India n Journal of Tradit ional Knowledge Vol. 2( I ). January 2003, pp. 15-2 1

Ancient traditional technology for preparing bhasmas of metal s and minerals with special reference to preparation of tamra

bhasma

Raj iva Kumar Ra i a nd S K Di xit"'

Department of Rasa-Shastra. Institute of Medica l Sciences. 13anaras Hind u Uni ver, ity. Varanasi-22 1 005

Receil'i'd 29 Nm •emba 200 1: 1'1'\'ised 7 Febm ary 2002

This paper dea ls wi th the ancient technolog ies used for prcp:~ ring Ay urvedi c drugs from minerals. meta ls and poisonous raw material s. For prepari ng ayurvedi c drugs from the above raw material s the process o f Shodlw11a (Detox ification and Pu ri fi c :~t i o n ) . Mam 11 a (Incine rati on). ;\ mrili/.:armw (Nectori sa tion). usc of earthen crucible. hc::ll dev ices and its tec hnologic; . ancient tec hnology fo r testing properly p rc p:~ red 8/ws11 ws for therapeut ic purposes. ancient chemica l anyliti ca l tec hnologies wit h spec ial reference to prepara tion of Tam ra Bha.\'1/W have bee n de­sc ribed in detai l.

Keywords: Ay urvedic drugs. Blw s11ws. Tmnm 8/wsma

A yurveda has its ex istance from prevedic peri od. To trace the history o f use of vari ous drugs in A yurvedic system of medicine we have to depend upon Vedas, because they are the oldest source of In­dian cu lture. A rev iew of availab le li t­eratu re ind icates that this system of medi­cine mi ght have been in vogue even pri or to Vedas as we find references to vari ous diseases 1 and uses of herbs2 for medicinal pu rposes even before the peri od.

T he authors of Sw nhitas added some new dimensions to the scope and defini ­ti on of Ayurveda. According to Clw ro/.:a Sa 111hita " It is the knowledge o f all about human beings, which relates to good and

''' Correspondent author

bad, weals and woe. the measurement of li fe and the thi ngs beneficial and harmful ! to I i fe" :1 In fac~ there is nothing in the worl d whi ch may not become the cause o f human pleasure or worri es. comfort or trouble and con sequentl y does not come in perview of A yurveda.

A ll the branches o f medica l know ledge such as A natomy, Physiology, Pathology arc included in Tri s utra~ of Ayurvecla. which is defined as causes . signs and treatment.

According to Yaj urveda God Rudra is the ori ginal perceptor of di v ine type or medi cine. The divine type of medicine may again be div ided in to two main di v i­sions, the first con sists o f Man tm (Vedic hymns), Japa (Silent prayers) and Yogm

16 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2, No. I. JANUARY 2003

(Religeous offering), etc., while the sec­ond one consists of "Rasa "-special type of medicine.

Rasa-Shastra The branch o f A yurveda which deals

with the pharmaceutical preparation of Rasaushdhis is known as Rasa-Siwstra . The main concept of Rasa-Shastra is to tran sform lower metals (lead, tin, copper, zinc) in to higher metals (go ld, silver) and to stregthen the body ti ssues and maintain them in a fresh and healthy state so as to remove poverty, senility , disease and death from the world5

. Besides these, dis­ease curing aspect is al so included.

Importance of Rasa-Chikitsa Rasa-Chikitsa was considered to be the

most effective and time sav ing ther­ap/'.The preparations used under Rasa­Chikitsa being palatable, were preferred over other formulations for oral admini­stration. Further these preparations have the advantage of being effective in smaller dose than the herbal prepara­ti ons7. In Rasa-Shastra th e metals and minerals are also termed as Dhatus and Upd!Jatus because of their spec ific role in bio logical system i .e. these can sustain body ti ssue by supplementing some of the essential elements to the tissues, whose derficiency causes many diseases in th e body. Thus it can be said that on account of the above mentioned qualities and properti es, the use of drugs of metal and mineral origi n has become more frequent than the use of drugs o f herbal ori gin.

