Ancient Indian Chemistry

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Ancient Indian Chemistry

Dr. Iragavarapu Suryanarayana

Chief Scientist(Retired) , ,IICT, Plot

No.177, Road No. 74 , Hyderabad-7

Dept. of Sanskrit, University ofHyderabad , Hyderabad; 22.08.2013


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Chemistry known as Rasayana sastra or Rasa Sastra or RasaVada or Rasa Prakriya in Sanskrit , the Language of AncientIndians used. This is evident from the literary works and

archeological excavations of our nation , the India.

Chemistry is the study of elements present in the Universe which involves, the nature of the elements, their occurrence, their physical and chemical properties, their compounds ,their reactivity , their uses and their applications.

Evolution of knowledge with time by different nations ,different civilizations can be discussed based on theevidences and literature available only.

The word chemie was derived from Khem a synonymfor Egypt , because the west believed that all theknowledge came from Egypt .


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The basic principles of Chemistry emanated orrevealed through the great works of our ancientrishis can be attributed to three major areas

1. Intellectual thinking about the nature

2. Development of Professional skills forlivelihood

3. Welfare measures like health Care ofthe Society


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Vaiseshika Darsana of Kanada propoundedthe concept of atom and its indivisibility

and the law of cause and effect

Gautama , the propounder of Nyaya theory and schoolaccepted the Vaiseshika doctrine thus came to knowas Nyaya-vaiseshika school of thought.

Number of commentaries and treatises were written onVaiseshika Thought. The most important ones areVatsayana ‘s commentary on Nyaya , Prasastapada’ sPadartha dharma Samgraha, Sankara Mishra’ s Upaskara , Udayana ’s Kiranavali and Kanada Rahasya

And Jayanarayana ‘s Vaiseshika Sutravritti .


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The basic principles of Science emanated orrevealed through the great works of our ancientrishis can be attributed to three major areas

1. Intellectual thinking about the nature


3. Welfare measures like health Care ofthe Society


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This first sutra says the substances like Ghee, Lac andBeeswax will become liquids with the addition of heat .

The second sutra says that Gold, silver, copper, tin, andlead also gets converted into liquids when they aresubjected to heat and it is common.

The first and second sutras differentiates the high and lowmelting materials and mentions the phase changes andthe differentiation of materials by their nature. The phasechanges indicates the laws of thermodynamics. In modernphysical chemistry books what we find

Au (Solid ) + ∆ H → Au (liquid)is clearly stated in sanskrit.


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Weaving

Agriculture

Artisans

Biofertilizers

Natural dyes and fixers

Different metallicutilities

Housing Building materials



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This text of Yajurveda clearly states that

Gold, silver, Copper, Tin, Lead and Ironwere known to the vedic people. Thesematerials were of use in society .

Agriculture , use of plant products and theirgrowth necessitated the use of thesemetals. Lot of natural principles presentlywe call them as chemistry principles wereadopted by vedic people. This is veryclearly reflected in Mahabharata and Arthasastra of Kautilya.


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Chandogya Upanishad recognized that metalshave intrinsic properties irrespective of the shapesthat these may assume 6.1.5 & 6. It also stipulatedthat one can join gold with the help of borax, leadwith the help of tin etc, 4.17.7

4.17.7

6.1.5.


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Mahabharata( Sabha Parva 52,2-4) mentions PipilikaGold which is a superior quality Gold obtained fromthe ant hills or termite mounds. Ants dig the earthand makes hills. In these hills gold is brought asparticles and deposited in heaps. The kings of thearea between Meru and Mandarachala hills mainlythe tribal kings presented to Yudhishtira, Dronas ofthis pipilika gold saying that it is a very special Gold.Drona is a measure in those days equivalent to a

kuncham or Tavva used earlier. This Pipilika Gold isequivalent to the present day nano-gold which hasenormous applications in chemistry as well asindustry and in Society.


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,

:

2 – 52 – 2 – 4.


