Minerals and Metals
Source: Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution. Robert E. Svoboda. 1988.
Minerals and Metals
Minerals have been probably been used in Ayurveda since its beginning, but their prominence expanded dramatically when Tantra began its researches into alchemy. Every mineral, like every herb, has its own Taste-personality. Gold, for example, is Sweet, silver is Sour, copper Pungent, and iron Astringent. Gold is an ideal medicine for Vata because it is Hot as well as Sweet. Silver is a good remedy for Pitta because like amalaki it is Cold as well as Sour; while its Sourness increases the digestive fire, its Cold prevents Pitta from increas ing. Copper controls Kapha, being both Hot and Pungent, and scrapes ama and Kapha from the body. Iron, which nourishes Blood, prevents Blood from becoming too Hot or too fluid with its Astringency.
Gold is spoken of alchemically as solidified sunrays, for its effects on living organisms are like those of the sun. Wearing gold purifies all energy entering the body, improves the skin and the body's overall beauty, and strengthens the joints and the being's overall energy. Gold is a general antidote for all types of poison, including ama. Gold also controls Vata and helps eliminate ama from the system. The gold salts used in modern medicine to treat arthritis cause sideeffects because they are soluble. They dissolve into reactive ions that are too intense to be safely utilized by the system.
Ayurvedic metals and minerals, including gold, are prepared in a very different way. First they are thoroughly purified, to remove any poisonous pollutants. Then pastes of medicinal herbs are applied to them and they are incinerated. Some scientists believe that the herbs form chelates with the minerals; others have different theories. What is certain is that after the incineration most of these minerals, except gold and probably silver, become oxides or sulfides.
Most metal oxides and sulfides are quite insoluble in water and so do not break up into reactive ions when they enter the body. Though they remain chemically unreactive within the body they seem to exert a catalytic effect on metabolic processes. Gold, and silver to a great extent, apparently remain unre- acted, but the incineration reduces them into particles of colloidial size or smaller which remain chemically inert. Other metals are converted into oxides or sulfides to eliminate their reactivity; gold, which is practically non-reactive anyway, needs only to be finely divided.
More incinerations means smaller particle size. When the particles become sufficiently small, at least small enough to fill the lines on the fingertips, they can circulate in the system and exert their effects much longer than can ordinary medicines. This is one of the reasons that minerals are useful for rejuvenation therapy. Another reason: Bhasmas (incinerated metals and minerals) become more potent with age as their particles naturally become smaller and smaller, whereas herbs lose their potency after a year or two. 100-year-old bhasmas are highly prized in India.
The dose of a bhasma is commonly a small heap of powder the size of a grain of rice. The Taste of the bhasma is intense, but usually less unpleasant than that of some of Ayurveda's intensely bitter herbal products. Bhasmas also act more quickly than herbs, and their effects tend to last longer. For quick results a bhasma is made into a paste with honey, butter or ghee and the paste is then placed under the tongue. A bhasma's first effect comes from the transmission of its Taste into the brain; its second effect, which it delivers almost as quickly as its first, involves the release of Prana into the bloodstream, carried by a subtle, potentiated form of oxygen created during the process of incineration. The third effect, the one due to the mineral itself, occurs as the particles of the bhasma circulate throughout the body.
Each physician traditionally prepared his or her own medicines, but with cul tural modernization many physicians have elected to rely on Ayurvedic pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide them with medicaments. As Ayurvedic medicines become more available outside India the question of their quality will become more and more acute. "Know your dealer" is an important watchword even today for those who would purchase Ayurvedic medicines in India. Many Ayurvedic pharmacies produce bhasmas nowadays; not all of them produce them well.
For example, mica (abbraka in Sanskrit) bhasma is an excellent rejuvenator for the lungs and for Rasa Dhatu. To make the best mica bhasma you must dig a hole in the ground three feet cubical and lay aside a store of 1500 cakes of dried cow dung. Cow dung cakes are used widely in India as fuel and to cremate corpses because they burn slowly with intense heat. After filling the pit with about 500 cakes you add a sealed clay vessel containing the mica and its herbal helpers, then finish filling the pit with the other 1000 cakes. It will take at least a day for the pile to bum itself out. After it cools you retrieve and open the clay vessel, extract the mica, and prepared it with fresh herbs for its next incineration. All told it takes two or three days to perform one incineration properly and prepare for the next.