Use of metals and minerals as the1·apy In modern system of medicine the met­

als are generall y not recommended for

use as therapeutic agents as they are found to damage the tissues of various organs.

Rasa-Chikitsa of Ayurvedic system of medicine recommends the use o f metal s and minerals in the form of Bhasnw and Kupipakwa Rasayanas, which arc re­ported to be free from toxic effects on body tissues when used in proper dosess The treatment advocated in Ayurveda was also enunciated on the basis or re­establ ishing the normal proporti ons by ingestion of different objects including metals, mineral s, vegetables and e\·cn animal ti ssues9

. In Ayurvedic Ruso ­Chikitsa copper (Ta111ra) is an important meta l used in the form of Bhasnw in vari­ous preparati ons which are indicated for treating di seases like Pandu (Anaemca), Kustha (Skin di seases), Arslw (Pi Jes) etc. 10

.

Use of Tamra as therapy Ta111ra (copper) is a prehistori c material

wh ich came in to o ffing after the . tone age.The period during which copper had its widest application in society is known as copper age or Ta111ra Yuga . In Vedic literature copper is menti oned by the name of Lolw 11

• Though in Clwrako and . 1'1 '-'

Sushmta Sa1111ura - there are referen es to Ta111ra chuma, the method of preparation of Bhas111a re mained in dark . The study or tan tric literature reveals that the use o f metal was known in that period yet it was kept under stri ct secrecy like Mantra s and . . cJ . I I N . th 8th It rema1ne so ti agaiJuna (7 - cen-tury A.D.) lifted the curtain. He sugge. ted the use of metals in various Rosa lex ts and thus the secrecy of their use was brought to an encl.

RAI & DIXIT: ANC IE T TRADITION AL TECHNOLOGY FOR PREPARING BHASMAS 17

With the development of Rasa -Shastra to obtain usable form of metals and min­erals, different processing/techniques like Shodlwna. Marana. A111ritikarana, Lohi­tikorana (obtaining desired colour In Bhasma). etc. came in to ex istance.

Shodhana Historically the shodlwna concept was

in existance at the time of Cha raka Salll­hita as Sa uclza 13

; it is described as one of the fundamentals considered necessary for the Gudantaradlwna (alterati on or addition of properties in the drugs). This concept was further developed after the development of Rosa (Metals and Miner­als) therapy in the field of Ayurvedic medicine, i.e. from 8th century A.D. and onward. During the period ancient schol­ars who encouraged the use of metal and minerals as therapy also recognized their toxicity. During thi s period a number of shodlwna measures were developed to remove or reduce their toxicity and to make them useful for the sys tem .These include grind ing of these drugs with vegetable extracti ves and with other acidic, or alka line liquids, heating of met­als and mineral s and its quenching in various liquids or their boiling, sublima­ti on. etc. These measures in turn are able to remove washable, so luble, volatile im­purities of drugs of metal and mineral origin. Sometimes some organic or inor­ganic material either in traces or in large amount is added to these substances which helps either in their detoxification or potentiation in therapeuti c efficacies.

The slwdlwna treatmen t also helps in impregnation of some organic material in the inorganic drugs for making the drugs

as organo-metalli c compou nds 1 ~ and to make it more acceptable to body. Phar­maceutically, shodlwna also helps con­version of material in a state suitab le for the further pharmaceutical process ings like, Marana, Anzritikarona. e tc. 1 ~ The type of th e process of shodlwna may be selec tive depending on the nature o f raw material. Some spec ial techniques are described below.

Techniques of slwdluma ( I ) Prakslwlaua- ln this technique

proper washing of raw material with wa­ter is done to remove the dust and to make it free from insects and microrgan­isms.

(2) Mardaua-l n thi s technique tritu­ration of raw material wi th some vegeta­ble juices, decoctions, cow's milk. etc. is done for detoxification and disintigration of raw material to make it su itable for the processing like nWJW/CI of metals and minerals.

