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 6 - Transmission of Alchemical and Chemical ideas (Part 2)
26 (of 48)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
156 3
. It could dissolve herbs, wood, gold, iron
and even human flesh.
4.
It was prepared in mountains, in stone
vessels and stored in the hollow portion of a bitter
gourd.
5. It was used for the preparation of an elixir
for prolonging life, since the Indian scholar mentioned
this water when he was asked to make such drugs.
From the above description Needham concludes
"Ban Cha zhuo shui" to be a mineral acid and considers
the above passage to be one of the earliest passages on
mineral acids.
Needham conjectures "Ban cha zhuo shui"22
i.e.,
"Ban cha zhuo" water (since shui is the word for water in
Chinese) as the transliteration of Panjab water. Thus he
is suggesting the word "Pan?a" means five in Sanskrit
(Panca + ap
=
Panjab).
However, in this context the word
"Pan?a Vi?a" seems to be more appropriate, since the
water mentioned in the Chinese text was characterised as
the one which was able to destroy or dissolve almost all
matter and matter was supposed to be made up of different
combinations of the five elements.
22 畤茶佉水
