History of Science in South Asia - University of Alberta

History of Science in South AsiaA journal for the history of all forms of scientific thought and action ancient and modern in all regions of South Asia

Special issueTransmutations Rejuvenation Longevity andImmortality Practices in South and Inner Asia

Edited by Dagmar Wujastyk Suzanne Newcombeand Christegravele Barois

Introduction

Dagmar Wujastyk Suzanne Newcombe and Christegravele BaroisUniversity of Vienna Inform (LSE) University of Vienna

MLA style citation form Dagmar Wujastyk Suzanne Newcombe and Christegravele Barois ldquoIntroductionrdquo His-tory of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) indashxvii doi 1018732hssav5i233Online version available at httphssa-journalorg

HISTORY OF SCIENCE IN SOUTH ASIAA journal for the history of all forms of scientific thought and action ancient and modern in allregions of South Asia published online at httphssa-journalorg

ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board

bull Dominik Wujastyk University of Alberta Edmonton Canadabull Kim Plofker Union College Schenectady United Statesbull Dhruv Raina Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi Indiabull Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma formerly Aligarh Muslim University Duumlsseldorf Germanybull Fabrizio Speziale Universiteacute Sorbonne Nouvelle ndash CNRS Paris Francebull Michio Yano Kyoto Sangyo University Kyoto Japan

PublisherHistory of Science in South Asia

Principal ContactDominik Wujastyk Editor University of AlbertaEmail ⟨wujastykualbertaca⟩

Mailing AddressHistory of Science in South AsiaDepartment of History and Classics2ndash81 HM Tory BuildingUniversity of AlbertaEdmonton AB T6G 2H4Canada

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making researchfreely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge

Copyrights of all the articles rest with the respective authors and published under the provisionsof Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 40 License

The electronic versions were generated from sources marked up in LATEX in a computer runninggnulinux operating system pdf was typeset using XƎTEX from TEXLive The base font used forLatin script and oldstyle numerals was TEX Gyre Pagella developed by gust the Polish TEX UsersGroup

Introduction


Wild and diverse outcomes are associated with transmutational practicesthe prolongation of life the recovery of youth the cure of diseases

invincibility immortality enlightenment liberation from the cycle of rebirthsand unending bliss This range of outcomes is linked to specific practicestaught in separate traditions and lineages in medical alchemical yogic andtantric milieus across South and Inner Asia These practices can be individualor collective esoteric or secular and occur in different places from hospitalto village to monastery they involve transmutations of substances as well astransmutations of the body Every expression by a particular lineage has adistinguishing articulation Yet there are also very clear commonalities andinterconnections between the traditionsrsquo aims methods and expected resultsIn this special issue of HSSA we examine transmutational practices and theirunderlying concepts in the wider context of South and Inner Asian cultureHow do these practices and ideas connect and cross-fertilise And converselyhow are they delineated and distinct

This collection of articles was created in the framework of AyurYog a col-laborative project that seeks to unpack how the South Asian milieus of yogaAyurveda and alchemy have interacted over time The quest for youthfulnessand longevity is a pervasive theme in Indic literatures and stories of attemptsto prolong life or to become young again are found in many different literarygenres This is a huge and largely understudied area of comparative historicalresearch The AyurYog project was conceived as a way to open research towardsexploring the interconnections between what are typically studied as distinctfields of expertise over a longue dureacutee As a way of focusing the scope of theresearch the AyurYog project has given special attention to longevity and vital-isation practices called rasāyana and kāyakalpa as possible key areas of exchangebetween the disciplines of yoga alchemy and Ayurveda For the pre-modernperiod the AyurYog project has focused on Sanskrit texts drawing comparat-ively on works from medical alchemical and yogic contexts For the modernperiod the AyurYog project is examining how these concepts and practices havechanged as portrayed in government reports print publications newspaper art-

history of science in south asia 52 (2017) indashxvii

ii introduction

icles and in contemporary practices where possible Some of the initial results ofthe AyurYog project are to be found in this collection of papers

The transmutational practices represented in Sanskrit sources dialogue withthose of other cultures and languages in South and Inner Asia sometimes includ-ing obvious parallels in terms of terminology procedures or substances usedand at other times demonstrating conscious distinctions between soteriologicaland technical frameworks In order to explore some of these dialogues AyurYoghas facilitated one international academic workshop and an international con-ference1 In both scientific meetings the group of researchers aimed at bringingtogether the various specialist approaches of similar practices in distinct timesand locations in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of the developmentand positioning of each particular presentation of transmutational beliefs andpractices

In this volume we are pleased to be able to draw together for publication awide scope of research into this area of enquiry In addition to the examinationof these concepts and practices in Sanskritic South Asian traditions we featureground-breaking research on the related practices and concepts of kāyakarpamchuumllen (Wylie bcud len) and mendrup (Wylie sman sgrub) developed in the TamilSiddha medico-alchemical tradition and in Tibetan Buddhist and Bonpo con-texts respectively The issue also offers an exploration of Islamic yogic longevitypractices that emerged in Sufi milieus of the Roshang kingdom between the fif-teenth and eighteenth centuries Many practices first described in centuries-oldtexts survive into the present in various forms as the articles here detail

The article by Christegravele Barois in this volume takes up the question of howthe early Sanskrit medical writers and their commentators conceived of ageingand lifespan in a detailed study of the concept of vayas a Sanskrit term for rdquoagerdquordquovigourrdquo rdquoyouthrdquo or rdquoany period of liferdquo Noting the complexity of the differentmedical writerrsquos conceptions of vayas Barois explains how the medical treatisesand their commentaries concur in presenting vayas as a general process of trans-formation that is governed by time and offers an analysis of what role the dif-ferent concepts of age and ageing played in medical practice She questions inparticular the meaning of vayaḥsthāpana rdquostabilization of agerdquo a positive effectof medical rasāyana in light of the definition of vayas in classical medicine

Rasāyana practices that is practices generally associated with the prolonga-tion of lifespan and rejuvenation are first comprehensively described in the early

1 The workshop ldquoRejuvenation Longev-ity Immortality Perspectives on rasāyanakāyakalpa and bcud len practicesrdquo was held in2016 and the conference entitled ldquoMedicineand Yoga in South and Inner Asia Body

Cultivation Therapeutic Intervention andthe Sowa Rigpa Industryrdquo was held in 2017A selection of the papers given at theseevents are available at the AyurYog YouTubechannel (Wujastyk et al 2018)


wujastyk newcombe and barois iii

Sanskrit medical texts where they are defined as one of eight normative subjectareas of Ayurveda2 The term rdquorasāyanardquo itself is difficult to translate as the twoelements of the compound ie rdquorasardquo and rdquoayanardquo or rdquoāyanardquo each have a rangeof possible meanings Both Dagmar Wujastyk and Philipp Maas discuss differ-ent interpretations of the term in this volume In Sanskrit medical literaturerasāyana describes a type of substance or medicine as well as the regimen andtreatment associated with its intake In most cases rasāyana procedures are de-picted in terms of a medical therapy supervised by a physician and administeredto a patient particularly in the context of the more complex treatments How-ever the early medical treatises also allude to rasāyana as a practice pro-activelyundertaken by individuals wishing for certain results3 As shown by Wujastykthe results of rasāyana treatments described in the medical treatises range fromanti-ageing effects to the prolongation of life from the cure of specific diseases tothe attainment of perfect health from the improvement of mental and physicalpowers to the development of extraordinary powers

The term rdquorasāyanardquo is also prominent in Sanskrit alchemical literature whereit is used to describe the characteristics of raw substances and compound formu-lations but more often denotes the culmination of alchemical practice The latterconsists of a series of preparatory applications of various cleansing formulationsfollowed by the intake of mercurial elixirs for transmutation Here rasāyana de-scribes a regimen in which activities are actively undertaken by practitioners whoself-administer elixirs made by themselves in complicated and laborious proced-ures As discussed in Wujastykrsquos article the alchemical rasāyana shares a numberof features with the medical rasāyana in terms of applied substances proceduresand aims However there are also significant divergences Important concur-rences include the methodology of rasāyana treatmentpractice which in both

2 The earliest Sanskrit medical texts theCarakasaṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā dateto the early centuries CE though someof their contents may be several centuriesolder while their final redactions date toroughly the middle of the first millenniumCE Citations in this introduction are to theeditions of Ācārya (1981 1992)3 See for example Carakasaṃhitā cikitsā-sthāna 1116-28 for a description of rdquoin-the-hutrdquo-treatment in which a physician iscalled to administer (Sanskrit upācaret rdquoheshould administerrdquo) medicines By contrastsee Carakasaṃhitā cikitsāsthāna 12 32-35which declares that rdquoone who desires the

effects of rasāyanardquo should employ (Sans-krit prayojayet) formulations based on longpepper Similarly Suśrutasaṃhitā cikitsā-sthāna 273 states that a wise physician (San-skrit bhiṣak) should apply rasāyana duringthe young or middle-aged period of a manwhile Suśrutasaṃhitā cikitsāsthāna 29 out-lines how a particular rasāyana procedure in-volving the intake of soma is actively un-dertaken by the person consuming the po-tion without the involvement of a physicianMost commonly neutral expressions areused describing how a drug works ratherthan describing its application through aphysician or its intake by a practitioner


iv introduction

literatures is described as entailing the preliminary internal cleansing of the pa-tientrsquospractitionerrsquos body with predominantly herbal preparations to create op-timal conditions for the application of the rasāyana tonic or elixir proper There isalso a significant overlap in both literatures in terms of the stated effects of rasā-yana such as the cure of specific diseases the improvement of cognitive abilitiesand the enhancement of physical power and virility However the alchemicaltexts describe further effects notably the attainment of immortality a god-likecondition or godhead itself that are absent in medical literature

An important divergence between medical and alchemical literature lies inthe substances used for rasāyana and the ways in which these substances areemployed In alchemical literature mercury is the most prominent substanceand the central ingredient in the rasāyana process Its application during thefinal rasāyana activities is preceded by complex metallurgical procedures Fromthe seventh-century mercury is included among rasāyana ingredients in the San-skrit medical treatises but is never presented as the most important substanceFrom about the ninth century Sanskrit medical works increasingly includedmetals and minerals into their pharmacopoeia and their rasāyana formulationsSimultaneously these later medical texts integrated methods for processingthese materials that show close parallels to the metallurgical procedures ofthe alchemical works However the metallurgical procedures described in themedical works are usually much simpler than those described in the alchemicalworks and are not exclusively associated with rasāyana practice They also occurin other medical contexts in which metals and minerals are used in medicinalcompounds The rasāyana of early medical literature (up to and including theseventh-century works attributed to Vāgbhaṭa) is furthermore embedded in abroadly brahmanic worldview with references to Vedic sages and gods as wellas to religious observance and the fulfilment of the brahmanic three goals of life(Sanskrit trivarga) ie righteousness wealth and pleasure4

Here rasāyana is an indirect means to these ends in that the health andlongevity attained through rasāyana enables a person to pursue these goals Thealchemical rasāyana by contrast is typically set within a Śaiva context withthe origins of rasāyana being attributed to rdquoperfected beingsrdquo (Sanskrit siddha)instead of Vedic sages and liberation from the cycle of rebirths envisioned aspossible within a living body (Sanskrit jīvanmukti)

4 See for example the talk by Maas (2017)where he discusses the narrative role of theVedic sages in the rasāyana chapter of theCarakasaṃhitā In regard to the brahmanicgoals in life it should be noted that they arenot featured in the Suśrutasaṃhitārsquos exposi-

tion of rasāyana The Carakasaṃhitā mentionsthe fourth brahmanic goal of life ie libera-tion (mokṣa) in other contexts but not in itsrasāyana chapter See also Roşu (1978) on thetrivarga in ayurvedic literature


wujastyk newcombe and barois v

Thus in the alchemical texts the practice of rasāyana endows practitionerswith the long life needed to pursue their spiritual practice but at the same timeis also the means itself to achieve spiritual aims5

While rasāyana is prominently featured in Sanskrit medical and alchemicalworks it seems it played only a minor role in Sanskrit works on yoga PhilippMaasrsquo article ldquoOn the Meaning of Rasāyana in Classical Yoga and Ayurvedardquo inthis volume explores two passages that refer to rasāyana in the Pātantildejalayogaśāstra(PYŚ references are to Āgāśe and Āpaṭe 1904) and several of its commentariesBoth of the examined passages use the term in the sense of elixir or magic potionIn the first (PYŚ 41) a rasāyana preparation is explained as an alternative meansfor acquiring extraordinary capacities (siddhi) in the second (PYŚ 351) the rasā-yana potion is associated with preventing old age and death and thus enablingthe user to prolong the enjoyment of worldly and especially sexual pleasuresThe effects of rasāyana described in these short and somewhat obscure passagescorrelate to some degree with descriptions of the effects of rasāyana in the old-est Sanskrit medical works However in the PYŚ the intake of rasāyana potionsis associated with divine or supernatural domains and the intervention of theirinhabitants and thus the circumstances for the use of rasāyana potions are dif-ferent from those described in medical literature Maas notes differences in theinterpretations of the PYŚrsquos commentators One reinforces the idea of rasāyana asmagical elixirs unavailable to humans under normal conditions another associ-ates rasāyana with the use of mercury thus connecting the PYŚrsquos rasāyana with themercurial elixirs of alchemical traditions A further commentary relates rasāyanato the intake of soma and Indian gooseberry (Sanskrit āmalaka) and thus estab-lishes a connection with the early Sanskrit medical works the Suśrutaṣāṃhitā andthe Carakasaṃhitā which describe soma and Indian gooseberry as key rasāyanasubstances respectively

Unfortunately the present volume does not contain a discussion of rasāyana inmedieval yoga and Śaiva literature Here rasāyana can take very different formsto what is described in the medical texts To give one example of an interpretationof rasāyana in a Śaiva text from before the tenth century the Netratantra uses theterm rasāyana as a synonym of amṛta (ambrosia) in its description of meditation

5 For example the Rasahṛdayatantra (Kāḷeand Ācārya 1911) a tenth-century Sans-krit alchemical treatise describes in its firstchapter (in verses 27ndash33) how the applica-tion of an elixir based on mercury and sul-phur will prolong life and enable the yogito attain liberation by providing extra time

for its pursuit And in its nineteenth and fi-nal chapter the same work describes a rasā-yana process with a series of elixirs throughwhich the practitioner can attain liberationSee Wujastyk (2017) in this volume for a de-tailed description of chapter nineteen of theRasahṛdayatantra


vi introduction

on a form of Śiva named Mṛtyujit or Mṛtyuntildejaya (rdquohe who overcomes deathrdquo)or Amṛteśa (rdquoimmortal lordrdquo)6 According to the Netratantra

The yogin strengthens his body or that of another through the in-crease of the supreme ambrosia from subtle meditation he becomesprovided with a divine body devoid of any disease7

Here meditation takes the place of intervention with medicinal compoundsOther methods for attaining longevity and freedom from disease that are prom-inent in haṭhayoga literature include other yogic techniques such as visualisationbreathing excercises postures etc Jason Birchrsquos research shows that referenceto rasāyana practices (albeit not under the name of rasāyana) is rare in haṭhayogatexts Birch has found three instances in haṭha- and rājayoga literature the first oc-curs in the fourteenth-century Khecarīvidyā and is then discussed in its commen-tary the post-fifteenth-century Bṛhatkhecarīprakāśa while further textual paral-lels and identical recipes are found in the eighteenth-century Yuktabhavadeva byBhavadeva The Khecarīvidyārsquos fourth chapter titled rdquoHerbs for Special Powersrdquo(Sanskrit siddhyauṣadhāni) lists recipes for rejuvenation longevity and immor-tality Mallinson (2007 13) suggests that this chapter was a later addition to thetext and notes that a parallel chapter is found in Matsyendrasaṃhitā ch 288 Birchpoints to similarities between the Khecarīvidyārsquos recipes and rasāyana formula-tions of the early Sanskrit medical works and suggests that some of its formu-lations may have been taken or adapted from the medical works while othershave parallels with recipes found in alchemical literature However he also notesthat he has not found textual parallels between the Khecarīvidyārsquos fourth chapterand any Sanskrit medical work that can be dated to before the seventeenth cen-tury This research was presented by Jason Birch in his talk rdquoImmortality andHerbs in Medieval Yoga Traditionsrdquo at the AyurYog workshop in October 2016 onlsquoRejuvenation longevity immortality Perspectives on rasāyana kāyakalpa andbcud len practicesrsquo held at the University of Vienna Birch also briefly discussesrasāyana in the wider context of medical elements in medieval yoga traditions inhis article rdquoPremodern Yoga Traditions and Ayurveda Preliminary Remarks ontheir Shared Terminology Theory and Praxisrdquo9

On the other hand it is clear that the authors of haṭhayoga literature knewof alchemical procedures For example in the Haṭhapradīpikā (fifteenth century)an extended metaphor of the mind (manas) as mercury unequivocally shows theauthorrsquos familiarity with mercurial practices

6 See Netratantra 712 Brunner (1974 143)translates rasāyana as rdquoelixir for long liferdquo7 Netratantra 74cdndash5 स ानामतनव परणवो-िदतन त आ ाय क त योगी आ नो वा पर चिद दहः स भवित सव ािधिवव जतः

8 Chapter 29 of the Matsyendrasaṃhitā alsoseems to be about rasāyana See Mallinson2007 170 n 279 Birch 2018


wujastyk newcombe and barois vii

In the same way as mercury the mind becomes fixed devoid of un-steadiness due to the assimilation of the sound which is comparableto sulphur and succeeds in wandering in the space named lsquosupport-lessrsquo10

However longevity practices in the yoga traditions and their connection to al-chemical rasāyana remain a poorly studied field partly due to the large numberof texts still unedited

Sanskrit medical works up to at least the eighteenth century continued to in-clude rasāyana therapy in their presentations of ayurvedic medicine Howeverthe more complicated procedures described in the texts seem to have becomerare in actual medical practice Reports of rasāyana treatments (under the al-ternative name of kāyakalpa) from the first half of the twentieth century describethe application of methods such as the rdquoin the hutrdquo (kuṭīpraveśika) method ofrasāyana therapy as somewhat experimental11 And in one case treatment de-pended on the expertise of a yogi rather than on that of ayurvedic physiciansIn this volume Suzanne Newcombe discusses the incident of the rejuvenationof the prominent Indian nationalist Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861ndash1946) whounderwent a heavily-publicised intensive kāyakalpa treatment in 1938 under thesupervision of a wandering ascetic a sadhu called Tapasviji Baba Malaviyarsquoskāyakalpa treatment was based on the rasāyana regimen described in the Sanskritmedical works and involved using a rasāyana formula from the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya-saṃhitā (a seventh-century Sanskrit medical work) However treatment was dir-ected by the yogi Tapasviji Baba who was known to be an expert on the sub-ject The episode raises interesting questions on the extent to which sadhus andvaidyas exchanged information on medical treatments and techniques SuzanneNewcombe argues that this marked an important point in the shared history ofyoga and Ayurveda as the two disciplines were subsequently linked together asmethods for the promotion of rejuvenation and longevity Tapasviji Baba him-self claimed to have reached the age of approximately 250 years at the time of hisdeath in 1955 by undergoing multiple kāyakalpa treatments Newcombersquos articleshows that Malaviyarsquos health cure may have marked a turning point for popularperception of ayurvedic prescriptions as rejuvenative and also set the ground for

10 Haṭhapradīpikā 496 ब िवम चा- नादग कजारणात मनःपारदमा ोित

िनराल ा खऽटनम11 This method of treatment involves util-izing a purpose-built hut that shields thepatient from drafts and sunlight and is

first described in the Carakasaṃhitārsquos rasā-yana chapter and also in the Suśrutasaṃ-hitārsquos rasāyana chapter though not underthe name of kuṭīpraveśika See Newcombe(2017) in this volume Roşu 1975 and Wu-jastyk 2015


viii introduction

the promotion of pantildecakarma (rdquofive (cleansing) proceduresrdquo) as the most prom-inent aspect of ayurvedic therapy

The term rdquokāyakalpardquo is not used in any of the Sanskrit medical works It isalso not found in any of the medieval Sanskrit works on yoga and it seems toonly rarely occur in Sanskrit alchemical works12 However it is common in itsTamilized form of rdquokāyakarpamrdquo in Tamil Siddha medico-alchemical literatureAs Ilona Kędzia explores in this volume kāyakarpam combines elements of yogawith medicine and alchemy and may thus constitute the link between the threedisciplines missing in Sanskrit literature The kāyakarpam of Tamil Siddha litera-ture has some overlap with medical rasāyana but more closely resembles aspectsof the rasāyana of Sanskrit alchemical literature with strong parallels in the useof substances methods and applications Both Sanskrit alchemical works andthe Tamil Siddha writings ascribe a dual function to plant materials as ingredi-ents in tonics and elixirs on the one hand but also as substances used as catalystsin metallurgical procedures on the other Mercury plays as central a role in theTamil Siddha practices as it does in alchemical rasāyana but the Tamil sourcesalso emphasise the use of various salts and soils whose chemical composition isa matter of some uncertainty but that seem specific to the Tamil tradition

As Kędzia shows the Tamil Siddha kāyakarpam practices also exhibit furtherunique features such as the integration of yogic techniques and aims Yogicpractices which hardly find mention in the Sanskrit medical worksrsquo presenta-tions of rasāyana are present or at least alluded to in depictions of rasāyana inSanskrit alchemical literature but play a more central and integrated role in theTamil texts13 A further and substantial difference between the Tamil and Sans-krit texts lies in how they present their contents the Tamil Siddha texts conceiveof kāyakarpam as esoteric secret practices and use a special coded language todescribe them Kędzia suggests that the use of cryptic symbolic expressions andambiguous technical terms in the Tamil Siddha texts may serve several functions

12 In a personal communication (emailDecember 15 2017) Jason Birch (HaṭhaYoga Project) confirmed that he had notcome across the term kāyakalpa or even re-lated terms such as deha- śarīra- etc kalpain any yoga text with the one exception be-ing an unnamed nineteenth-century com-pilation on yoga A search for rdquokāyardquo inthe Digital Corpus of Sanskrit (DCS Hell-wig 1999ndash) brings up one single hit forrdquokāyakalpardquo in the listed alchemical worksRasaratnākara 1448 There may be furtheroccurrences of the term in alchemical works

or parts of works not contained in the DCS13 This statement depends on what one in-cludes as rdquoyogic practicerdquo Suśrutasaṃhitācikitsāsthāna 2912 which describes the in-take of soma notes that the person under-taking rasāyana should observe silence andpractice rdquoyamardquo and rdquoniyamardquo The lattercould be understood generally as referringto good behaviour but could also refer tothe concepts of yama and niyama as two ele-ments of the eightfold path of yoga as ex-pounded in the second chapter of the Pātantilde-jalayogaśāstra


wujastyk newcombe and barois ix

to protect the great truths of the Siddha doctrine from profanation by uninitiatedpersons to allow persons outside the literary elite to access Siddha teachingsandor to convey mystical experiences that cannot be expressed in ordinary lan-guage

Three articles in this issue address transmutational practices and conceptsspecific to Tibetan cultural milieus Anna Sehnalovarsquos article furthers our under-standing by describing continuity and changes in the Bonpo mendrup ritual TheTibetan religious tradition of Bon can be understood both as a tradition withinTibetan Buddhism and in other circumstances as a contrast to Buddhism as it in-corporates many indigenous and pre-Buddhist beliefs and practices (Buddhismarrived in Tibet around the seventh century) As Sehnalova describes contem-porary Bonpos ie monks of Bonpo monasteries and their lay communitiesadopt many Buddhist precepts while maintaining non-Buddhist ideas She sug-gests that extant mendrup rituals epitomise the Bonpo monastic milieu informedby Buddhist and other Indian tantric models The appellation rdquomendruprdquo is acompound of two words 1 men (Wylie sman) denoting rdquomedicinerdquo a healingsubstance or in general something beneficial and 2 drup (Wylie sgrub) mean-ing rdquoto achieve attain accomplishrdquo and thus can translate as rdquomedicinal ac-complishmentrdquo The Bonpo mendrup bears many similarities to the Nyingmamendrup monastic practice described in this volume by Cathy Cantwell and bothtraditions are also likely to have originated in the same time period (see below)Within its immense complexity the Bonpo mendrup ritual combines Indian tan-trism Buddhism and its soteriological ideas the Tibetan medical tradition ofSowa Rigpa (gso ba rig pa) alchemy and Tibetan indigenous religious notionsThe ritual is centred on an inner-personal transformation through meditationupon tantric deities and self-identification with them accompanied by the pro-duction and consumption of specially empowered substances which are com-pounded according to the principles of Tibetan medical traditions Sehnalovaexplains that in Tibetan contexts the performance of the mendrup ritual can varyfrom being a small yearly rite for the enhancement of drug efficacy in medicalinstitutions (as discussed in Barbara Gerkersquos article in this volume) an irregularvillage event or an extended monastic celebration

A full monastic ritual described by Sehnalova in the Bonpo context andCathy Cantwell in the Nyingma context is one of the most elaborate demandingand expensive rituals of the contemporary Tibetan milieu In her article inthis volume Sehnalova dates the establishment of the monastic mendrup ritualin the Bonpo milieu to the eleventh and twelfth centuries with the discoveryof two rdquotreasure textsrdquo detailing the ritual which can be dated to this periodThese texts mention the Sanskrit word rasāyana (Tibetan ra sa ya na) possiblyreferring to the use of the substance mercury However the essential core of themedicine created in the ritual is attributed to a rdquofermenting agentrdquo known as


x introduction

phabta (phabs gtarsquo) Through mentions of mendrup in extant known Bonpo textsSehnalova extrapolates that this ritual has been performed periodically sincethis period and that contemporary enactments in the Tibetan exile communitystill clearly follow these eleventh- to twelfth-century descriptions althoughdifferent practices are evident in the textual record

Cathy Cantwellrsquos article describes a similar ritual context of bcud len perform-ance in the Tibetan Nyingma monastic tradition Cantwell explains how rdquotakingthe essence juicerdquo her translation of bcud len can imply incorporating essencesinto oneself but may also refer to the practice of taking or extracting essencesfrom a substance Nyingma sources also feature the term rdquorasāyanardquo in Tibetantransliteration (ra sa ya na) in the context of Medicinal Accomplishment (smansgrub = mendrup) practices Cantwell shows how the Nyingma practice of bcudlen is part of a wider set of tantric techniques and is depicted as a supportingpractice for meditation and other yogic practices aiming at enlightenment iethe realization of Buddhahood Cantwell emphasizes that these bcud len prac-tices are subsidiary rather than self-sufficient components of a wider meditationsystem often serving as an optional extra to the main meditational practice Thesacred pills whose spiritual rather than medicinal qualities are emphasized aredistributed at the end of the session to the entire congregation as occurs in theBonpo communities

Barbara Gerkersquos article in this volume surveys the uses and effects ascribedto Tibetan precious pills (rinchen rilbu) and queries which features qualify for-mulations as rdquopreciousrdquo14 Sowa Rigpa sources attribute precious pills with awide range of efficacies very similar to those ascribed to rasāyana tonics in theSanskrit medical works including special powers prevention of poisoning re-juvenation prolonging life and promoting strength and vigour The focus ofGerkersquos study is on the rejuvenating qualities attributed to precious pills andshe explores how they are currently advertised how chuumllen (Wylie bcud len) fre-quently translated as ldquorejuvenationrdquo is and has been explained in Tibetan workson precious pills and how Tibetan physicians understand these attributes nowGerke differentiates between the use of the term chuumllen in the pharmacologicalcontext of making medicines and the use of the term to describe the applicationof the prepared medicines In the pharmacological context she understands con-temporary medicinal-focused chuumllen as rdquoessence extractionrdquo a process in whichthe essence (chuuml) is extracted from substances such as stones flowers metals orminerals through soaking cooking and other practices Chuumllen in the context ofthe application of the prepared medicine somewhat inadequately represented

14 Gerke uses THL Simplified PhoneticTranscription to represent Tibetan script

for example writing chuumllen rather than theWylie bcud len


wujastyk newcombe and barois xi

in its translation as rdquorejuvenationrdquo conveys the imbibing of the extracted vitalessences to support spiritual and physical health

Gerke also describes how notions of preventative and rejuvenating benefitshave been adopted widely in precious pill presentations in notices leaflets andon websites particularly those addressed to a foreign clientele Historically pre-cious pills were more closely associated with the treatment of serious diseaseswhile only those precious pills containing a mercury-sulfide compound calledrdquotsotelrdquo (Wylie btso thal) were considered to have rejuvenating properties IndeedGerke notes how the subject of chuumllen is only very briefly alluded to in the contextof precious pills in the Four Treatises which provides a more detailed discus-sion of chuumllen in sections on rdquomaintaining healthrdquo and rdquotreating the agedrdquo15 Thelatter sections show clear links with the rasāyana chapter of the seventh-centurySanskrit medical classic Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaysaṃhitā and contain no mention of preciouspills at all Gerke argues that the more widespread presentation of precious pillsas having rejuvenating properties is a relatively recent development that is partof their increased production and pharmaceutical commodification but is alsoanchored in the Four Treatises where chuumllen benefits are attributed to preciousmedicines

A significant difference between the rasāyanakāyakarpam of the Sanskrit andTamil Siddha sources and the Tibetan practices of mendrup chuumllen and ra sa ya namay lie in the idea of the practice being of significance for the community andbeyond In the Tibetan context the ritual is considered efficacious beyond anybenefit for a single individual Cantwell explains how the notion of rasāyanain particular is linked to a fundamental feature of Buddhist tantra namely theconcept of the tantric bond (Tibetan dam tshig Sanskrit samaya) linking the practi-tioner with the guru the deity and the community of practitioners Here imbib-ing the sacred substances is understood as a way of connecting the practitionerswith the sacred tantric metaphysical understanding

There is nevertheless some overlap in the method of practice between theTibetan and Sanskrit traditions Cantwell describes that for the monastic ritualperformers the bcud len preparation begins by the monks performing an internalcleansing of the physical body Similar preliminary procedures are also con-ducted in the context of mendrup practices Furthermore some substances usedin bcud len such as shilajit and mercury-sulfide compounds overlap with thematerials used in rasāyana recipes in Sanskrit traditions However other ingredi-ents such as juniper and the rhododendron flower are not found in either theSanskrit medical or alchemical rasāyana texts The monastic ritual enactmentsof bcud len and mendrup contrast with the use of bcud len in the medical tradi-tion of Sowa Rigpa Visualised tantric consecrations during the practice and the

15 Gerke (2013) analyses these chapters


xii introduction

aim of enlightenment is central to bcud len ritual performance In contrast theprimary aim of bcud len in the context of contemporary Sowa Rigpa milieus is thephysical well-being of the physicianrsquos patients rather than any spiritual benefitseven though the physical and spiritual aspects may be seen as complementaryIn this the bcud len of Sowa Rigpa is more similar to the rasāyana of Sanskrit med-ical literature while both alchemical rasāyana and Tamil Siddha kāyakarpam alsoemphasize spiritual aims

Longevity and vitalization practices were also developed within Islamic con-texts in South and Inner Asia To date there is not much research available on thetopic A recent article by Tzvi Langermann entitled rdquoThe Chapter on Rasāyana(Medications for Rejuvenation) in Miʿrāj al-duʿāʾ a Shiʿite Text from the 12th18thCenturyrdquo explores a fairly late example of longevity practices in Shiʿite Litera-ture The author of the examined Shiʿite work Muḥammad Aʿlī al-Qazwīnīuses the Sanskrit name of rdquorasāyanardquo in Arabic transliteration for the longev-ity recipes he describes According to Langermann Al-Qazwīnī probably tookhis definition of rasāyana as rdquothe chemistry of the bodyrdquo (kīmīyāʾ al-badan) fromMuḥammad b Yūsuf al-Harawīrsquos (d 9491542) Baḥr al-jawāhir which offers thefollowing definition rdquorasāyana an Indian word whose meaning is lsquochemistry ofthe bodyrsquo Books on rasāyana are books about electuaries and compoundsrdquo16