Like most minerals, mica requires only 5, 7, or 11 incinerations to make it minimally fit for use. But "minimally fit" is a long way from "superb." Mica bhasma becomes powerful after 100 incinerations, and superbly puissant after 1000 firings. Yogis who had unlimited time, herbs and cow dung could afford to invest the half-dozen or more years it takes to properly incinerate mica 1000 times. Modern companies cannot afford to do so, so they simplify the process and use electric furnaces to do the job more quickly. Mica bhasma prepared this way becomes minimally fit sooner than that prepared the traditional fashion, but does not improve exponentially with each subsequent firing as its cowdung-fired counterpart. Those who use commercially-prepared mica bhasma may as well use that which has been incinerated just enough to lose all its sparkle, in a larger dose than otherwise would be necessary.
Likewise, many companies tout their diamond bhasma as a panacea for all ills including cancer. Not too many people know how to make diamond bhasma properly, however. Unless you are an expert you are as likely to be cheated over diamond bhasma as you are over gem-quality diamonds. For this reason substitutes have been identified. If you are unable to obtain reliable diamond bhasma you can use bhasma of other gemstones such as tourmaline instead, and reap almost the same benefit. If gold bhasma is beyond the reach of your pocketbook you can use bhasma of pyrites (suvama makshika, mentioned in the discussion on arthritis) instead because it is also a rejuvenator for Rasa Dhatu.
Even properly prepared bhasmas can be dangerous if they are overused, and if improperly used they may have no effect. Vimalananda was once called upon to consult with a Maharaja. This ruler's court physicians, all well-trained Ayurvedic doctors, had been treating him for weeks with a bhasma without any result. Vimalananda examined the prescription and found it to be correct, and then asked about diet. When he found that the Maharaja was still eating salt Vimalananda told him to stop it, and in a matter of days the disease disappeared.
Some minerals are not incinerated. Shilajit, a black tarlike substance that exudes from mountains in hot weather, is an ingredient in rejuvenating compounds such as Chandra Prabha, which is useful in many conditions including diabetes, obesity and urinary tract complaints. Shilajit strengthens the immune system, regulates the menstrual cycle, and tones the male reproductive organs. Shilajit is also used dissolved with other herbs and honey in hot milk to promote physical and mental strength and virility.
Since bhasmas are still generally unavailable some metals can be used in their pure forms. Bracelets of pure copper, for example, are indeed good for rheumatism, as folk wisdom in this country has had it for years, because the copper scrapes ama away from the tissues. Only V and K people can use such bracelets, however; copper is too hot for Ps. Copper or even gold may bum a P person's skin when worn. If copper leaves a green discoloration on your skin it indicates that your system is already quite hot and acidic and needs no copper.
If you cannot wear your desired metal you can drink your water from a copper or a silver glass, or boil a piece of 24-carat gold in water for about half an hour and then take the resulting water in doses of 1 tsp. You can also put a piece of a purified metal on your photograph, or on a lock of your cut hair, to provide you with vibrations from the metal without introducing it physically into your body.
Some modern scientists claim that calamus root (Acorus calamus) is carcinogenic. Many Indians, however, insert a thin wire of 24-carat gold into a longitudinal hole in a whole calamus root and then rub the root clockwise into 1/2 tsp. of honey on a flat surface. 3 rubs is the dose for a child, and 7 or more for an adult. This paste is given to a child from birth until 3 to 6 months of age to activate the immune system, which gold does better than anything else because it is so Sweet and so nourishing to all the dhatus.
Makaradhwaja
Vimalananda taught me about the power of gold by reminding me that it is mined with the help of cyanide. Anything that can dissolve gold must have a deep affinity for the yellow metal. Gold is a highly concentrated Sweet, a powerful nutrient for body, mind and aura. It is tonic and rejuvenating, and it is possible that the tonic and rejuvenating effects of such substances as yarrow, bamboo, almonds and apricots may be due to the tiny amounts of cyanogens (substances which release cyanide) which they contain.
