Rasa and Rasaśāstra

by

Patricia Sauthoff

• LAST REVIEWED: 21 March 2024
• LAST MODIFIED: 24 October 2024
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0046

Introduction

Rasaśāstra (instructions on mercury) is a body of literature written by alchemists for alchemists in the Sanskrit literary tradition. The classical alchemical scriptures date from no earlier than the tenth century CE; however, the early-7th-century works Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā and Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha prescribe medicinal pastes containing unprocessed mercury and the 9th-century Jain Kalyāṇakara makes mention of purifying and calcining mercury for medicine. In about the eighth century CE, the term rasa-rasāyana (mercurial rejuvenation) first appeared in Buddhist and Hindu tantric texts in reference to the supernatural power (siddhi) of obtaining a magical elixir. The birth of Indian alchemy, as an idea at least, may be traced back to these early medieval sources. This “magical” use of alchemical reagents persisted well into the medieval period in works of tantric practice (see Alchemical Folklore). The earliest systematic alchemical texts, which date from the tenth century, introduced the dual goal of all Indian alchemy: the transmutation of base metals into gold (lohasiddhi) and the perfection of the body to attain immortality (dehasiddhi). The classic Indian alchemical texts were written in the period from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. These were, for the most part, tantric works inasmuch as their stated goal of achieving an immortal, invulnerable body possessed of supernatural powers aligned with many of the goals of tantric practice and used initiations, deity worship, and mantras in their instructions. As such, the tenth to the thirteenth centuries was the period of “tantric alchemy.” From the thirteenth century forward, mercurial, mineral, and plant preparations came to be increasingly applied to various sorts of medical therapies, many of which complemented the older ayurvedic rasāyana (rejuvenation) treatments. Textual production of rasaśāstra texts continued until the seventeenth century, and they began again in earnest in the early twentieth century with a renewed interest in the sciences and the creation of edited editions based on earlier manuscripts as well as original works. Another offshoot of tantric alchemy was siddha alchemy. In a number of alchemical works, legendary figures called Rasa-Siddhas were evoked as the founders of alchemical lineages and traditions. These were part of a broader medieval religious current, which saw the emergence of several groups self-identifying as siddhas, perfected beings possessed of siddhis. A rich mythology of the siddhas emerged in this period, which portrayed these legendary supermen as combining alchemy with the practice of yoga and tantric techniques. These groups were responsible for internalizing much of laboratory alchemy into yogic practice.

General Overviews

There are two overarching approaches to the study of Indian alchemy. That adopted by nearly all Indian authors views Indian alchemy as a pre-chemistry, many of whose principles remain applicable to modern-day ayurvedic therapies. The prototype for the Indian history of chemistry approach is Ray 1902–1909. Indian works that build on Ray 1902–1909 are Misra 1981 (in Hindi) and Himasagara 2008 (in English). Subbarayappa 1971 provides a vast overview of the sciences in general with a comparative element within the alchemy subsection. The approach adopted by Western authors writing on the subject explores Indian alchemy from literary, historical, or religious studies perspectives. Meulenbeld 2000 is by far the most comprehensive source on the history of Indian alchemical literature, both published and in manuscript form. White 1996 and White 2005 are more analytical, linking Indian alchemy to the broader contexts of Indic religion, culture, and science. Wujastyk 2013 provides an overview of mercury in Sanskrit medical literature. Mahdihassan 1979 is a highly cultivated work. Most of the works by Indian authors are inaccessible in Western libraries, though several can be found in the collections of the Internet Archive; Meulenbeld 2000 and White 2005 are available through university research libraries. White 1996 is widely available.

• Himasagara, Chandra Murthy. Rasaśāstra, the Mercurial System. Varanasi, India: Chaukhamba Krishnadas Academy, 2008.

  Written as a textbook for university examinations in rasaśāstra (applied alchemy), this is the most complete and systematic English-language survey of Indian alchemy from an applied scientific perspective.

• Mahdihassan, S. Indian Alchemy or Rasayana in the Light of Asceticism Geriatrics. New Delhi: Vikas, 1979.

  Collection of short, idiosyncratic essays by a chemist on the historical and scientific parameters of Indian alchemy, the relationship between Indian and Chinese alchemy, and alchemical mythology and symbolism.

• Meulenbeld, G. Jan. A History of Indian Medical Literature. Vol. 2. Groningen Oriental Studies 15. Groningen, The Netherlands: Egbert Forsten, 2000.

  Volumes 2A, Part 10, and 2B, Part 10, of this five-volume work comprise the most exhaustive descriptive and bibliographical survey of the Indian alchemical literature, with contents, manuscripts, and published editions of every alchemical work meticulously detailed. Accessible through university research libraries.

• Misra, Siddhinandan. Āyurvedīya Rasaśāstra. Varanasi, India: Caukambha Orientalia, 1981.

  Written as a textbook for university examinations in rasaśāstra, this is the most complete and systematic Hindi-language survey of Indian alchemy from an applied scientific perspective.

• Ray, Prafulla Chandra. A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the 16th century A.D. 2 vols. Calcutta: Prithwis Chandra Ray, 1902–1909.

  Pioneering work on the history and scientific validity of the Indian alchemical tradition. Contains short English translations of excerpted passages from classic pioneering alchemical works, and longer edited Sanskrit passages from the same. A facsimile edition was published in Kolkata by Somnath Bal in 2002.

• Ray, Priyadaranjan, ed. History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry, by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray. Calcutta: Indian Chemical Society, 1956.

  Revised edition of Ray 1902–1909, in one volume. Contains an additional and important essay by Brajendranath Seal on “chemical” theorizations of the five elements in the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school of metaphysics (c. second century BCE to fifth century CE).

• Subbarayappa, B. V. “Chemical Practices and Alchemy.” In A Concise History of Science in India. Edited by D. M. Bose, S. N. Sen, and B. V. Subarayappa, 309–337. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy, 1971.

  The subsection “Alchemy” in the “Chemical Practices and Alchemy” chapter gives an overview of ancient and medieval alchemy in China, Egypt, India, Arabia, and western Europe, before moving onto the characteristics of Indian alchemy, Indian alchemical literature, rejuvenation, and postulates the possible origins and influences of Indian alchemy. Gives detailed descriptions of the characteristics and purification of mercury as well as plants and apparatuses used in alchemical operations.

• White, David Gordon. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

  DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226149349.001.0001

  Exhaustive study of Indian alchemy as one of India’s many medieval siddha traditions. Hypothesizes that many of the concepts and much of the terminology of hatha yoga is a transposition onto the human body of the substances, structures, concepts, and processes of Indian alchemy. Contains an exhaustive compendium of siddha mythology and alchemical lore. Readily available and useful as an undergraduate introduction to the field.

• White, David Gordon. “Alchemy: Indian Alchemy.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 1. Rev. 2d ed. Edited by Lindsay Jones, 241–244. Detroit: Macmillan Reference, 2005.

  Highly condensed version of White 1996 . Readily available and useful as an undergraduate introduction to the field.

• Wujastyk, Dagmar. “Perfect Medicine: Mercury in Sanskrit Medical Literature.” Asian Medicine 8.1 (2013): 15–40.

  DOI: 10.1163/15734218-12341278

  Providing an overview of the uses of mercury in Sanskrit medical sources, the article claims that mercury was used in the first and third century of the common era, and demonstrates that unprocessed mercury first occurs definitively in the seventh century CE. It examines in depth the methods for processing mercury and their development from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Includes illustrations of several types of ovens described in primary source materials.