Langermann traces the provenance of the use of the term rasāyana in Arabicliterature even further back noting that the term is mentioned briefly by at leasttwo other earlier Arabic writers namely by the early ninth-century physicianAʿlī b Sahl Rabbān al-Ṭabarī who defines rasāyana as rdquothat which rejuvenatesthat which renewsrdquo (al-mushabbib al-mujaddid) and gives several rasāyana recipesin his Firdaws al-Ḥikma and by the tenth-century scholar Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnīwho refers to rasāyana in his book on India and in his translation and reworkingof Pātantildejalirsquos work on yoga Langermann also mentions that the famous ninth-century polymath Abu Bakr al-Rāzī a pupil of al-Ṭabarī described a rejuvenat-ing drug under the same term used by al-Ṭabarī ie al-mushabbib This recipewas traced back by Oliver Kahl to Raviguptarsquos Siddhasāra a seventh-century San-skrit medical work with a short chapter on rasāyana17

The connections of rasāyana in the literature written by Islamic scholars to therasāyana of Sanskrit medical literature are fairly evident if not always traceable tospecific Sanskrit medical works There is also a connection with Sanskrit alchem-ical literature As Langermann (2018 147) points out al-Bīrūnī takes rasāyana tobe synonymous with alchemy However Al-Bīrūnīrsquos initial account of rasāyanaseems to rather describe the rasāyana of the Sanskrit medical classics than that ofthe alchemical works

16 Langermann 2018 148 17 Kahl 2015 150ndash1


wujastyk newcombe and barois xiii

It means an art which is restricted to certain operations drugs andcompound medicines most of which are taken from plants Its prin-ciples restore the health of those who were ill beyond hope and giveback youth to fading old age so that people become again what theywere in the age near puberty white hair becomes black again thekeenness of the senses is restored as well as the capacity for juven-ile agility and even for cohabitation and the life of people in thisworld is even extended to a long period And why not Have wenot already mentioned on the authority of Patantildejali that one of themethods leading to liberation is Rasāyana18

However in the narrative that follows al-Bīrūnī retells stories of the making ofgold as the purpose of rasāyana and concludes with the following advice rdquoIf thisprecious science of Rasāyana were banished to the utmost limits of the worldwhere it is unattainable to anybody it would be the bestrdquo19 The term rasāyana istoday often used in the sense of alchemy as Wujastyk notes in this issue Perhapsthis usage goes back directly to the writings of al-Bīrūnī The understanding oflongevity practices in Islamic contexts and their connection to the various articu-lations of rasāyana in Sanskrit literature is an area of research that deserves moreattention

Forthcoming research by Fabrizio Speziale will hopefully throw more light onthe integration of rasāyana in Persian medical literature He presented some pre-liminary research on this topic in his keynote speech at the AyurYog conferencerdquoMedicine and Yoga in South and Inner Asiardquo in 2017 where he explored con-cepts methods and materials associated with rasaśāstra and rasāyana in Persianliterature20 His presentation showed that descriptions of rasāyana specificallypassages dealing with compound mineral drugs and purified metals became afeature of Persian texts from the fourteenth century this interest continued intothe nineteenth century Here again we may note the conflation of medical rasā-yana with alchemical rasāyana Spezialersquos work indicates that rasāyana in the Per-sian works mostly refers to alchemy the term rasāyana being used for the wholeof alchemy rather than the subset of rasāyana activities as described by Wujastykin this issue Speziale noted that there was not a simple way to translate rasā-yana or rasaśāstra into Persian since earlier Persian medical culture did not havea specific term to refer to iatrochemistry and did not use the Arabic term kīmiyāto refer to iatrochemical materials until the eighteenth century

The theme of longevity practices in South Asian Islamic contexts is taken upby Projit Mukharji who provides some tantalizing insight into the quests towards

18 Sachau 1910 188ndash8919 Sachau 1910 193

20 Speziale 2017


xiv introduction

immortality and longevity and the connections between Islamic and yogic prac-tices in the Roshang kingdom The multicultural Roshang kingdom also knownas the Arakan kingdom or Mrauk-U kingdom straddled the areas we now dif-ferentiate as South and South East Asia from 1430 to 1784 its Buddhist kings dir-ectly and indirectly patronized generations of Muslim Bengali scholars Draw-ing variously from tantric Sufi and yogic Nāth traditions some Muslim Bengalischolars in this milieu described longevity practices within an Islamic tantric so-teriology

Mukharji compares the discussion of life and longevity practices in threeBengali Islamic texts produced in the kingdom of Roshang in the period betweenthe late sixteenth century and the early eighteenth century an anonymous workcalled Yoga Kalandar a text entitled Nurjāmāl bā Suratnāmā by Haji Muhammadand finally the Sirnāmā by Kaji Sheikh Monsur These texts describe sets oflongevity practices that involve visualisations of spiritual stations (mokam) in thebody As Mukharji explains the concept of mokams is roughly analogous to thecakra system first described in Sanskrit tantric texts and developed in haṭhayogaliterature but each mokam is associated with the direct guardianship of a specificarchangel and is thus brought into an Islamic context Practices involving med-itation and visualization focused on specific mokams were believed to promoteboth longevity and spiritual attainment

As Mukharji shows each of the works uses certain strikingly similar meta-phors and images to describe life in the context of these practices Their im-agery of flame fire and breeze conveys a sense of life that is not linked to thepassing of time but with an idea of life as a material state connected to nat-ural elements such as fire and air Mukharji asserts that due to its geographicalposition Roshang was influenced by Persianate rather than Sinophone cultureHowerver we may nevertheless point to Daoist discourses in which imagisticand metaphorical language of inner alchemical transformation can include dis-cussions of light fire and various reactive vessels such as stoves furnaces21 Therelationships of East Asian transformative beliefs and practices with those of In-ner and South Asia is an important area which deserves its own intensive col-laborate research project as this nascent field matures

A central concept in the inception of the AyurYog project has been that ofentanglements Through comparing these collections of related practices andsubstances through various times and places we can see continuity of structurein concepts goals benefits and methods But tradition-specific understandingsinnovations and adjustments are also clear It is possible to understand the spec-trum of transmutational practices in South and Inner Asia as a shared and mov-ing culture with specific local articulations This culture of practices relating

21 Littlejohn 2017 and Komjathy 2007 142


wujastyk newcombe and barois xv

to promoting health longevity and enlightenment developed across millenniaContemporary national and linguistic distinctions and disciplines of study donot adequately match the multicultural exchanges in which these cultures ofconcept and practice have developed flourished mutated declined and havebeen revived over the centuries Intra-cultural entanglement is a fundamental inthe creation of these transmutation practices The articles in this volume are apreliminary effort to draw out some of the threads of these rich and fascinatingprocesses

1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Ayuryog project (ayuryogorg) was madepossible through funding from the European

Unionrsquos Horizon 2020 research and innovationprogramme under grant agreement no 639363

We would like to thank Dominik Wujastyk for hisproduction support on this special issue of History ofScience in South Asia

REFERENCES

Ācārya Yādavaśarman Trivikrama ed (1981) Carakasaṃhitā Śrīcakrapāṇid-attaviracitayā Āyurvedadīpikāvyākhyayā Saṃvalitā 4th ed New DelhiMunshiram Manoharlal

mdash ed (1992) Suśrutasaṃhitā śrīḍalhaṇācāryaviracitayā nibandhasaṃgrahākhya-vyākhyayā nidānasthānasya śrīgayadāsācāryaviracitayā nyāyacandrikākhyapantildejikā-vyākhyayā ca samullasitāhellipĀcāryopāhvena trivikramātmajena yādavaśarmaṇā hellipsaṃśodhitā 5th ed Vārāṇasī Delhi Caukhambhā Oriyanṭāliyā

Āgāśe Ve Śā Rā Rā Kāśīnātha Śāstrī and Hari Nārāyaṇa Āpaṭe eds (1904)Vācaspatimiśraviracitaṭīkāsaṃvalitavyāsabhāṣyasametāni PātantildejalayogasūtrāṇiTathā Bhojadevaviracitarājamārtaṇḍābhidhavṛttisametāni PātantildejalayogasūtrāṇiĀnandāśramasaṃskṛtagranthāvaliḥ 47 Puṇyākhyapattana Ānandāśrama-mudraṇālaya url httpsarchiveorgdetailspatanjaliyoga

Birch Jason (2018) ldquoPremodern Yoga Traditions and Ayurveda Preliminary Re-marks on Shared Terminology Theory and Praxisrdquo In History of Science inSouth Asia 6 In press

Brunner Heacutelegravene (1974) ldquoUn Tantra du Nord le Netra Tantrardquo In Bulletin delrsquoEcole franccedilaise drsquoExtrecircme-Orient 61 pp 125ndash97 doi 103406befeo19745195

Gerke Barbara (2013) ldquolsquoTreating the Agedrsquo and lsquoMaintaining Healthrsquo Locatingbcud len practices in the Four Medical Tantrasrdquo In Journal of the International


xvi introduction

Association of Buddhist Studies (2012) 3512 pp 329ndash362 doi 102143JIABS3513078168

Hellwig Oliver (1999ndash) DCS Digital Corpus of Sanskrit url httpkjc- fs-clusterkjcuni-heidelbergdedcsindexphp

Kahl Oliver (2015) The Sanskrit Syriac and Persian Sources in the ComprehensiveBook of Rhazes Leiden Brill isbn 9789004290259

Kāḷe Tryambaka and Yādavaśarman Trivikrama Ācārya eds (1911)Rasahṛdayatantram Śrīmadgovindabhagavatpādaviracitam Caturbhujamiśraviracita-Mugdhabodhinīvyākhyāsamullasitam Kāḷe ItyupahvagurunāthātmajatryambakenaTathā Ācāryopāhvena Trivikramātmajena Yādavaśarmaṇā Saṃśodhitam Āy-urvedīyagranthamālā 1 Bombay Nirṇayasāgara Press url https archive org details Rashridayatantra1927 (on 11 Feb 2018) ReprintLahore Motilal Banarsidas 1927

Komjathy Louis (2007) Cultivating Perfection Mysticism and Self-transformation inEarly Quanzhen Daoism Leiden Brill isbn 978-9004160385

Langermann Y Tzvi (2018) ldquoThe Chapter on Rasāyana (Medications for Re-juvenation) in Miʿrāj al-duʿāʾ a Shiʿite Text from the 12th18th CenturyrdquoIn Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 61-2 pp 144ndash183 doi 1011632212943x-00601010

Littlejohn Ronnie (2017) Daoist Philosophy 5 Fundamental Concepts in theDaodejing The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy url httpwwwieputmedudaoismH5 (on 11 Feb 2018)

Maas Philipp A (2017) On Carakarsquos Account of the Origin of Rasāyana Paperpresented at the conference ldquoMedicine and Yoga in South and Inner AsiardquoUniversity of Vienna url httpsyoutube0q4OJNcRIuc (on 11 Feb 2018)

Mallinson James (2007) The Khecarīvidyā of Ādinātha A Critical Edition and Annot-ated Translation of an Early Text of Haṭhayoga London and New York Routledgeisbn 0-415-39115-6

Newcombe Suzanne (2017) ldquoYogis Ayurveda and Kayakalpa ndash The Rejuvena-tion of Pandit Malaviyardquo In History of Science in South Asia 52 In press

Roşu Arion (1975) ldquoConsideacuterations Sur Une Technique Du Rasāyana Āy-urveacutediquerdquo In Indo-Iranian Journal 171 pp 1ndash29 issn 1572-8536 doi101163000000075790079222

mdash (1978) ldquoEacutetudes āyurveacutediques le trivarga dans lrsquoāyurvedardquo In IndologicaTaurinensia 6 pp 255ndash60

Sachau Edward C (1910) Alberunirsquos India An Account of the Religion PhilosophyLiterature Geography Chronology Astronomy Customs Laws and Astrology ofIndia about AD 1030 2 vols London Kegan Paul Trench Truebner and Courl httpsarchiveorgdetailsalberunisindia_201612 (on 11 Feb 2018)

Speziale Fabrizio (2017) ldquoRasaśāstra Rasāyana and Persian Medical Culturein South Asiardquo Paper presented at the conference ldquoMedicine and Yoga in


wujastyk newcombe and barois xvii

South and Inner Asiardquo Vienna url httpayuryogorgeventconference-medicine-and-yoga-south-and-inner-asia-body-cultivation-therapeutic-intervention (on 11 Feb 2018)

Wujastyk Dagmar (2015) ldquoOn Perfecting the Body Rasāyana in SanskritMedical Literaturerdquo In AION Annali dellrsquoUniversitagrave degli Studi di Na-poli ldquoLrsquoOrientalerdquo Elisir Mercuriale e Immortalitagrave Cpitoli per una StoriadellAacutelchimia nellAacutentica Eurasia A cura di Giacomella Orofino Amneris Rosellie Antonella Sannino XXXVII pp 55ndash77 issn 11128-7209 url https wwwlibrawebnetarticoliphpchiave=201509901amprivista=99 (on 16 Aug2017)

mdash (2017) ldquoActs of Improvement On the Use of Tonics and Elixirs in SanskritMedical and Alchemical Literaturerdquo In History of Science in South Asia 52pp 1ndash36 url httphssa-journalorg In press

Wujastyk Dagmar et al eds (2018) AyurYog YouTube Channel url httpswwwyoutubecomchannelUC4ssviEb_KoAtb2U_XaXf_w (on 11 Feb 2018)


Please write to ⟨wujastykualbertaca⟩ to file bugsproblem reports feature requests and to get involvedThe History of Science in South Asia bull Department of History and Classics 2ndash81 HM Tory Building Universityof Alberta Edmonton AB T6G 2H4 Canada




Acts of Improvement On the Use of Tonics andElixirs in Sanskrit Medical and AlchemicalLiterature

Dagmar WujastykUniversity of Vienna

MLA style citation form Dagmar Wujastyk ldquoActs of Improvement On the Use of Tonics and Elixirs inSanskrit Medical and Alchemical Literaturerdquo History of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) 1ndash36 doi1018732hssav5i226Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board








Acts of Improvement On the Use of Tonics andElixirs in Sanskrit Medical and Alchemical

Literature


Both Sanskrit medical and alchemical works describe procedures and formu-lations called ldquorasāyanardquo1 The term ldquorasāyanardquo is a compound of two words

ldquorasardquo (liquid juice flavour nutritive juice essence) and ldquoayanardquo (path way)or ldquoāyanardquo (reaching attaining) Because of the polyvalent meanings of its ele-ments in particular of ldquorasardquo there are different valid possibilities for interpret-ing the meaning of rasāyana2 Fenner (1979 69) suggested that ldquo(u)sing the termrasa in its general sense of essence the term rasāyana could be taken to mean theact of preparing what is of value in something or simply the act of improve-mentrdquo3

1 The differentiation between Sanskritmedical and alchemical literature is notclearcut in all cases I generally followthe convention of differentiating betweenthem as proposed by Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IIA 581ndash789) who separately listsa series of works under the rubric ofldquorasaśāstrardquo As the inclusion of these worksin a history of Indian medical literature in-dicates the relationship between them andmedical treatises ie works predominantlydedicated to health and healing can bevery close Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IA4)notes that ldquoRasaśāstra (alchemy and iatro-chemistry) and ayurveda are overlappingareas and became intimately connectedwith each other in the course of time Manytexts can only be classified as intermediatebetween the two or as belonging to both atthe same time For this reason my surveyembraces the literature on rasaśāstrardquo Seealso White 2012 491 for a useful list of

common elements found in alchemicalworks not found in medical works Onfurther differences between medical andalchemical literature see Dagmar Wujastykforthcoming2 Consider for example Whitersquos (1996 184)ldquoway of rasardquo Palitrsquos (2009 18) ldquopath thatrasa takesrdquo rasa being defined as ldquoprimor-dial tissue or plasmardquo here and Rāyrsquos trans-lation of rasāyana substances and medicinesas ldquoElixir Vitaerdquo (Rāy 1903 80)3 Based on a definition of rasāyana in theCarakasaṃhitā Fenner (1979 69) concludedthat ldquorasa can be viewed generally in itsmeaning as the nutrient fluid which spreadsthrough the body and specifically as one ofthe tastes or active principles which makesup this fluid The term ayana in rasayanacan now be understood as the art or way(from ayana = path) of preparing (or as theTibetans put it extracting) the rasardquo

history of science in south asia 52 (2017) 1ndash36

2 acts of improvement

In Sanskrit medical literature rasāyana is defined as one of eight subject areasof medicine The proclaimed aim of rasāyana therapies is to preserve or promotehealth and well-being but also to prolong life to halt degeneration caused byageing to rejuvenate and to improve cognitive function The term ldquorasāyanardquo de-scribes the therapies that together constitute this branch of medicine the meth-odology and regimen of treatment and the medicinal substances and formula-tions used in these therapies

Many Sanskrit medical works dedicate chapters to the subject of rasāyana4These typically contain lists of recipes and descriptions of their applications butalso definitions of rasāyana expositions on the characteristics and properties ofsingle raw materials instructions on the methodology of treatment descriptionsof who is suitable for treatment and prescriptions for behaviours and diet beforeduring or after treatment or even in lieu of treatment The oldest medical worksrsquopresentations of rasāyana are quite unlike each other the Carakasaṃhitā and Su-śrutasaṃhitā do not share a single rasāyana recipe though there is some overlapin raw ingredients There is also a marked difference in their perspectives on thefunctioning of rasāyana as anti-ageing or rejuvenating therapy The treatises dohowever share ideas about treatment methodology Both describe two generalmethods of treatment a multi-layered treatment that takes place in a purpose-built hut under particular circumstances and a simpler version that takes placewithout the special therapy structure5 Both involve preliminary treatments ofinternal cleansing followed by a mild diet for regaining strength and then treat-ment proper with the chosen tonic over a period of time The Carakasaṃhitā em-beds its description of rasāyana in a narrative about ancient seers (ṛṣi ) who arepresented as the first consumers of rasāyana as well as the first human physiciansand authors of the medical texts This narrative framework is however absentin the Suśrutasaṃhitā and only briefly alluded to in later medical works in thecontext of particular formulae as for example ldquoCyavanarsquos foodrdquo (cyavanaprāśa )a rasāyana formula associated with the Vedic seer Cyavana Later works starting

4 The following Sanskrit medical workswere consulted for this article the Caraka-saṃhitā (early centuries ce) Suśrutasaṃhitā(early centuries ce) Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā(ca seventh century) Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha(ca seventh century ce) Kalyāṇakāraka(ca ninth century ce) Siddhayoga (ca tenthcentury ce) Cakradatta (ca eleventh cen-tury ce) Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā (ca eleventhtwelfth century ce) Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā(ca thirteenthfourteenth century ce)

Bhāvaprakāśa (sixteenth century ce)Yogaratnākara (eighteenth century ce)Bhaiṣajyaratnāvalī (eighteenthnineteenthcentury ce) Apart from the Śārṅgadhara-saṃhitā all of these works contain separatechapters on rasāyana5 On the methods of treatment in the hut(kuṭipraveśika) and the alternative ldquowind andheatrdquo treatment (vātatāpika) see the works ofRoşu (1975) Dominik Wujastyk (2003 76ndash78 125ndash30) and Dagmar Wujastyk (2015)


dagmar wujastyk 3

with the Siddhayoga (ca 10th century) present simplified versions of the more de-tailed expositions of the classical works focussing more on lists of formulae thanon descriptions of treatment methods6 There is nevertheless a strong continu-ity with the older works reflected in the reiteration of classical rasāyana formulaeand in quotations from the older works However the newer works also addednew materials to the canon of rasāyana substances and formulations and increas-ingly introduced new methods of preparing medicines that are closely related toprocedures for preparing raw materials and compounds described in alchemicalworks

In alchemical literature the term rasāyana occurs in different contexts It issometimes used to denote tonics that seem to have a similar function to thosedescribed in medical literature As in medicine one can also find the term rasā-yana with the implication of a process in the sense of a method of treatment orregimen Most prominently this regimen is associated with the culmination ofalchemical operations ie the intake of the mercurial elixir and its effects Hererasāyana seems to encompass the preparation of the practitioner for the intake ofthe mercurial elixir through various cleansing techniques the formulation andthe intake of preparatory tonics and their effects the formulation and intake ofthe final mercurial elixir and the outcomes of that intake

In the following I will first examine how the Sanskrit medical treatises dealtwith the subject of rasāyana I will consider a number of definitions of the termldquorasāyanardquo and how the medical writers envisioned its role as a branch of Ayur-veda I will also explore what areas of application the medical treatises conceivedfor rasāyana I will then examine how rasāyana is presented in alchemical litera-ture Using the oldest alchemical workrsquos chapter on rasāyana as a starting pointfor comparison with other alchemical worksrsquo expositions on the subject I willattempt to delineate alchemical perspectives on rasāyana highlighting both com-monalities and divergences between alchemical works In the final section ofthis article I will discuss whether or how medical and alchemical conceptions ofrasāyana connect in terms of aims methods and procedures

6 Among the works that I consulted for thispaper the Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā is the exceptionto this rule in that it does not just presenta pared-down version of rasāyana with listsof formulae Its rasāyana chapter is long andvaried and contains a number of elementsnot present in any of the other worksrsquo rasā-yana chapters such as recipes for differentkinds of vinegar a description of treatment

using a head pouch an enumeration of vitalspots and a list of diseases caused by the hu-mours wind bile and phlegm respectivelyThe presence of these elements is somewhatpuzzling as they are not necessarily presen-ted as part of rasāyana but are in the middleof the chapter between recipes and prescrip-tions that are more commonly found in rasā-yana chapters



1 RASĀYANA IN SANSKRIT MEDICAL LITERATURE

The medical treatises offer some definitions of rasāyana or rather of what ismeant to be achieved through rasāyana Let us consider a few such defini-

tions two from the earliest medical treatises and one from a later one the Siddha-yoga (ca 10th century) and its elaboration in the Bhāvaprakāśa (16th century)

definitionsIn its description of the eight subject areas of Ayurveda the Suśrutasaṃhitā ex-plains rasāyana as follows

रसायनत नाम वयः ापनमायमधाबलकर रोगापहरणसमथ च 7

The ldquosystem of rasāyanardquo concerns preserving youthful vigour pro-moting longevity mental power and strength and eliminating dis-ease

Several terms of this definition deserve some discussion The first of these trans-lated here as ldquopreserving youthful vigourrdquo is ldquovayaḥsthāpanardquo ldquoVayasrdquo is oftenused in the sense of ldquoyouthrdquo and its characteristics of ldquovigourrdquo or ldquopowerrdquoHowever the Suśrutasaṃhitā also uses the term ldquovayasrdquo in the broader senseof ldquoagerdquo in three stages childhood maturity and old age8 Fixing or pre-serving (ldquosthāpanardquo) vayas therefore may mean preserving youthful vigour butit could also mean preserving whatever stage of life a person is in Here anotherrule is relevant namely for whom rasāyana treatment is appropriate defined inthe Suśrutasaṃhitā as those in the ldquoearly or middlerdquo stages of age9 The use ofldquosthāpanardquo ldquofixingrdquo ldquopreservingrdquo ldquomaintainingrdquo shows clearly that the aimof rasāyana as defined in the Suśrutasaṃhitā is not rejuvenation but rather anti-ageing ie halting the progress of ageing rather than reversing it

7 Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 18 (part)8 A definition of the three stages of lifecan be found in Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna3529 See also Barois in this volume9 See Suśrutasaṃhitā cikitsāsthana 273 पववयिस म वा मन रसायनम य ीत िभष ा-ः ि धश तनोः सदा ३ ldquoA wise physician

should apply rasāyana treatment to a manin his early or middle age always after hisbody has been cleansed and oleated (3)rdquoIn this rule the Suśrutasaṃhitā whose rasā-

yana formulations are described as havinganti-ageing and life-extending but not re-juvenating properties contrasts with theCarakasaṃhitā which attributes rejuvenat-ing powers to many of its rasāyana formulaeand gives several examples of very old menregaining their youth through rasāyana ther-apy The most famous of these formulationsis cyavanaprāśa described in CarakasaṃhitāCikitsāsthāna 1162ndash74


dagmar wujastyk 5

In the Carakasaṃhitā we find a longer discussion of what rasāyana is in the be-ginning of its rasāyana chapter10 The chapter starts out with defining medicine

िचिकि त ािधहर प साधनमौषधम ायि शमन कित ापन िहतम ३ िव ा षजनामािन भषज ि िवध च तत

ोज र किच िचदात रोगनत ४ One should know ldquotherapeuticsrdquo ldquothat which removes diseaserdquoldquowholesomerdquo ldquocurerdquo ldquoherbal medicinerdquo ldquoexpiationrdquo ldquocalmingrdquoldquosupporting the natural conditionrdquo and ldquobeneficialrdquo as namesfor medicine And medicine is of two kinds whatever promotesstrength in the healthy and whatever eliminates disease in thosewho are ill

The treatise defines rasāyana together with vṛṣya (virility therapy) as belonging tothe first category the promotion of strength and vigour in the healthy Howeverthis is explained as a matter of emphasis rather than as an absolute differenceWhile rasāyana may mostly be concerned with promoting strength in the healthyit can also be employed to alleviate disease A more detailed definition of rasāyanafollows

दीघमायः त मधामारो य त ण वयःभावण रौदाय दहि यबल परम ७वाि ण त का लभत ना रसायनातलाभोपायो िह श ाना रसादीना रसायनम ८11

Through rasāyana a man gains longevity memory mental powerhealth youthful vigour a great radiance complexion and voice anextremely strong body and keen senses mastery of speech respectand beauty Rasāyana assuredly is a means for attaining the pro-claimed principal asset etc12

10 See Cikitsāsthāna 11 1ndash8 In the edi-tion of the Carakasaṃhitā used here (Caraka-saṃhitā) the rasāyana chapter is located inthe section on therapeutics (Cikitsāsthāna)and it is divided into four subchapters 1abhayāmalakīyo rasāyanapāda (ldquothe rasāyanasection dedicated to the chebulic and emblicmyrobalansrdquo) 2 prāṇakāmīyo rasāyanapāda(ldquothe rasāyana section dedicated to the de-sire for vital breathrdquo) 3 karapracitīyo rasāy-anapāda (ldquothe rasāyana section dedicated to

hand-plucked (emblic myrobalan fruits)rdquo)and 4 āyurvedasamutthānīyo rasāyanapāda(ldquothe rasāyana section dedicated to the upliftof the science of liferdquo)11 Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 117ndash812 I follow Philipp Maasrsquo analysis of rasa ashere being used in the sense of ldquoprincipalassetrdquo which in this case refers to the mainfunction of rasāyana of providing longevity(dīrgham āyus) See Maasrsquo detailed discus-sion of this passage in this volume



This passage recurs in a number of later medical texts albeit with some vari-ations For example ldquopraṇatirdquo (ldquorespectrdquo) is sometimes replaced with ldquovṛṣyardquo(ldquomanly powerrdquo ldquosexual vigourrdquo) and the reference to rasāyana as ldquoa means forattaining the proclaimed principal asset etcrdquo is omitted13

A third definition of rasāyana first found in the Siddhayoga and repeated inseveral later texts reads

य रा ािधिव िस भषज तिसायनम14

A rasāyana is a remedy that removes ageing and disease (or that re-moves disease caused by ageing)

This statement is typically followed by directions adapted from SuśrutasaṃhitāCikitsāsthāna 273ndash4 on the appropriate condition and age of someone whowishes to undertake rasāyana treatment ie that the body should be purifiedbefore treatment15 and that treatment is appropriate for those in the early andmiddle stages of life

The Bhāvaprakāśa supplements the Siddhayogarsquos short definition

य रा ािधिव िस वयः कर16 तथाच बहण व भषज तिसायनम17

13 This variation is already found inAṣṭāṅgahṛdaya Uttarasthāna 392 andAṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Uttarasthāna 492 Thereading is also adopted in Siddhayoga692ndash3 Bhāvaprakāśa Uttarakhaṇḍa 22ndash3and Bhaiṣajyaratnāvalī Uttarakhaṇḍa 731A slightly different reading is found inVaṅgasenasaṃhitā 77371ndash372 वाि णताका लभतऽ ाऽसायनात (372 cd) And analternative reading is found in Yogaratnākara762 दीघम आयः त मधामारो य त णम वयः दहि यबल का नरो िव ऽसायनात A furthervariant is found in Rasaratnasamuccaya261ndash2 which reads ldquovṛṣatāṃrdquo for Carakarsquosldquopraṇatiṃrdquo14 See Siddhayoga 691 Cakradatta 661Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā 77371 BhaiṣajyaratnāvalīUttarakhaṇḍa 731 Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā 1413gives a similar definition रसायन च त यय रा ािधनाशन ldquoRasāyana is known asthat which removes disease and ageing (ordisease caused by ageing)rdquo15 In the Suśrutasaṃhitā (Cikitsāsthāna 273)readying the body for rasāyana therapy in-cludes oleation and purification Puri-

fication is not defined further but prob-ably means that the patient has undergoneemesis and purgation Later texts addself-restraint and blood-letting to the neces-sary preparations for rasāyana therapy Forexample Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttarasthāna393 reads पव वयिस म वा त यो िजता-मनः ि ध ॐतर िवश च सवथा ३ldquoIt should be applied in early or middle ageto one who has self-restraint always after hehas been oleated his blood has been let andhe has been purgedrdquo Omitting the limita-tions regarding the appropriate age for rasā-yana the reading of the second half of thisverse is also found in Siddhayoga chapter 69416 The edition of the Bhāvaprakāśa used herereads stambhakakaram instead of stambha-karam Since this adds one syllable too manyto the verse which otherwise consists ofeight syllables per quarter I have emendedit to stambhakaram17 Bhāvaprakāśa Uttarakhaṇḍa 21 Yoga-ratnākara 761 has the same reading as theBhāvaprakāśa


dagmar wujastyk 7

A rasāyana is a remedy that removes ageing and disease (or that re-moves disease caused by ageing) and produces that which supportsyouthful vigour aids eyesight nourishes and bestows sexual vigour

applicationsA complex picture of the variety of goals pursued with rasāyana treatmentemerges when we look at the various rasāyana sections of the medical works andexamine what effects are attributed to their formulations The described effectsof rasāyana medicines and procedures can be broadly divided into five partlyoverlapping thematic groups

Lifespan and ageing This includes medicines and procedures attributedwith effecting rejuvenation anti-ageing or the increase of lifespan Inthis context medicines may for example be described as providinglife-spanvitality (āyuṣkara) Phrases concerning the typically male patientoften describe him as one who has a long or indeed unlimited life-span(amitāyu) or as one who will live for a long time (jīvati kālaṃ vipulam) Astandard life expectancy of one hundred years (jīvati śataṃ varśam) is oftenmentioned but we also find several instances in which several hundreds ofyears of life are promised The anti-ageing benefits of medicines are oftendescribed with expressions like ldquothat liberates from ageingrdquo (jarāvimukti)or ldquopreserving youthful vigourrdquo (vayassthāpana) Patients are describedas ldquonot subject to old agerdquo (ajara) ldquorenewedrdquo (punarnava) and ldquofree fromwrinkles and grey hairrdquo (nirvalīpalita) or as ldquoreaching youthfulnessrdquo(yauvanam eti)

Health This includes medicines and procedures used for the prevention or cureof disease and for the establishment of overall well-being including theproper functioning of the body and senses Many rasāyana formulationsare described as ldquodestroying all diseaserdquo (sarvarogaghnin āmayanāśana)while the patient who takes a rasāyana medicine becomes ldquodisease-freerdquo(anāmaya aruja niruja vigataroga vyādhimukta) There is also frequentmention of specific diseases or disease groups that can be treated byrasāyana medicines and methods Many of these can be categorized asdiseases caused by the ageing process or else as diseases the elderlywould be either particularly prone to or vulnerable to However almostall of the named diseases are also serious diseases considered particularlychallenging to treat18

18 See Hellwig (2008) for a discussion ofthe disease categories found in the rasāyana

chapters in the Carakasaṃhitā and Suśruta-saṃhitā



Cognitive power This includes medicines and procedures that restore estab-lish or enhance memory power memorization ability and intelligenceKeywords here include ldquomemory (power)rdquo (smṛti) ldquointelligencerdquo (medhā)and ldquounderstandingrdquo (dhī) as effects of medicines while the patient issupposed to become ldquocleverrdquo (matimat) or ldquointelligentrdquo (medhāvin) orldquoone who retains what he has heardrdquo (śrutadhārin)