(3) Swedaua-H ere boiling of raw material in certain juices, cow's milk. cow's urine etc. is done for increasing the brittleness of minerals and metals and for reducing the tox ic character or some poi­sonous metals and minerals and also for infusion of therapeutically efficacious properties in metals and minera ls.

(4) Ga/aua-Filtering of raw material through a sieve separat es the adu lterants if mixed in the raw materi al and also separates the heterogenous particles.

(5) Bllawaua-ln thi s techn ique tritu­ration of raw material with some juices, decoctions is done till complete dryness. This technique minimises the poisonous character and increases the therapeutic

18 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 2. No. I. JANUARY 2003

potency of drug because qualities of liq­uids (vegetable juices and decoctions) also get infused with the raw material. Thi s techniq ue also di sintigrates the raw material in to fine particles.

(6) Bluujana- Here roasting of raw material is done. It is presumed that dur­ing bhwjana, with evaporation of water content, some of the poisonous volatile and thermolabile content of raw material also gets destroyed.

(7) Nirvapa- ln thi s technique, heating and quenching of raw material in some vegetable juices or lime water is done. This technique of shodhana remarkably increases the brit tleness of minerals and metals and neutrali sati on of the toxic character of raw material takes place due to variabl e pH of liquids in which raw material is to be quenched.

(8) Dlwlana-ln thi s techn ique, melt­ing of raw materi al and pouring in some vegetab le juice/lime water is done. After thi s process the raw material partially gets converted in to some compound form and brittleness of raw material increases.

(9) Patana-lt in volves di stillation of raw material. It is a very use ful technique for easy separation of adulterants mixed in the metals and mercury because tem­perature required for the dis tillation of mercury and other metals is different and clue to thi s these can be eas ily seperated from an amalga m by the process of di s­till ati on.

Slwdhana of Tamra Thin fl akes of Tamra (copper) are rec­

ommended for pharmaceutical process­ing. For slwdhana of Tamra , many meth­ods are prescribed in the cl assical tex ts: so me of them are as fo ll ows.

There is a general method for shod­llano of all the metals. Here Tmnro patra is heated red hot and quenched for seven times each in Til tail (sesamum oil ), Go­llllttra (cow's urine), Kanji (fermentat ion preparation- Sour gruel), Takra (curd di­luted with water in 1/.\ ratio), and Ku lathi Kwath (decoction of Doliclws b(floms). respectively. In thi s method the liquids used for qu enching. Tamra should be changed after each quenching and a fres h liquid should be taken for new quenc h­. 8 mg.

ln other method for Tmnra Slwdlw na. coating of Saindha va La vana (rock salt) with Nimbu Swarasa (Lemon jui ce) on Tamra patra is done followed by hea ting and quenching in Nirgundi S11 ·araso (Juice of leaves of Vitex neg undo ) or Kal(ji for seven ti mes. l n ye t another method, boi ling of Tamra patras in cow·s urine continuously for nine hours is also advocated. These methods are al so ca lled \lishesh slwdhana of Tamra .

Effect of shodluma on Tamra : During shod//(/na. Tamro metal

changes and di sintigrates in to fin e parti­cles 15 (due to heating and quenching or metal in liquids of various variabl e pH). It faci litates further marana (incineration ). The liquid treatment being ac idi c. alka­line, oi ly or sometimes mi xed in nature also helps in di ssolving man y impuri ties of raw materi al, wh ile the heat treatment removes the vo latile and thermolabile impurities. Impregnati on of organ ic sub­stances in the raw materi al is al so achieved by shodlwna by whi ch it be­comes more suitable for human use.