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Kautilya's Artha shastra is a treasure of theknowledge discussing about the mines,metals, precious articles like gems, rubys,pearls etc.,. A detailed description of themines , factories that deals elaborately withthe occurrence, nature and purificationmethods have been discussed in detail. It isstated that in all ores, heaviness of the ore is

indication of the metal content, which can bestated in modern chemistry principles thegreater the density of the ore , greater is the

metal content'.


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They have also characterized the ore basedon the colour to which metal it belongs. Forexample the ore from rocks or a region ofthe earth, which is heavy unctuous and softtawny , greenish, reddish or red is copper

ore. Crow black or of the colour of dove oryellow pigment studded with white linessmelling like raw flesh is lead ore. Grey like

saline earth or of a baked lump of the earthis iron ore.


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The director of mines known asKhanijadhyaksha was expected to be anexpert in the science of metallic veins,exploration of ores, metallurgy andcolouring of the Gems.

Among the duties of theKhanijadhyaksha was that he shouldestablish factories for copper, lead, tin,

vaikranta, brass, steel, bronze, bellmetal and iron and establish trade inmetal ware.


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Artha sastra also describes the qualities ofGold and silver.

Gold which is of the colour of lotus filament ,soft, lustrous and not producing any type ofsound is stated to be the best .The reddish yellow coloured metal is of medium quality and the red coloured one is the lowest quality.This indicates that the colour is taken as ameasure of the purity or quality . As the redcolour increases, the copper content increasing.Similarly Gold contaminated with lead givesbrittleness to the metal and this material was

used to mould on wooden anvils.


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Similarly silver was also characterized by its colour of

white with smooth and soft property is the best silvermetal. The impure one is purified using lead by meltingand separation.The khanitras or artisans of that time not only skilled inkshepana (setting), Guna (properties) and making solidor hollow articles of Gold and silver , but also mixing themetals in the molten state of correct proportions.

As regards minting the text says that silver coins shouldbe made of four parts of copper, eleven parts of silver

and one part of iron, tin or lead. Copper coins should bemade of four parts of silver, eleven parts of copper andone part of iron or any other metal


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3. Welfare of the society especially health care.

Intellectuals of the society tried to identify anduse different plants and other materials asmedicines for curing diseases and for longevity ,

of the society which they called as Rasayana .The word Rasayana has been used as asynonym for chemistry in Sanskrit and other

Indian languages.


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The medicinal treatise Charaka Samhita discussed 150types of diseases with further subdivisions, 341

medicinal plants , 177 medicinal substances of animalorigin , and 64 medicinal substances from Mineralorigin. He also further categorized 102 types ofpathological conditions and congenital defects, 109anatomic and 42 physiological terms and 33 varietiesof bones . He also differentiated the cereals andlegumes , natural waters, sugar cane derivatives, typesof Honey, different milks and milk products , differentvegetable oils, and alcoholic beverages. Thisclassification was mostly based on the physicalcharacteristics and their utilities .


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Susruta (7) the great surgical specialist of that time,developed number of instruments for operationsof the body and made very significantcontributions for the modern anatomy of thehuman body. The contributions of Susruta areeven today practiced and he is called as the fatherof surgery. During his time many fermentationproducts were developed for giving patients during

operations, which act as modern anaesthesiadrugs. He has designed number of surgical devicesand equipments which are of use even today .


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Professor Prafulla Chandra Ray of Calcutta,Father of Indian Chemistry, who has spent his life for

establishing chemistry and chemical industries inIndia . Not only he established chemistry in India, hehas written an authoritative book entitled " TheHindu chemistry “ . It gives the contributions of our

ancient people to the chemistry and published theEnglish translations of the great books on RasaSastra with Sanskrit texts with commentary sothat the whole world can know the contributions ofchemistry by Ancient Indians as annexures in 1919 .He has translated the following books into Englishand also tried to explain in terms of ModernChemistry .