Larger doses of cyanide kill by interfering with cellular respiration, the release of energy caused by the combination of oxygen with various substances inside a cell. Cells die when their energy sources are cut off. Gold (and presumably small doses of cyanide) exerts the opposite effect of making cellular respiration more efficient so that it yields more energy with less waste.
Everyone's aura tells a different story of immune preparedness, but golden is the healthiest color for an aura. The most common Sanskrit word for gold, suvarna, literally means "beautiful color." Intake of the solidified sunrays that make up gold will surely gild your aura, provided of course that you can digest those rays.
Gold by itself may be difficult to digest, especially if it so inflames your physical fire of digestion that you begin to ignore your physical limits and overindulge yourself. It is best to consume gold only after it has been first digested-by the metal mercury. Gold is mercury's food, and when gold is administered with mercury the likelihood of its being properly digested by the body improves dramatically.
Mercury is described as the semen of Lord Shiva, which means that mercury is the embodiment on the physical plane of the fire of transformation. Mercury can provide tremendous Tejas to any organism, and can make that organism digest almost anything. Since mercury is semen, or Shukra, it is the ultimate aphrodisiac, the supreme virilizer. Semen is alive, full of Prana, and mercury can similarly provide Prana to the system. Shukra being the raw material from which Ojas is produced, mercury can create unlimited Ojas in an organism. Mercury thus provides the body with all three essentials for life-Prana, Tejas, and Ojas-and thus possesses the potential to control all Three Doshas.
Mercury, which is of course a deadly poison, must be carefully purified before it is used in medicine. Even after purification mercury is too powerful to use in metallic form, however. Most commonly it is reacted with sulfur to form black sulfide of mercury, which after heating becomes red sulfide of mercury. Sulfur is the menstrual blood of Shiva's wife Parvati, the only substance that can properly control mercury's tremendous power. Since sulfur is a form of Blood which can create other beings, it is as if sulfur acts as the womb in which the mercurial semen develops into the new child: Kajjali, black sulfide of mercury.
Sulfur's affinity for heavy metals has long been known. The active portion of BAL, the first drug developed to remove heavy metals from the body, is two sulfur atoms. Black sulfide of mercury is almost totally insoluble in either water or weak acids, and so the potential for poisoning by free mercury is very low. Red sulfide of mercury is slightly more soluble, but its potential for causing toxicity is also low. In fact, mercury sulfide's innate safety is recognized even today, for it is used industrially to help scavenge stray elemental mercury.
There is no disease which mercury cannot cure if it is properly prepared and used, say the texts, and if it is improperly prepared or misused there is no disease it cannot cause. No proof of the second half of the ancient saying is necessary; all of us know how poisonous mercury is. The first half of the saying has been proved over centuries of safe use of mercury in Ayurvedic medicines. When side-effects arise from mercurial medications they may result from impurities which were not removed before the mercury is processed or from improper processing. Anyone who wants to use mercury for rejuvenation must be exceptionally careful about its source, and must be sure that it has been properly prepared. No one should ever even think of trying to prepare mercury for internal use without proper training!
The quantity of mercury in any one Ayurvedic pill is very small, thanks to the processing procedure known as bhavana. In bhavana an herbal decoction or juice is added to a small amount of the medicinal substance and the resulting mixture is rubbed slowly in a mortar and pestle until it dries. The smooth, gentle, continuous motion provides a smooth, gentle vibration to the medicine, and the rubbing and grinding reduce its particle size, thus improving its effectiveness. Each bhavana reduces the mercurial concentration of the finished product and potentizes it, in much the same way as homeopathic medicines are potentized.
The most renowned of all mercurial rejuvenators is Makaradhwaja, whose main ingredients are mercury, sulfur and gold. Makaradhwaja regenerates vigor and vitality, improves immunity, and assists in body development by increasing metabolic activity. Makaradhwaja benefits all sorts of acute disease states, including especially respiratory ailments like cold, influenza, pneumonia and asthma, and all sorts of general conditions such as low blood pressure, general exhaustion and nervous or mental debility. It can keep the whole being alert and energetic well into old age.