RAI & DIXIT: ANCIENT TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY FOR PREPARING BHASMAS 19

Marana It is the next step in conversion of

metal/mineral in to fin e ash (Bhasma) form , suitab le for systemic absorpti o n in human body. To achi eve thi s, the drug of meta l and mineral origi n is first added with some marana drugs (drugs he lpful in conversion of metal and mineral in to ash) and then it is subj ected to bha wana (tri turation wi th some juices, decoctions and ac idi c liquids) and then to heating through a fixed heating pattern known as Putapaka 16

. T hi s tota l procedure is re­peated several times till the metal/minerals atta ins the quality of 8/wsma.

Metal s were used in fine powder form during the time o f Samhila (Charaka 17

and Sushruta). They were heated to reel hot and quenched in to some vegetabl e ex tracti ves or in some other liquids for the ir compl ete convers io n in to fine pow­der rorm . But thi s is not cons idered as a proper state fo r making meta ls suitable ror internal use. With the development of Rasa-Shasl ra much better pharmaceutical processes were deve loped and different Yanl m s (special apparatu ses)ancl pulas (heat devices) were employed to achieve the process of marana. The bhawana

(trituration of mineral and metal s with different herbal , juices, decoc tio ns) is clone to obtain the organo meta lli c co m­pound and to make it in to the pillete form . After bha wana, the drugs are dried and afte r c losing them in an earthen pot (Sarava Sampu la) or tn a cruc ible (Musha) they are subjected to heat treat­ment (Pulapaka).

Diffe ren t types of pulas are developed for the heat treatment of different meta l and mineral drugs. The pulas are se lec ted on the basis of heat to lerance capacity of particul ar metal or minera l. Selecti on of suitable pula fo r convers ion of metal and mineral in to ash form is desi rab le fo r be tter results. These pula having variab le eli mens ion are able to prov ide eli ffe rent grades of temperature to the material which is under the process o f pulapaka. For most of the pulas cow dung is used as fu e l. Temperature pattern of eli ffe rent Pulas is shown in Tabl e I.

Marana of Tamra In di ffe ren t methods described for IIW ­

rana of Tamra vari ous suppo rting mate ri­als like Parad (Mercu ry), Gondlwka (S ulphur) , Hingula (HgS-c innebar) , Hemal (As2Srorpiment). Manal!shila

Table 1- Temperature pattern of differen t pill as

Name of puta Peak temp. of puw in oc Total durati on of pulo

Malwpula Gajapuw

\larahapllla Kukkuwputa Kapotpuw

800 785 780 760 740

4 hours and 30 minutes 3 hours and 30 minutes 2 hours and 30 minut ..:s I hour and 30 minutes

I hour

Dixit S K. Stud ies on di fferent pu tas described in Rasa Gran thas. Sachitm Al'tuvedo. 34( I ) ( 198 1) 38.

20 INDIAN J TRADIT IONAL KNOWLEDGE. VOL 2. No. l. JA UARY 2003

( As :> S:> -rea lgar) with the blwwana of Ni111b11 S11 ·araso ( lemon juice) are indi­cated to be used. Heat treatment for To111ro is Vara lw Pu10 which is sufficient for the 111arana of Tmnra to make the

18 proper Bha.\·111a .

Blwsma Parikslw Follow ing parameters have been setup

in class ical tex ts to ensure th at the proc­ess ing of Bhas111a is complete for interna l use wit h no untoward effects.

A ll th e fol low ing tests are not applica­ble for checking every B!ws11/0. But ac­cording to nature of the raw material used for incinerat ion appropriate test should be se lec ted to test the final product.

I . Varitara : 8/w.\JIIO should be so light in weight that when sprink led on stagnant water in a pot, it should freely fl oat on the surface o f water.

2. Reklwpuma : Blws11w should be so fine that ·when rubbed in between the two fingers. it should be ab le to impregnate the finger l ines.

] . Nirdlmma : Bhas11w placed on mild heat should not produce fumes.