Virility This includes medicines and procedures which restore or enhancesexual stamina bodily strength and fertility Such formulations aredescribed with terms such as ldquoproducing sexual vigourrdquo (vṛṣya) A patientbecomes ldquoone who indulges in sexual pleasuresrdquo (kāmacārin) who hasintercourse with one hundred women (strīśatāni vrajati)

Special powers While these are only indirectly alluded to in the definitions ofrasāyana medicines and procedures that provide the patient with bodilyand mental perfection and with extraordinary capacities such as the abil-ity to manipulate the world according to their wishes frequently occur inthe medical worksrsquo rasāyana chapters19 Bodily perfection can encompassextraordinary beauty but also extreme strength and agility a stable andfirm body that resembles a diamond (vajrakāya) or a stone (gātram aśmavatsthirībhavati) and that is impervious to the elements or to disease and ex-treme longevity

Rasāyana formulations most often unite a range of benefits from several andin some cases all thematic groups However there are many examples of rasā-yana that have a specific focus or a bias towards one group such as the ldquomed-hyarasāyanardquo medicines for the improvement of cognitive faculties It is also notalways possible to neatly discern one group from the other Ageing and healthcould both be considered the overarching category since the occurrence of cer-tain diseases or the loss of cognitive or sensory powers or problems concerningsexual stamina may be understood in terms of health problems but also in termsof ageing ie health problems caused or exacerbated by the ageing process Aswe have seen these are also the dominant terms in the definitions of rasāyana inlater medical literature ambiguously presented in a compound (jarāvyādhivid-hvaṃs) that allows to understand them as the separate categories of ldquoageing anddiseaserdquo or as a combined category of ldquodisease caused by ageingrdquo

The medical treatises vary in how much weight they assign to the differentelements though there is a general bias towards addressing longevity and theageing process in all rasāyana chapters that I examined As noted above the earlytexts ie the Carakasaṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā differ from each other in that

19 See Dagmar Wujastyk forthcoming


dagmar wujastyk 9

the Carakasaṃhitā presents rasāyana as a method that can be used for the reju-venation of the aged while the Suśrutasaṃhitā defines rasāyana as an appropriatemethod for anti-ageing ie halting rather than reversing the progress of ageingfor the young to middle-aged This division however is subsequently super-seded in later works which build upon both the older treatisesrsquo materials onrasāyana and therefore integrate or at least juxtapose both perspectives20

The eradication of disease plays a particularly important role in theAṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha where eighty-eight out of ca 183 recipes and prescriptions aredescribed as effective against specific diseases or disease groups and the Vaṅga-senasaṃhitā where forty-eight out of ca 106 recipes concern specific diseasegroups21 For comparison out of the ca fifty-two recipes of the Carakasaṃhitārsquosrasāyana chapters only four address specific diseases22 And only eight of theAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitārsquos sixty-seven recipes apply to specific diseases This is aninteresting difference to the closely-related Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha

As can be seen in the table in the Appendix page 30 below the most com-monly mentioned disease or disease group is that of ldquokuṣṭhardquo diseases whosesymptoms present primarily on the skin including what might today be dia-

20 A number of later medical treatises reit-erate the dictum from Suśrutasaṃhitā cikit-sāsthana 27 3 पव वयिस म वा मन रसा-यनम य ीत िभष ा ः (hellip) ndash ldquoA wise phys-ician should apply rasāyana treatment to aman in his early or middle age (hellip)rdquo butthen nevertheless list recipes that promise tomake someone old young again21 This statement is based upon a roughcount of recipes and prescriptions in theSanskrit medical worksrsquo rasāyana chaptersIt is difficult to arrive at an absolute countof recipes as distinctions between recipesand indeed what counts as a recipe arenot always clear To give some examplesSometimes the expected outcome of a re-cipe changes depending on the length of in-take This is a common feature in the Su-śrutasaṃhitārsquos rasāyana chapter That wouldmean that one could count one recipe asseveral but I have opted to count such re-cipes as one formulation Further in theSuśrutasaṃhitā (Cikitsāsthāna 276) cold wa-ter milk honey and clarified butter are pre-scribed as anti-ageing substances The foursubstances can be taken in different combin-

ations all together and in combinations oftwo or three or on their own This wouldmean a total of fifteen possibilities all ofwhich have the same effect Here againI have counted this as one recipe Thenmany recipes are described as having ldquothementioned qualitiesrdquo (proktān guṇān) whichcould refer to a preceding recipe with de-tails on its application or otherwise to gen-eral rasāyana properties Therefore whilethe counts may give a rough idea of the gen-eral patterns within rasāyana chapters theyare somewhat inexact22 The Carakasaṃhitārsquos rasāyana chaptershave an official count of fifty-nine recipeslisted at the end of the first three quarterchapters (ie Cikitsāsthāna 11ndash3) six recipesin the first thirty-seven in the second andsixteen in the third The text does not givenumbers for the final quarter chapter It isnot quite clear to me how these numbersare arrived at In my own count I arriveat six recipes for the first quarter twenty-seven for the second seventeen for the thirdand a further two recipes in the fourth Thismakes a total of fifty-two recipes



gnosed as leprosy23 Other common conditions include cough (kāsa) dypsnoea(śvāsa) and piles (arśa) Typically one medicine is described as effective againsta whole group of diseases so that the list of diseases that can be tackled withrasāyana is quite long Several rasāyana medicines may be indicated for the samedisease

We have seen from the Carakasaṃhitārsquos definition of rasāyana that rasāyana wasprimarily considered a method of supporting health in the healthy ie prevent-ing disease and promoting well-being However the ways in which diseases arementioned in the recipes suggests the eradication rather than the prevention ofdisease For example rather than stating that diseases will not arise due to theuse of a rasāyana terms for ldquoremovingrdquo such as ldquovināśānardquo ldquoharardquo or ldquoradicapa-kṛṣrdquoare used to explain the function of a rasāyana tonic24

It is not immediately obvious in what ways rasāyana treatment against dis-eases differs from ldquoregularrdquo treatment described in the other branches of Ayur-veda since all of the diseases mentioned in the rasāyana chapter are also men-tioned in other contexts in the medical works Hellwig (2008) has tackled thisquestion to some extent for the Suśrutasaṃhitā and the Carakasaṃhitā Accord-ing to his findings the therapeutic application of rasāyana in the Carakasaṃhitāldquoemphasises the connection between the rasāyana therapy and the cycle of fooddigestion and the building of dhātusrdquo and thereby follows the treatisersquos standardunderstanding of pathology and treatment25 By contrast rasāyana therapy inthe Suśrutasaṃhitā is associated on the one hand with a special class of diseasethe so-called ldquoself-arisingrdquo (ldquosvābhāvikardquo) diseases These are conditions such ashunger thirst ageing death and sleep that are inherent to human bodily exist-ence but also linked with a linear understanding of the passing of time26 On

23 Kuṣṭha is both the name of a specific dis-ease ie one that presents with leprosy-like symptoms and an overarching categorythat comprises a range of diseases primar-ily presenting on the skin In modern ayur-vedic practice kuṣṭha is most often used as asynonym for leprosy but it is worth remem-bering that this disease category long pred-ates any idea of bacterial infection and thatthe Sanskrit medical works define kuṣṭha onhumoral principles I will in the followingrefer to kuṣṭha as ldquoserious skin diseasesrdquo24 See for example Carakasaṃhitā Ci-kitsāsthāna 1340 where a long peppertonic is attributed with removing dis-orders of the spleen (plīhodaravināśana)or Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 1140 and41 where the rasāyana called cyavanaprāśa

is declared a ldquoremover of cough anddypsnoeardquo (kāsaśvāsahara) and attributedwith removing (apakarṣati ldquoit removesrdquo) awhole number of diseases25 Hellwig 2008 6326 The svabhāvika diseases are definedin Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 124ndash25 asाभािवका ि पासाजराम िनिाकतयः ndash

ldquorsquoArisen by themselvesrsquo then are naturalconditions such as hunger thirst ageingdeath and sleeprdquo Hellwig (2008 37ndash39)discusses the interpretation of this passagein Ḍalhaṇarsquos tenth-century commentaryat some length Ḍalhaṇa differentiatesbetween svābhāvika diseases that arise fromthe humours (doṣaja) and those that areinherent to human existence See also Roşu(1975 107) on this passage


dagmar wujastyk 11

the other hand the Suśrutasaṃhitā describes rasāyana as a particularly powerfulemergency therapy that can be applied with success in the case of the failureof regular medical treatment27 The relevant statement is found in Suśrutasaṃ-hitā Sūtrasthāna 333 a chapter on incurable conditions that discusses how tohandle major diseases (mahāvyādhi) and especially their complications (upadrava)The general advice here is that once complications have arisen diseases can nolonger be treated except for through rasāyana28 Notably there is a significantoverlap (though not a complete match) between the diseases listed in this chapterand those mentioned in the chapters on rasāyana29

Strengthening the argument for rasāyana as the last hope in desperate casesHellwig (2008 48) also makes note of a passage in the Suśrutasaṃhitārsquos chapteron the signs of death in wounded patients which states that once signs of deathhave appeared death is certain but can be warded off by faultless brahmans orby persons engaged in rasāyana austerities and repeated recitation of mantras30

This seems to suggest an equality in power of the named groups brahmans onthe one side and persons engaging in rasāyana austerities andor recitation onthe other It is not entirely clear whether the second grouprsquos practice comprisedrasāyana austerities and recitation as one combined practice or whether differentspecialists undertook them as alternative and equally efficacious practices Thetenth-century commentator Dalhaṇa seems to have considered them separatepractices (and practitioners) and defines ldquopersons engaged in rasāyanardquo as ldquothosefamiliar with medicinal herbs that specifically prevent svābhāvika diseasesrdquo31

27 ldquoNotfallmedizinrdquo in Hellwig 2008 6228 Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 333 उपि-वस त य ज ा ाधयो या अवायताम रसाय-नाद िवना व तान वकमना मम ndash ldquoDiseasesthat have become accompanied by complic-ations however are incurable except forthrough rasāyana Listen carefully to whatI say about them sonrdquo Ḍalhaṇa inter-prets this to mean that rasāyana therapy cancure otherwise incurable disease रसायना-ि नित रसायनन सा ो ािधरिप ायः सा त ndashldquolsquoExcept for through rasāyanarsquo means thatthrough rasāyana even an incurable diseaseis cured as a general rulerdquo See also Hellwig(2008 48) on this passage and Ḍalhaṇarsquoscommentary on it29 The mahāvyādhi as defined in Suśruta-saṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 334ndash5 are a arśa aśmarībhagandara kuṣṭha mūḍhagarbha pramehaudara and vātavyādhi Their untreatablecomplications include atisāra chardi hikkā

jvara mūrcchā prāṇamāṃsakṣaya śoṣa śvāsaand tṛṣṇā The disease groups mentionedin the Suśrutasaṃhitārsquos rasāyana chapters in-clude the mahāvyādhi and also include apas-māra arśa chardi kṛmi kuṣtha pāṇḍuroga rak-tapitta śoṇita śoṣa svarabheda (as a symptomof kuṣṭha) udara unmāda and viṣamajvara30 Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 285 ीव त म-रण िर ा ण ि लामलः रसायनतपोज त रवािनवायतldquoWhen the sign of death has occurred deathis certain It can possibly be averted by fault-less brahmans or by those fully engaged inrasāyana austerities and repeated recitationof mantrasrdquo See also Hellwig 2008 4831 Dalhaṇa on Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna285 रसायनपरा इित भाव ािधिनवारणिविश ौ-षधिच का रसवीय षधभावन मरण िनवारयि Also see Hellwig (2008 48) on this passage



It should be noted that while svābhāvika conditions play a prominent role inthe quoted statements in the Suśrutasaṃhitā and also are declared the subject ofone of the four rasāyana chapters the svābhāvika conditions are not often referredto in descriptions of the effects of rasāyana formulations32 Indeed several svā-bhāvika conditions namely hunger thirst and sleep are not addressed at allThe topic of ageing however is prominent particularly if we consider condi-tions such as loss of bodily strength cognitive power or virility as subcategoriesof ageing Overcoming death by contrast is only directly alluded to once inthe context of the use of soma in rasāyana therapy where soma is defined as asubstance created for the eradication of ageing and death33

Here we can hardly speak of medical intervention as the Suśrutasaṃhitā as-sociates the use of soma as well as of divine herbs with overcoming the normalparameters of the human condition Rasāyana with soma or divine herbs is de-scribed as an extreme intervention both in terms of what patients undergo dur-ing treatment and in terms of expected outcomes During treatment patientsexperience an almost complete disintegration of their body while successfullycompleted treatment results in the attainment of special powers and of a super-human body34 The Suśrutasaṃhitā describes the spectacular outcome of rasāyanawith soma thus

The visionary man who makes use of the king of plants Soma wearsa new body for ten thousand years Neither fire nor water neitherpoison blade nor projectile are powerful enough to take his life Hegains the strength of a thousand well-bred sixty-year-old ruttingelephants If he wants to go to the lands of northern legend to themilky ocean or even to the abode of the king of the gods nothing can

32 The Suśrutasaṃhitārsquos rasāyana section isdivided into four parts Each part is headedby the phrase ldquoI will now explain [a certainkind of] rasāyana thus spoke Lord Dhan-vantarirdquo (athāto [hellip] रसायन ा ामः यथो-वाच भगवान ध िरः) The different kindsof rasāyana are divided into the following1) rasāyana that pacifies all disorders (sar-vopaghātaśamanīyam rasāyanam Cikitsāsthāna27) 2) rasāyana for those desiring enhancedmental functioning and vitality (medhāy-uṣkāmīyaṃ rasāyanam Cikitsāsthāna 28) 3)rasāyana for the prevention of self-arisendisease (svabhāvyādhipratiṣedhanīyaṃ rasāy-anam Cikitsāsthāna 29) and 4) rasāyana forthe cessation of afflictions (nivṛttasantāpīyaṃ

rasāyanam Cikitsāsthāna 30) The headingsonly marginally reflect the contents of thelast two chapters which deal with the useof soma and celestial herbs respectivelyThese are attributed with letting the con-sumer overcome the human condition alto-gether gaining superhuman powers33 See Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 293On the identification of the soma plant seeFalk 198934 This is discussed in more detail byDagmar Wujastyk (forthcoming) See alsoWhite (1996 26ndash27) for a translation of thepassage describing the disintegration of thebody and its gradual reshaping duringsoma rasāyana


dagmar wujastyk 13

stand in his way He is as beautiful as the god of love as attractiveas the second moon He is radiant and brings joy to the hearts of allcreatures He truly knows all sacred knowledge with all its branchesand sub-branches He moves like a god through the whole worldwith infallible power35

Later medical works no longer describe the use of soma and divine herbs in rasā-yana and generally describe less spectacular effects of treatment However theidea of attaining extended bodily powers continues to feature as a minor butrecurring theme in the rasāyana chapters of the medical works

2 RASĀYANA IN ALCHEMICAL LITERATURE

When conducting any study on the contents of Sanskrit alchemical texts oneis confronted with the problem that many of the works are only avail-

able in incomplete or unreliable editions if indeed any edition is available at allOmissions in the text are sometimes due to the condition and partial availabilityof the manuscripts the editions are based on However sometimes they occurdue to a conscious decision on part of the editors as for example in the caseof the edition of the Rasārṇavakalpa by Roy and B Subbarayappa (1976) Herethe editors left out a large chunk of the opening section (verses 1ndash52) because itpresented the subject of the text in religious terms and they wished to highlightthe scientific elements of the text36 In the case of one edition of the Rasaratnākarawe have the opposite problem The editor seems to have added materials TheRasaratnākara is a fairly large compendium and its materials are divided into fiveseparate sections (khaṇḍa) each dealing with a different main subject The secondof these is the Rasendrakhaṇḍa which is devoted to medicine Manuscript evid-ence shows this section to consist of some twenty chapters but the KṣemarājaŚrīkṛṣṇādāsa edition (1909) gives seventy-one including a chapter on rasāyana(chapter 69)37 In light of how unreliable some of our source materials are any

35 Translation of Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikit-sāsthāna 29 14ndash19 by Dominik Wujastyk(2003 130) Compare also similar outcomesthrough rasāyana therapy with divine herbsin Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 14736 See Roy and B Subbarayappa 1976 iiiThis text was not used for this article37 See Dominik Wujastyk (1984 72) for anoutline of the contents of the Rasendrakhaṇḍabased on manuscript evidence from theWellcome Library collection The contentsof the Rasendrakhaṇḍa as presented in Kṣe-

marāja Śrīkṛṣṇādāsarsquos edition are brieflysummarized in Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IIA654ndash655 and 661ndash662 which unfortunatelydoes not mention the problem that manyof the chapters probably stem from anotherwork Currently a study of the digital cop-ies of twenty-five Rasaratnākara manuscriptsfrom the Berlin State Library collection isbeing undertaken by Madhusudan Rimala PhD student at the University of AlbertaPreliminary results confirm the findings inDominik Wujastyk 1984



statement made on what constitutes rasāyana in alchemical literature must there-fore necessarily be considered somewhat tentative Nevertheless some broadtrends in how the subject is dealt with in this literature are fairly evident

Several alchemical works have chapters or large sections dedicated to the sub-ject of rasāyana while references to rasāyana both as a characteristic of a substanceor compound and as a procedure can be found throughout I have centred myexamination of rasāyana on early alchemical texts such as the Rasahṛdayatantrathe Rasārṇava and the Rasaratnākara but have also consulted later texts such asthe Ānandakanda and the Rasaratnasamuccaya38 These texts are linked throughextensive intertextual borrowing I also spot checked further alchemical worksfor occurrences of the term rasāyana using a keyword search in the digital col-lections of SARIT and the Digital Corpus of Sanskrit (DCS)39 Of the main worksconsulted the Rasahṛdayatantra Rasaratnākara Ānandakanda and Rasaratnasamuc-caya have chapters presented as expositions on rasāyana The relevant sectionsin these works are Chapter nineteen of the Rasahṛdayatantra the Rasāyanakhaṇḍaof the Rasaratnākara Part one (amṛtīkaraṇaviśrānti) chapters six eight and nine ofthe Ānandakanda and chapter twenty-six of the Rasaratnasamuccaya In the case ofthe Rasārṇava its eighteenth and final chapter can be understood as a descriptionof rasāyana albeit under a different heading It is presented as a description ofhow to achieve the transformation of the body (dehavedha) but the described pro-cedures are similar to what is described in the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos final chapter onrasāyana Large parts of the Rasārṇavarsquos eighteenth chapter are also reiterated inthe Ānandakandarsquos sections on rasāyana (whose sixth chapter also starts under theheading of ldquodehavedhardquo rather than of ldquorasāyanardquo) It is worth noting that whilethe title of a chapter or part of a work may indicate the subject matter as rasāyananot all content is necessarily dedicated to it40

38 The dating of alchemical works is veryuncertain According to Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002) the Rasahṛdayatantra may be datedto about the tenth or eleventh century theRasārṇava to about the twelfth and the Rasa-ratnasamuccaya to around the fifteenth orsixteenth century The dates of the Rasa-ratnākara and Ānandakanda are even moreuncertain Hellwigrsquos study of the relativechronology of alchemical works suggeststhat the Vādakhaṇḍa of the Rasaratnākara isplaced among the oldest strata of alchem-ical works while its Rasakhaṇḍa may be later(Hellwig 2009a 62ndash64) The relation of thedifferent parts of the Rasaratnākara to each

other is not yet resolved39 The results from the keyword searchwhile very helpful for finding relevant pas-sages are limited by the fact that the num-ber of alchemical works is small in SARITwhile the DCS contains a substantial num-ber of alchemical works but often only in-complete versions40 For example the eight chapters of theRasaratnākararsquos Rasāyanakhaṇḍa have differ-ent foci that are not always clearly connec-ted to rasāyana The first chapter describesthe conditions needed for the intake of mer-curials and some preparation methods andtools for mercury processing Chapter two


dagmar wujastyk 15

Outside of such chapters the term ldquorasāyanardquo sometimes occurs in defini-tions of the characteristics of substances or formulations The meaning of rasā-yana here seems to follow the usage in medical literature of characterising sub-stances and formulations as tonics that are health-inducing fortifying invigorat-ing or rejuvenating See for example the Rasārṇavarsquos description of chalcopyr-ites (mākṣika)41

माि क ित मधर महाशः यक नत कफिप हर ब योगवािह रसायनम42

Chalcopyrites which are bitter and sweet (act as) a catalyst anda tonic that destroys urinary disorders piles wasting disease andskin disorders removes the humours phlegm and bile and confersstrength

Or see the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos definition of the eight minerals (mahārasa)

वबा का स कमाि किवमलाििदरदरसका अ ौ रसा थषा स ािन रसायनािनः43

Tourmaline iron copper sulphate chalcopyrites iron pyrites cin-nabar shilajit and calamine these eight substances and their es-sences are tonics44

gives instructions on how to prepare thebody for rasāyana and then lists mercur-ial elixirs in liquid form that may be usedfor rasāyana Chapter three provides re-cipes for mercurial pills used in rasāyanabut also in mercury processing procedureswhile chapter four describes mercurial com-pounds oils and powders Chapter five de-scribes unguents against wrinkles and greyhair for external application oral intake andnasal application Chapter six and sevenare dedicated to the subjects of virility andsexual stamina And finally chapter eightdescribes how to acquire a divine body andhow to turn base metals into gold Of thesechapters one to four seem to follow thetheme of rasāyana most closely41 I use ldquochalcopyritesrdquo for mākṣika to dis-tinguish it from vimala another kind of pyr-ites here rendered as ldquoiron pyritesrdquo Thisidentification is however uncertain42 Rasārṇava 714cdndash14ef The DCS notesparallel passages in Rasamantildejarī 384Rasaratnasamuccaya 1213 and Yogaratnākara1166 One could also read the text as

ldquoChalcopyrites are bitter and sweet anddestroy urinary disorders piles wastingdisease and skin disorders They removethe humours phlegm and bile and conferstrength They are a catalyst and a rasāyanardquoIn this case the question is left open as towhat the characteristics of a rasāyana wouldencompass See Hellwig (2009b 460) onthe concept of ldquoyogavāhinrdquo as a substancersquoscharacteristic of assimilating and strength-ening the action of any substance it isgrouped with References to this termare already found in the earliest medicalworks (see Carakasaṃhitā Vimānasthāna116 Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 45142Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Sūtrasthāna 12 25) andare often juxtaposed with the describedsubstancesrsquo action as a rasāyana43 Rasahṛdayatantra 9444 The identification of several of the eightsubstances is less certain than my transla-tion implies I have generally oriented my-self on Nadkarni 1954 sometimes updatingthe English term



Consider also the Rasamantildejarī rsquos description of a multi-component formulation45

कास ासमहाितसारशमन म ाि सदीपन धातोवि कर रसायनवर ना द ा -रम46

It calms cough dypsnoea and severe diarrhoea kindles weak digest-ive fire and it stimulates the growth of the tissues It is the best tonicthere is no other better than it

More often the term rasāyana is used to denote an action or a series of actionsperhaps in the sense of Fennerrsquos ldquoacts of improvementrdquo When the term occursoutside of chapters dedicated to rasāyana it is not always clear what these actionsentail See for example Rasārṇava 744cd where the use of copper sulphate(sasyaka tuttha) as part of rasāyana is attributed with anti-ageing effects

रसायन त यो यः ा यः करो भवतIf applied in rasāyana it halts ageing

This passage could be understood to propose the use of copper sulphate for rasā-yana treatment or as part of rasāyana regimen in the medical sense ie in thiscase as an anti-ageing treatment or regimen The difference to the rasāyana treat-ment or regimen described in medical works would then simply lie in the use ofcopper sulphate as the rasāyana substance since copper sulphate was known tothe early medical authors but not used in the context of rasāyana I have also notfound it as a rasāyana ingredient in the examined later Sanskrit medical worksHowever rasāyana could here also refer to the regimen and procedures asso-ciated with the intake of mercurial elixirs as the culmination of the alchemicalendeavour In that context it would be one of many preparations taken duringthe rasāyana process rather than a central substance used on its own Howeverwhile the Rasārṇava describes the use of copper sulphate in various metallurgicalcontexts it does not feature its intake in its eighteenth chapter47

Notably none of the examined works use the term ldquorasāyanardquo to denote thesubject of their expositions as a whole We find terms such as ldquorasavidyārdquo orldquorasaśāstrardquo as umbrella terms for the discipline of alchemy instead though one

45 The Rasamantildejarī by Śālinātha is aca fifteenth-century alchemical work SeeMeulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IIA 636ndash638) for asummary of its contents46 Rasamantildejarī 6313 This is part of a lar-

ger description of the effects which beginsin 631247 Rasārṇava 1775ndash77 for example de-scribes the use of tuttha in the colouring oflead (a step in aurifaction)


dagmar wujastyk 17

must also keep in mind that the different works offer differing versions of whatelements their discipline comprises48

In the following I will present a detailed description and analysis of the rasā-yana chapter of the Rasahṛdayatantra (RHT) which as the earliest alchemical textwe have access to may serve as a base text for comparison with the presentationof rasāyana in alchemical and medical literature

rasāyana in the rasahṛdayatantraThe Rasahṛdayatantra by Govinda consists of 506 verses that are divided into nine-teen chapters49 Laying the groundwork for the final stages of practice chaptersone to seventeen introduce the substances used in the alchemical operation witha particular focus on the central substance mercury and delineate the metal-lurgical processes each substance undergoes before it is used in the making ofthe mercurial elixirs Chapter eighteen describes the use of these altered sub-stances in processes for transmuting base metals into gold or silver The nine-teenth chapter is the last chapter in the work and it presents the culmination ofalchemical practice the rasāyana process and its effects50

The chapter begins with

अधना ो ानिप व ािम रसायन योगान51

I will now speak of the mentioned formulations in the context of rasā-yana

It then describes a series of activities and recipes broadly consisting of the pre-liminary treatment of cleansing the body (śodhana) through purgation sweat-ing and emesis a process called ldquothe preparation of the bodyrdquo (kṣetrīkaraṇa)

48 The term ldquorasavidyārdquo is found inRasahṛdayatantra 1979 and Rasaratnasamuc-caya 627 ldquorasaśāstrardquo in Rasaratnasamuccaya661 A further term rasavāda (ldquothe doc-trine of mercuryrdquo eg Rasāṛṇava 144)could also be understood as an umbrellaterm for alchemy However it seemsto mostly be used as a subcategory asin Rasendracintāmaṇi 719 where it isjuxtaposed with dhātuvāda (ldquothe doctrineof metalsrdquo) and viṣavāda (ldquothe doctrineof poisonsrdquo) The Rasendracintāmaṇi isattributed to Ḍhuṇḍukanātha and datesto about the fifteenth or sixteenth centuryaccording to Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IIA

705)49 The edition and translation by B V Sub-barayappa et al (Rasahṛdayatantra) is di-vided into twenty-one chapters It does notcontain extra materials but splits chapternineteen into three separate chapters Herethe edition digitized by Oliver Hellwig inthe Digital Corpus of Sanskrit is used (Hell-wig 1999ndash) For information on the datingof this text refer to footnote 3850 A partial translation of this chapter waspublished by B V Subbarayappa et al(Rasahṛdayatantra)51 Rasahṛdayatantra 191cd



involving the intake of herbal and mercurial elixirs and the intake of a final() mercurial elixir that triggers the ultimate transformation of the practitionerrsquosbody52 However these stages are not well distinguished from each other and itis not always clear whether the described herbal and mercurial elixirs are meantto be taken in succession or whether they are alternatives to each other

CleansingThe internal cleansing of the body through purgation etc which is very similarto what chapters in medical works prescribe for preparing for medical rasāyanatreatment is not clearly distinguished from the kṣetrīkaraṇa process and may infact form part of it According to Rasahṛdayatantra 192ndash4 the cleansing first in-volves three days of drinking clarified butter with rock salt in the morning fol-lowed by three days of taking a decoction of screw pine (ketakī)53 The bodyshould be made to sweat and then thoroughly cleansed with black hellebore(kaṭurohiṇī) Once the body has thus been rid of the humoral substance ldquophlegmrdquo(śleṣman) the persons undergoing treatment recover from the cleansing duringthree days in which they may eat barley and clarified butter The following verses(RHT 195ndash7) may describe either an alternative to the above or a continuation ofthe cleansing regimen for the next three days in which one would drink hot wa-ter with chebulic myrobalan rock salt emblic myrobalan black pepper sweetflag jaggery and false black pepper in the morning and also turmeric driedginger and long pepper54 This the author promises cleanses the body andmakes it strong through overcoming any pathological combination of the hu-mours This passage is echoed in Rasārṇava 183ndash7 while a similar though notidentical list is found in Rasaratnākara Rasāyanakhaṇḍa 14ndash655

The Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos passage also has a number of parallels in the rasāyanachapters of medical works Its list of substances used for internal cleansing cor-responds closely with that of Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 1125ndash28 though it uses

52 White (1996 266) also proposes ldquomaking(oneself master of) the fieldrdquo for kṣetrīkaraṇaHellwigrsquos dictionary does not have a sep-arate entry for kṣetrīkaraṇa but explains itas ldquoVorbereitung des Koumlrpers auf den de-havedhardquo ndash ldquopreparation of the body for de-havedhardquo in the entry on ldquokalkabandhardquo thefixation of mercury into a paste (Hellwig2009b 188)53 Rasahṛdayatantra 19254 The Sanskrit terms for these used inthe Rasahṛdayatantra are pathyā (chebulicmyrobalan) saindhava (rock salt) dhātrī(emblic myrobalan) marica (black pepper)

vacā (sweet flag) guḍa (jaggery) viḍaṅga(false black pepper) rajanī (turmeric) śuṇṭhī(dried ginger) and pippalī (long pepper)55 The Ānandakandarsquos detailed descriptionof preparing the body in 16 mentions theuse of ketakī (screw pine) (1618ndash19 and21) vacā (sweet flag) and viḍaṅga (falseblack pepper) (1623) and guḍa (jaggery)(1624) The Rasaratnasamuccayarsquos twenty-sixth chapter which starts with the defini-tion of rasāyana from Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsā-sthāna 117ndash8 does not include instructionson cleansing the body before rasāyana


dagmar wujastyk 19

different names for them pathyā instead of harītakī dhātrī instead of āmalakaśuṇṭhī instead of viṣvabheṣaja and it also adds marica (black pepper)56 While theRasārṇava the Rasaratnākara and the Ānandakanda also refer to the use of screwpine and the Rasārṇava includes hellebore none of the examined medical worksmention either substance57 However they do note that cleansing should be un-dertaken after the body has been oleated and made to sweat58 This may ex-plain the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos use of screw pine which can act as a sudative whilethe use of hellebore may be seen as an alternative or additional purgative TheCarakasaṃhitā and the later medical works following its prescriptions on cleans-ing techniques also recommend a diet of barley and clarified butter for the threedays following the cleansing

Preparing the Body (kṣetrīkaraṇa)The Suśrutasaṃhitā emphasises that rasāyana treatment without prior cleansingof the body cannot be successful comparing such a partial treatment to dyeing astained cloth Its argument about the efficacy of treatment is reiterated in manyof the later medical works59 The Rasahṛdayatantra concurs in the importance ofassuring the efficacy of rasāyana treatment through proper preparation but alsohighlights the issue of safety

अकत ऽीकरण रसायन यो नरः य ीतत बामित न रसः स रसः सवा दोषक वित60

Mercury will not penetrate the body of one who undertakes rasāyanawithout having prepared his body The mercury will cause damageto all parts of the body

56 Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 1125-28lists harītakī (chebulic myrobalan) saindhava(rock salt) āmalaka (emblic myrobalan)guḍa (jaggery) vacā (sweet flag) viḍaṅga(false black pepper) rajanī (turmeric)pippalī (long black pepper) and viśv-abheṣaja (dried ginger) Compare alsoAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttarasthāna 3921and Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Uttarasthāna 4914which list harītakī (chebulic myrobalan)āmalaka (emblic myrobalan) saindhava (rocksalt) nāgara (dried ginger) vacā (sweetflag) haridrā (turmeric) pippalī (long blackpepper) vella (false black pepper) andguḍa (jaggery) as the substances usedfor cleansing The same list is found inSiddhayoga 694ndash5

