneer of chemistry and the father of mercury. He was the first to introduce Kajjalī, a black sulphide compound of mercury, as medicine. Apart from mercury in medicine, there is talk of using one or two other metals and Rasaratnākara.
Nāgārjuna will be remembered for curing various diseases by applying for herbal medicine in combination with different metals such as Sulphur, amber, copper, conch, diamond, gold, lead etc. instead of arms[1].