4. Nihswada : Blws11w should be free from any tas te.

5. Nisclwndra : Blws11w should be lustureless.

6. A vami : Ingestion of Bhas11w should not induce nausea or vomiting.

7. Apunarbhava : If Bhasnw mi xed w ith Mitrapanclwka ( I . GIIJ(ja- seeds of Abrus precatorius, 2. Guggulu- latex of Co111111iplwra 11111kul, 3. Mad/111- honey, 4. Ghrit and 5. Tankan-Borax) is heated, its compounds should not be reduced in to free metal form.

8. Niruttlw : I f B/ws/110 is heated w ith a piece of sil ver, weight of si lver should not increase.

Blwsma Parikslws of Tamra Blwsma The following BIW.\1110 porikslw.1 arc

use ful in determining the quali ty of' Tmnra Bhas1110.

Va ritara, Reklwpuma. Nirdlut/110, Nihswada, Ava111i, Niruf!lw . A long w ith these A111la pariksha and Dadhi parikslw are also useful in the case of Tmnm Bho.1·1na ; they are as foll ows :

(a) Am/a Pariksha : Tmura 8/w.\ IIW after mixing w ith lemon juice should not produce blui sh co lour in the solution even after twelve hours.

(b) Dadhi Parikslw : Ta111ra Bllli\'11/0 when sprinkled on curd shou ld not pro­duce blue colour on curd surface even after hours.

Amritikarana of Tamra Blwsma In the schedule of pharmaceut ica l

processing thi s specific process is de­scribed to rule ou t any undesirab le eiTect wh ich might be present in the Blw1mo even after the process of shodlw11o and

l l) 1/1(/ /'(/1/0.

A s implied in the defenition o f the pro­cess, every Bhas11w after the process ing of A111ritikarano becomes A111rit (Ncctor) i.e. free from any sort o f possib le unde­sirable effect and becomes highly elTica­cious therapeutically .

For the A111ritikarana process aga in putapaka of Tamra is clone w ith/wi thout Gandhaka (Sulphur) arter triturat ing it with eli fferent liquids I ike Ni11i1J11 Swarasa , Kwnori Swarasa (A loe l 'cro

juice), Pancha111rit (cow's milk . cure.\.

RAJ & DIXIT: A 'C IE T T RAD ITI ONAL TECI INOLOG Y FO R PREPARING BHASM AS 21

gliril. honey and sugar) either keeping in simple crucible or in midst o f Suran (!\ 11101pflop/w/f liS CGII/jJGIIllfal ItS)

T hus it is observed that even in ancient peri od ( i .e. Swnhila period , 2nd century B.C. to 2nd century A.D.) many prepara­ti ons and their method o f preparation have been mentioned but arrer 8th century A.D. thi s development round rurther elaboration which is in practice even to­day. l r these methods are altered by any means the drug may loose its therapeutic value and may have some injurious errec t on the patients.

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(Vi shveslwaranand Ved ic Research Institute. ll o~hiarpur) . 1960. 5/-Vi. 1/1 2/3.

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3 Charakn. Chamka Swnhiw. com mentary by Shastri . Kashinath . (Chauk hambha Sanskrit Academy. Vara nasi). 199 1. Sutra Sthan . 1/41.

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1oxicin · .l'llulr. M.D. Thesis. Deptt. of Ra><l Shastra. !.M.S .. B.H.U .. 1998.

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14 Di xit S K. E.fTeu of Coppa ill Haelllaw/ogiml Disorder. M.D. Thesis. Deptt. of Dra vyag una. !.M .S .. 13.1-l .U .. 1966.

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IS Singh A K. Swndardismir111 o( dif/(• rcnl .111 111 -p/es o( Twnra /Jhas111a ll 'ilh special ref£• renee Ill ils lllewllographic and ili.l·fopalhologiml s111dr. M.D. Thes is. Deptt or Rasa-S hastra . !.M.S .. B.II .U .. 1998.

19 Shastri . Kashinath. Rasa Tara11gi11i. edited hy Sharma. Sadanancl . ( Moti Ia I 13anara ~ ida >. New Delhi ). 199.J. 2/58.