57 See Rasārṇava 183 and RasaratnākaraRasāyanakhaṇḍa 15 on the use of screw pineand Rasārṇava 185 on the use of hellebore58 Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttarasthāna 393Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Uttarasthāna 493 andSiddhayoga 694 also mention bloodlettingas a cleansing method59 See Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 273ndash4Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 1436ndash37 alsostates the importance of cleansing the bodyprior to rasāyana treatment Works thatquote the Suśrutasaṃhitārsquos comparison withdyeing a stained cloth include Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha (Uttarasthāna 494ndash5) the Siddhayoga(696) and the Cakradatta (662)60 Rasahṛdayatantra 198



None of the medical works warn of potential damage caused by rasāyana sub-stances This may partly be due to the nature of substances used mercury isarguably more toxic than the classical medical rasāyana substances61 The use ofmercury as a rasāyana ingredient is attested relatively late in ayurvedic medicineoccurring first in a single recipe in the ca seventh-century Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitāand Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha62 Mercury is found more often as a rasāyana ingredientin later medical works starting with the eleventh-century Cakradatta but typic-ally not as a central ingredient63 Ideas concerning the need to purify substancesbefore they are used medicinally enter medical works around the time the firstalchemical works articulate the concept of purifying or perfecting (śodhana) mer-cury and other substances64 However it should be noted that even those med-ical works that refer to the various procedures for perfecting substances do notexplicitly associate the procedures with making the use of mercury or other sub-stances safe for medical use65

To return to the procedures outlined in the Rasahṛdayatantra the cleansing ofthe body is followed with a period of regaining strength through taking variousgrain- and pulse-based liquids From the text it appears that this is the moment inwhich the preparation of the body (kṣetrīkaraṇa) concludes66 But what follows isa description of various deodar cedar oil preparations that might be understoodto still be part of kṣetrīkaraṇa either as an alternative to the preceding or as anaddition The first recipe (RHT 1910ndash11) is attributed with first cleansing outthe abdomen and then effecting an increase in beauty and mental vigour andallaying all disease until finally the body becomes immortal (amaravapus) andendowed with great vital power (mahātejas) The second slightly different recipe

61 Note however the use of the poisonousleadwort (citraka) as a rasāyana substance inAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttarasthāna 3962 Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttarasthāna 3936and Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Uttarasthāna 49392See Dagmar Wujastyk 2013 1863 See Dagmar Wujastyk 2016 on theuse of mercury as a rasāyana substance inmedicine64 Procedures for purifying (śodhana)mercury are already described in theninth-century Kalyāṇakāraka and someprocedures are also described in theeleventhtwelfth-century Vaṅgasenasaṃhitāwhile the thirteenthfourteenth-centuryŚārṅgadharasaṃhitā gives more detailedexpositions on the topic See DagmarWujastyk 2013

65 The possibility of poisoning with un-processed metals and minerals is first dis-cussed in the sixteenth-century Bhāvaprakāśain the ldquochapter on the rules concerning thepurification and calcination of metals etcrdquo(dhātvādiśodhanamāraṇavidhiprakaraṇa) in thePūrvakhaṇḍa However even though vari-ous methods of processing mercury are de-scribed there is no discussion on the prop-erties of unprocessed mercury here66 Rasahṛdayatantra 199 reads इित श ो जा-तबलः शा ोदनयावका म रसः ऽीकतिनजदहःकव त रसायन िविधवत ldquoThus one who iscleansed who has become strong throughboiled rice barley grains and mung beansoup and whose body has been preparedshould undertake rasāyana according torulerdquo


dagmar wujastyk 21

(RHT 1912) has less dramatic outcomes it promises the cure of eye disordersThe third recipe (RHT 1913) is for eliminating colds (pīnasa) and also the groupof skin diseases (kuṣṭha) while the fourth (RHT 1914) details the use of deodarcedar juice with different carrier substances (either clarified butter oil jaggeryor honey) to overcome diseases caused by each of the humoral substances

Deodar cedar is not featured as an ingredient in any of the Sanskrit medicalworksrsquo rasāyana chapters though it is already found in other contexts in the Su-śrutasaṃhitā Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā and Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha

After some dietary advice (RHT 1915) instructions on which kinds ofmercury should be consumed follow (RHT 1916ndash20) These begin with ldquoAf-terwardsrdquo (tadanu) which may either refer to the dietary advice or otherwisemay indicate that the intake of mercury follows on from the use of the deodarpreparations In the Rasārṇava (189ndash10) the protracted use of deodar cedaris clearly followed by the intake of processed mercury In the Ānandakandadeodar is featured in 1625ndash26 as the last of the preparatory preparations beforerasāyana with processed mercury (āroṭa) begins In any case Rasahṛdayatantra1918 -20 (and also Rasārṇava 1810) place the use of the mercurials in the contextof kṣetrīkaraṇa again

Here we have another connection with medical literature The Rasahṛdayatan-trarsquos recipe reads thus

माि किशलाजतलोहचणप ा िवड घतमधिभःसय रसमादौ ऽीकरणाय य ीतइित क ीकतसत घनका मधघतािदसय मभ ामरता ग ऽीकरण धानिमदम67

In the beginning one should apply mercury mixed with chalcopyr-ites shilajit iron filings chebulic and belleric myrobalans false blackpepper clarified butter and honey for the purpose of preparing thebody Thus having eaten the mercury that has been made into apaste mixed with mica iron honey clarified butter etc he attainsimmortality This is the best preparation of the body

Compare this ingredient list with the recipe in Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttarasthāna39161 and Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Uttarasthāna 49392

िशलाजत ौििवड स पल हाभयापारदता भ ःआपयत बलदहधाति प राऽण यथा शशा ःThe depleted tissues of the body of one who eats shilajit honey falseblack pepper clarified butter iron chebulic myrobalan mercury andpyrites are replenished within fifteen nights like the moon

67 Rasahṛdayatantra 1919ndash20



The same wording appears in Rasārṇava 1814 and in Rasaratnasamuccaya 2613In the Rasārṇava it is followed by a recipe of mica and iron and various herbal in-gredients and animal products Using similar phrasing to Rasahṛdayatantra 1920the Rasārṇavarsquos mica and iron recipe is then described as the best kṣetrīkaraṇathrough which one would attain immortality68 In the medical worksrsquo versionmercury appears only as one of several ingredients not as the main one as in theRasahṛdayatantra And significantly the promised effects do not include the at-tainment of immortality Also the replenishment of the bodily tissues seemsto be understood as an end in itself in the medical works whereas both theRasahṛdayatantra and the Rasārṇava place the recipe within the context of ready-ing the body through kṣetrīkaraṇa implying a further step

The next section of the Rasahṛdayatantra is concerned with various mica(ghana abhra gagana) preparations (RHT 1921ndash27) and mica and iron com-pounds (RHT 1928ndash36) including one with a certain kind of processed mercury(āroṭa) applied in kṣetrīkaraṇa Mica is presented as a substance that prolongslife RHT 1923 speaks of a person living for one hundred years Howeverthe treatise also warns of the detrimental effects of the wrong kind of or badlyprepared mica which would cause decrepitude and death Mica with iron issaid to remove obesity various eye diseases swellings pain in the ears andnose piles haemorrhoids urinary disorders and grey hair69 Taken for a year itwards off death and ageing The section concludes with the following statement

एषामक योग ऽीकरणाथमािदतः क ा सव रमयन वा िनःौयसिस य यो म70

Having first made one of these compounds for the purpose of pre-paring the body one should use it for a year or half a year for theattainment of ultimate bliss

In medical literature mica is first mentioned as a rasāyana ingredient in theCakradatta where it is used as part of the Cakradattarsquos complicated rasāyana recipefor ldquoimmortality-essence ironrdquo (amṛtasāralauha) In this context the purificationand calcination of mica are briefly described as involving maceration with herbaljuices and sour gruels baking in a pit and bringing the mica to a glow over a fireand then dipping it in milk and washing it71 This is already more complicated

68 Rasārṇava 1815ef भ ा ग दमरता ऽीक-रणम म ldquoHaving eaten it one would attainimmortality It is the best preparation of thebodyrdquo69 See Rasahṛdayatantra 193270 Rasahṛdayatantra 1936 The preparationsalluded to are āroṭa with mica and two types

of iron (RHT 1935)) and mica with ironmercury gold and some organic substances(RHT 1935)71 Cakradatta 6692ndash97 The complete pro-cedure for making amṛtasāralauha is de-scribed in 66 34ndash125


dagmar wujastyk 23

than what is described in the Rasahṛdayatantra (1921) which merely states that apre-processed mica should be made red hot over a fire and then sprinkled withcamphorweed (surabhī) and milk The Vaṅgasenasaṃhitārsquos rasāyana chapter hasquite a long section on various mica preparations72 However there is no overlapat all with the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos mica recipes

The next section of the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos rasāyana chapter (RHT 1937ndash58)discusses what kind of mercury should be used for rasāyana namely mercurythat has undergone processing and has amalgamated with other metals and min-erals what kind of mercury ought not to be used (mercury amalgamated withpoison tin or lead) what happens if such mercury is eaten (skin diseases andtrembling) the processes of mercury ldquodigestingrdquo other substances and how thisrelates to the dosage of the end product the regimen and diet during the periodthe mercurial is taken what happens if these rules are not followed the symp-toms of not being able to digest mercury (faintness sleepiness fever burningsensations sharp abdominal pain apathy and destruction of the body) and howto treat the arising disorders

Within this section RHT 1949 offers an interesting interlude as it seems todescribe mercurial-enhanced meditation practice that culminates in arriving ata state called ldquorasānandardquo ldquobliss of mercuryrdquo

परम िण लीनः शा िच ः सम माप ःआ ासयि वग िविज रसान पिरत ःHe has become absorbed in the highest being With a stilled mindhe has achieved equanimity Controlling his breathing havingmastered the three goals he has become completely content in thebliss of mercury

The Conclusion of the Rasāyana ProcessFinally the successful intake of a mercurial elixir with sulphur and its outcomesare described (RHT 1961ndash64) The effects include producing beautiful offspringenhanced virility rejuvenation increased mental power and bodily strength andprolonged life-span There is a sense of gradual improvement over time Theconclusion of the rasāyana process is described thus

ा िद ब िद ा गणाः वध ६२cdएव रससिस ो ःखजरामरणव जतो गणवानखगमनन च िन सचरत सकलभवनष ६३

72 Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā 77121ndash238



दाता भवनिऽतय ॐ ा सोऽपीह प योिनिरव भता िव िरव ा हता िव वित ६४The divine intelligence and divine qualities of one who has attainedthem grow further (62cd)One who has thus become fully perfected through mercury who hasleft behind misery ageing and death and is endowed with good qual-ities continually roams all the worlds through moving in the sky (63)He will also become a giver and creator here in the triad of worldslike the lotus-born one who maintains [the world] like Viṣṇu and adestroyer like Rudra (64)

The chapter does not end here but continues with recipes for several pills amercurial pill called ldquoimmortal beautyrdquo (amarasundarī) for protection againstweapons and diseases a pill called ldquoraising the deadrdquo (mṛtasaṃjīvanī) againstinjuries fear grief disease ageing unhappiness and indeed for raising thedead three kinds of ldquodiamond pillrdquo (vajriṇīguṭikā) said to confer the strengthof nine elephants make the body indestructible and free it from death ageingand disease73 and one ldquoroaming the sky pillrdquo (khecarīguṭikā) through whichone would become ldquohighly revered by gods demons and perfected beingsbeginning with Indrardquo74 All of these are either placed in the mouth or worn asan amulet

on the structure of the rasāyana processAs we have seen the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos rasāyana chapter shares a number of fea-tures with the rasāyana and dehavedha chapters of the other examined alchem-ical works both in terms of general structure of the rasāyana process and therequired conditions for it All the examined works prescribe cleansing proced-ures that precede the intake of the elixirs though there are significant differencesin how much detail is given on how to proceed Ānandakanda 164ndash26 gives themost detailed description of the applied procedures presenting them as ldquofiveproceduresrdquo (pantildecakarman) of stimulating digestion (pācana) oleation (snehana)sweating (svedana) emesis (vamana) and purgation (virecana) to which proced-ures for eradicating disorders associated with vitiated flavours are added75 TheRasaratnākararsquos depiction of cleansing procedures (in Rasāyanakhaṇḍa 14ndash8) is

73 Rasahṛdayatantra 1974 एषा मखकह-रगता क त नवनागत बलम त परिप भ म जरारोगिनम म

74 Rasahṛdayatantra 1976cd दवासरिस गणःप तमो भवित च ा ः75 Sweating and oleation are more typic-ally considered preliminary treatments inayurvedic texts whose ldquofive proceduresrdquo


dagmar wujastyk 25

comparatively brief considering that the Rasāyanakhaṇḍa is the longest and mostelaborate presentation of the subject of rasāyana with its 951 verses It is similarto the Ānandakandarsquos presentation of the subject (in 1618ndash25) in that it specifieswhat the body is cleansed of namely disorders due to salty taste (loṇadoṣa) tosour taste (amladoṣa) and to all kinds of disorders (doṣa) categories that are notfurther explained And finally the Rasaratnasamuccayarsquos rasāyana chapter doesnot set out a method of commencing rasāyana therapy with cleansing treatmentsonly very briefly referring to cleansing through ldquofive proceduresrdquo in 2644

Most of the examined alchemical works also include the concept of ldquothepreparation of the bodyrdquo (kṣetrīkaraṇa) in their presentation of rasāyana a pro-cedure that is not always clearly differentiated from the cleansing proceduresbut that often includes the intake of mercurials particularly a kind of mercurypreparation called ldquoāroṭardquo76 The concept of kṣetrīkaraṇa deserves a study ofits own77 but here it will perhaps suffice to note that the Rasahṛdayatantraassociates kṣetrīkaraṇa with a wide range of effects including overcomingdisease getting rid of wrinkles and grey hair prolonging life or even attainingimmortality in a physical body And even further As we have seen RHT 1936claims that the described kṣetrīkaraṇa preparations taken for half a year to a yeareventually lead to the attainment of ultimate bliss This suggests therefore thata substance used for kṣetrīkaraṇa and one used following kṣetrīkaraṇa may be oneand the same the difference lying only in the amount of time they are taken Inany case it is notable that the attainment of immortality is considered part ofldquopreparing the bodyrdquo suggesting that it is not the final aim in the alchemistrsquosendeavour The step beyond immortality would appear to be the attainment of

for purification comprise emesis purgationtwo different types of enema and the useof errhines The disorders mentioned inthe Ānandakanda here are ldquodisorders causedby saline flavourrdquo (kṣāradoṣa) (1620) ldquodis-orders caused by sour flavourrdquo (amladoṣa)(1621 and 23) worms (krimi) (1624) andldquoall diseasesrdquo (sarvaroga) (1626)76 The Rasaratnasamuccaya does notmention kṣetrīkaraṇa in its rasāyana chapter(chapter 26) but makes mention of it in1166 in the context of the purified mercurypreparation called ldquoāroṭardquo as the mostsuitable ldquopreparation of the bodyrdquo Sim-ilarly the Rasārṇava (1810ndash11) associateskṣetrīkaraṇa with the intake of āroṭa thoughalso with a number of other mercurialpreparations (see 1816 18ndash19 and 21) The

Rasaratnākararsquos Rasāyanakhaṇḍa makes afairly clear distinction between cleansingprocedures and kṣetrīkaraṇa as it describescleansing procedures in chapter 14ndash8 andkṣetrīkaraṇa (with mica) in chapter 22ndash377 The concept of kṣetrīkaraṇa is briefly dis-cussed by White (1996 270ndash271) where hestates that kṣetrīkaraṇa ldquorefers to the pre-paration of the body for the medicines thatwill be absorbed in the treatment per serdquo inmedical rejuvenation therapy The sourcefor this was a personal communicationfrom Siddhinandan Misra (White 1996 493n 33) However it should be noted that theterm does not occur in any of the rasāyanachapters of the Sanskrit medical works ex-amined for this article



a god-like status as described in RHT 1963ndash64 However we also need to makenote of the recipes for the various pills at the end of the chapter which offerdiffering effects These point to the possibility of multiple aims of alchemistsrather than one single final aim

Since the order of sequence is not always clear in the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquospresentation of rasāyana one cannot always discern whether all of the describedformulations should be taken one after the other or whether some formula-tions are perhaps alternatives to each other This is similar in the Rasārṇavarsquoseighteenth chapter The recipes in the Rasaratnākararsquos Rasāyanakhaṇḍa and in theRasaratnasamuccayarsquos twenty-sixth chapter seem to be alternatives to each otherrather than part of a multi-step process In this they resemble the rasāyanaprocedures described in the medical works which describe the intake of a singletonic over a period of time By contrast the Ānandakanda (18) lays out a veryclear course of action with the intake of one elixir clearly following another inan established order Whether they use a single or multiple formulations bothalchemical and medical rasāyana seem to happen over a sustained period oftime often with months or even years passing

on the effects of rasāyanaIf we consider the various outcomes of rasāyana in the Rasahṛdayatantra and theother alchemical works we can see quite different emphases The Rasahṛdayatan-trarsquos rasāyana leads to different outcomes that include longevity strength beautymental vigour getting rid of wrinkles and grey hair freedom from disease andgreat vital power These are all also found as effects of rasāyana therapy in themedical works The more specific diseases mentioned include eye disorders (nay-anavikāra) including classes of eye disorders called paṭala kāca and timira colds(pīnasa) serious skin diseases (kuṣṭha) diseases arising through disorders of thehumoral substances wind bile and phlegm (vāta pitta kapha) swellings (arbuda)ear and nose pain piles (arśa) anal fistula (bhagandara) and urinary (meha) andspleen (plīha) disorders All of these are also described in the medical worksrsquorasāyana chapters with the exception of the kāca and paṭala classes of eye dis-orders (compare Table 3 in the Appendix) Generally speaking the alleviationof diseases seems a minor concern in the Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos depiction of rasāyanathough it is featured in the context of kṣetrīkaraṇa to some extent Similarly theRasārṇavarsquos eighteenth chapter mentions medical cures only in passing in verse56 referring to a mercury-mica formulation as an agent for overcoming disease ingeneral strengthening the body and increasing semen production Much moredetail is given on diseases arising through the improper use of mercurials (verses136ndash140) In the Rasaratnākararsquos Rasāyanakhaṇḍa disease is also hardly mentionedat all Instead the general focus is on rejuvenation and extreme longevity cre-


dagmar wujastyk 27

ating a superhuman invincible body that is extremely hard (dārḍhya) or like adiamond (vajrakāya) and attaining divinity or at least a comparable conditionIn a very few instances formulations are attributed with eradicating disease ingeneral and in three cases with curing specific disorders78 And chapters sixand seven are devoted to re-establishing or enhancing virility and sexual stamina(vājīkaraṇa vīryastambhana) While vājīkaraṇavṛṣya formally constitutes a separ-ate subject area as one of the eight branches of Ayurveda there is an increasingamount of overlap between medical rasāyana and vājīkaraṇa both in terms of aimsand of formulations in later medical works79

The Rasaratnasamuccayarsquos rasāyana chapter also emphasises the rejuvenativeand life-prolonging effects of its formulations but gives equal weight to theirgeneral health benefits and several times mentions the eradication of diseaseslinked with ageing Its fairly extensive list of specific disease groups tackledby its formulations includes serious skin diseases (kuṣṭha) wasting diseases(yakṣmagada) jaundice (kāmala and halīmaka) anaemia (pāṇḍu) swellings (śopha)constipation (ānāha) intestinal inflammation (grahaṇī) consumption (śoṣa)cough (kāsa) fever (jvara) all kinds of urinary disorders (prameha) hiccups(hikkā) erysipelas (visarpa) abcesses (vidradhi) itching (kaṇḍu) falling sickness(apasmāra) and disorders connected to humoral imbalance With the exceptionof itching (kaṇḍu) which is not mentioned in any of the medical worksrsquo rasāyanachapters all of these categories of disorders also occur in the early medicalworksrsquo rasāyana chapters The Ānandakandarsquos presentation of the rasāyanaprocess by contrast contains little on the health benefits of its elixirs Thereis one recipe for a mercury preparation that is attributed with eradicatingall disease and preventing new disease from arising80 Depending on theamounts of intake this preparation is meant to increase semen productionstrengthen the body get rid of grey hair enhance memorization faculty andeloquence eradicate eye diseases boost eyesight prolong lifespan become asecond Śaṅkara and live for a thousand one hundred thousand or ten millionyears The focus of the Ānandakandarsquos rasāyana is generally on the attainment ofextreme longevity or quasi-immortality special powers and godhood81 Suchoutcomes are beyond what the medical works typically propose as an effect of

78 See Rasaratnākara Rasāyanakhaṇḍa 2 121ndash127 for a formulation against ldquoall diseasesageing and deathrdquo (sarvarogajarāmṛtyu) 3197ndash220 especially verses 215ndash216 for a mer-cury formulation that cures serious skin dis-orders (kuṣṭha) paralysis wasted limbs andgenerally all diseases or 490ndash91 for a de-coction that acts as a vermifuge eradicates

ldquoroyal consumptionrdquo and unspecified otherdiseases (rājayakṣmādiroga)79 See Dagmar Wujastyk 2016 109ndash11080 Ānandakanda 1644ndash4981 That is attaining a condition ofldquoBrahmahoodrdquo (brahmatva) or ldquoViṣṇu-hoodrdquo (viṣṇūtā) or ldquoŚivahoodrdquo (śivatva)etc



rasāyana therapy though the Suśrutasaṃhitārsquos rasāyana with soma or with divineplants go into a similar direction

The Rasahṛdayatantrarsquos presentation of rasāyana depicts it as a process that in-cludes preparatory therapies for cleansing the practitionerrsquos body internally aprocedure (or perhaps series of procedures) that further prepare the body forthe intake of the most potent mercurial elixir and the effects of these proced-ures namely the transformation of the body The transformation of the practi-tioner is described as a lengthy process that is drawn out over a period of timerather than as something that happens in an instant after taking an elixir Whilethe Rasahṛdayatantra gives some recipes for the formulation of both preparatorymedicines and mercurial elixirs in its rasāyana chapter its rasāyana process doesnot include all the work that has to go in beforehand to prepare the raw materialsThis is instead described at length in the preceding eighteen chapters Thereforerasāyana in the Rasahṛdayatantra does not encompass the metallurgical part of al-chemical operations The same is true for the descriptions of rasāyana in the otherexamined alchemical works with the exception of the Rasaratnākararsquos Rasāyana-khaṇḍa which describes a series of mercury processing procedures in its firstchapter These however are very brief when compared with the elaborate pro-cesses of preparing raw materials described in the Rasaratnākararsquos Rasakhaṇḍa

While there are many similarities between the alchemical worksrsquo presenta-tions of rasāyana there are also significant differences between them Mainly thelarger compilations (the Rasaratnākara and the Ānandakanda) include more detailon the procedures and give more recipes for rasāyana elixirs The Ānandakandalays out a more clearly established programme for the intake of a series of elixirsduring rasāyana than the Rasahṛdayatantra or Rasārṇava In the case of the Rasa-ratnākararsquos Rasāyanakhaṇḍa the listed elixirs seem to be alternatives to each otherrather than part of a programme of taking multiple formulations The Rasaratna-samuccayarsquos much shorter presentation of rasāyana echoes this

3 CONCLUSION

There is some structural agreement between the alchemical worksrsquo rasāyanawith that of the medical works as for example the methods of preparing

for rasāyana with the internal cleansing of the body However medical rasāyanatherapy seems to be a relatively more simple procedure as it is conceived as theapplication of only one rasāyana substance or formulation after the preliminarytreatments As noted above two of the examined alchemical works seem to sim-ilarly describe a rasāyana process with one elixir while the others advocate morecomplicated procedures with multiple elixirs during and in some cases afterthe kṣetrīkaraṇa process

There is also a substantial difference in the kinds of formulations used for


dagmar wujastyk 29

rasāyana in medicine and in alchemy though these differences get less pro-nounced over time with the increasing introduction of iatrochemical methodsin medical works While the earlier medical works mostly describe the use ofherbal tonics for rasāyana therapy later medical works (from the ninthtenthcentury onwards) incorporate the inorganic and organic materials used inalchemical operations and perhaps even more significantly also apply themethods for processing the new substances albeit typically in a simplified formHowever mercury the central focus of the alchemical rasāyana process neverbecomes the main focus of medical rasāyana

Finally the probably greatest difference between medical and alchemical rasā-yana lies in the expected outcomes from the ldquoacts of improvementrdquo The multiplesteps of alchemical rasāyana include outcomes similar to those listed in the med-ical works such as rejuvenation longevity and health but then go much furtherextending the effects of rasāyana to the attainment of immortality and beyondthat of godhood While medical works standardly present rasāyana as a methodof overcoming of ageing and disease (jarāvyādhi) alchemical works describe rasā-yana as a way of overcoming ageing and death (jarāmṛtyu) The alchemical worksrsquophrasing of overcoming ageing and death is then found in later medical worksstarting with the Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā82

This would make it seem as if alchemical rasāyana were a kind of ldquorasāyanaplusrdquo an improved and maximised rasāyana with more elaborate proceduresand outcomes that are just that much more spectacular due to the special ele-ment of alchemy the mercurial elixir But that is not quite right or rather thereisnrsquot a linear development from mild tonic to extreme elixir In a way the al-chemical rasāyana could be understood as a return to form in that its outcomesare reminiscent of some of the earliest depictions of rasāyana in the very oldestmedical treatises Both the Carakasaṃhitā and Suśrutasaṃhitā describe quite ex-treme therapies with correspondingly extreme outcomes in the context of the useof soma or divine herbs These elements become tempered or are left out entirelyin the later medical works starting with the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā in the seventhcentury It is with these early rasāyana that I see the strongest correspondencewith the rasāyana of the alchemical texts in terms of expected outcomes Perhapswe can also make the argument that there is a parallel between the central rasā-yana ingredients of soma and mercury83 However for all correspondences theprocedures developed in the alchemical tradition for processing mercury andother substances that precede the intake of the rasāyana elixir sharply differenti-ate alchemical rasāyana from the medical rasāyana of the oldest medical works

82 See Dagmar Wujastyk forthcoming83 See White 1996 ch 2 on the parallelsbetween soma and mercury and their

shared association with both semen andimmortality



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article was made possible through fund-ing from the European Unionrsquos Horizon 2020

research and innovation programme under grantagreement No 639363 I would also like to thank theanonymous reviewers for their comments and sug-gestions

APPENDIX

List of diseases in the rasāyana chapters of different Sanskrit medical works

Carakasaṃhitā (Cikitsāsthāna 11ndash4) arśa atibalavāta grahaṇīdoṣa (pl) gulma hikkā hṛdrogajaṭhara kāsa kṣaya kuṣṭha medhāsmṛtijntildeānahararoga (pl)mūtraśukrasthadoṣa (pl) galāmaya pāṇḍutā pīnāsa pipāsaplīha śopha śoṣa śvāsa śvitra udara uroroga vaisvaryavātabalāsaka vātaśoṇita viṣamajvara

Suśrutasaṃhitā (Cikitsāsthāna27ndash30)

apacī apasmāra arśa bhūtagraha chardayatā galagaṇḍakṛmi kuṣṭha mahāvyādhi pāṇḍuroga raktapitta ślīpadaśoṇita śoṣa svarabheda udara unmāda viṣamajvara

Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā(Uttarasthāna 39)

arśa atibalavāta galagraha garodara grahaṇī gulma hidhmāhṛdroga jvara kāsa kilāsa kṛmi kuṣṭha medodoṣa mehamūtraśukrastharoga (pl) pāṇḍutva pāyujaroga plīha (pl)prameha śopha śoṣa sudustaravāta śvāsa śvitram nikhilak-uṣṭha (pl) viṣamajvara unmāda vaisvarya vami vātaśoṇitayakṣman

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha (Uttarasthāna 49) aktāndhyakacā āmamarut ānāha āpacī apasmāra apatan-traka arbuda arman arśa ārtavadoṣa āruci aśmarī atiba-lavāta (pl) atikārśya atisāra atisthaulya āyāma bādhiryabhagandara dantakarṇaśiroruja durnāma duṣṭavraṇagalagaṇḍa galagraha gaṇḍamālā garodara ghana grahaṇīgranthī gudaja gude klīma gulma halīmaka hidhmāhṛdroga jāḍhya jalodara jaṭhara jvara kāmala kaphaja (pl)kārśya kāsa kilāsa kṛmi kṣaya śiragada kṛśatā kuṣṭhalūtākīṭākhusarpadaṣṭa (pl) mada madhumeha mandān-alatva manodoṣa medodoṣa meha mukhagada mūrcchāmūtraśukrāśrayadoṣa (pl) niliroga (pl) netragada pāṇḍutvapīnasa piṭaka plīha prameha rakta(doṣa) ślīpada śoṣaśopha sthaulya śukradoṣa svarabheda śvāsa śvayathusveda śvitra taimira tamas tvagvikāra (pl) udara unmādaupalaghana ūrustambha vaisvarya vāmaya vami vandhyatāvardhma vātabhagna vātakaphāmaya (pl) vātaroga (pl)vātaśoṇita vidradhi vilambikā viṣamajvara visarpa vyaṅgayakṛdroga yakṣman


dagmar wujastyk 31

Kalyāṇakāraka (pariccheda 6Svasthyarakṣanādhikāra)

none

Siddhayoga (chapter 69) arśa amlapitta āruci atisāra dāha duṣṭaśukragalaśirakarṇaśaṅkhākṣiroga (pl) jvara kāsa kaṭī khāl-itya koṭha kṛmi kuṣṭha meha moha mūtraghāta pīnasapiṭaka prameha śvāsa śoṣa śukradoṣa śvayathu timiraudara vaisvarya vamana vātapittakṣatajakaphakṛtavyādhi(pl) vraṇa

Cakradatta (chapter 66) āḍhyavāta akṣiroga amlapitta ānāha apasmāra arbuda arśaāruci āsṛgdara atikārśya atisāra atisthaulya bhagandarabradhna galāmaya galaśirakarṇaśūlākṣiroga (pl) grahaṇīgudakīla gulma (five kinds of) gulma hikkā hṛdrogajaṭhara jvara kāmala kāsa kaṭī klaibya kṣaya koṭhakukṣiroga (pl) kuṣṭha mada mūtraghāta pāṇḍutā piḍakapīnasa pittaṣūla plīha prameha raktapitta śvayathu śvāsaśoṣa śotha śukradoṣa śūla śvitra śāṇḍhya śirorogasveda ślīpada udara unmāda vadanaroga vaisvarya vamivandhya vātapittakṣatajakaphakṛtavyādhi (pl) vātabalāsakavātaśoṇita vidradhi viṣamajvara yakṣman yonidoṣa

Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā 84 (chapter 77) agnimāndya agnisāda ajīrṇa āmajagrahaṇī āma(jaroga)āmakoṣṭha āmaśūla āmavāta amlapitta ānāha apasmāraarśa āruci arocaka aśmarī āndhya atiduṣṭavahni atikārśyaatisāra atiślīpada atisthaulya bastikukṣigudāruj bhasmakabhagadoṣa bhagandara bhrama chardi daurbalya de-hakampa dīrghajvara durnāma gadastambha gaṇḍamāla(pl) grahaṇī grahaṇigada grantārbuda gudakīla gude klīmagulma halīmaka hastakampa hikkā hṛcchūla hṛddoṣa ja-lodara jalpatā jaṭharāgnimāndya jvara locanaroga kāmalakaphātigāḍha kaphapittāsra (roga) kāsa kaṭīśūla kṛcchrakṣaya kukṣiśūla kuṣṭha 18 types of kuṣṭha mada mandāgni-doṣa (pl) mastakaroga medovikāra meha mukhāsravamukharoga mūrcchā mūrḍhaśūla mūtradoṣa mūtrakṛc-chra nābhiśūla netraroga paittikagrahaṇī paṅktiśūla pāmāpantildecakāsa pāṇḍuroga pariṇāma parināmaśūla pārśvaśūlapiḍikā pīnasa pitta(roga) pittaśleṣmādhikagrahaṇīgadaplīha pradara prakampa prameha raktachardi raktaroga(pl) raktolbaṇa raktapitta śaṃḍha sandhivāta sarva-kaphaja sarvanetrāmaya sarvapittodbhāva (pl) sidhmanśiroroga śleṣmikagrahaṇī ślīpada śoṣa śotha śramajavyādhiśrutiroga śukradoṣa śukraprameha śukrāśmarī śukrā-srava śvāsa sveda śvitra tridoṣottha(roga) trikaśūla tṛṣāudararoga unmāda ūrdhvadhūma ūrdhvavāyu urustambhavadanaroga vahnisāda vamathu vami vardhman vātapit-takaphamahāvyādhi (pl) vātaprakopa (pl) vātaraktavātaślaiśmottarakukṣiroga vataśoṇita vibandha vidradhivigandhatva viṣamajvara visarpa viṣṭambhagrahaṇī yakṛd-doṣa yakṣman