The best forms of Makaradhwaja have gold leaf on the outer surface of the pill as well as gold within. The dose of Makaradhwaja is usually one pill once or twice a day, crushed and made into a paste with honey or Chyavana Prasha, and washed down with a cup of warm milk and saffron. This should be taken at least 1/2 hour before meals, and should be continued for 3 to 6 weeks. It is usually best to take Makaradhwaja and other mercury-based rejuvenators during the coldest season of the year so that their powerful innate fire does not increase Pitta. Two cycles of mercury-based medicine each year are sufficient for most people.
Other Rasayanas
Other mercury-based rejuvenators include:
Parpati - black sulfide of mercury prepared into a thick film. Parpati tones and enlivens the membrane lining the colon, improving its ability to absorb Prana from ingested food. Gold, mica, iron, copper and herbs are added to some Parpati compounds to achieve specific therapeutic effects.
Lakshmi Vilasa Rasa - its main ingredients, beyond mercury sulfide, are gold, silver, mica, copper, tin, iron, pearls and aconite. Its rejuvenating effect concentrates on the heart and lungs and the dhatus Rasa and Blood. It is particularly good for bronchial asthma.
Vasanta Kusumakara Rasa - its main ingredients are almost the same as in Lakshmi Vilasa Rasa, but its effects differ because of different bhavanas. Vasanta Kusumakara undergoes 35 or more bha vanas of such varied substances as cow's milk, sugar cane juice, jasmine flower juice, sandalwood tea and musk water. It improves the body's ability to digest Rasa, which makes it effective therapeutically in diabetes, heart disease and consumption. It is a strong vir- ilizer.
Suvarna Malini Vasanta - is one of a class of three closely related compounds (the other two being Laghu Malini Vasanta and Madhu Malini Vasanta) which act mainly on consumption. Suvarna Malini Vasanta contains gold, pearls, mercury sulfide, white pepper and a form of zinc called kharpara, which like both black and white pepper dries excessive secretions, especially in the respiratory tract. 21 bhavanas of lime juice are performed to these ingredients, followed by one bhavana of fresh butter to prevent the result from being too drying.
Their drying effects make these three compounds useful in all sorts of diseases of Rasa Dhatu including chronic bronchitis, pleurisy, fever, consumption, leucorrhea and anemia. It enhances the vision, helps build strong fetuses, and promotes the expulsion of ama and other poisons from the system. In spite of its drying effect it can reverse the weight and energy loss which might occur after a serious disease or in old age.
Suvarna Raja Vangeshvara - although its color is metallic golden it contains no gold. Its main constituents are mercury, sulfur and tin. Ammonium chloride is used as a flux, and the mixture is heated in a glass vial on a sand bath. In this instance the desired result drops to the bottom of the vial, suggesting a strong action on the lower parts of the body, which is indeed the case. Suvarna Raja Vangeshvara is most effective in loss of Shukra, as from frequent masturbation or wet dreams, and in conditions like consumption when they result from loss of Shukra. Impotence and premature ejaculation also respond, as do certain forms of diabetes.
Smrti Sagara Rasa - this pill, whose name means "Ocean of Memory," is one of several Ayurvedic preparations that contain arsenic compounds. Arsenic, which is essential to human nutrition in small amounts, is found naturally in such foods as almonds, barley, carrots, corn, grapes, oats, pineapples and rice. It is used in Indian medicine mainly as a powerful invigorator. Arsenic's oxide, being quite poisonous, is less commonly used than are its sulfides. Smrti Sagara Rasa contains mercury sulfide, copper oxide, arsenic bisulfide and arsenic trisulfide in just sufficient quantities to gently stimulate the memory. This mixture is then processed with some well-known brain tonics: 21 bhavanas each of calamus root tea and gotu kola juice, and one bhavana of jyotishmati oil.
Hema Garbha - containing mercury sulfide, gold, and copper oxide, this medicine is simmered in liquefied sulfur in an earthenware crucible and made into a stick which is rubbed into a paste with honey on a stone. Hema Garbha is a powerful rejuvenator and heart tonic which is given sublingually in extreme Vata disturbances like coma.
These are only a few of the many Ayurvedic rejuvenators available. It is impossible to overstate the dangers inherent in self-dosing yourself with any of these substances. Never experiment with any of them on your own; consume them only under the direct supervision of a qualified Ayurvedic physician.