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Name of the Book Author Rasa Ratnakara, Nagarjuna Rasendra Mangalam, " Rasarnava, " Kakachandeswara Mata, " Rasendrachudamani, Somadeva Rasahridaya, Govinda Bikshu Rasa prakasa sudhakara, Yasodhara Siddha Yoga Vrinda Chakradutta Chakrapani Dutta

Rasaratna Samucchaya, VagbhataRasa Chintamani, Madanantha DevaRasa ratnakara NityanathaRasa Rajalakshmi Vishnu DevaRasa nakshatramalika, Madana SimhaDhatu Ratnamala Unknown

Rasa Pradipa "Rasa Kalpa, Dhatukriya or Dhatumanjari of Rudrayamala Kalpa ,

"

Suvarnatantram. "Sarveswara Rasayana, Buddhist TantraDhatuvada,

Rasayanasastroddrti

"


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Understanding and pursuing the ideasmentioned in Rasa sastra books in conjunctionwith modern technological advances mayyield greater scientific knowledge devoid of theill effects of modern knowledge that is

disturbing the nature by undesirable effectslike atmospheric pollution which includeswater pollution, air pollution, ozone depletion,Green house effect , unusual climaticdisturbances and challenges, villagedestabilization, agricultural disasters andhuman value degradation.


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Modern chemistry research can utilize the ancientprinciples of Yantras, Medicinal plants , Metallics ,

their combinations, and their formulationsmentioned in Rasendra Mangalam and Rasarnava ofNagarjuna , Ashtanga Hridayam, RasaratnaSamucchayam of Vagbhata, Chakradatta ofChakrapani, Ananda Kanda of Manthana Bhairava,Rasa Ratnakaram of Nityanatha, RasendraChudamani of Soma Deva, Rasa Hridaya Tantra ofGovinda Bikshu, Rasa Prakasa Sudhakara of Yasodhara, Madhava Nidana of Madhavakar, SarangadharaSamhita of Sarangadhara Mishra , BhavaPrakasa ofBhava Mishra and Basavarajeeyam of Basavaraju .


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These Yantras have contributed very much duringalchemy period in metallic chemistry and alsounderstanding the nature of impurities in metals,minerals and liquids used as perfumes , in beverages .These yantras are also used to make ksharas , thealkalis of modern chemistry, Dyes from Plant sources.

Banaras Hindu University Metallurgical engineering andRasa Sastra departments in collaboration extensivelyworked on these processing methods with moderntechniques and gave the physicochemical and micro-structural changes occurring so as to evaluate thetechnology of the ancient process of Metallic Bhasmas ofcopper, iron, zinc and Lead . They also discussed the

heating ranges of different putas using modern methods


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Time – Temperature curves for different puta furnaces fired on cow dung cakes


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Heating ranges for the kupipaka furnaces


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S.No

Text name Maha

Gaja Varaha

Kukkuta

Kapota

Lavaka Laghu

Kumbha

Gorvara

Bhanda Bhudhara

valuka surya

1 Aananda kanda - - - - - - - - + - + + -

2 Ayurveda Prakasa + + _ _ _ _ + _ + - + + +

3 Rasa Kama dhenu + + + + + + - + + + + + +

4 RasaChintamani + + + + + + - - + + + + -

5 Rasa Jalanidhi + + + - - + - - + + + + +

6 Rasa Tarangini + + + + + + + + + + + + +

7 Rasa PrakasaSudhakara

+ + + + - - + - + + - - +

8 Rasa Ratnasamuchaya

+ + + + - - + + + + + - +

9 Rasarnava - + - - - - - + - + - - +10 Rasendra

Chintamani+ + + + - + + + + + - - +

11 Rasendrasarasangraha

- + + + - + - + + - - - -

Different putas mentioned in different rasa sastra texts


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S.No.