84Although the Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā enumerates a greater number of different diseases in its rasā-yana section than the other works it should also be noted that in this list given here the difference



Bhāvaprakāśa (Uttarakhaṇḍa 2) noneYogaratnākara (chapter 76) amlapitta arman arśa āruci atisāra dāha dṛḍhaśūlayukta-

rakta doṣajvara duṣṭaśukra ghora grahaṇīgada gudāṅkurajīrṇajvara kaṇḍu krimi kṣaya kuṣṭha khālitya meha mohapāṇḍu prameha rājaruj samnipāta śukradoṣa śvāsa timiraudararogajāla vamana vātāmaya viṣadoṣa

Bhaiṣajyaratnāvalī (Uttarakhaṇḍa73)

āḍhyavāta agnimāndya ajīrṇa āmaśūla āmavāta amlapittaānāha arbuda aśmarī asṛgdara arśa āruci asrapittaatikārśya atisāra atisthaulya bhagandara bhrama bradhnadāha daurgandhya durnāma galagraha galamaya galotthān-antravṛddhi grahaṇīdoṣa gulma halīmaka hikkā hṛcchūlajalodara jarā jaṭhara jihvastambha jvara kāmala kaphavātot-tha karṇanāsākṣimukhavaijātya kāsa kasana kaṭiśūlaklaibya kṣaya kuṣṭha mada mūḍhagarbha mūtraghātamūtrakṛcchra netraroga paktiśūla pāṇḍutā pīnasa pramehapūtana rajaśukrasamudbhava raktanut raktapitta rocakasaṃnipātajvara ṣāṇdhya śiraśūla ślīpada somaruja śoṣaśotha sthaulya striroga śūla śvāsa śvitra sveda tṛṣṇa tṛṣāudara unmāda vaisvarya vamana vamathu vami vātabalā-saka vātaśoṇita vidradhi viṣamajvara vraṇa vyaṅga yakṛtyakṣman yoniśukradoṣa

TEXT EDITIONS

Ānandakanda S V Radhakrishna ed (1952) Anandakandam Editedwith Translation in Tamil and Introduction in Tamil andSanskrit Vol 15 TMSSM Series Thanjavur TanjoreMaharaja Serfojirsquos Saraswati Mahal Library

Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā K R Srikantha Murthy (1999ndash2000) VāgbhaṭarsquosAṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam Text English translation Notes Ap-pendix and Indices translated by KR Srikantha Murthy3 vols Varanasi Krishnadas Academy

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha K R Srikantha Murthy (1995ndash1997) Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgrahaof Vāgbhaṭa Text English translation Notes Indices etctranslated by KR Srikantha Murthy 3 vols VaranasiChaukhamba Orientalia

Bhaiṣajyaratnāvalī Brahmashankar Mishra (2006) Bhaiṣajyaratnāvalī ofShri Govinda Dasji edited and enlarged by BrahmashankarMishra commented upon by Ambikadatta Shāstrī Englishtranslation by Kanjiv Lochan translation technically

in number of listed diseases is partly due to Vaṅgasenarsquos use of synonyms for diseases whereasthe other authors tend to use one single term for a disease Repetitions of disease terms are notreproduced in the list


dagmar wujastyk 33

reviewed by Anand K Choudhary 3 vols VaranasiChaukhambha Sanskrit Bhawan

Bhāvaprakāśa K R Srikantha Murthy (1998ndash2000) Bhāvaprakāśa ofBhāvamiśra (Text English Translation Notes Appendeces[sic] and Index) 2 vols Varanasi Krishnadas Academy

Cakradatta Priya Vrat Sharma (2002) Cakradatta (Sanskrit Text withEnglish Translation) A Treatise on Principles and Practicesof Ayurvedic Medicine Varanasi Chaukhamba Publish-ers

Carakasaṃhitā Yādavaśarman Trivikrama Ācārya ed (1981) Caraka-saṃhitā śrīcakrapāṇidattaviracitayā āyurvedadīpikāvyā-khyayā saṃvalitā 4th ed New Delhi MunshiramManoharlal

Rasahṛdayatantra B V Subbarayappa B S Ramakrishna RaoM Mahadeva Sastry and S R N Murthy (1997)ldquoRasahṛdaya Tantram of Govinda BhagavatpādardquoIn Indian Journal of History of Science 32 1ndash68 (321)69ndash148 (322)

Rasamantildejarī Siddhinandana Miśra (2003) Rasamantildejarī ldquoSiddhipradārdquoHindī Vyākhyāsahitā Jayakṛṣṇadāsa āyurveda grantha-mālā 81 Vārānāsī Caukhambhā Oriyaṇṭāliyā

Rasaratnākara Kṣemarāja Śrīkṛṣṇādāsa ed (1909) Śrīḥ siddhanitya-nāthapraṇītaḥ rasaratnākaraḥ (samastarasagranthānāṃśirobhūṣaṇam) Māthuravaiśyā rsquoyurvedoddhāraka śāla-grāmakṛta bhāṣāṭīkāvibhūṣitaḥ Mumbai Śrīveṅkaṭeś-vara Steam Press

Rasaratnasamuccaya Āśubodha Vidyābhūṣaṇa and Nityabodha Vidyāratnaeds (1927) Saṭīkaḥ Rasaratnasamuccayaḥ (prācīnarasa-granthaḥ) Kalikātā The editors url httpsarchiveorg details VagbhataRasaratnasamuccaya1927 (on 2Jan 2017)

Rasārṇava P C Ray and H C Kaviratna (2007) Rasārṇava Editedby P C Ray H C Kaviratna Re-Edited by S Jain DelhiOriental Book Centre

Rasāyanakhaṇḍa Yādavaśarman Trivikrama Ācārya ed (1913) Śrīn-ityanāthasiddhaviracito Rasaratnākarāntargataś caturthoRasāyanakhaṇḍaḥ hellip saṃśodhitaḥ prakāśitaś ca =Rasayanakhanda Fourth Part of Rasaratnacirckara by ShriNityanacircthasiddha edited by Jadavjicirc Tricumjicirc AcircchacircryaĀyurvedīya Granthamālā 10 Bombay The editor at



the Nirnayasagar Press url https archive org detailsTricumjiAcharyaRasayanKhanda1913

Rasendracintāmaṇi Siddhinandana Miśra (2000) RasendracintāmaṇiḥldquoSiddhipradārdquo Hindī vyākhyā sahitaḥ Ḍhuṇḍhukanāthenaviracitaḥ Hindi vyākhyākāraḥ SiddhinandanamiśraḥJayakṛṣṇadāsa āyurveda granthamālā 91 VārānāsīCaukhambhā Oriyaṇṭāliyā

Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā K R Srikantha Murthy (1984) Śārṅgadhara-saṃhitā (ATreatise on Āyurveda) by Śārṅgadhara Translated into Eng-lish Varanasi Delhi Chaukhambha Orientalia

Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā Paraśurāma Śāstrī ed (1931) Dāmodarasūnu-Śārṅgadharācāryaviracitā Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā Bhiṣag-varĀḍhamallaviracitadīpikāKāśīrāmavaidyaviracita-gūḍhārthadīpikābhyāṃ ṭīkābhyāṃ saṃvalitā 2nd edMuṃbai Nirṇayasāgara Press 1st ed 1920

Siddhayoga Premvati Tewari ed (2006) The First Treatise of Āyur-veda on Treatment Vṛndamādhava or Siddha Yoga Vara-nasi Chaukhambha Visvabharati

Suśrutasaṃhitā Priya Vrat Sharma (1999ndash2001) Suśruta-Saṃhitā withEnglish Translation of Text and Ḍalhaṇarsquos CommentaryAlongwith (sic) Critical Notes 3 vols Haridas AyurvedaSeries 9 Varanasi Chaukhambha Visvabharati

Vaṅgasenasaṃhitā Nirmal Saxena ed (2004) Vaṅgasena Saṃhitā or Cikit-sāsāra Saṃgraha of Vaṅgasena Text with English Transla-tion Notes Historical Introduction Comments Index andAppendices Vol CXXV 2 vols Chowkhanba SanskritSeries Varanasi Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office

SECONDARY LITERATURE

Falk Harry (1989) ldquoSoma I and IIrdquo In Bulletin of the School of Oriental and AfricanStudies 52 pp 77ndash90

Fenner Edward Todd (1979) ldquoRasayana Siddhi Medicine and Alchemy in theBuddhist Tantrasrdquo PhD Madison University of Wisconsin Madison

Hellwig Oliver (1999ndash) DCS Digital Corpus of Sanskrit url httpkjc-sv013kjcuni-heidelbergdedcs

mdash (2008) ldquoRasāyana und die āyurvedische Krankheitskunderdquo In TraditionalSouth Asian Medicine 8 pp 32ndash64

mdash (2009a) ldquoAlchemical Procedures and their Implications for the Chronologyof Medieval Rasaśāstrardquo In eJournal of Indian Medicine 2 pp 53ndash65


dagmar wujastyk 35

mdash (2009b) Woumlrterbuch der mittelalterlichen indischen Alchemie Gronin-gen Barkhuis amp University of Groningen University Library isbn9789077922620

Meulenbeld Gerrit Jan (1999ndash2002) A History of Indian Medical Literature 5 volsGroningen E Forsten isbn 9069801248

Nadkarni A K (1954) Dr K M Nadkarnirsquos Indian Materia Medica with AyurvedicUnani-tibbi Siddha Allopathic Homeopathic Naturopathic amp Home Remedies Ap-pendices amp Notes 2 vols Bombay Popular Prakashan url httpsarchiveorgdetailsIndianMateriaMedicaKMNadkarni (on 11 Aug 2017) URL is1926 edition

Palit Chittabrata (2009) An Ancient Indian System of Rasayana Suvarnatantra - ATreatise on Alchemy Delhi Kalpaz Publications isbn 9788178356921 GoogleBooks JEkZQYT2RwsC

Rāy Praphulla Chandra (1903) A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Timesto the Middle of the Sixteenth Century AD With Sanskrit Texts Variants Transla-tion and Illustrations 2nd ed 1 vols Calcutta The Bengal Chemical and Phar-maceutical Works

Roşu Arion (1975) ldquoConsideacuterations sur une technique du Rasāyana āyur-veacutediquerdquo French In Indo-Iranian Journal 171 pp 1ndash29 issn 1572-8536 doi101163000000075790079222

Roy Mira and BV Subbarayappa (1976) Rasārṇavakalpa Manifold Powers of theOcean of Rasa Indian National Science Academy 5 New Delhi Indian Na-tional Science Academy

White David Gordon (1996) The Alchemical Body Siddha Traditions in MedievalIndia Chicago University of Chicago Press isbn 0-226-89497-5

mdash (2012) ldquoRasāyanardquo In Brillrsquos Encyclopedia of Hinduism Ed by Knut A Jacob-sen Helene Basu Angelika Malinar and Vasudha Narayanan Vol 3 Leidenamp Boston Brill pp 489ndash99 doi 1011632212-5019_beh_COM_9000000059

Wujastyk Dagmar (forthcoming) ldquoOn Attaining Special Powers through Rasā-yana Therapies in Sanskrit Medical and Alchemical Literaturerdquo In ReligiousMedicine Ed by Michael StanleyndashBaker and Pierce Salguero ManchesterManchester University Press Forthcoming

mdash (2013) ldquoPerfect Medicine Mercury in Sanskrit Medical Literaturerdquo In AsianMedicine Tradition amp Modernity 81 pp 15ndash40 issn 1573-4218 doi 10116315734218-12341278

mdash (2015) ldquoOn Perfecting the Body Rasāyana in Sanskrit Medical Literaturerdquo InAION Annali dellrsquoUniversitagrave degli Studi di Napoli ldquoLrsquoOrientalerdquo Elisir Mercurialee Immortalitagrave Capitoli per una Storia dellrsquoAlchimia nellrsquoAntica Eurasia A cura diGiacomella Orofino Amneris Roselli e Antonella Sannino XXXVII2015 pp 55ndash77 issn 11128-7209 url httpswwwlibrawebnetarticoliphpchiave=201509901amprivista=99 (on 16 Aug 2017)



Wujastyk Dagmar (2016) ldquoMercury Tonics (Rasāyana) in Sanskrit Medical Lit-eraturerdquo In Soulless Matter Seats of Energy Ed by Fabrizio M Ferrari andThomas Daumlhnhardt Bristol CT Equinox Publishing Ltd pp 94ndash115 isbn9781781791295 url httpswwwequinoxpubcomhomeview-chapterid=29654 (on 5 Dec 2017)

Wujastyk Dominik (1984) ldquoAn Alchemical Ghost the Rasaratnākara by Nāgār-junardquo In Ambix 31 pp 70ndash83 doi 101179amb198431270

mdash (2003) The Roots of Ayurveda Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings 3rd edPenguin Classics London New York Penguin Group isbn 0140448241






Stretching Life Out Maintaining the Body Part IVayas in Medical Literature

Christegravele BaroisUniversity of Vienna

MLA style citation form Christegravele Barois ldquoStretching Life Out Maintaining the Body Part I Vayas in MedicalLiteraturerdquo History of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) 37ndash65 doi 1018732hssav5i231Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










The representation of the process of human life is at the crux of questionsabout longevity and rejuvenation practices and possibly also those that

aim at immortality The key Sanskrit term for rdquoagerdquo is vayas which meansrdquovigourrdquo rdquoyouthrdquo or rdquoany period of liferdquo The term is already attested in theṚgveda with these same meanings but also meaning rdquosacrificial foodrdquo in thesense that it rdquogives strength vitalityrdquo1 As a criterion for the examination of thepatient vayas is invariably divided into three periods childhood middle ageand old age and precisely defined in the ancient medical compendia It refers tothe age of the individual body in relation to its form and transformation duringlife2

This essay is an attempt to clarify the representation of vayas rdquoagerdquo in San-skrit medical literature and in so doing to provide elements for a more refinedunderstanding of the compound vayaḥsthāpana rdquostabilization of youthful agerdquoa widespread promise of medical rasāyana

1 See the entry for rdquovayasrdquo in Grassmann1873 See also the article by Renou (1958 38ndash40) which discusses the meanings of vayasin the Ṛgveda2 Note also the mention of vayas in section16 of chapter 3 of the Chāndogya Upaniṣadas part of a broader framework of longev-ity practices involving both sections 15 and16 of chapter 3 In Chāndogya Upaniṣad 316the number of syllables of each of the threemeters (gāyatrī triṣṭubh and jagatī) whichare chanted at the three different pressings(savana)mdashthe morning the midday and the

third evening Soma pressingmdashare identi-fied with the age of man the twenty-foursyllables of the gāyatrī with the twenty-fouryears of the life of man the forty-four syl-lables of the triṣṭubh with the next forty-fouryears of his life the forty-eight syllables ofthe jagatī with the next forty-eight years ofhis life To my knowledge this is the old-est association of a precise tripartition of theduration of life with vayas (even if longev-ity is widely invoked in Vedic texts in thesame way as immortality fame strengthetc) For further discussion see Barois 2017


38 stretching life out maintaining the body i

I examine how vayas is defined in the Carakasaṃhitā the Suśrutasaṃhitā theAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha3 I also examine their commen-taries the Āyurvedadīpikā a commentary to the Carakasaṃhitā by Cakrapāṇidatta(late 11th c) two commentaries to the Suśrutasaṃhitā the Bhānumāti by the sameCakrapāṇidatta and the Nibandhasaṃgraha by Ḍalhaṇa (12thndash13th c) the Sarvāṅ-gasundarā a commentary to the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā by Aruṇadatta (13th c) andthe Śaśilekhā a commentary to the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha by Indu (10thndash11th c) Partic-ular attention is given to the context of the definitions of vayas

The detailed examination of vayas in the ancient medical compendia andtheir commentaries is sufficient to give a fairly comprehensive view of the rep-resentation of age in Sanskrit medical literature as a whole For example theBhāvaprakāśa of Bhāvamiśra (16th c) takes up the definition of the Suśrutasaṃ-hitā4 and today many articles written by āyurvedic doctors rely on these ancientdivisions of age5

1 DEFINITION OF VAYAS IN CARAKASASAṂHITĀVIMĀNASTHĀNA 8122

Adetailed definition of vayas occurs in the rdquoBook on the FundamentalMeansrdquo (Vimānasthāna) of the Carakasaṃhitā in chapter eight entitled

rdquoFundamental Means For the Treatment of Diseasesrdquo (rogabhiṣagjitīyaṃ vimā-nam)6

Chapter eight of the Vimānasthāna is a long chapter much of which expoundsthe conditions in which the disciple is taught and the modalities of debate de-

3 The Carakasaṃhitā is the result of thecompositions of several authors from thefourth century bce to the fifth century ceSee Dominik Wujastyk 2003 xx and Meu-lenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 105ndash15 The Suśruta-saṃhitā also consists of several historical lay-ers from the third century bce to the fifthcentury ce See Dominik Wujastyk 2003 xxand Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 342ndash4 Boththe Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅga-saṃgraha are attributed to Vāgbhaṭa placedca 600 ce On the date and authorship of theAṣṭāngahṛdayasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha see Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 613ndash354 See Bhāvaprakāśa PūrvakhaṇḍaBālaprakaraṇa 42ndash505 To give just one recent example Namdeoand Vilas (2017) begin their article rdquoCon-

sequences of Agingrdquo with a general reviewof the concept of age vayas according to theCarakasaṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā Thisreview follows an introduction that praisesthe principles of Āyurveda thanks to whichit would be possible rdquoto slow down the pro-cess of aging restore physical and mentalstrength and prevent the consequences ofaging to a certain extentrdquo6 This translation of vimānasthāna is inkeeping with Dominik Wujastykrsquos sugges-tion that the term rdquocould be viewed as be-longing to the word-group pramāṇa lsquoauthor-ity for correct knowledgersquo and anumāna lsquoin-ferencersquo rdquo (see Dominik Wujastyk 2017) Onthe structure of the Vimānasthāna see Prei-sendanz 2007 See also Preisendanz Pec-chia and Maas (forthcoming)


christegravele barois 39

bate being an integral part of a physicianrsquos practice (CaVi 83ndash67) The passagedevoted to vayas is a subsection of a broader discussion on the knowledge re-quired to assess the state of the patient and to decide on treatment Here weare in the general context of the patientrsquos examination (parīkṣā) for the purposeof diagnosis Ten subjects (prakaraṇa) are defined and explained in detail fromthe point of view of medical praxis (CaVi 868ndash132) Briefly these ten topics areas follows (1) the doer (kāraṇa) is the physician (2) the instrument (karaṇa) isthe remedy (bheṣaja) (3) the source of the act (kāryayoni) is the unsuitable ratioof bodily constituents (dhātuvaiṣamya)7 (4) the act (kārya) is the balanced ratio ofbodily constituents (dhātusāmya) (5) the result (kāryaphala) is comfort (sukha) (6)the consequence (anubandha) is life (āyus) (7) the place (deśa) is land (bhūmi) aswell as the patient (ātura)8 (8) time (kāla) which is defined as transformation (par-iṇāma) is the year (saṃvatsara) as well as the state of the patient (āturāvasthā)9 (9)activity (pravṛtti) is the implementation of medical treatment (pratikarman) (10)the means (upāya) is excellence of the physician etc and accuracy of the medicalprescription (abhividhāna)

Against all expectation the discussion concerning vayas is not directly re-lated to the subject of rdquotimerdquo but to that of rdquoplacerdquo (deśa) by virtue of the factthat the patient is the rdquoplace of application of the therapeutic actrdquo (kāryadeśa)(CaVi 894)10 In this context the examination of the patient aims on the onehand at the knowledge of the measure of āyus that is to say of the life expectancyand on the other at the knowledge of the measure of the strength and intensityof the disease11 As indicated by the Carakasaṃhitā the knowledge concerning themeasure of life-expectancy is referred to elsewhere in two other sections12 andthe remainder of the exposeacute exclusively concerns the evaluation of the degree ofthe patientrsquos strength and pathology This evaluation is important because it al-lows for determining the dosage and power of drugs according to the conditionof the patient (CaVi 894) Since strength determines the intensity of disease a

7 rdquoBodily constiuentsrdquo follows the transla-tion by Maas (2009 147)8 deśa has the general meaning of rdquoenviron-mentrdquo (Dominik Wujastyk 2003 31)9 On pariṇāma in relation with the processof aging see Tilak 1988 206ndash2110 This is also clear because kāla is thendefined as rdquoyearrdquo (saṃvatsara) and rdquocon-dition of the patientrdquo (āturāvasthā) bothof which relate to the appropriate time tocarry out such treatment to administer suchmedicine Age is not mentioned11 CaVi 894 त परीा आयषः माणानहतो-

वा ाद बलदोषमाणानहतोवा 12 It is stated briefly in CaVi 8124 thatthe characteristics which make it possibleto know the measure of life are explainedin the Book dealing with the symptomsof imminent death (indriyasthāna) and inthe chapter entitled rdquoPrinciples relating tobirthrdquo (jātisūtrīya) of the Book relating to thebody (śārīrasthāna) a chapter which evalu-ates infantsrsquo life expectancy essentially onthe basis of their anthropometrical propor-tions (CaŚā 851)



complex system involving ten criteria for evaluating the strength of the patientis then explained point by point These ten criteria for strength are constitu-tion (prakṛti) morbidity (vikṛti) temperament [according to preeminence] of thebodily constituents (dhātusāra)13 compactness (saṃhanana) measure (pramāṇa)personal suitability (sātmya) mind (sattva) digestive capability (āhāraśakti) cap-ability for physical effort (vyāyāmaśakti) and age (vayas) This shows both thecomplexity and the importance of the notion of strength which is part of themore general prerequisite knowledge acquired during the examination of thestate of the patient In this context vayas rdquoagerdquo is a variable of the degree ofstrength of the patient

वयित कालमाणिवशषापिणी िह शरीरावा वयोऽिभधीयत तयो यथाल-भदन िऽिवध mdash बाल म जीण िमित तऽ बालमपिरपधातमजातन सकमार-मशसहमसपण बल धात ायमाषोडशवष िववध मानधातगण पनः ायणानवि-तसमाऽशष मपिद म पनः समागतबलवीय पौषपराबममहणधारणरण-वचनिवानसवधातगण बलितमवितसमिवशीय माणधातगण िपधात ायमाष-िवष मपिदम अतःपर हीयमानधािियबलवीय पौषपराबममहणधारणरणवच-निवान यमानधातगण वायधात ाय बमण जीण मत आवष शतम वष शत ख-ायषः माणमिन काल सि च पनरिधकोनवष शतजीिवनोऽिप मनाः तषा िव-कितवः कािदबलिवशषरायषो लणत माणमपल वयसि िवभजत14

And [the patient should be examined] according to age What is re-ferred to as vayas is the condition of the body with regard to the par-ticular measure of time According to a rough subdivision15 vayas isthreefold young middle and oldOf these young [age] [is characterized by] the immaturity of the bod-ily constituents16 the lack of secondary sexual characteristics delic-ateness difficulty in enduring pain deficient strength prominence of

13 I use rdquotemperamentrdquo in its modernmeaning of a set of innate traits that char-acterize a person both from a psychologicaland physiological point of view and notin its ancient meaning which refers tothe predominance of humours Heretemperament is the pre-eminence of theone among eight bodily constituents In hisedition (Carakasaṃhitā) Sharma translatesdhātusāra as rdquoconstitutional essencerdquo14 Carakasaṃhitā Vimānasthāna 812215 This suggests that the author(s) of theCarakasaṃhitā was familiar with a more re-fined classification of age maybe close to

that proposed by the Suśrutasaṃhitā (see be-low) Cakrapāṇidattarsquos commentary indic-ates that the mention rdquoaccording to a roughsubdivisionrdquo shows that there are other sub-divisions of age namely the condition ofbeing young very young etc See Āyur-vedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 यथालभदनित व-चनाद बालबालतरावाभदादिधकमिप वयो भवतीितदशयित16 The list of bodily constituents is some-what unstable sometimes elusive and evenvaries within the same treatise depending



phlegmatic humour up to sixteen years Further it is specified thatthe development of the bodily constituents and the unsteadiness ofmind (sattva)17 generally last up to the age of thirty yearsAs for the middle [age] [it is characterized by] the obtaining of astable condition of strength virility manliness force comprehen-sion concentration memory speech discernment and all the bodilyconstituents It is specified that the strength is firm the mind (sattva)is steady the condition of the bodily constituents remains undam-aged and the bilious humour is prominent up to sixty yearsThen there is a decline of the bodily constituents the sense organsstrength virility manliness force comprehension concentrationmemory speech and discernment gradually the condition ofthe bodily constituents collapses and the windy humour becomesprominent this is called old [age] it lasts up to one hundred yearsCertainly the lifespan is one hundred years in these times18 How-ever some human beings live more or less than one hundred yearsAs for these after having determined the measure [of their life] bymeans of the criteria for strength constitution (prakṛti) etc irrespect-ive of vikṛti rdquomorbidityrdquo and [also] according to the marks of a longlifespan [the physician] divides vayas into three

Thus within the context of the examination of the patient (deśa) vayas is definedas the state of the body according to the measure of time It is divided into threestages bāla young madhya middle and jīrṇa old corresponding to three peri-ods of life to which different lengths of time are assigned19 Each period of life isassociated with specific characteristics Young age is characterized by a generalincompleteness of body development and a preponderance of the phlegmatichumour This incompleteness lasts up to thirty years with regard to the devel-opment of the bodily constituents and the stability of the mind (sattva) Middle

on the medical context in which it occursSee Maas (2009 135ndash46) who examines thedifferent lists of bodily constituents in med-ical literature as well as in Epic Purāṇicand Buddhist literature In the present caseI consider the reference list to be the onegiven in CaVi 8102 in the context of the ex-amination of the temperament according tothe preeminence of the bodily constituents(dhātusāra) skin (tvac) blood (rakta) flesh(māṃsa) fat (medas) bone (asthan) marrow

(majjan) semen (śukra) mind (sattva)17 CaVi 8119 समत मनः18 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 अिन काल इित कलौ rdquolsquoIn these timesrsquo ie duringthe age of kalirdquo19 See Table 1 p 52 below that com-pares the subdivisions of vayas accordingto the Carakasaṃhitā the Suśrutasaṃhitā theAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha



age is characterized by stability of the bodily constituents and a preponderanceof the bilious humour Old age corresponds to a general collapse with predom-inance of the windy humour

Cakrapāṇidatta (late 11th c) confirms this division of young age into twoperiods a first period corresponding to the immaturity of the bodily constitu-ents (aparipakvadhātu) up to sixteen years and a second corresponding to the in-creasing of the bodily constituents (vardhamānadhātu) up to thirty years20 Such adivision is not found in the Suśrutasaṃhitā or in the two compendia of VāgbhaṭaCakrapāṇidatta also justifies this division saying that it makes possible rdquothe dis-tinction with respect to the [appropriate] treatmentrdquo21 And he specifies rdquoItshould have been said in the treatise that the young [patient] up to sixteen istreated with mild (mṛdu) medication in small quantities (alpa) and that beyondthe age of sixteen though young [the patient] should not be treated with med-ication in small quantitiesrdquo22 Thus Cakrapāṇidatta corroborates that vayas inthe Carakasaṃhitā serves to decide the dosage and the power of the drugs to beadministered to the patient

In this respect it is interesting to note that these divisions of age are given forthe canonical lifespan of one hundred years and that according to whether lifeis more or less long childhood middle age or old age do not correspond to thesame ages This is the reason why the Carakasaṃhitā explains how to calculatethe rdquoagerdquo of those who have a lifespan greater or less than one hundred yearsone must first assess the potential lifespan literally the measure (pramāṇa) of life(āyus) and then divide the result by three

Cakrapāṇidatta is particularly interested in this issue He explains that theexamination of the ten criteria for strength that is the constitution etc23 makesit possible to determine the degree of inferior median or superior strength whichconditions life expectancy For example the one whose strength is superior withregard to constitution (prakṛtibala) has a long life because he has a constitutionwith phlegmatic predominance or humoral balance if his strength is inferiorwith regard to constitution his life is short and the same goes for temperament(sāra) and the other criteria for strength The one whose degree of strength isexcellent for all the criteria lives beyond one hundred years Cakrapāṇidatta fur-ther clarifies that in order to assess life expectancy one should not consider only

20 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122बालो ििवधः अपिरपधातराषोडशवषा त तथावध मानधातराऽशमात21 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 तदतयोबा -लभदयोपयन भदमाह22 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 षोडशव-

षयो िह बालोऽमभषजोपचय ािदना शा वःत बालोऽिप नाभषजािदना तथोपचय त23 As for the list of these ten criteria forstrength see above But morbidity (vikṛti)should not be taken into account in this caseas the Carakasaṃhitā states and as Cakra-pāṇidatta confirms



the ten criteria for strength as indicated but also the rdquocharacteristics for [long]life exposed in the Book relating to the bodyrdquo24

Interestingly Cakrapāṇidatta gives specific examples for calculating vayasIf the life expectancy [of the patient] is one hundred and twenty yearsthen he is young up to thirty-six by deduction in proportion to theage previously indicated he is middle-aged until seventy-two andold the rest [of his life] The one who is considered to have a shortlife limited to eighty years because of the mediocrity of [his strengthrelating to] constitution (prakṛti) etc he is young up to twenty-fiveyears he is middle aged until fifty and then he is old etc This is theway to divide25

Finally Cakrapāṇidatta specifies thathellip this proportional division of age into youth etc is only valid forthose whose lives are neither very far above nor far below one hun-dred years For those whose ultimate measure of life does not exceedtwenty years etc there can be no division of age by deduction sincethey die before they reach the condition of middle age26

Thus vayas is a relative concept The determination of these three periods islikely to change according to life expectancy which means that the length of eachperiod depends on the individual From the point of view of the Carakasaṃhitāthe knowledge of vayas does not relate to long-life issues but has a very directpragmatic application in the dosage of medications

2 DEFINITION OF VAYAS IN SUŚRUTASAṂHITĀSŪTRASTHĀNA 3529ndash31

Another definition of vayas is given in the rdquoBook relating to principlesrdquo (Sū-trasthāna) of the Suśrutasaṃhitā in chapter thirty-five entitled rdquoInitial ap-

proach of the patientrdquo (āturopakramanīya)27

24 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 न क-वल कािदनायरवधाय कायलणरिप शरीरित-बः शारीर विराह Cakrapāṇidatta refershere to CaŚā 851 which describes the phys-ical characteristics of the infant destined fora long life (see note 15 above)25 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 तन तवशितवषा िधकशत यायपलत तदा पववयोिव-भागानमानादाषद ऽशषा िण स बालो भवित िसित-वष स मः शष त वः यकादीना मम-नाायरशीितवषऽवधाय त स पवशितवषा िण बालः

पाशत मः ततो व इािद िवभजनीयम26 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaVi 8122 अय चो-कनािधकशतायषा बाािदिवभागः कत ः यषा त वशितवषा िद परमायषो मान न तषा तदनमानन वयो-भदः त ामावा एव िय27 Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IA 21) statesthat this chapter rdquocontains an expositionon general principles related to treatment(upakramaṇa)rdquo Sharma in the Suśrutasaṃ-hitā edition says rdquocase-takingrdquo