Minerals and Metals
Minerals have been probably been used in Ayurveda since its beginning, but their prominence expanded dramatically when Tantra began its researches into alchemy. Every mineral, like every herb, has its own Taste-personality. Gold, for example, is Sweet, silver is Sour, copper Pungent, and iron Astringent. Gold is an ideal medicine for Vata because it is Hot as well as Sweet. Silver is a good remedy for Pitta because like amalaki it is Cold as well as Sour; while its Sourness increases the digestive fire, its Cold prevents Pitta from increas ing. Copper controls Kapha, being both Hot and Pungent, and scrapes ama and Kapha from the body. Iron, which nourishes Blood, prevents Blood from becoming too Hot or too fluid with its Astringency.
Gold is spoken of alchemically as solidified sunrays, for its effects on living organisms are like those of the sun. Wearing gold purifies all energy entering the body, improves the skin and the body's overall beauty, and strengthens the joints and the being's overall energy. Gold is a general antidote for all types of poison, including ama. Gold also controls Vata and helps eliminate ama from the system. The gold salts used in modern medicine to treat arthritis cause sideeffects because they are soluble. They dissolve into reactive ions that are too intense to be safely utilized by the system.
Ayurvedic metals and minerals, including gold, are prepared in a very different way. First they are thoroughly purified, to remove any poisonous pollutants. Then pastes of medicinal herbs are applied to them and they are incinerated. Some scientists believe that the herbs form chelates with the minerals; others have different theories. What is certain is that after the incineration most of these minerals, except gold and probably silver, become oxides or sulfides.
Most metal oxides and sulfides are quite insoluble in water and so do not break up into reactive ions when they enter the body. Though they remain chemically unreactive within the body they seem to exert a catalytic effect on metabolic processes. Gold, and silver to a great extent, apparently remain unre- acted, but the incineration reduces them into particles of colloidial size or smaller which remain chemically inert. Other metals are converted into oxides or sulfides to eliminate their reactivity; gold, which is practically non-reactive anyway, needs only to be finely divided.
More incinerations means smaller particle size. When the particles become sufficiently small, at least small enough to fill the lines on the fingertips, they can circulate in the system and exert their effects much longer than can ordinary medicines. This is one of the reasons that minerals are useful for rejuvenation therapy. Another reason: Bhasmas (incinerated metals and minerals) become more potent with age as their particles naturally become smaller and smaller, whereas herbs lose their potency after a year or two. 100-year-old bhasmas are highly prized in India.
The dose of a bhasma is commonly a small heap of powder the size of a grain of rice. The Taste of the bhasma is intense, but usually less unpleasant than that of some of Ayurveda's intensely bitter herbal products. Bhasmas also act more quickly than herbs, and their effects tend to last longer. For quick results a bhasma is made into a paste with honey, butter or ghee and the paste is then placed under the tongue. A bhasma's first effect comes from the transmission of its Taste into the brain; its second effect, which it delivers almost as quickly as its first, involves the release of Prana into the bloodstream, carried by a subtle, potentiated form of oxygen created during the process of incineration. The third effect, the one due to the mineral itself, occurs as the particles of the bhasma circulate throughout the body.
Each physician traditionally prepared his or her own medicines, but with cul tural modernization many physicians have elected to rely on Ayurvedic pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide them with medicaments. As Ayurvedic medicines become more available outside India the question of their quality will become more and more acute. "Know your dealer" is an important watchword even today for those who would purchase Ayurvedic medicines in India. Many Ayurvedic pharmacies produce bhasmas nowadays; not all of them produce them well.
For example, mica (abbraka in Sanskrit) bhasma is an excellent rejuvenator for the lungs and for Rasa Dhatu. To make the best mica bhasma you must dig a hole in the ground three feet cubical and lay aside a store of 1500 cakes of dried cow dung. Cow dung cakes are used widely in India as fuel and to cremate corpses because they burn slowly with intense heat. After filling the pit with about 500 cakes you add a sealed clay vessel containing the mica and its herbal helpers, then finish filling the pit with the other 1000 cakes. It will take at least a day for the pile to bum itself out. After it cools you retrieve and open the clay vessel, extract the mica, and prepared it with fresh herbs for its next incineration. All told it takes two or three days to perform one incineration properly and prepare for the next.