Type of Furnace Size in mm Numberof cow-dungcakes

Approx.weightin kgs.

temp. ranges&sustainabilitytime

1 Mahaputa 11250 x

111250x11250

2000 45 Up to 700 o C

240 min. 2 Gajaputa 5625x5625x5625 1000 22 Up to 700 o C

280 min. 3 Varahaputa 800 18 Up to 700 o C

130 min

4 Ardhagajaputa 2812x2812x2812 500 11 5 Kukutputa 32-40 4

6 Kapotaputa 8 1 Up to 650 o C 100 min.

Classification of puta furnaces using dried cow dung cakes as fuel


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Another interesting work done by Dr. Sushant Sud under theguidance of Dr.P.Sekhar Reddy is worth mentioning. They haveworked on Haratala, The Arsenic Sulfide and its physiological

activities. They have prepared Rasa Manikya, The Haratala usingthree different methods and they found both by physical , chemicaland analytical methods and concluded that the Rasa Manikytaprepared by traditional methods did not show any toxic effectswhere as the one with electric bulb method had the toxic effects.

Therefore one has to pursue the reasons for the toxicity andcomparison of traditional methods and the utility of modern gadgetsin the preparation. Modern gadgets may ease the method ofpreparation but its efficacy may not be able to eliminate the toxiceffects. Similar results are also obtained by Prof. Nagaraja, whenhe subjected the metallic substance nagabhasma as drug molecule.He has found that even after 55 putas the complete conversion oflead into bhasma was not complete. Only when it completed the 60putas only, the desired medicine could be produced.


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Medicinal Plants : An exhaustive research work was doneon chemistry of Medicinal Plants and the Natural productsand a compendium of volumes of natural productschemistry are available. Prof. Atta – Ur- Rahman ofPakistan who has contributed significantly in naturalproducts chemistry published a series of volumes on the

chemistry of natural products. Prof. Asima Chatterjee andDr. SC Pakrashi of Calcutta produced 6 volumes ofChemistry of Medicinal Plants of India, wherein more than500 Medicinal plants of India were discussed. In these

volumes, they presented the Sanskrit slokas referred in ourancient books like Charak Samhita , Susruta Samhita etc.,their chemical constituents and therapeutic uses ofdifferent parts and their established chemical structures.


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Correlation studies of the medicinal plantsused for curing diseases mentioned in theancient books with the chemical constituentswhich are used as generic drugs may throwlight on the design of medicines significantly.In this direction, number of researchers areworking for different diseases like Cancer,

Obesity , Cardiovascular etc.,.


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Studies on Cancer : An excellent review on cancer – an ayurvedicperspective was published by PremalathaBalachandran and R. Govindarajan (15) fromUniversity of Mississipi, USA , wherein they

mentioned that science of Ayurveda is supposedto add a step on to the curative aspects ofcancers that have resemblance with clinicalentities of arbuda and granth i mentioned in

ancient texts. They have reviewed the pathologyand therapeutic management of various cancersdescribed in Ayurveda.


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The detailed experimental and clinical studies conductedon single and compound ayurvedic preparations for their

anticancer efficacy strongly emphasize ayurvedic therapyas a scientifically driven one and not unconventional one.They further mentioned that Ayurvedic herbs used incancer therapy results not only in total healing but alsoreduces the side effects and cancer associatedcomplications . The anorexia or weight loss could beeffectively managed by Withania Somnifera, VitisVinifera, Plumbigo Zeylenica, Tinospora Cordifolia,Zingiber officinale, Coptidis Rhizoma etc.,. Theseherbs might stimulate the flow of digestive juices, therebyimproving digestion and increasing the appetite. Theyhave studied about 25 plant species with therapeuticdosages etc.,.


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Another worth mentioning paper on Cancer is ofDr.B.B.Aggarwal et.al whose title is “From traditional Ayurvedic medicine to modern medicine: identificationof therapeutic targets for suppression of inflammationand cancer. From The University of Texas, MD

Anderson Cancer centre, Cytokine researcvhlaboratory, Department of Experimental Therapeutics,Texas, USA. Which was published in the journal“Expert Opinion . Therapeutic targets , 2006(10), 87 -

118


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Molecular Targets of Ayurvedic Plants


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Ancient Indian Chemistry