This chapter deals with the initial observation (parīkṣā) in other words clin-ical examination The first duty of the physician is to examine the duration of life(āyus) that is to say again the life expectancy of the patient If the patient is vi-able28 the physician should then undertake the examination of diseases (vyādhi)seasons (ṛtu) digestion (agni) age (vayas) body (deha) strength (bala) disposi-tion (sattva) personal suitability (sātmya) constitution (prakṛti) drugs (bheṣaja)and place (deśa) This chapter describes each of these parameters one by one forthe knowledge of the general pathological level of the patient

Much space is devoted to the examination of life expectancy (SuSū 354ndash17) which is evaluated according to two criteria for longevity on the one handexternal features essentially the size of the different parts and sub-parts of thebody which allow the physician to know if a patient has a long (without indica-tion of duration) middle (seventy years) or short (twenty-five years) life expect-ancy29 on the other hand temperaments (sāra) which are determined accordingto the pre-eminence of one of the bodily constituents among mind (sattva) semen(śukra) marrow (majjan) bone (asthan) fat (medas) flesh (māṃsa) blood (rakta)and skin (tvac)30

Except for age (vayas) mental disposition (sattva) personal suitability (sāt-mya) and place (deśa) which are contextual criteria that relate to the patient asan individual the other parametersndashdiseases (vyādhi) seasons (ṛtu) digestion(agni) body (deha)31 strength (bala) constitution (prakṛti) and drugs (bheṣaja)mdashare only briefly described in the pragmatic perspective of clinical observationand the specific definitions are referred to elsewhere in the treatise

In the general framework of assessing the degree of severity of the patientrsquosillness the Suśrutasaṃhitā is insistent throughout this chapter on the question ofthe patientrsquos viability that is his curability32

In this context a definition of vayas is expounded

28 सायिष (SuSū 353) is commented uponby Ḍalhaṇa as follows सायषीित िवमान जी-िवत ाादीना परीा कत ा rdquoIf there is lifethat is if life is attested the observation ofdiseases and the other [parameters] must beconductedrdquo29 SuSū 354ndash16 This passage has a longdescription of the rdquonormalrdquo proportions ofthe full grown body which correspondsto twenty-five years old for a man and tosixteen years old for a woman accordingto the verse which closes the description(SuSū 3513 पवश ततो वष पमान नारी त षो-डश समागतवीय तौ जानीयात कशलो िभषक)The compound समागतवीय is explained as

the rdquocompleteness of bodily constituentsrdquoby Ḍalhaṇa This stage is never consideredwithin the definitions of vayas30 SuSū 3517 Compare withCaVi 8102 ff (see note 17)31 Here deha refers to obese (sthūla) lean(kṛśa) and medium (madhya) corpulencewhich is dealt with in detail in SuSū 1532ndash35 as indicated by Cakrapāṇidatta32 As a general rule a physician should notaccept patients he cannot cure but rdquohis de-cision not to treat a patient should be basedon his informed and accurate assessment ofthe caserdquo On this issue see Dagmar Wu-jastyk 2012 110ndash16



वय िऽिवधmdashबा म विमित तऽोनषोडशवषा बालाः तऽिप िऽिवधाःmdashीरपाः ीराादा अादा इित तष सवरपराः ीरपाः िसवरपराः ीराादाःपरतोऽादा इित षोडशसोरर म वयः त िवको वियवन सण ताहािनिरित तऽ आवशतव िः आऽशतो यौवनम आचारशतः सवधािियब-लवीय सण ता अत ऊमीषिरहािणया वत सितिरित सत ीयमाणधाि-ियबलवीयाहमहहिन वलीपिलतखािलज कासासभितिभपिवरिभभय-मान सव िबयासमथ जीणा गारिमवािभवमवसीद वमाचत (29)तऽोरोरास वयोऽवासरोरा भषजमाऽािवशषा भवि ऋत च पिरहाणः तऽा-ापया ितकवत (30)भवि चाऽ बाल िववध त ा मम िपमव तभिय वध त वायव ती योजयत (31)33

Vayas is threefold childhood middle [age] and old [age] In this casethose under sixteen are young they are divided into three accordingto whether they drink milk or eat milk and rice or eat rice [only]Those up to one year drink milk up to two years they eat both milkand rice and beyond [up to sixteen years] they eat rice [only]Middle age is between sixteen to seventy years Its subdivisions aregrowth34 youth completeness and decline In this case growth isup to twenty [years] youth is up to thirty [years] completeness of allbodily constituents sense organs strength and virility is up to forty[years] Beyond [forty years] there is a slight decline up to seventy[years]Beyond [seventy years] the one whose bodily constituents sense or-gans strength virility35 energy decline day by day who is affectedby wrinkles grey hair and baldness who is afflicted with illnessesbeginning with cough and affection of breath unfit for any kind ofwork and sinking down like a decayed and rain-soaked house iscalled an old man (29)Therefore the dosages of medication increase progressively accord-ing to the progressive increase of the stages of vayas except in thecase of decline in this case [the physician] must treat [the patient] asfor the first [division ie young]36 (30)

33 Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 3529ndash3134 Sharma in his Suśrutasaṃhitā editiontranslates vṛddhi as rdquoadolescencerdquo35 Ḍalhaṇa glosses vīrya by retas ldquosemenrdquo36 Bhānumāti ad SuSū 3530 आ बा तद-पया भषजमाऽा बमण हीनमाऽा कत थ ः rdquoFirst

(ādya) ie childhood the dosage of medica-tion should be decreased gradually accord-ing to the [divisions of childhood] This isthe meaningrdquo Ḍalhaṇarsquos explanation is con-sistent with the Bhānumāti



And there are [the following verses] during young [age] the phleg-matic humour prevails during middle age the bilious humour [pre-vails] During old [age] the windy humour abounds Having con-sidered thus [the physician] applies [the treatment] (31)

As in the Carakasaṃhitā vayas is divided into three periods bālya childhood 37

madhya middle age and vṛddha old This division of life into three parts as wellas the humoural predominance for each of the three divisions is stable in all thetexts consulted (see Table 1 p 52)

The contribution of the Suśrutasaṃhitā consists for the young age in a sub-division into three according to the nature of the food absorbed this subdivi-sion defines precise ages similarly for the middle age the Suśrutasaṃhitā pro-poses a new subdivision into four growth (vṛddhi) youth (yauvana) complete-ness (saṃpūrṇatā) decline (hāni) which is stated to be only a rdquoslight declinerdquo(īṣatparihāṇi) Old age begins at seventy years meaning that one is old here laterthan in the Carakasaṃhitā38 The adaptation of the dosage of medications accord-ing to the age of the patient is mentioned as part of the presentation on vayas Itshould also be noted that the Suśrutasaṃhitā gives a vivid description of old agespecifying external and visible transformations of the body (wrinkles gray hairand baldness) and also mentioning diseases (cough and affection of breath) allthese elements being absent from the Carakasaṃhitā

Some additional details are provided by Cakrapāṇidatta he explains thatyouth (yauvana) derives from the verbal root rdquoyurdquo expressing a rdquojunctionrdquo(miśraṇa) Thereby youth is to be understood as the junction between growth(vṛddhi) that precedes and completeness (pūrṇatā) that follows39 Ḍalhaṇatakes up this same explanation Cakrapāṇidatta also states that completenesscorresponds to the condition of stability (tādrūpya) of the rdquobodily constituentssense organs strength and virilityrdquo40 He concludes his comment with thestatement that rdquothe increase of the different humours is inferred through the(different) conditions of vayasrdquo41 Ḍalhaṇarsquos Nibandhasaṃgraha (12thndash13th c)does not add any essential element to Cakrapāṇidattarsquos commentary

37 To be noted however is the substantiv-ation of the first period bālya rdquochildhoodrdquowhich refers to the concept of rdquoperiod of hu-man liferdquo while the other texts considereduse bāla an adjective which means rdquoyoungrdquobut also the masculine noun for rdquochildrdquordquoyoung boyrdquo which can be made a femin-ine noun38 This difference is minimized or evadedin the commentaries

39 Bhānumāti ad SuSū 3529 यौवनिमित `मऽिमौण इािप तन पवा या व या पराया पण -ताया िमौण यौवन यम40 tādrūpya refers to a quantitative stabilityit does not imply a balanced state and there-fore the absence of pathology41 Bhānumāti ad Suśrutasaṃhiṭā 13531 दोष-िवशषवमिप वयोऽवालणीयमाहmdashबाल इािद



3 DEFINITION OF VAYAS IN THE AṢṬĀṄGAHṚDAYASAṂHITĀŚĀRĪRASTHĀNA 3105

The aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā provides a laconic definition of vayas in chapterthree of the rdquoBook relating to the bodyrdquo entitled rdquoApportionment of the

[different] parts of the bodyrdquo (aṅgavibhāgam śārīram) this title is in accordancewith the first part of the chapter (AhŚā 31ndash76) being followed by the definitionof the threefold strength (bala) the three kinds of environment (deśa) the weightof the bodily constituents in a stable condition (samadhātu) the seven kinds ofconstitutionsmdashwhose presentation follows the same pattern as the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha see belowmdashand finally the definition of vayas The chapter ends with adescription of the auspicious bodily characteristics auguring a lifespan of onehundred years a brief mention of the eight temperaments (sāra) of the bodilyconstituents and the mention of a group of heterogeneous items that promotelong life42

Here is the verse on vayasवयाषोडशााल तऽ धािियौजसामविरासतम तऽाविः पर यः43

Up to sixteen [years] vayas is young in that case there is an increase ofthe bodily constituents sense organs and vitality (ojas) Up to seventy[years] [vayas] is median in that case there is no increase Beyond[seventy years] there is decline

Aruṇadattarsquos commentary (13th c) provides further details which are mainlyborrowed from the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha (see below) The only notable contributionof the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā with respect to vayas is the recourse to the notion ofojas44 Aruṇadatta explains it thus rdquoThere is an increase of ojas ie it causes anaugmentation of all the bodily constituentsrdquo 45 Aside from this concise defini-tion of vayas the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā mentions the predominance of the threedoṣa according to the tripartition of vayas in Sūtrasthāna 18 and states that vayasis to be investigated during the examination of the patient in Sūtrasthāna 1267

42 AhŚā 3120 दानशीलदयासचय कत-ताः रसायनािन मऽी च पयायव िकणः ldquoThegroup that increases virtue and [lengthens]lifespan is generosity compassion trust ab-stinence and gratitude as well as elixirs andbenevolencerdquo43 AhŚā 310544 It seems that Arunadattarsquos explanationis consistent with the conception of ojas inthe Suśrutasaṃhitā as summarized by Meu-lenbeld (2008 158) rdquoOjas is one single un-

divided substance so closely yoked to balaas to make the two terms interchangeableOjas is pictured as the essence of all thedhātus the series of seven types of tissueIt is the source of unhampered functioningof all the organs of sense (indriya) Bod-ily strength (bala) also finds its ground inojasrdquo On this problematic substance seeMeulenbeld 200845 Sarvāṅgasundarā ad AhŚā 3105 तथा सव -धााायकmdashओजसो विः



4 DEFINITION OF VAYAS IN AṢṬĀṄGASAṂGRAHAŚĀRĪRASTHĀNA 825ndash34

Despite a few repetitions since the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha borrows from the Caraka-saṃhitā and the Suśrutasaṃhitā I will examine the section on vayas in this

text which includes interesting variations as well as new elements The defini-tion of vayas is found in chapter eight entitled rdquoTypology of constitutions relatingto the bodyrdquo (prakṛtibhedhīyaṃ śārīram) of the rdquoBook relating to the bodyrdquo46 Asstated by Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IA 528) this chapter is the corresponding partof the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Śārīrasthāna 3 (aṅgavibhāgam śārīram)

Its starts with the description of seven kinds of constitutions (vātaprakṛti pit-taprakṛti kaphaprakṛti the three known as saṃsargaprakṛti47 and samaprakṛti48)according to the degree of prevalence of the three humours (doṣa) This combin-ation is fixed at the time of the embryonic development and lasts until death(AsŚā 81ndash20) Then seven other kinds of constitutions are briefly mentionedcharacterized by the degree of prevalence of the three qualities (guṇa specificallysattva rajas tamas) organized according to the same principle as the three doṣa49

(AsŚā 821) Finally seven constitutions are mentioned that are characterized byclass (jāti) family lineage (kula) place of birth or residence (deśa) time (kāla) age(vayas) strength (bala) and individual singularities (pratyātma) each of whichdefine different characters (bhāva) of man50 Only age and strength are givendetailed consideration followed by a passage on temperament (sāra) accordingto the pre-eminence of the bodily constituents as a criterion for strength Thechapter ends with a lengthy passage on measurements of the body distinguish-ing auspicious from non-auspicious (aniṣṭa) measurements (AsŚā 841ndash48)

Here is the passage on vayas

वयििवध बाल म व च तऽाषोडशाषा ालम आषम म ततो वम (25)तिपाहारोभयवा बाल िऽिवधम तिन दहमाणविः ोिक तन बा-ल हमाद वसौकमाया बोधसौभायािन भवि (26)ममिप िऽिवध यौवन सण मपिरहािन तिन िपोिकः तन दीािता ा-िधपिरपाकौ वसाय तऽाऽशतो यौवनमाचारशतः सवधािियबलवीय पौ-षरणवचनिवानौयगणसण मतःपरमपिरहािनः (27)

46 All the references to the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha follow the division and numbering ofthe edition of Kintildejavaḍekara (Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha) with the commentary of Indu en-titled Śaśilekhā47 saṃsargaprakṛti is a constitution wherethere is prevalence of two doṣa (pitta-vātapitta-śleṣman or śleṣman-vāta)

48 samaprakṛti is a constitution where thereis equality between the three doṣa49 Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IB 634n 417) points out a similar passage in theAhŚā 3104ab50 AsŚā 822 य िह पषाणा जाािदिनय-ता त भाविवशषाः



व त शत ीयमाणधािियािदगण वलीखलितकासासािसादािदिभरिभभयमान जीण भवनिमवािभवमवसीदित तिातोिकः तन थसारमाससिता -ामवनामः काय वपथः कासः ासः िसाणकोदीरण धातय (28)अ पनराः (29)बा विः भा मधा बािौतीियम दशकष बमाित मनः सवियािण च(30)एव वष तमायषः माणमिाल (31)सि पनः कम िवशषानािधकवष शतजीिवनो मनाः (32)तषा यथोः कितिवशषरायषः माणमपल वयिधा िवभजत अिप च (33)वष वष य याित नणा यात शत शत आयषोऽपयबाादा यानिमत (34)51

Vayas is threefold young middle and old In this case [vayas] isyoung up to sixteen years it is middle up to sixty [years] then itis old (25)Among these young is threefold depending on whether one lives onbreast milk on [solid] food or on both During [young age] there isan increase in the size of the body and a predominance of phlegmThus at young [age] unctuousness softness tenderness little of an-ger and beauty occur (26)Middle [age] is also threefold youth completeness and non-decrease During [middle age] there is a predominance of bileThus there is good digestive power maturity and a high degree ofdiscrimination as well as [capability for] physical exertion In thiscase up to thirty [years] is youth up to forty [years] is completenessof all bodily constituents sense organs strength virility manli-ness memory speech discernment and of the quality of having arespectful demeanour then there is no decrease (27)An old [man] is characterized by a continual decline of the bodilyconstituents sense organs etc Afflicted by wrinkle baldness coughaffection of the breath weakness of digestion etc he sinks down likea decayed and rain-soaked houseDuring [old age] there is a predominance of wind Thus there oc-curs laxity of the temperament flesh joints and bones roughnessof skin a hunched body tremor cough affection of the breath ex-cretion of nasal mucus proceeding from phlegm and decline of thebodily constituents (28)

51 Aṣṭāṅgasaṅgraha Śārīrasthāna 825ndash34



On the other hand others say (29)Childhood growth radiance mental acuity skin semen the senseorgans that are the eyes and ears the mind and [then] all sense or-gans gradually [these ten] disappear [one by one] every ten [years](30)Thus by these times the measure of life is one hundred years (31)However there are men who live more or less than one hundredyears depending on the variety of their actions52 (32)For them one must divide vayas into three after having ascertainedthe measure of life expectancy according to the peculiarities of theirconstitution as has been explainedMoreover (33)For men the prescribed measure of life diminishes by one year everyone hundred [years] that pass due to the abundance of [their] de-merit (34)

The divisions of age according to the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha conform to those givenby the Suśrutasaṃhitā with regard to childhood except there is no indication ofprecise durations For the first time the increase of the measure of the body(dehapramāṇa) is mentioned as part of the definition of vayas Also to be noted isa very different list from the other texts to characterize childhood unctuousnesssoftness tenderness little of anger beauty

Middle age has three divisions (against four for the Suśrutasaṃhitā) with theabsence of growth (vṛddhi) Another peculiarity is that the third middle ageperiod (forty to sixty years) is called rdquonon-decreaserdquo (aparihāni) while the Su-śrutasaṃhitā proposes as we have seen a slight decline for a longer period (fromforty to seventy years) This is corroborated by Indu (10thndash11th c) who com-ments thus rdquoBeyond forty years it is aparihāni that is to say that there is neitherincrease nor decreaserdquo53 In addition Indu introduces the passage which dealswith old age by these words rdquoThe qualities namely the stability of the body(vapuḥsthairya) etc which have been mentioned before perish continually thatis completelyrdquo54 where the compound vapuḥsthairya leaves no doubt about theconception of middle age as being a period not subject to change

52 Indu specifies that men live more or lessthan one hundred years according to theiracts caused by fate (daiva) or resulting fromhuman effort (pauruṣa) See Śaśilekhā adAsŚā 832 किच मना दव पौष च कमणोिवशषानािधकवष शतजीिवनोऽिप सि

53 Śaśilekhā ad AsŚā 827 चारशतः परमप-िरहािनन विना पचयः54 Śaśilekhā ad AsŚā 828 ीयमाणा पवा व-पःया दयो गणाः शमात



As in the Carakasaṃhitā old age begins at sixty years (against seventy yearsfor the Suśrutasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā) however the description ofold age is literally borrowed from the Suśrutasaṃhitā supplemented with otherdetails relating to the external condition of the body (laxity of joints and bonesroughness of skin a hunched body tremor)

It seems therefore that the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha provides a synthetic overhaulof the question of age according to the preceding treatises but also to otherunidentified sources Indeed it exposes another way of dividing age accord-ing to ten criteria childhood (bālya) growth (vṛddhi) radiance (prabhā) mentalacuity (medhā) skin (tvac) semen (śukra) the sense organs that are the eyes (akṣi)and ears (śruti) mind (manas) and [then] all the sense organs which disappearone by one every ten years thus justifying a canonical lifespan of one hundredyears55 The inclination towards exhaustivity and synthesis of the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃ-graha is also clear when the text takes up from the Carakasaṃhitā the subject ofcalculation of age for those who live more or less than one hundred years

The examination of vayas in the Carakasaṃhitā the Suśrutasaṃhitā the Aṣṭāṅga-hṛdayasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha reveals a subtle complex and unstableconception not only of the periods of life but also of the gradual differentiatedprocesses of transformation that characterize them There is indecision regard-ing the transition from childhood to adulthood and the divisions of middle ageBut the tripartition and the preeminence of humours for each period are the samefor all texts

Vayas is conceived as part of a general process of transformation (pariṇāma)governed by time The fact that age is counted from the moment of conception

55 The Bhāvaprakāśa PūrvakhaṇḍaBālaprakaraṇa 42ndash50 whose definitionof vayas follows the Suśrutasaṃhitā (fourdivisions of middle age) also includes a listof items that decrease successively for eachperiod of ten years respectively childhood(bālya) growth (vṛddhi) splendour (chavi)mental acuity (medhā) skin (tvak) vision(dṛṣṭi) semen (śukra) valour (vikrama) intel-lect (buddhi) organs of action (karmendriya)consciousness (cetas) life (jīvita) Thissomewhat different list in fact comprisestwelve elements but it is possible to countjust ten elements if we consider that semenand valour are worth one (as they are in acompound śukravikramau) and that jīvitamarks the time of death Surprisingly a

tenfold division for the age of horses isgiven in works on veterinary medicinewhere the method for the rdquoknowledgeof agerdquo (vayojntildeāna) essentially accordingto shape colour and number of teeth israther well developed See for examplethe Aśvasāstra and the Aśvacikitsā of Nakula(ca 1000 ce) Furthermore the Aśvasāstra(1952) lists the length of life of humanbeings (one hundred years) elephants(one hundred and twenty years) horses(thirty-two years) cows (twenty-four years)asses and camels (twenty-five years) dogs(sixteen years) jackals (twenty-five years)worms (seven days) and bees (fourteendays) On Nakularsquos works see Meulenbeld1999ndash2002 IIA 567ndash8



Young(predom

inanceof

śleṣman)

Middle

(predominance

ofpitta)

Old

(predominance

ofvāta)

CaV

i8122(bālam

adhyajīrṇa)U

pto

16years

(generalimm

aturity)U

pto

30years

(continuationofthe

developmentofthe

bodilyconstituentsand

unsteadinessofm

ind)

From30

to60

yearsFrom

60to

100years

SuSū3529ndash31(bālyam

adhyavṛddha)U

pto

16years

-upto

1year(kṣīrapa)-from

1to2

years(kṣīrānnāda)-from

2to

16years(annāda)

From16

to70

years-from

16to

20years(vṛddhi)

-from20

upto

30years

(yauvana)-from

30up

to40

years(saṃ

pūrṇatā)-from

40up

to70

years(hāni)

From70

yearsonw

ards

AhŚā3105

(bālamadhyapara)

Up

to16

yearsFrom

16to

70years

From70

yearsonw

ards

AsŚā825ndash34

(bālamadhyavṛddha)

Up

to16

yearsdivided

intothree

(stanyavṛttiāhāravṛttiubhayavṛtti)w

ithoutanym

entionofduration

From16

to60

years-from

16up

to30

years(yauvana)-from

30up

to40

years(saṃ

pūrṇatva)-from

40up

to60

years(aparihāni)

From60

yearsonw

ards

Table1C

omparative

tableofthe

divisionsoftheagesoflife

accordingto

CaSuA

handA

s



as stated by the Carakasaṃhitā the Suśrutasaṃhitā56 as well as the Mānavadharma-śāstra57 confirms that it refers to a process of transformation at a subtle level orinaccessible to the senses In this context the meaning of āyus as rdquolife expect-ancyrdquo or rdquopotential length of liferdquo is prevalent The measure of āyus is evaluatedat two moments that leave no doubt as to its meaning at birth after the namingsacrament of the infant and also in the present case at the first examination ofa patient by a physician The fact that life expectancy influences the division ofage shows the relativity and flexibility of the representation of age and accountsfor its persistent meaning of rdquovigourrdquo58

5 VAYAS IN TERMS OF DIAGNOSIS AND MEDICALPRESCRIPTION

How is vayas taken into consideration in medical practice Which treat-ments require special attention to age It may be expected that vayas

plays an active role in diagnosis and prescription insofar as it is a criterionfor strength The contexts of use examined in the Carakasaṃhitā and theSuśrutasaṃhitā betray differences between texts

In the Carakasaṃhitā vayas is taken into consideration among a list of othercriteria59 of the patientrsquos examination (CaSū 155 CaVi 13) especially duringemesis (vamana) or purgation (virecana) treatments (CaSū 1517) or in the caseof unctions (abhyaṅga) oily and non-oily enemas (anuvāsana āsthāpana) and thedrinking of oil (snehapāna) (CaVi 213) Some notable occurrences can be foundin the section on sexual stimulants (vājīkaraṇa) where vayas refers to youth andqualifies the attractive woman (CaCi 219) or the vigour of the young man(CaCi 2(3)30) In the fourth part of chapter two of Cikitsāsthāna which dealswith sexual stimulants that fortify the strength of man (pumāntildejātabalādikaṃvājīkaraṇapādam) four kinds of men are listed those whose strength proceeds

56 See CaŚā 47ndash26 and SuŚā 3 18 and 30which describe the embryorsquos developmentfrom conception onwards57 Mānavadharmaśāstra 236 (rdquoTime forinitiationrdquo) rdquoFor a Brahmin the vedicinitiation should be carried out in theeighth year from conception for a Kṣat-riya in the eleventh year from concep-tion and for a Vaiśya in the twelfth yearfrom conceptionrdquo Olivelle observes adMānavadharmaśāstra 224 (Mānavadharma-śāstra 246) ldquosixteenth year we must assumeon the basis of the statement in verse 36 that

all ages are counted from conception ratherthan from birthrdquo58 In some cases vayas means onlyrdquovigourrdquo see for example CaSū 276459 CaSū 155 = CaSū 1517 = CaVi 213दोषभषजदशकालबलशरीराहारसासकितवय-साम affection medication environmenttime strength body diet personalsuitability mind constitution and ageCaVi 13 adds sāra temperament to thislist (दोषभषजदशकालबलशरीरसाराहारसा-सकितवयसाम)



from time those who are firm through practice those who manage by means ofeffort and those who are bulls by nature60 As might be expected the strengthrelated to time falls under age and seasons according to Jejjaṭa (ca 8th c)61 whoindicates that vayas refers to rdquoyouthrdquo (yauvana) a term absent from the definitionof vayas in the Carakasaṃhitā but which is used in the definitioas given by theSuśrutasaṃhitā and the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha In a different vein the Carakasaṃhitāteaches that the venomousness of certain snake species depends on age 62

But what particularly distinguishes the use of vayas in the Carakasaṃhitā is thepersistence of a conception correlated with the development of bodily constitu-ents (dhātu) The causal link of age with the increase stability or decline of thebodily constituents which in this case encompass all the bodily components thatproceed from rasa as well as mala is evident in CaSū 28 which deals with dif-ferent kinds of food and drink (vividhāśitapītīya) CaSū 284 indicates that rdquoallbodily constituents whether they be bodily excretions or lsquofavouringrsquo constitu-ents (prasāda) which thrive through rasa and mala conform to their own (normal)measure depending on the age and bodyrdquo63 The compound yathāvayaḥśarīramrdquoaccording to age and bodyrdquo is interpreted by Cakrapāṇidatta as being on theone hand the measure of bodily constituents according to age and on the otherhand the measure of bodily constituents according to body which is tall smalllean or obese depending on the constitution64

In the Suśrutasaṃhitā vayas in practice has a somewhat different usageSuSū 2 on the initiation of the student (śiṣyopanayanīyam adhyāyam) indicatesthat age should be taken into consideration for initiation according to Ḍalhaṇavayas refers in this case to childhood (bālya) or youth (tāruṇya)65 according toCakrapāṇidatta it refers to the rdquofirst stage of the middle age since [this age is]adapted for the study [of the Āyurveda]rdquo 66 (that is to say from sixteen to twentyyears if one refers to the definition of vayas in the Suśrutasaṃhitā see Table 1p 52) On another note the Suśrutasaṃhitā frequently applies the criterion of

60 CaCi 2(4)7 कालयोगबलाः किचत किच-दसनीवाः किचत य वषाः किचत भावतः61 See Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 191ndash4Sanskrit text according to Carakasaṃhitā 442ndash362 CaCi 23136 chapter on the treatmentof poisoning (viṣacikitsitam)63 CaSū 284 त सव एव धातवो मलााः -सादाा रसमलाा पः मानमनवत यथावयःशरीरम64 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaSū 284 यथावयःश-

रीरिमित यिन वयिस बाादौ याश मान धातना ता-श पः तथा यिशरीर का दीघ कशवा ल वा याश मान धातना ताश प इितयोजना Sharma goes wrong when he notesthat rdquothe word yathāvayaḥ is interpreted byCakrapāṇidatta as the condition and meas-ure of dhātus and parts of the body accord-ing to agerdquo (Carakasaṃhitā 3 255ndash6)65 Nibandhasaṃgraha ad SuSū 23 वयः अऽबा ताय वा66 Bhānumatī ad SuSū 23 वय इितथममममवायनोिचतात



age to the vegetable world age of a tree (SuSū 1111 SuCi 1013) of a grainand also of meat (SuSū 46338)67 It shares with the Carakasaṃhitā the criterionof age for the venomousness of certain species of snake68

More importantly in the Suśrutasaṃhitā vayas is necessarily taken into con-sideration in the treatment of bone and joint trauma and in the application ofenemas

Suśrutasaṃhitā Nidānasthāna 15 on the pathology of fractures (bhagnānāṃnidānam) emphasizes that the patientrsquos curability depends on age certain typesof fractures and dislocations are difficult to treat when the patient is lean orold or if he is a child69 In addition the ideal time to treat fractures is dur-ing the rdquothree stages of middle agerdquo which enables the solidification [of thebone] of the patient if treated by experts70 In the Suśrutasaṃhitā these rdquothreestages of middle agerdquo correspond to the period between sixteen and forty years(see Table 1 p 52) which Ḍalhaṇa confirms exactly71 Age is also considered atlength in the corresponding chapter of the Cikitsāsthāna on the treatment of frac-tures (bhagnānāṃ cikitsitam) here it is stated that fractures are easily treated inthe rdquofirst age when the patient is unlikely to be subject to disease and during thecold seasonrdquo with the specification that rdquothe [broken] joint becomes firm in onemonth for the first age in two months for the middle age and in three monthsbeyondrdquo that is to say in old age72

Lastly the Suśrutasaṃhitā provides an excellent example of age being takeninto account for medical prescription in chapter thirty-five of the CikitsāsthānardquoOn the treatment according to the proportional measurements of the clysterand substances for enemasrdquo (netrabastipramāṇapravibhāgacikitsitam) First the di-mensions of the clyster are given according to age a length of six aṅgula a girthcorresponding to the little finger a retaining ring73 at a distance of a finger anda half a mouthpiece the size of a heronrsquos feather and a flow the dimension ofa lentil (mudga) for the one-year-old patient A length of eight aṅgula a girthcorresponding to the index finger a retaining ring at a distance of two fingersa mouthpiece the size of a hawkrsquos feather and a flow the size of a [small] bean

67 The Carakasaṃhitā also sometimes indic-ates the age of plants or trees for certain for-mulations but without using the term vayas68 SuKa 432 chapter on method forthe treatment of poisoning by snake-bites(ldquosarpadaṣṭaviṣavijntildeānīyaṃ kalpamrdquo)69 SuNi 1511 कशवबालानाम70 SuNi 1515cdndash16ab म वयसोऽवा-िॐो याः पिरकीतताः तऽ िरो भवपबाोिवजानता71 Nibandhasaṃgraha ad SuNi 1515cd म-

ािद ितॐोऽवा इित षोडशवषा चार-शावत पय त72 SuCi 315cdndash17ab थम वयिस व भ स-करमािदशत अदोष जो काल च िशिशरा-क थम वयिस व मासािः िरो भवतमम िगणाालार िऽगणात तः See alsoAhUtt 2725dndash27ab73 The karṇika literally rdquoearrdquo is an elementattached to the pipe guarding against its be-ing thrust into the rectum



(māṣa) for the eight-year-old patient A length of ten aṅgula a girth correspond-ing to the middle finger a retaining ring at a distance of two and a half fingersand a flow the dimension of a chickpea (kalāya) for the sixteen-year-old patient74

The quantity of substances for the non-unctuous enema is also calculated ac-cording to age two four or eight prastha for the patient of one eight and six-teen years respectively which are measured according to the capacity of the pa-tientrsquos hand75 The same degree of detail is also expounded for the patient abovetwenty-five years (SuCi 359)

Then it is stated that the measurement of the clyster for old age patients is thesame as for adults but that the quantity of drug is that prescribed for a sixteen-year-old patient76 Finally it is specified that a mild enema is particularly suitablefor children and old people because pungent enema affect their strength andlifespan77 These statements are in perfect conformity with the aforementioneddefinitions of vayas

The accuracy of these details indicates that with regard to practical andtechnical issues age is taken into particular consideration in the Suśrutasaṃ-hitā whereas the Carakasaṃhitā shows greater homogeneity and theoreticalcoherence which may also reflect a greater distance from the reality of theimplementation of the treatments These two tendencies are in keeping with thedefinitions of vayas in the Suśrutasaṃhitā and the Carakasaṃhitā respectively

6 MAINTAINING THE AGE (VAYAḤSTHĀPANA )

Aside from the use of vayas alone to denote age within the context of thepractice of medicine the term appears repeatedly within a verbal locution