Like most minerals, mica requires only 5, 7, or 11 incinerations to make it minimally fit for use. But "minimally fit" is a long way from "superb." Mica bhasma becomes powerful after 100 incinerations, and superbly puissant after 1000 firings. Yogis who had unlimited time, herbs and cow dung could afford to invest the half-dozen or more years it takes to properly incinerate mica 1000 times. Modern companies cannot afford to do so, so they simplify the process and use electric furnaces to do the job more quickly. Mica bhasma prepared this way becomes minimally fit sooner than that prepared the traditional fashion, but does not improve exponentially with each subsequent firing as its cowdung-fired counterpart. Those who use commercially-prepared mica bhasma may as well use that which has been incinerated just enough to lose all its sparkle, in a larger dose than otherwise would be necessary.
Likewise, many companies tout their diamond bhasma as a panacea for all ills including cancer. Not too many people know how to make diamond bhasma properly, however. Unless you are an expert you are as likely to be cheated over diamond bhasma as you are over gem-quality diamonds. For this reason substitutes have been identified. If you are unable to obtain reliable diamond bhasma you can use bhasma of other gemstones such as tourmaline instead, and reap almost the same benefit. If gold bhasma is beyond the reach of your pocketbook you can use bhasma of pyrites (suvama makshika, mentioned in the discussion on arthritis) instead because it is also a rejuvenator for Rasa Dhatu.
Even properly prepared bhasmas can be dangerous if they are overused, and if improperly used they may have no effect. Vimalananda was once called upon to consult with a Maharaja. This ruler's court physicians, all well-trained Ayurvedic doctors, had been treating him for weeks with a bhasma without any result. Vimalananda examined the prescription and found it to be correct, and then asked about diet. When he found that the Maharaja was still eating salt Vimalananda told him to stop it, and in a matter of days the disease disappeared.
Some minerals are not incinerated. Shilajit, a black tarlike substance that exudes from mountains in hot weather, is an ingredient in rejuvenating compounds such as Chandra Prabha, which is useful in many conditions including diabetes, obesity and urinary tract complaints. Shilajit strengthens the immune system, regulates the menstrual cycle, and tones the male reproductive organs. Shilajit is also used dissolved with other herbs and honey in hot milk to promote physical and mental strength and virility.
Since bhasmas are still generally unavailable some metals can be used in their pure forms. Bracelets of pure copper, for example, are indeed good for rheumatism, as folk wisdom in this country has had it for years, because the copper scrapes ama away from the tissues. Only V and K people can use such bracelets, however; copper is too hot for Ps. Copper or even gold may bum a P person's skin when worn. If copper leaves a green discoloration on your skin it indicates that your system is already quite hot and acidic and needs no copper.
If you cannot wear your desired metal you can drink your water from a copper or a silver glass, or boil a piece of 24-carat gold in water for about half an hour and then take the resulting water in doses of 1 tsp. You can also put a piece of a purified metal on your photograph, or on a lock of your cut hair, to provide you with vibrations from the metal without introducing it physically into your body.
Some modern scientists claim that calamus root (Acorus calamus) is carcinogenic. Many Indians, however, insert a thin wire of 24-carat gold into a longitudinal hole in a whole calamus root and then rub the root clockwise into 1/2 tsp. of honey on a flat surface. 3 rubs is the dose for a child, and 7 or more for an adult. This paste is given to a child from birth until 3 to 6 months of age to activate the immune system, which gold does better than anything else because it is so Sweet and so nourishing to all the dhatus.
Makaradhwaja
Vimalananda taught me about the power of gold by reminding me that it is mined with the help of cyanide. Anything that can dissolve gold must have a deep affinity for the yellow metal. Gold is a highly concentrated Sweet, a powerful nutrient for body, mind and aura. It is tonic and rejuvenating, and it is possible that the tonic and rejuvenating effects of such substances as yarrow, bamboo, almonds and apricots may be due to the tiny amounts of cyanogens (substances which release cyanide) which they contain.
