Rasaratna Samuchaya
Rasaratna Samuccaya ( Devanagari: रसरत्न समुच्चय) is an Indian Sanskrit treatise on alchemy. The text is dated between 13th[1] to 16th century CE.[2]
The text contains detailed descriptions of various complex metallurgical processes,[3][4] as well as descriptions of how to set up and equip a laboratory and other topics concerning Indian alchemy. It is a work that synthesises the writings and opinions of several earlier authors and presents a coherent account of medieval Indian alchemy.
Contents
[edit]Among the diverse scientific content of this text is:[5]
- Systematic approach to the Science. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 6/2)
- Philosophy of scientific explanation.
- Two kinds of mineral with zinc: calamine and Smithsonite. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 2-149)
- Color and nature of the mineral. ('Artha-sastra' '2 -30)
- Color of minerals with copper.
- Properties of some chemicals, such as calcium carbonate. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 3 / 130-131)
- Distillation of mercury. (Rasaratna Samucchaya 3/144)
- Explanation of the corrosion (Rasārṇava 7/97)
- The color of the flame (Rasārṇava 4/51)
- Three types of iron (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/69)
- Two kinds of tin (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5 / 153-154)
- The lead (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/170)
- The zinc metal (Rasataraṅgiṇi 19/95)
- The brass (Rasendra Cūḍāmaṇi14 / 154)
- The bronze (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/205)
- Conditions of a laboratory and the people who work within it.
References
[edit]- ^ White, David Gordon (1 January 1996). The alchemical body: Siddha traditions in medieval India. ISBN 9780226149349.
- ^ Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1 January 1999). A history of Indian medical literature. Groningen: E. Forsten. ISBN 9789069801247.
- ^ Indian Metallurgy
- ^ Biswas, Arun Kumar (June 1986). "Rasa-Ratna-Samüccaya and Mineral Processing State-of-Art in the 13th Century a.d. India" (PDF). Indian Journal of History of Science. 22 (1) (29–46, 1987). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
- ^ Ancient Indian Chemistry. Hindu culture (blog)
External links
[edit]- Indian Institute of Science and Heritage
- Introduction
- Printed edition in Sanskrit
- Electronic text based on the 1927 Calcutta printed edition, with extracts from the Bodhinī commentary, in the SARIT library.
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