(for example vayas tiṣṭhati) or in the compound vayaḥsthāpana meaning literallyrdquostabilization of agerdquo a positive effect attributed to certain drugs and remedialmeasures in the context of medical rasāyana78 It is interpreted quite differentlydepending on the authors

74 SuCi 357 तऽ साविरकािरवषा णा षड-दशालमाणािन किनिकानािमकाममािलपिरणा-हामऽधा ललाध ततीयालसिनिवकणकािनकयनबहणपनाडीतवशािन ममाषकलायमा-ऽॐोतािस िवदाऽािण75 SuCi 357ndash8 तष चाापनिमाणमातरह-सिमतन सतन सिमतौ सतौ ौ चारोऽौ च िव-धयाः (7) वषा रष नऽाणा बिमान चव िह व-योबलशरीरािण समीोष यििधम (8)76 SuCi 359 सत नऽमाणमतदव ि-

माण त िरवष वत77 SuCi 3510 मब िः योो िवशषाालव-योः तयोीः य बिहालायषी78 An introduction to the sections dealingwith rasāyana therapies in the Carakasaṃhitāthe Suśrutasaṃhitā and later medical texts isfound in wujad-2015 as well as a reviewof the multiplicity of interpretations of theterm rasāyana See also Dagmar Wujastykrsquoscontribution in this issue



Chapter four of Carakasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna rdquoOn the six hundred kinds of evac-uativesrdquo (ṣaḍvirecanaśatāśritīyam adhyāyam) contains a list of fifty great extractives(mahākaṣāya) distributed in ten groups (varga)79 The last group includes five cat-egories of plantssubstances that aim at rdquomaintainingrdquo (sthāpana) among whichthere is a group of ten plants for rdquoage-sustainingrdquo (vayaḥsthāpana) (CaSū 48)80

In this passage where it is used as an adjective the editor Sharma explainsvayaḥsthāpana by rdquothat which stabilizes the (youthful) age81 In other words itprevents senilityrdquo He notes that Cakrapāṇidatta interprets sthāpana differentlydepending on the category of plants82 and proposes that a rdquouniform patternshould be followed and as such lsquosthāpanamrsquo should be interpreted as lsquothat whichstabilizesrsquo rdquo83 Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IA 13) translates vayaḥsthāpana as rdquopre-serving youthful vigourrdquo As for Sircar (1984) he refers to those plants collect-ively named vayaḥsthāpanāni as rdquoanti aging and geriatric drugsrdquo In their editionŚarmā and Dash prefer rdquolongevity promotersrdquo (CaSū 418) but in another con-text they translate vayaḥsthāpana as rdquocausing rejuvenationrdquo (CaSū 2540)84

In the Carakasaṃhitā except for the group of ten plants for rdquoage-sustainingrdquolisted Sūtrasthāna 4 all the other plants that have the property of stabilizing ageare mentioned in the context of rasāyana complex formulations these include the

79 Meulenbeld (1999ndash2002 IA 13) emphas-izes that rdquoThe groups begin with medicinalsubstances which are jīvanīya (vitalizing)and end with those which are vayaḥsthāpana(preserving youthful vigour) thus stressingthe rasāyana aspect of āyurveda The arrange-ment names and actions of the fifty groupsare remarkable in several respects and sug-gest that Sū 4 may represent an old partof the Carakasaṃhitārdquo AsSū 1542ndash46 is aparallel passage to CaSū 48 The groupof plants named rdquosthāpanardquo is identical tothat given by CaSū 418 and includes thecategory of rdquoage-stabilizersrdquo vayaḥsthāpanaSee Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 49580 These ten plants are amṛtā abhayā (=harītakī) dhātrī (= āmalakī) muktā śvetājīvantī atirasā maṇḍūkaparṇī sthirā andpunarnavā (CaSū 418) This group of tenplants is also referred to in the section onrasāyana therapies (CaCi 1(3)3)81 Carakasaṃhitā 3 67ndash8 For this defin-ition Sharma relies on Cakrapāṇidatta adCaSū 48 वयणापयीित वयःापनम It

should be noted that vayas also means rdquooldrdquoin medical treatises with a connotation ofexperience or respectability (CaSū 758) aquality applied to the teacher (CaSū 818)or the sages (CaSū 266)82 CaSū 48 शोिणतापनो वदनाापनः स-ाापनः जाापनो वयःापन इित पकः क-षायवग ः rdquoThere are the [following] groupof evacuatives haemostatic sensostaticresuscitative fœtus-promoting and age-sustainingrdquo (tr Carakasaṃhitā) From thislist it is clear that sthāpana is conceived as ageneral therapeutic effect that applies to dif-ferent specific circumstances83 This discussion is due to the factthat sthāpana means rdquomaintainingrdquordquopreservingrdquo rdquoprolongingrdquo or evenrdquostrengtheningrdquo depending on the context84 Carakasaṃhitā They thus make vay-aḥsthāpana a synonym for rasāyana whichthey also translate as rdquocausing rejuvena-tionrdquo attributed to a milk and ghee regimen(CaSū 2540 ीरघताासो रसायनानाम)



plants āmalakī hāritakī pippalī85 nāgabāla86 bhallātaka87 In the Suśrutasaṃhitārdquoage-sustainingrdquo is attributed to milk88 clarified butter89 castor oil90 as well asin the context of rasāyana therapies cold water milk honey and ghee91 the plantbalā92 when taken by the patient being treated indoors93 and the śaṇaphala94 Fi-nally in Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 33 the chapter on the treatment of disorderscurable by means of emetics and purgatives (vamanavirecanasādhyopadravacikit-sitam) purgation is attributed with the ability to stabilize age or at least to slowdown its progression95

The chebulic myrobalan (harītakī) and the emblic myrobalan (āmalaka orāmalakī) are at the heart of the rasāyana formulations in Carakasaṃhitā Cikit-sāsthāna 1 the chapter dedicated to rasāyana For example Among the many

85 See CaCi 1(3)40 बहण य माय ीहोदर-िवनाशनम वयसः ापन म िपलीना रसायनमrdquoThe rasāyana based on long pepper (pippalī)strengthens [the body] improves the voicelengthens lifespan eliminates the spleen en-largement stabilizes the age and increasesmental acuityrdquo86 CaCi 1(2)11 (recipe named nāgabālarasāyana) सवरयोगाद वष शतमजर वय-िित rdquoThrough the use of the nāgabālarasāyana for one year his age is maintainedfree from decrepitude for one hundredyearsrdquo87 Again two recipes of marking nuts(bhallātaka) mixed with milk or honey havethe same effects (तयोगाष शतमजर वयि-ित) See CaCi 1(2)13 (recipe named bhallā-takakṣīra) and CaCi 1(2)14 (recipe namedbhallātakakṣaudra)88 In SuSū 45 a long chapter on how touse liquid substances (ldquodravadravyavidhimadhyāyamrdquo) a passage is devoted to the ef-fects and numerous properties of differ-ent kinds of milk (SuSū 4547ndash64) amongwhich is the stabilization of age (vayaḥs-thāpana)89 In the same chapter (SuSū 45 on howto use liquid substances) a passage isalso devoted to the effects and numer-ous properties of various kinds of clarifiedbutter (SuSū 4596ndash105) among which isalso mentioned stabilization of age (vayaḥs-thāpana)90 Still in the same chapter (SuSū 45 onhow to use liquid substances) in a passage

devoted to the effects and properties of vari-ous oils (taila) (SuSū 45112ndash130) one of thevarious effects attributed to castor oil is sta-bilization of age (vayaḥsthāpana)91 SuCi 276 शीतोदक पयः ौि सपिरकशोिशः िऽशः सममथवा ाक पीत ापययःrdquoCold water milk honey and clarified but-ter taken alone either two three or all to-gether on an empty stomach stabilize agerdquo92 SuCi 2710 एव ादशराऽमपय ादश व-षा िण वयिित एव िदवसशतमपय वष शत वय-िित rdquoThe use of balā mixed with milkduring twelve days stabilizes age for twelveyears administered for one hundred days[this treatment] stabilizes age for one hun-dred yearsrdquo The other plants quoted inSuCi 2710 (atibāla nāgabalā vidārī andśatāvarī) are said to be used in the same way93 On the indoor rasāyana treatment seewujad-201594 SuCi 2713 पयसा सह िसािन नरः शणफलािनयः भययसा साध वय न शीय त rdquoTheage of a man who eats śana fruits preparedwith milk accompanied with half the milk[as beverage] does not decayrdquo95 SuCi 3327 बः साद बलिमियाणा धात-िर बलमिदीिम िचरा पाक वयसः करोित िव-रचन सगपामानम rdquoProperly implemen-ted purgation results in clarity of intellectstrength of sense organs stability of bod-ily constituents strength improvement ofdigestive power and slowing down of theripening process of agerdquo The same formu-lation is also found in AhSū 1860



properties attributed to chebulic myrobalan (CaCi 1(1)29ndash35) is an excellentability to stabilize age96 a decoction of chebulic myrobalan (which also containsemblic myrobalan) promises a life of one hundred years free from old age etcincluding age stabilization97 if used for three years A clarified butter recipewith emblic myrobalan as well as an electuary made from emblic myrobalanand long pepper (pippalī) promise the same effects98

The capacity of the three myrobalans (triphalā) to stabilize age is mentionedboth in the Carakasaṃhitā where a triphalā rasāyana allows for living a hundredyears free from old age and disease and in the Suśrutasaṃhitā in a chapter de-voted to purgative formulations a recipe of triphalā mixed with clarified buttercures all diseases and stabilizes the age provided it is used over a long period99

As a conclusion to the list of properties and actions of the two rasāyana sub-stances par excellence chebulic myrobalan and emblic myrobalan Carakasaṃ-hitā Cikitsāsthāna 1(1)37 states rdquoThus with such effects the physician mustconsider the fruits of the chebulic and emblic myrobalans as elixirs of immor-talityrdquo100

To this Cakrapāṇidatta adds an interesting commentary which differ-entiates the two plants in terms of medical application He says in essencerdquoEven if other substances are qualified for rasāyana formulations that afford alifespan of one thousand years nevertheless the chebulic myrobalan and theemblic myrobalan are mentioned at the beginning of the chapter [dedicatedto rasāyana] along with their properties and effects because of their twofoldapplication namely dispelling disease and promoting vitality even if in thiscase the emblic myrobalan [is mentioned] among [the substances that] stabilizeage considering that it is the chebulic myrobalan which suppresses the diseasethe chebulic myrobalan is thus mentioned firstrdquo101

By commenting in this way on the question of the priority of the exposeacute of thetwo substances Cakrapāṇidatta not only highlights the distinction of the effectsof rasāyana to cure on the one hand to strengthen life on the other hand but heclearly places age stabilization on the strengthening side Thus vayaḥsthāpana is

96 CaCi 1(1)30 वयसः ापन पराम97 CaCi 1(1)77 िऽवष योगाद वष शतमजरवयिित98 CaCi 1(2)4 (recipe named āmalak-aghṛta) अ योगाष शत वयोऽजर ितित CaCi 1(2)7 (recipe named āmalakāvaleha)अ योगाष शतमजर वयिित99 See CaCi 1(3)42 योजयमामका िऽफ-लाया रसायनम जीवष शत पण मजरोऽािधरव चSuSū 4471cdndash72ab िऽफला सवरोगी िऽभाग-

घतमता वयसः ापन चािप कया त सततसिवता100 CaCi 1(1)37 अतामतकािन िवात कम -िभरीशः हरीतकीना शािन िभषगामलक च101 Āyurvedadīpikā ad CaCi 1(1)37 यिपिारािण दशवष शतायररसायनािधकतािन सितथािप हरीतामलक एव रोगहरायरपोभयध-म योगादायादौ गणकम ामत तऽािप यिप आ-मलक वयःापनानाम (स अ २५) इ तथािप रोग-हर हरीतकी कष वतीित का हरीतमऽिभिहता



concerned with the healthy body only which concurs with the fact that old ageand time-related transformations are inherent diseases (svābhāvika) (by the veryfact of having a body)102

The effort of the early medical compendia to systematize the time-relatedvariables of change according to individuals as reflected in the definition ofvayas testifies to a quest for a thorough knowledge of the ageing process andconsequently for the mastery of age stabilization and rejuvenation

The condition of non-decrease (aparihāni) that is to say a stable state whichescapes change is clearly envisaged for the period of forty to sixty years in theAṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha and supported by the commentary of Indu Non-decrease isalso mentioned in the brief definition of vayas in the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Ina way this state of non-decrease is close to that described in the Carakasaṃhitānamely rdquoa stable condition (samatva)103 of strength virility manliness strengthcomprehension concentration memory speech discernment and all the bodilyconstituentsrdquo as well as a stability of the bodily constituents etc for the entiremiddle age (from thirty to sixty years) This may also correspond to the periodof completeness (saṃpūrṇata) of all the bodily constituents etc described in theSuśrutasaṃhitā for the period of thirty to forty years an interpretation supportedby Cakrapāṇidatta who explains that this is a state of stability (tādrūpya)

Furthermore although this link is never explicit in the texts we should notea convergence of the variables at stake with regard to vayas with the effects of therasāyana treatments For example in the Carakasaṃhitā middle age is defined asthe obtaining of a stable condition of strength virility manliness force compre-hension concentration memory speech discernment and all the bodily con-stituents (CaVi 8122 see above) while the effects of rasāyana are longevitymemory mental acuity youth nobility of radiance complexion and voice greatstrength of the body and sense organs perfection of speech esteem and beautyand rasāyana is defined as a mean for attaining excellent bodily constituents104

This convergence is even more significant in the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha whose defin-ition of vayas mentions radiance (prabhā) and mental acuity (medhā) (AsŚā 830see above)

102 See CaŚā 1110ndash115 on the rdquonaturalrdquo(svābhāvika) diseases old age death to-gether with all the other disorders influ-enced by the time factor On the category ofsvābhāvika diseases as the specific object ofrasāyana therapies see Oliver Hellwig 2008103 samatva also means rdquonormal condi-tionrdquo but this is unlikely in this particularcontext

104 CaCi 17ndash8 दीघ मायः त मधामारोय त-ण वयः भावण रौदाय दहियबल परम वाि- णत का लभत ना रसायनात लाभोपायो िहशाना रसादीना रसायनम For a discussion ofthis passage see wujad-2015 as well as thepapers of Dagmar Wujastyk and Philipp AMaas in this volume



Does vayaḥsthāpana denote rdquonon-decreaserdquo in the context of medical rasāyanaand specifically refer to the period of stability described in the definitions ofvayas In fact the meaning of vayaḥsthāpana as it appears in the texts is quiteallusive on the one hand we observe that if the property of stabilizing age isattributed to a relatively large number of substances vayaḥsthāpana is never theunique property of a given substance but only one property among many oth-ers Longevity (dīrghāyus) and health (arogya) which appear repeatedly in theselists of properties are categories of effect sufficiently analogous to create confu-sion and doubt about the meaning of vayaḥsthāpana On the other hand there isno general definition or explanation of vayaḥsthāpana either in the medical treat-ises or in the commentaries even though we might expect one in relation to theelaborate definitions of vayas In order to clarify the meaning or meanings of vay-aḥsthāpana in medical compendia and beyond it is therefore necessary to separ-ately examine its contexts of use within the lists of properties as well as in thedefinitions of rasāyana where vayaḥsthāpana or synonymous locutions occur sys-tematically105

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article was made possible through fundingfrom the European Unionrsquos Horizon 2020

research and innovation programme under grantagreement No 639363 I would also like to thankthe anonymous reviewers for their comments andsuggestions as well as Philipp A Maas and DominikWujastyk

ABBREVIATIONS

Ah AṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitāAs AṣṭāṅgasaṃgrahaCa CarakasaṃhitāCi CikitsāsthānaKa Kalpasthāna

105 The context of use of vayaḥsthāpana is examined in Barois (in preparation)



Ni NidānasthānaŚā ŚārīrasthānaSu SuśrutāsaṃhitāSū SūtrasthānaVi Vimānasthāna

TEXT EDITIONS

Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā K R Srikantha Murthy (1991ndash1995) Vāgbhaṭarsquos AṣṭāntildegaHṛdayam Text English Translation Notes Appendix andIndices 3 vols Krishnadāsa Āyurveda Sīrīja 27 Vara-nasi Krishnadas Academy

Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Aṇṇā Moreśvara Kuṇṭe Kṛṣṇaśāstrī Navare andHariśāstrī Parādakara eds (1939) अादयम ौीमा-टिवरिचतम ौीमदणदिवरिचतया सवा सया ा ायाहमाििणीतया आयवदरसायनाया टीकया च समिसतम =The Astāngahṛidaya a Compendium of the AyurvedicSystem Composed by Vāgbhaṭa with the Commentaries(sarvāngasundarā) of Arunadatta and (āyurvedarasāyana)of Hemādri 6th ed Bombay Pāndurantildeg Jāwajī at theNirṇaya Sāgar Press url https archive org details Ashtanga Hridaya of Vagbhata (on 4 June2017)

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha K R Srikantha Murthy (1995ndash1997) Aṣṭāṅga Saṃgrahaof Vāgbhaṭa Text English translation Notes Indeces [sic]3 vols Jayakrishnadas Ayurveda Series 79 VaranasiChaukhambha Orientalia

Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Rāmacandraśāstrī Kintildejavaḍekara ed (1938ndash1940)अासहः मलसऽािण शिशलखाटीका टिणी शरीरप-िरिशम अादयशारीरम शारीरकोकािन शारीरिचऽािणसऽ-श-िवषयसः िवषयवशः िनवदनम इािदिभः स-विलतम = Aṣṭāṅga sangraha with Indursquos ŚaśilekhāCommentary Notes Diagrams and Appendices 3 volsĀyurvedakalpataruḥ 1 Poona Citraśālā MudraṇālayaReprinted Delhi Sri Satguru Publications 1990 withan introduction by Vaidya Bhagwan Dash

Aśvaśāstra S Gopalan Svāminātha Atreya and K S SubramanyaŚāstri (1952) Aśvaśāstram by Nakula With Coloured Illus-trations Tanjore Saraswati Mahal Series 56 Tanjore SGopalan



Bhāvaprakāśa K R Srikantha Murthy (1998ndash) Bhāvaprakāśa ofBhāvamiśra Text English Translation Notes Appendicesand Index 2 vols Krishnadas Ayurveda Series 45Varanasi Krishnadas Academy isbn 9788121800006

Carakasaṃhitā Priya Vrat Sharma (1981ndash1994) Caraka-saṃhitā Agni-veśarsquos Treatise Refined and Annoted by Caraka and Redactedby Dṛḍhabala (text with English Translation) 4 vols Vara-nasi Delhi Chaukhambha Orientalia

Carakasaṃhitā Rāma Karana Śarmā and Bhagwan Dash eds (1976ndash2002) Agniveśarsquos Caraka Saṃhitā Text with English Trans-lation and Critical Exposition Based on Cakrapāṇi DattarsquosĀyurveda Dīpikā 7 vols Chowkhamba Sanskrit Studies94 Varanasi Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office isbn9788170800514

Carakasaṃhitā Yādavaśarman Trivikrama Ācārya ed (1941) महषणापनव सनोपिदा तिणािवशन णीता चरकढबलााितसता चरकसिहता ौीचबपािणदिवरिचतया आयर-वददीिपकााया सविलता = The Charakasamhitā byAgniveśa Revised by Charaka and Dṛidhabala withthe Āyurveda-Dīpikā Commentary of Chakrapāṇidatta3rd ed Mumbayyāṃ Nirnaya Sagara Press urlhttpsarchiveorgdetailsCaraka1941 (on 1 Jan2018)

Mānavadharmaśāstra Patrick Olivelle (2006) Manursquos Code of Law A CriticalEdition and Translation of the Mānava-dharmaśāstra withthe Editorial Assistance of Suman Olivelle New Delhi Ox-ford University Press isbn 9780195681482


Suśrutasaṃhitā Yādavaśarman Trivikrama Ācārya and NandakiśoraŚarman eds (1939) सौतसिहतायाः सऽानम ौीचबपा-िणदिवरिचतया भानमतीााया समतम = Sushrut-santildehitā(sūtra Sthān) with Bhānumatī Commentary by ChakrapāṇiDatta with Introduction by Gaṇanāth Sen ŚrīsvāmiLakṣmīrāma Nidhi Granthamālā = Shrī SwāmīLakshmī Rām Trust Series 1 Agra ŚyāmasundaraŚarman url https archive org details in ernetdli201535080 (on 29 Jan 2018) Printed at theNirṇayasāgara Press Bombay



Suśrutasaṃhitā Yādavaśarman Trivikrama Ācārya ed (1931) वव-रौीडणाचाय िवरिचतया िनबसमहााया समिसतामहषणा सौतन िवरिचता सौतसिहता सऽ-िनदान-शारीर-िचिका-कानोरताकः = The Sushrutasaṃhitacirc ofSushruta with the Nibandhsangraha Commentary of ShreeDalhaṇacircchacircrya 2nd ed Mumbayyāṃ PāṇḍuraṅgaJāvajī at the Nirṇayasāgaramudrāyantrālaye urlhttpsarchiveorgdetailssusruta1931 (on 27 Feb2018)


Barois Christegravele (in preparation) ldquoStretching Out Life Maintaining the BodyPart 2 vayaḥsthāpana in Medical Literature and Beyondrdquo In preparation

mdash (2017) ldquoLongevity Practices from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad Onwardsrdquo Paperpresented at the conference rdquoMedicine and Yoga in South and Inner Asiardquo1ndash3 August 2017 University of Vienna

Grassmann Hermann Gunther (1873) Worterbuch zum Rig-veda Leipzig Brock-haus url httpsarchiveorgdetailsinernetdli20156636 (on 28Jan 2018) Searchable at httpwwwsanskrit-lexiconuni-koelndescansGRAScan2014webindexphp



Jośī Veṇīmādhavaśāstrī and Nārāyaṇa Harī Jośī (1968) आयवदीय महाकोशःअथा त आयवदीय शकोशः सतndashसत 2 vols Muṃbaī Mahārāṣṭra RājyaSāhitya āṇi Saṃskṛti Maṃḍaḷa url https archive org details AyurvediyaSabdakosa1968

Maas Philipp A (2009) ldquoThe Concepts of the Human Body and Disease in Clas-sical Yoga and Āyurvedardquo In Wiener Zeitschrift fuumlr die Kunde Suumldasiens 51pp 123ndash62 doi 101553wzkslis123

Meulenbeld G Jan (1999ndash2002) A History of Indian Medical Literature 5 volsGroningen Oriental Studies XV Groningen Egbert Forsten isbn 9069801248

mdash (2008) ldquoThe Woes of Ojas in the Modern Worldrdquo In Modern and Global Ayur-veda Pluralism and Paradigms Ed by Dagmar Wujastyk and Frederick MSmith Albany NY State University of New York Press pp 157ndash176 isbn978-0-7914-7490-7

Namdeo Kadam Krishna and Jadhav Viraj Vilas (2017) ldquoConsequences ofAgingrdquo In World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research 33 pp 83ndash88



url httpwwwwjpmrcomdownloadarticle200420171491024955pdf (on29 Jan 2018)

Preisendanz Karin (2007) ldquoThe Initiation of the Medical Student in Early Clas-sical Āyurveda Carakarsquos Treatment in Contextrdquo In Pramāṇakīrtiḥ Papers Ded-icated to Ernst Steinkellner on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday Ed by B Kell-ner H Krasser H Lasic M T Much and H Tauscher Vol 2 2 vols WienerStudien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 70 Wien Arbeitskreis fuumlrTibetische Und Buddhistische Studien Universitaumlt Wien pp 629ndash68 isbn9783902501097 url httpswwwistbunivieacatcarakafile_download36 (on 29 Jan 2018)

Preisendanz Karin Cristina Pecchia and Philipp A Maas eds (forthcoming)Text of the Carakasaṃhitā Vimānasthāna 8 as Critically Edited by the ldquoPhilo-sophy and Medicine in Early Classical Indiardquo Projects at the University of ViennaForthcoming

Renou Louis (1958) Etudes sur le vocabulaire du Ṛgveda Publications de lrsquoInstitutfranccedilais drsquoIndologie 5 Pondicheacutery lrsquoInstitut franccedilais drsquoIndologie

Sircar N N (1984) ldquoPharmaco-therapeutics of Dasemani drugsrdquo In Ancient Sci-ence of Life 33 pp 132ndash135

Tilak Shrinivas (1988) ldquoReligion and Aging in Indian Tradition A TextualStudyrdquo PhD Montreal Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University urlhttpdigitoollibrarymcgillcathesisfile75680pdf (on 29 Jan 2018)

Wujastyk Dagmar (2012) Well-Mannered Medicine Medical Ethics and Etiquettein Classical Ayurveda New York Oxford University Press New York 264 ppisbn 9780199856275

mdash (2016) ldquoOn Perfecting the Body Rasāyana in Sanskrit Medical LiteraturerdquoIn AION Annali dellrsquoUniversitagrave degli Studi di Napoli ldquoLrsquoOrientalerdquo Elisir Mer-curiale e Immortalitagrave Cpitoli per una Storia dellAacutelchimia nellAacutentica Eurasia A curadi Giacomella Orofino Amneris Roselli e Antonella Sannino XXXVII2015 pp 55ndash77 issn 11128-7209 url httpswwwlibrawebnetarticoliphpchiave=201509901amprivista=99 (on 16 Aug 2017)

Wujastyk Dominik (1998) The Roots of Āyurveda Selections from Sanskrit MedicalWritings 1st ed Penguins Books isbn 9780140436808

mdash (2003) The Roots of Ayurveda Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings 3rd edPenguin Classics London New York etc Penguin Group isbn 0140448241

mdash (Aug 6 2017) ldquoWhat is ldquovimānardquo in the Compendium of Carakarsquordquo Presenta-tion at International Congress on Traditional Asian Medicine 6ndash12 August2017 at Kiel Germany url httpswwwacademiaedu34180036 (on 29 Jan2018)






Rasāyana in Classical Yoga and Ayurveda

Philipp A MaasUniversity of Leipzig

MLA style citation form Philipp A Maas ldquoRasāyana in Classical Yoga and Ayurvedardquo History of Science inSouth Asia 52 (2017) 66ndash84 doi 1018732hssav5i232Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










INTRODUCTION

The pātantildejalayogaśāstra is the oldest surviving systematic Sanskrit exposi-tion of yoga from a brahmanical perspective It was probably partly com-

piled and partly composed at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifthcentury ce by an author-redactor with the name Patantildejali1 In the second andthird chapter of his work Patantildejali discussed various superhuman powers orabilities (aiśvarya or siddhi) that a yogi obtains during his progress towards spir-itual liberation2 These superpowers arise in consequence of practicing the eightancillaries or means (aṅga) of yoga Already at an early stage on the way to lib-eration the yogi acquires a whole range of extraordinary abilities by keeping as-cetic commitments (yama) and observances (niyama)3 Additional superpowersand paranormal insights arise through the sequential application of three formsof object-related meditations ie fixation (dharaṇā) meditation or visualization(dhyāna) and absorption (samādhi)4 These specifically yogic practices are how-ever not the only way of reaching paranormal abilities Patantildejali also recognizedfour additional non-yogic means to superpowers of which he provides a list atthe very beginning of the fourth chapter (pāda) of his Pātantildejalayogaśāstra

Birth herbs mantras ascetic practice and absorption generate su-perpowers (siddhi) (sūtra 41) A superpower [generated] by birth isinnate to the body ldquoBy herbsrdquo [means] from rasāyana in the mansionsof Asuras and the like ldquoBy mantrasrdquo [means] attaining the power oflevitation to become minute etc Ascetic practice [generates] the su-perpower of reaching whatever one wants eg one goes wherever

1 See Maas 2013 57ndash682 On yogic powers in different South Asiantraditions see Jacobsen 2012

3 See Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 235ndash2454 See Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 316ndash355


philipp a maas 67

one wants to go in any form one desires and the like Absorptiongenerates the superpowers that have been explained [in the previoussection of the Pātantildejalayogaśāstra]5

This brief passage provides a window to a detail of the religious world view ofPatantildejali and his contemporaries in which the belief in the possibility of over-coming the limitations of human existence played a prominent role6 From theperspective of yoga the most important method leading to superpowers is thelast-mentioned absorption (samādhi) which Patantildejali portrayed comprehensivelyin the preceding part of his yogaśāstra7 The remaining four means for the gen-eration of siddhis are (1) birth (janman) ie according to the commentaries ofVācaspatimiśra I and of Śaṅkara rebirth as a divine being with innate extraordin-ary powers (3) mantras ie magical formula and (4) ascetic practices that appar-ently differ from the specifically yogic form of asceticism that Patantildejali referredto as the result of religious observances (niyama) in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 234ndash448The present article is focused on the second mentioned cause of superpowersie ldquoherbsrdquo (oṣadhi) because Patantildejali related this cause to rasāyana

Patantildejalirsquos reference to rasāyana is brief and quite obscure It is not at all ob-vious what exactly he had in mind when he explained that the generation ofsuperpowers ldquolsquoby herbsrsquo [means] from rasāyana in the mansions of Asuras andthe likerdquo In attempting to elucidate this difficult passage the following part ofthis chapter analyses the explanations of this passage by the three commentatorsVācaspatimiśra I Bhoja and Śaṅkara which finally leads to a discussion of themeaning of rasāyana in Ayurveda

1 VĀCASPATIMIŚRArsquoS TATTVAVAIŚĀRADĪ ON RASĀYANA

Vācaspatimiśra i commented on Patantildejalirsquos reference to rasāyana in his tenth-century Tattvavaiśāradī as follows

5 Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 (Āgāśe 1904 176lines 1ndash5) ज ौषिधम तपःसमािधजाः िस यः(sūtra 41) दहा िरता ज ना िसि ः ओषिधिभर-सरभवनष रसायनन वमािदः म राकाशगमनािणमा-िदलाभः तपसा सक िसि ः काम पी यऽ तऽ कामगइ वमािद समािधजाः िस यो ा ाताः6 Vasubandhu provided a very similar ac-count of superpowers from a Buddhist per-spective in his Abhidharmakośabhāṣya 753Whether Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 is a refor-

mulation of Abhidharmakośabhāṣya 753 orwhether both accounts of superpowers arederived from a common source which atthe present stage of research is unknowncannot be decided with certainty7 See above note 48 On the power-generating effect of non-yogic ascetic practices as depicted in theMahābhārata see Shee 1986 196ndash200 196ndash200


68 rasāyana in classical yoga and ayurveda

He (ie the author of the bhāṣya-part of the Pātantildejalayogaśāstra) ex-plains superpowers generated by herbs ldquoIn the mansions of AsurasrdquoIt is well-known that if a human being reaches for some reason orother a mansion of Asuras and applies the rasāyana that lovely Asuramaidens present to him he attains freedom from old age and deathand other superpowers Or by using rasāyana in this very world [onemay obtain superpowers] like the sage Māṇḍavya who inhabited theVindhya mountains after (or because) he had used rasa9

In this brief explanation Vācaspati differentiated two kinds of rasāyana that aresupposedly available in different parts of the cosmos ie either ldquoin the man-sions of Asurasrdquo or ldquoin this very worldrdquo In both cases rasāyana generates theextraordinary capacity of overcoming old age and death as well as other super-powers In order to exemplify how humans may use rasāyana Vācaspati referredto the sage (muni) Māṇḍavya This sage is a well-known character in several nar-ratives The large majority of these narrate how the sage survived impalementthat he suffered as a punishment for a crime of which he was innocent10 Quitesurprisingly neither of these mythological accounts of Māṇḍavyarsquos life containsthe motif of rasāyana Nor does any story mention the residence of its protagon-ist in the Vindhya mountains It therefore appears that Vācaspati alluded here toan altogether different narrative of the sage Māṇḍavya than the ones that havesurvived to the present day11 and accordingly it remains unclear which con-ception of rasāyana in the world of humans Vācaspati expected to share with hisaudience The only specific information that he provides is that the word rasain rasāyana refers to a substance that may be used or consumed (upa+radicyuj) Dueto the semantic polyvalence of the term rasa12 the substance that Vācaspati mayhave referred to defies identification

Vācaspatirsquos reference to rasāyana in a different realm of the cosmos is also ob-scure The only information that the commentator added to Patantildejalirsquos originalremark is that rasāyana is applied by lovely Asura maidens ie by the girls of aspecial class of demonic beings What may have been Vācaspatirsquos source of this