Larger doses of cyanide kill by interfering with cellular respiration, the release of energy caused by the combination of oxygen with various substances inside a cell. Cells die when their energy sources are cut off. Gold (and presumably small doses of cyanide) exerts the opposite effect of making cellular respiration more efficient so that it yields more energy with less waste.
Everyone's aura tells a different story of immune preparedness, but golden is the healthiest color for an aura. The most common Sanskrit word for gold, suvarna, literally means "beautiful color." Intake of the solidified sunrays that make up gold will surely gild your aura, provided of course that you can digest those rays.
Gold by itself may be difficult to digest, especially if it so inflames your physical fire of digestion that you begin to ignore your physical limits and overindulge yourself. It is best to consume gold only after it has been first digested-by the metal mercury. Gold is mercury's food, and when gold is administered with mercury the likelihood of its being properly digested by the body improves dramatically.
Mercury is described as the semen of Lord Shiva, which means that mercury is the embodiment on the physical plane of the fire of transformation. Mercury can provide tremendous Tejas to any organism, and can make that organism digest almost anything. Since mercury is semen, or Shukra, it is the ultimate aphrodisiac, the supreme virilizer. Semen is alive, full of Prana, and mercury can similarly provide Prana to the system. Shukra being the raw material from which Ojas is produced, mercury can create unlimited Ojas in an organism. Mercury thus provides the body with all three essentials for life-Prana, Tejas, and Ojas-and thus possesses the potential to control all Three Doshas.
Mercury, which is of course a deadly poison, must be carefully purified before it is used in medicine. Even after purification mercury is too powerful to use in metallic form, however. Most commonly it is reacted with sulfur to form black sulfide of mercury, which after heating becomes red sulfide of mercury. Sulfur is the menstrual blood of Shiva's wife Parvati, the only substance that can properly control mercury's tremendous power. Since sulfur is a form of Blood which can create other beings, it is as if sulfur acts as the womb in which the mercurial semen develops into the new child: Kajjali, black sulfide of mercury.
Sulfur's affinity for heavy metals has long been known. The active portion of BAL, the first drug developed to remove heavy metals from the body, is two sulfur atoms. Black sulfide of mercury is almost totally insoluble in either water or weak acids, and so the potential for poisoning by free mercury is very low. Red sulfide of mercury is slightly more soluble, but its potential for causing toxicity is also low. In fact, mercury sulfide's innate safety is recognized even today, for it is used industrially to help scavenge stray elemental mercury.
There is no disease which mercury cannot cure if it is properly prepared and used, say the texts, and if it is improperly prepared or misused there is no disease it cannot cause. No proof of the second half of the ancient saying is necessary; all of us know how poisonous mercury is. The first half of the saying has been proved over centuries of safe use of mercury in Ayurvedic medicines. When side-effects arise from mercurial medications they may result from impurities which were not removed before the mercury is processed or from improper processing. Anyone who wants to use mercury for rejuvenation must be exceptionally careful about its source, and must be sure that it has been properly prepared. No one should ever even think of trying to prepare mercury for internal use without proper training!
The quantity of mercury in any one Ayurvedic pill is very small, thanks to the processing procedure known as bhavana. In bhavana an herbal decoction or juice is added to a small amount of the medicinal substance and the resulting mixture is rubbed slowly in a mortar and pestle until it dries. The smooth, gentle, continuous motion provides a smooth, gentle vibration to the medicine, and the rubbing and grinding reduce its particle size, thus improving its effectiveness. Each bhavana reduces the mercurial concentration of the finished product and potentizes it, in much the same way as homeopathic medicines are potentized.
The most renowned of all mercurial rejuvenators is Makaradhwaja, whose main ingredients are mercury, sulfur and gold. Makaradhwaja regenerates vigor and vitality, improves immunity, and assists in body development by increasing metabolic activity. Makaradhwaja benefits all sorts of acute disease states, including especially respiratory ailments like cold, influenza, pneumonia and asthma, and all sorts of general conditions such as low blood pressure, general exhaustion and nervous or mental debility. It can keep the whole being alert and energetic well into old age.
