Essay name: Alchemy in India and China
Author:
Vijaya Jayant Deshpande
Affiliation: Panjab University / Department of Chemistry
The thesis "Alchemy in India and China" explores the comparative aspects of alchemy in these two countries, focusing on chemical and protochemical formulations while addressing why modern science developed in the West rather than in India or China. It briefly touches upon internal alchemy in China and the ritualistic tantra in India.
Chapter 2 - Alchemy in India
2 (of 26)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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20 20
its compounds in medicinal recipes.
Buddhist literature
of the fifth/sixth century AD also gives recipes for
synthesizing medicines from substances of plant and
mineral origin which would give strength, long life
and immortality.
"
2 1
In the area of metallurgical alchemy, one finds
references to brass-making and making other kinds of gold-
like alloys in Kautilya's Arthasastra. (A text of the
second/third century B.C.) The name for brass was
膧rakuta. The same text tells us how to make alloys from
metals like gold, silver, lead, iron, copper, etc., of a
desirable colour. Use of mercury in making gold-coloured
amalgams was also known in Kautilya's time, as seen in the
following'
verse.
1 See "Long-Shu Wu-ming lun", i.e., N膩g膩rjuna's
Pa峁囜弓avidy膩 in Tripitaka in Chinese, edited by Takakusu, J.
and Watanabe, K., Tokyo, 1968, p. 962.
2 Kautiliya Artas膩stram - see the list of Primary
Sources, p. 91.
3.
Kautiliya Arthas膩stram
p. 96.
啶溹ぞ啶啶啶ㄠう啶�, 啶多ぞ啶む啷佮ぎ啷嵿き啶, 啶灌ぞ啶熰啶, 啶掂啶ㄠさ啶, 啶多啶傕啷� 啶多啶曕啶むた啶ㄠぎ啷�
啶溹ぞ啶ㄠぐ啷傕お啶, 啶班じ啶掂た啶оぎ啷� 啶嗋啶班啶︵啶оえ啶 啶� 啶膏啶掂ぐ啷嵿ぃ啶 啷�
[j膩mb奴nada峁�, 艣膩takumbham, h膩峁璦kam, vainavam, 艣峁涐箖g墨 艣uktinam
j膩nar奴pam, rasavidham 膩karoddhanam ca suvar峁嘺m |
] Jambunadam
Satakumbham
Gold from the sands of Jambu river.
Gold from the sands of Satakumbha
river.