The best forms of Makaradhwaja have gold leaf on the outer surface of the pill as well as gold within. The dose of Makaradhwaja is usually one pill once or twice a day, crushed and made into a paste with honey or Chyavana Prasha, and washed down with a cup of warm milk and saffron. This should be taken at least 1/2 hour before meals, and should be continued for 3 to 6 weeks. It is usually best to take Makaradhwaja and other mercury-based rejuvenators during the coldest season of the year so that their powerful innate fire does not increase Pitta. Two cycles of mercury-based medicine each year are sufficient for most people.
Other Rasayanas
Other mercury-based rejuvenators include:
Parpati - black sulfide of mercury prepared into a thick film. Parpati tones and enlivens the membrane lining the colon, improving its ability to absorb Prana from ingested food. Gold, mica, iron, copper and herbs are added to some Parpati compounds to achieve specific therapeutic effects.
Lakshmi Vilasa Rasa - its main ingredients, beyond mercury sulfide, are gold, silver, mica, copper, tin, iron, pearls and aconite. Its rejuvenating effect concentrates on the heart and lungs and the dhatus Rasa and Blood. It is particularly good for bronchial asthma.
Vasanta Kusumakara Rasa - its main ingredients are almost the same as in Lakshmi Vilasa Rasa, but its effects differ because of different bhavanas. Vasanta Kusumakara undergoes 35 or more bha vanas of such varied substances as cow's milk, sugar cane juice, jasmine flower juice, sandalwood tea and musk water. It improves the body's ability to digest Rasa, which makes it effective therapeutically in diabetes, heart disease and consumption. It is a strong vir- ilizer.
Suvarna Malini Vasanta - is one of a class of three closely related compounds (the other two being Laghu Malini Vasanta and Madhu Malini Vasanta) which act mainly on consumption. Suvarna Malini Vasanta contains gold, pearls, mercury sulfide, white pepper and a form of zinc called kharpara, which like both black and white pepper dries excessive secretions, especially in the respiratory tract. 21 bhavanas of lime juice are performed to these ingredients, followed by one bhavana of fresh butter to prevent the result from being too drying.
Their drying effects make these three compounds useful in all sorts of diseases of Rasa Dhatu including chronic bronchitis, pleurisy, fever, consumption, leucorrhea and anemia. It enhances the vision, helps build strong fetuses, and promotes the expulsion of ama and other poisons from the system. In spite of its drying effect it can reverse the weight and energy loss which might occur after a serious disease or in old age.
Suvarna Raja Vangeshvara - although its color is metallic golden it contains no gold. Its main constituents are mercury, sulfur and tin. Ammonium chloride is used as a flux, and the mixture is heated in a glass vial on a sand bath. In this instance the desired result drops to the bottom of the vial, suggesting a strong action on the lower parts of the body, which is indeed the case. Suvarna Raja Vangeshvara is most effective in loss of Shukra, as from frequent masturbation or wet dreams, and in conditions like consumption when they result from loss of Shukra. Impotence and premature ejaculation also respond, as do certain forms of diabetes.
Smrti Sagara Rasa - this pill, whose name means "Ocean of Memory," is one of several Ayurvedic preparations that contain arsenic compounds. Arsenic, which is essential to human nutrition in small amounts, is found naturally in such foods as almonds, barley, carrots, corn, grapes, oats, pineapples and rice. It is used in Indian medicine mainly as a powerful invigorator. Arsenic's oxide, being quite poisonous, is less commonly used than are its sulfides. Smrti Sagara Rasa contains mercury sulfide, copper oxide, arsenic bisulfide and arsenic trisulfide in just sufficient quantities to gently stimulate the memory. This mixture is then processed with some well-known brain tonics: 21 bhavanas each of calamus root tea and gotu kola juice, and one bhavana of jyotishmati oil.
Hema Garbha - containing mercury sulfide, gold, and copper oxide, this medicine is simmered in liquefied sulfur in an earthenware crucible and made into a stick which is rubbed into a paste with honey on a stone. Hema Garbha is a powerful rejuvenator and heart tonic which is given sublingually in extreme Vata disturbances like coma.
These are only a few of the many Ayurvedic rejuvenators available. It is impossible to overstate the dangers inherent in self-dosing yourself with any of these substances. Never experiment with any of them on your own; consume them only under the direct supervision of a qualified Ayurvedic physician.
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