9 Tattvavaiśāradī on Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41(Āgāśe 1904 176 lines 17ndash20) ओषिधिस-ि माह ndash असरभवनि ित मन ो िह कति ि -िम ादसरभवनमपस ा ः कमनीयािभरसरक ािभ प-नीत रसायनमपय ाजरामरण म ा िस ीरासाद-यित इहव वा रसायनोपयोगन यथा मा ड ो मनीरसोपयोगाि वासीित10 Mahābhārata 1101 (SukthankarBelvalkar et al 1933ndash1959) The different

versions of the narrative are analysed inUtgikar 192311 Wezler (1997 535 n 12) argues how-ever that Vācaspati mentioned Māṇḍavyain the context of Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41as an example for miraculously achievedlongevity12 Dagmar Wujastyk 2017 1 (in thisvolume)


philipp a maas 69

specification Did he expect his readers to share with him mythological knowl-edge that is again lost today Or did Vācaspati provide an ad hoc explanationof Patantildejalirsquos reference to the mansions of Asuras that he himself did not fullyunderstand

It is possible that Vācaspatirsquos explanation of Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 was in-fluenced by a further mention of rasāyana that occurs in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 351There Patantildejali introduces a fourfold classification of yogis according to theirrespective spiritual progress towards liberation13 The yogi on the second levelwho is called a yogi ldquoat the honey stagerdquo is spiritually advanced to such a degreethat he becomes attractive to heavenly beings or gods The gods may then tempthim to abandon his spiritual aspirations in favor of heavenly pleasures Patantildejalidescribes this as follows

If heavenly beings ie the gods notice in this regard the purity ofthe mind of a Brāhmaṇa who realizes the stage [of spiritual progresscalled] ldquoFull of Honeyrdquo they invite him to their heavenly placesldquoHello there please stay here please enjoy yourself here Thisenjoyment is lovely This girl is lovely This rasāyana prevents oldage and death helliprdquo14

The gods offer the yogi sexual pleasure (bhoga) along with a means to overcomeits innate transience ie a rasāyana that ldquoprevents old age and deathrdquo This pur-pose of rasāyana ie longevity agrees with the one that Vācaspati specifies inhis commentary on Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 in order to supplement the sparse in-formation that Patantildejali had provided

Patantildejalirsquos two references to rasāyana in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 351 and 41 differfrom each other mainly in two respects First the account of rasāyana in 351does not mention mansions or Asuras and second the reference in 41 doesnot contain the motif of sexual pleasure Since a reference to the purpose ofrasāyana as well as the motif of lovely girls occur in 351 as well as in Vācaspatirsquoscommentary on 41 Vācaspatirsquos comment on 41 may result from the combinationof both references to rasāyana

Vācaspati may have been acquainted with the well-known mythological ac-count of Naciketasrsquo encounter with the god of death in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad Thisnarrative is not located in an Asura mansion but in the house of Death in thenext world There Death offers three boons to Naciketas who finally choosesan answer to a question concerning the nature of the afterlife of humans Death

13 See Maas 2014 78ndash8514 Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 351 (Āgāśe 1904 169lines 7ndash10) तऽ मधमत भ म सा ा वतो ा ण-

ािननो दवाः स िवशि मनपय ः ान पिन-म य ldquoभो इहा तािमह र ता कमनीयोऽय भोगःकमनीयय क ा रसायनिमद जराम बाधत helliprdquo इित



is initially reluctant to answer this question and tries to persuade Naciketas torelinquish this wish by offering various alternatives in the following way

24And if you would think this an equal wish ndash You may choose wealthtogether with a long life Achieve prominence Naciketas in this wideworld And I will make you enjoy your desires at will 25You mayask freely for all those desires Hard to obtain in this mortal worldLook at these lovely girls with chariots and lutes girls of this sort areunobtainable by men15

This passage from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad shares with Vācaspatirsquos explanation ofPātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 the motifs of longevity and sexual pleasures in a differ-ent realm of the cosmos as an alternative to a spiritual or philosophical aspira-tion Whether or not the Kaṭha Upaniṣad actually may have influenced Vācaspatiremains however an open question

In any case Vācaspatirsquos explanation of rasāyana does not fully elucidate itsbase text partly because Vācaspatirsquos reference to Māṇḍavya remains incompre-hensible due to historical contingencies and partly because Vācaspati did nothave much to say on the specifics of rasāyana treatments in Asura mansions Evenon the basis of this limited information it is however possible to conclude thatthe commentator thought of rasāyana as a magically potent herbal elixir of lifeThis elixir is unavailable for humans under normal conditions In this respectVācaspati follows his base text ie Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 closely

2 BHOJArsquoS RĀJAMĀRTAṆḌA ON RASĀYANA

Approximately one-hundred years after vācaspati ie around 1040 ce16

king Bhoja of Mālava composed a commentary exclusively on the sūtrapart of the Pātantildejalayogaśāstra with the title Rājamārtaṇḍa17 This commentaryis indebted to the bhāṣya part of the Pātantildejalayogaśāstra to such a degree that itcan hardly count as an independent work in its own right In some instanceshowever Bhojarsquos commentary expands the bhāṣya This is also the case in theRājamārtaṇḍa on Yoga Sūtra 41 There Bhoja provides the following explanationshow ldquoherbsrdquo (oṣadhi) function as a source of superpowers

15 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 124 f (ed and tr Olivelle1998 378 f) एत यिद म स वर वणी िव िचरजीिवका च महाभमौ निचकत मिध कामाना ाकामभाज करोिम २४ य य कामा लभा म लोकसवा ामा छ तः ाथय इमा रामाः सरथाः सतयान हीशा ल नीया मन ः

16 For Bhojarsquos date see Pingree 1970ndash1994 A4 33717 Bhoja did not consider the sūtra part ofthe Pātantildejalayogaśāstra a work in its ownright see Maas 2013 61


philipp a maas 71

Superpowers from herbsrdquo are those caused by the application of rasā-yana and so on that involves mercury and so on18

In this succinct explanation Bhoja explains the word ldquoherbsrdquo in agreement withthe bhāṣya as a reference to rasāyana Bhoja replaces however Patantildejalirsquos obscurereference to the mansions of Asuras with a reference to mercury (pārada) Thisexplanation is at odds with sūtra 41 because mercury cannot count as an herbalingredient Bhojarsquos explanation is nevertheless informative It indicates that hein contrast to Patantildejali and Vācaspati identified rasāyana as an alchemical prac-tice19 In this regard his commentary is committed to the intellectual climateof his own time rather than to that of the composition of the Pātantildejalayogaśāstrafrom which no literary references to alchemical practices in South Asia exist20

3 ŚAṄKARArsquoS PĀTANtildeJALAYOGAŚĀSTRAVIVARAṆA ONRASĀYANA

Probably the earliest but definitely the most informative commentary on thePātantildejalayogaśāstra the Pātantildejalayogaśāstravivaraṇa (8th century) by a cer-

tain Śaṅkara provides a further interesting explanation of the passage underdiscussion21

[Superpowers generated] ldquoby herbsrdquo [means] from rasāyana in themansions of Asuras by eating [plants] like soma and āmalaka withoutabandoning a previous body22

Śaṅkara did not consider it necessary to specify which superpower(s) rasāyanabrings about because he apparently took this knowledge for granted among

18 Rājamārtaṇḍa on Yoga Sūtra 41 (Āgāśe1904 second pagination 48 l 8) औषिधिस योयथा ndashपारदािदरसायना पयोगात19 Mercury plays a central role in alchem-ical practices The earliest known in-stance of an ayurvedic recipe containingmercury occurs in the ca seventh-centuryAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā and Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgrahabut mercury never plays a central role inmedical rasāyana see Dagmar Wujastyk2017 20 (in this volume)20 The oldest alchemical work thathas survived to the present date is theRasahṛdayatantra which according to DavidG White (1996 146) can probably be datedto the tenth or eleventh century

21 Whether Śaṅkara the author of thePātantildejalayogaśāstravivaraṇa is identical withthe author of the Brahmasūtrabhāṣya withthe same name is still under scholarly dis-cussion It is however probable thatthe Vivaraṇa is an early commentary onthe Pātantildejalayogaśāstra because it commentsupon an archaic text version of the Pātantildejala-yogaśāstra and because the seventh-centuryphilosopher ldquoKumārila is the latest authorexplicitly referred tordquo in the Vivaraṇa (Halb-fass 1991 221)22 Vivaraṇa 41 (Rama Sastri and Krish-namurthi Sastri 1952 317 f) ओषिधिभरसरभव-नष रसायनन सोमामलकािदभ णन पवदहानपनयनव



his readers He confined himself to stating that the acquisition of superpowersfrom herbs does not require abandoning a previous body In this regard rasā-yana-induced paranormal powers differ from innate superpowers which resultfrom a rebirth as a specifically powerful divine or semi-divine being which ob-viously presupposes that a previous body was abandoned In addition Śaṅkaramentions that rasāyana involves the consumption of two plants ie soma andāmalaka This specification indicates that Śaṅkara interpreted the word rasāyanain Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 as a reference to Ayurveda since the two plants soma andāmalaka are frequently mentioned as ingredients of rasāyana treatments alreadyin the early ayurvedic Sanskrit compendia

As will be shown in more detail below Śaṅkararsquos view according to whichayurvedic rasāyana is a means to paranormal abilities agrees with the evidencefrom the rasāyana sections in the compendia of Caraka and Suśruta Quite ob-viously Śaṅkara was well acquainted with the concept of ayurvedic rasāyana asit appears in earlier sources23 Although Śaṅkara was definitely a learned com-mentator who was well acquainted with the different śāstras that were currentat his time he had nothing to relate about the mansions of Asuras as the placeof rasāyana treatment24

ayurvedic rasāyana and superpowersThe Carakasaṃhitā which was probably composed in the first century ce25 re-peatedly mentions āmalaka in its account of rasāyana in Cikitsāsthāna 1 This plantis usually identified with the Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) TheSuśrutasaṃhitā which may be dated to the second century ce26 contains a quitecomprehensive account of the application of rasāyana treatments based on somaAny identification of this plant is unclear and maybe impossible because severalunidentifiable plants were called soma in South Asian religions from the earliesttimes onwards27

23 According to Dagmar Wujastyk(2017 13 in this volume) ldquo[l]ater medicalworks no longer describe the use of somaand divine herbs in rasāyana and generallydescribe less spectacular effects of treat-mentrdquo Śaṅkararsquos reference to superpowersas a result of ayurvedic rasāyana basedon soma and āmalaka indicates that thecommentator was well acquainted with theearlier works of Ayurveda24 For more detail see section 4 p 79below

25 Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 114 dates theCarakasaṃhitā which has a quite diverseredactorial and transmissional history (onwhich see Maas 2010) to the time span of100 bcendash200 ce It appears however that adate in the middle of the first century is thebest educated guess26 For different dates assigned to the Su-śrutasaṃhitā see Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA342ndash4427 See Wezler 2001 198


philipp a maas 73

The main benefit of ayurvedic rasāyana according to the Carakasaṃhitā andthe Suśrutasasaṃhitā is the same as the one mentioned in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 351namely the generation of longevity and anti-aging In addition the ancient com-pendia mention the generation of health cognitive powers virility and super-powers as purposes of rasāyana28 Suśruta for example explicitly refers to eightsuperpowers (aiśvarya) that are generated in the course of a rasāyana treatmentaccording to his Cikitsāsthāna 291329 The twelfth-century commentator Ḍal-hana identifies these extraordinary capacities with the eight aiśvaryas mentionedin Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 345 as resulting from yogic absorption In an alternativegloss Ḍalhana explains the word aiśvarya to refer to the set of eight paranormalcapacities mentioned in Carakasaṃhitā Śārīrasthāna 130

In the subsequent section of his work Suśruta concluded his account of rasā-yana involving the use of soma by stating that

[t]he visionary man who makes use of the king of plants Soma helliptruly knows all sacred knowledge hellip He moves like a god throughthe whole world with infallible willpower31

The application of a soma-related rasāyana leads to the extraordinary mental capa-city of possessing all sacred knowledge and to the physical superpower to roamthe whole world like a god with ldquoinfallible willpowerrdquo This effect of rasāyana isidentical with the result of ascetic practices mentioned in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41namely ldquothe superpower of reaching whatever one wantsrdquo (saṃkalpasiddhi)32

28 See Dagmar Wujastyk 2017 7 f (in thisvolume)29 Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 2913(Ācārya and Acharya 2003 504 line 2 trDominik Wujastyk 2003 129) ldquoUsing thesetwo [kinds of soma] man achieves eightfoldlordshiprdquo तावपय ा गणम यमवा hellip30 [Carakasaṃhitā Śārīrasthāna 1140 andash141b] (Nibandhasaṃgraha on SuśrutasaṃhitāCikitsāsthāna 2913 (Ācārya and Acharya2003 504ab) ldquoEightfold powerrdquo [means]minuteness levitation extension irresist-ible will greatness sovereignty masteryand the inevitable fulfillment of desiresThis eightfold power may either be ob-tained by yoga or from a rasāyana involvingsoma The Carakasaṃhitā however explains[the eightfold power] differently ldquoEnteringthe mind of other persons knowledgeof objects acting according to onersquos will

vision hearing mindfulness beauty andinvisibility according to onersquos wish thisis the eightfold power the capacity ofyogisrdquo (अ िवध य यथा mdash अिणमा लिघमा ािाका मिहमा तथा ईिश च विश च तथाकामावसाियता इित एतद गणम य योगल मिपसोमरसायना त चरक पनर थो म mdash आवश-तसो ानमथाना छ तः िबया ि ः ौोऽ ितः

काि िर त ा दशनम इ िवधमा ात योिगनाबलम रम)31 Suśrutasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 2914ndash19(Ācārya and Acharya 2003 504b lines 9ndash20tr Dominik Wujastyk 2003 130) ओषधीनाप त सोममपय िवच णः hellip िनिखला दाि ितत तः चर मोघस ो दवव ािखल जगतSee also Dagmar Wujastyk 2017 13 (in thisvolume)32 See above note 5



The acquisition of paranormal powers by means of rasāyana is not only prom-inently mentioned in the Suśrutasasaṃhitā It also occurs in two stanzas thatare part of the rasāyana section of the Carakasaṃhitā From there the famousAyurveda author Vāgbhaṭa incorporated the stanzas into his seventh-centuryAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā33 The stanza also occurs in the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Uttara-sthāna 49234 In Carakarsquos compendium this early and very prominent accountof the effects of rasāyana has the following wording

दीघमायः त मधामारो य त ण वयःभावण रौदाय दहि यबल परम७वाि ण त का लभत ना रसायनातलाभोपायो िह श ाना रसादीना रसायनम८35

Most of the assets of rasāyana that Caraka mentioned in Cikitsāsthāna 117ndash8 iemindfulness (smṛti) intelligence (medhā) health (ārogya) youthfulness (taruṇaṃvayas) excellence of strength complexion and voice (prabhāvarṇasvaraudāryaṃ) aswell as respect (praṇati) and beauty (kānti) are desirable mental or physical qual-ities that almost entirely lack any paranormal connotation The case is less clearfor one of the last mentioned assets ie ldquoperfection of speechrdquo (vāksiddhi) whichmay either consist in the ordinary human ability to speak in a perfect way as forexample in a debate or in the specifically yogic superpower of being able to de-termine the course of any future event by merely mentioning its outcome Cakra-pāṇidatta evidently interpreted vāksiddhi in the latter way when he provided theexplanation that

ldquothe superpower of speechrdquo [means] whatever one says necessarilycomes about36

The first-mentioned and most important result of rasāyana ie a ldquolong liferdquo mayor may not refer to a paranormal phenomenon depending on the interpretationof the words dīrgham āyus This expression may either refer to the fulfillment ofthe normal life expectancy which according to Ayurveda is one hundred yearsor it may refer to paranormal longevity The account of brāhmarasāyana in theCarakasaṃhitā clearly indicates that Caraka at least in this special context hadthe second alternative in mind when he related that several groups of ascetics

33 Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 IA 391ndash47434 For a list of further occurrences of thestanza in ayurvedic and alchemical litera-ture see Dagmar Wujastyk 2017 6 n 13 (inthis volume)35 Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 117ndash8

(Ācārya 1941 376b)36 Āyurvedadīpikā on Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsā-sthāna 117 (Ācārya 1941 376b) वाि ि ः य- त तदवय भवतीित See also Dagmar Wu-jastyk 2015 57


philipp a maas 75

acquired an ldquoimmeasurably long liferdquo (amitāyus) after rejuvenating their bodiesby consuming a rasāyana37

the meaning of rasāyana in ayurvedaThe final two pādas of the stanza Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 118 contain an ety-mological explanation of the word rasāyana that already in pre-modern SouthAsia was interpreted in various ways38 The different interpretations agree intaking the first word of stanza 8a lābhopāya ie ldquoa means to obtainrdquo to be a para-phrase of the second part of the compound rasāyana ie ldquowayrdquo (ayana) Rasāyanais thus a way or a means to obtain a rasa The specific meaning of the semantic-ally multivalent term rasa within the compound rasāyana is however unclear39

A clue to determining its meaning is the paraphrase of rasa as śastānāṃ rasādīnāṃldquothe proclaimed rasa and so onrdquo The usage of the word ādi ldquoand so onrdquo suggeststhat the word rasa in rasāyana is not a single item but the first item in a list ofseveral others

Several pre-modern commentators identified these items in different waysAruṇadatta for example in his commentary on Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Uttara-sthāna 392 explained rasādi in the late twelfth century ie more than a thousandyears after Caraka and ca six-hundred years after Dṛḍhabalarsquos final redaction ofthe Carakasaṃhitā as follows40

Because it is a means to obtain the best [bodily elements] chyle bloodand so on it is called rasāyana41

Aruṇadatta identified rasa in rasāyana with the initial item chyle of the well-known list of the seven bodily elements (dhātu) of (1) chyle (rasa) (2) blood (3)

37 Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 154ndash56(Ācārya 1941 378b) ldquoThe Vaikhānasas theVālakhilyas and also other great asceticsconsumed this rasāyana and acquired animmeasurable life span They gave uptheir old bodies and obtained an excellentyoung age no longer sighed from ex-haustion and weariness were healthy andcomposed These great ascetics furnishedwith intelligence mindfulness and powerpracticed foremost asceticism and chastityfor the sake of the highest staterdquo (वखानसावालिख ा था चा तपोधनाः रसायनिमद ायबभवरिमतायषः म ा जीण वप ा मवाप णवयः वीतत ा म ासा िनरात ाः समािहताः म-धा ितबलोपताि रराऽ तपोधनाः ा तपो चय

च ा िन या) For further referencesto supranormal longevity in ayurvedicaccounts of rasāyana see Dagmar Wujastyk2017 8 (in this volume)38 For a summary of modern scholarly in-terpretations of the term rasāyana see Dag-mar Wujastyk 2017 1 (in this volume)39 Gode Karve et al (1957ndash1959 1331) re-cords thirty-three different meanings for thenoun rasa40 See Meulenbeld 1999ndash2002 1A 66341 Sarvāṅgasundarā on Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃ-hitā Uttarasthāna 392 (Kuṃṭe Navareand Parādkar 1939 923a) य ात ौ ाणारस िधरादीना यो लाभोपायः स रसायनम त



flesh (4) fat (5) bones (6) marrow and (7) semen This list figures prominentlyin ayurvedic sources from early medieval times onwards ie after Vāgbhaṭa hadcomposed his Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā in the seventh century42 In the earlier com-pendia of Caraka and Suśruta various lists of elements figure side by side indifferent medical contexts The Carakasaṃhitā for example contains twelve dif-ferent lists of bodily constituents that are expressively labeled as dhātu only twoof which are headed by rasa43 Since a standardized list of bodily elements didnot yet exist at Carakasrsquos time Aruṇadattarsquos etymological explanation of rasāyanacannot be accepted as a historically plausible interpretation of the stanza Caraka-saṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 118 Rather than being a historical etymology of rasāyanathe explanation of rasādi as meaning ldquochyle and so onrdquo is a creative innovationfor promoting the integration of rasāyana into Ayurveda44

A further problematic aspect of the identification of rasa in rasāyana withldquobodily elementsrdquo is that it does not fit well with the attribute śasta ldquoproclaimedrdquoin the expression śastānāṃ rasādīnāṃ of pāda 8ab How should rasāyana be a meansto obtain ldquoproclaimedrdquo or ldquopraisedrdquo bodily elements To which act of proclam-ation or praise could the attribute śasta refer Aruṇadatta who was apparentlyaware of this semantic problem evaded it by silently replacing the word śastaldquoproclaimedrdquo from his base text with śreṣṭha ldquobestrdquo in his commentary A sim-ilar strategy was applied by an unknown scribe of the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā whochanged the original śastānāṃ to saptānāṃ ldquosevenrdquo in order to emphatically sug-gest a reference to seven bodily elements45

42 Maas 2008 14243 See Maas 2008 136 f44 On the basis of his analysis of textualmaterial from the Suśrutasaṃhitā Hellwig(2008 39) arrived at the conclusion that thecommentator Ḍalhana also shows the tend-ency to integrate rasāyana into the standardset of ayurvedic remedies In the same art-icle Hellwig also argued that in the Caraka-saṃhitā rasāyana is closely related to theclassical theory of dhātus This argument isbased on an analysis of two text passagesThe first one is the above quoted passage Ci-kitsāsthāna 117ndash8 which Hellwig interpretsaccording to Aruṇadattarsquos anachronistic ex-planation The second passage is Cikitsā-sthāna 123 which refers to the body partsmuscle flesh (māṃsa) joints (sandhi) blood(rakta) fat (medas) marrow (majjan) semen

(śukra) and strength (ojas) (but not rasa) thatare not labeled as dhātus The passage alsodoes not explicitly mention any invigoratingeffect of rasāyana on these bodily constitu-ents Therefore Cikitsāsthāna 123 cannotbe quoted in support of Aruṇadattarsquos inter-pretation of the word rasādi in Cikitsāsthāna118 according to which rasādi refers to theclassical dhātu-theory of seven bodily con-stituents headed by rasa Rather than reflect-ing a close conceptual connection betweenrasāyana and Ayurveda Cikitsāsthāna 123mirrors the process of integration of rasā-yana into Ayurveda that at the time of thecomposition of the Carakasaṃhitā may stillhave been a comparatively recent process45 See note 4 in AṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitāUttarasthāna 392 (Kuṃṭe Navare andParādkar 1939 923a)


philipp a maas 77

Ḍalhana the commentator of the Suśrutasaṃhitā who flourished approxim-ately at the same time as Aruṇadatta provided various etymological explana-tions of the term rasāyana in his Nibandhasaṅgraha

Rasāyana [means] the progress ie the thriving of the bodily ele-ments chyle and so on Alternatively rasāyana is the way ie themeans for the medication-based obtainment of the tastes (rasa) po-tencies post digestive flavors and specific actions that lead to thefirmness of power and manliness throughout the life span and pro-long a youthful age Or it means their increase stabilization or gen-eration46

Ḍalhanarsquos first explanation of the term rasāyana is basically identical with theetymological analysis of the term by Aruṇadatta whereas his second explanationdraws upon a different list of terms that is also headed by the word rasa This isthe general pharmacological concept of Ayurveda according to which the tastes(rasa) potency post digestive flavors and specific actions of food (and medicinalsubstances) influence the ratio of humours or doṣas in the human body A suitableratio of humours leads to health an unsuitable one to disease

If Ḍalhanarsquos alternative explanation were correct ie if the pharmacologicalconcepts of Ayurveda were the key to unravelling Carakarsquos etymological ana-lysis of the word rasāyana then rasa in rasāyana would mean ldquotastesrdquo Ḍalhanarsquosexplanation is however unconvincing not only because here again the attrib-ute śasta ldquoproclaimedrdquo would not fit but also because his interpretation does notrefer to any peculiar characteristic of rasāyana The pharmacological concept oftastes (rasa) potency etc are of fundamental importance in several branchesof Ayurveda especially in internal medicine (kāyacikitsā)47 They do not receiveany particular attention in the context of rasāyana Therefore Ḍalhanarsquos attemptto relate the ayurvedic pharmacology to the special effects of rasāyana ie tolongevity empowerment etc is forced Apparently the commentator was asmuch at a loss to provide a convincing etymological analysis of the term rasāyanaas his colleague Aruṇadatta In order to solve their explanatory problem bothcommentators took refuge to ad hoc explanations by drawing upon well-knowntechnical ayurvedic meanings of the word rasa

46 Nibandhasaṅgraha on SuśrutasaṃhitāCikitsāsthāna 271 (Ācārya and Acharya2003 498b) रसािदधातनामयनमा ायनम अथवाभषजािौताना रसवीयिवपाकभावाणामायबलवीयदा-ाना वयः यकराणामयन लाभोपाय रसायनम वधक

ापकमा ापक व थः47 Carakasaṃhitā Vimānasthāna 114ndash8provides a general outline of the relation-ship between tastes (rasa) and humours(doṣa)



In contrast to this approach the eleventh-century medical author and com-mentator Cakrapāṇidatta provided a surprisingly elegant and simple interpret-ation of Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 118 that is much more convincing than thesolutions presented so far Cakrapāṇidatta simply explains that

by using the expression ldquorasa and so onrdquo [Caraka] refers also toldquomindfulness and so onrdquo48

This brief comment reveals that the commentator understood the compoundrasādi as a reference to the listed assets of rasāyana The first part of the com-pound rasādi ie rasa refers to the first item in the list of assets ie to dīrghamāyuḥ ldquoa long liferdquo Accordingly Cakrapāṇidatta did not take the word rasa inrasāyana to designate any technical ayurvedic term but the ldquoprincipalrdquo of the lis-ted items or in other words the most important result of rasāyana ie ldquoa longliferdquo This understanding is historically unproblematic and in agreement withthe well-recorded meaning of the word rasa as ldquothe essence best partrdquo of some-thing49 Moreover it solves the previously mentioned problem of the meaningof the attribute śasta ldquoproclaimedrdquo By interpreting rasa to mean the ldquoprincipleassetrdquo of rasāyana the referent of śasta does not have to be sought anywhere inthe Carakasaṃhitā but in the stanzas Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 117andash8b that listthe desirable assets of rasāyana

On the basis of this interpretation the two stanzas Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsā-sthāna 117ndash8 can be translated as follows

Through rasāyana a man obtains a long life mindfulness intelligencehealth youthfulness excellence of strength complexion and voicethe greatest capacity of body and senses perfection of speech respectand beauty Rasāyana is well-known to be the means for obtaining theproclaimed ldquoprinciple assetrdquo (rasa ie longevity) and so on

Taking seriously into account the elegance of Cakrapāṇidattarsquos explanation aswell as the forced nature of the previously-discussed interpretations of the wordrasādi it is highly unlikely that word rasa in rasāyana originally ie before thetime of Aruṇadatta meant ldquochylerdquo (rasa) as the initial item listed in the colloca-tion of bodily elements or ldquotasterdquo (rasa) as an important ayurvedic pharmacolo-gical concept before Ḍalhana Already Caraka was unable to explain the wordrasāyana by providing convenient synonyms for the two word stems of whichthe compound seems to consist Apparently the word rasāyana defies any easy

48 Āyurvedadīpikā on Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsā-sthāna 118 (Ācārya 1941 376b) रसािदमहणन ादयोऽिप ग

49 See Gode Karve et al 1957ndash1959 1331asv rasa


philipp a maas 79

etymological explanation It may even be possible that rasāyana originally wasnot at all a compound consisting of rasa- and -ayana but a cultural loanword intoSanskrit the original source of which remains to be determined

4 THE MANSIONS OF THE ASURAS

Patantildejalirsquos reference to asura mansions in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 was appar-ently enigmatic for his pre-modern commentators and it continues to be

obscure for modern academic scholars Albrecht Wezler however saw Patantilde-jalirsquos reference to Asura mansions as a result of ldquomythological logicrdquo

The idea that the elixir-of-life is available ldquoin their palacesrdquo [ie inthe palaces of Asuras] may be derived from their alleged capacity foroutwitting ldquothe gods by recuperating and even reviving themselvesafter being wounded or slain by the godsrdquo (see E Washburn HopkinsEpic Mythology Strasburg 1915 49 and J Bruce Long ldquoLife Out ofDeathrdquo in Hinduism ed Bardwell L Smith Leiden 1952 184) Butit is but mythologically logical that the mansions of the demons areregarded as the place where human beings can get one of the elixirs-of-life because the true ambrosia (produced among other goods bythe churning of the milk ocean) was appropriated by the gods50

Wezlerrsquos guess that the Asurasrsquo possession of rasāyaṇa may result from a myth-ological demand for a balance of powers between the gods and the Asuras theso-called anti-gods appears plausible Nevertheless it is quite surprising thatnot a single literary account of rasāyana in Asura mansions besides the Pātantildejala-yogaśāstra and its commentaries appears to have survived in pre-modern SouthAsian literature However references to an Asura mansion that do not mentionrasāyana are not entirely absent In contradiction to what may be expected thesereferences do not occur in brahmanical Sanskrit sources but in Buddhist litera-ture There the Asuras inhabit a region of the cosmos located at the bottom ofmount Sineru (Skt Meru) that is called asurabhavana This region became thehabitat of the Asuras after the god Indra banned them from mount Sineru onaccount of their excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages (sura)51

Asuras and their mansions also figure in Jain cosmology where they belongto a class of gods called bhavanavāsin (ie those who live in palaces)52 In viewof these two quite prominent conceptions of Asuras and their palaces it may ap-pear tempting to speculate that Patantildejali used the term asurabhavana in Pātantildejala-yogaśāstra 41 with a Buddhist or Jain cosmological concept in mind However

50 Wezler 2001 217 note 10551 Malalasekara 1960 v 1 1002 sv

Tāvatiṃsa52 See Kirfel 1920 261



neither the Jain literature nor the Buddhist Pāli canon contains as far as I cansee a single reference to rasāyana-practicing Asuras Moreover the grammaticalnumber of the word asurabhavana in Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 41 is plural which indic-ates that Patantildejali was rather thinking of a plurality of mansions than of a singlecosmological region as the typical place for the usage of rasāyana And finallyPatantildejalirsquos own comprehensive account of the different regions of the universein Pātantildejalayogaśāstra 326 does not contain a region called asurabhavana whichmakes it at least doubtful whether Patantildejali was at all acquainted with a cosmo-logical region with this name

It therefore appears that Patantildejalirsquos conceptions of rasāyana and its applica-tion in different realms of the cosmos is indeterminable at the present stage ofresearch53

5 CONCLUSION

In the pātantildejalayogaśāstra rasāyana is mentioned as an exemplification of theconcept that herbs may generate superpowers Rasāyana is thus an unspe-

cified elixir of life prepared from herbal ingredients In order to specify whatrasāyana actually is about Patantildejali referred his readers to the application of thiselixir in special buildings called ldquothe mansions of Asurasrdquo (asurabhavana) Thisreference is obscure Already Patantildejalirsquos medieval commentators were appar-ently at a loss to explain the role of Asurasrsquo buildings for rasāyana Śaṅkara theauthor of the most informative commentary on the Pātantildejalayogaśāstra evadedthe problem and supplemented Patantildejalirsquos sparse account by relating it to Ayur-veda He took however a road that Patantildejali had avoided although the yogaauthor was clearly acquainted with an early form of Ayurveda54 A closer look atayurvedic rasāyana reveals that Śaṅkararsquos explanation was nevertheless obvioussince obtaining longevity and other superpowers definitely emerges as an im-portant goal of early ayurvedic rasāyana accounts involving herbal ingredientsHowever rasāyana is problematic also in its early ayurvedic coinage Althoughthis discipline features it as one of the eight established branches of Ayurvedarasāyana appears to be based on theoretical foundations that are at odds withmainstream classical Ayurveda This tension was clearly felt among pre-modern

53 Dominik Wujastyk suggested a pos-sible connection between a hut (kuṭi) builtfor ayurvedic rasāyana treatments and Pa-tantildejalirsquos asurabhavanas (Dominik Wujastyk2014) In view of the semantic differencebetween the words kuṭi ldquohutrdquo and bhavana

ldquomansion palacerdquo and due to the lack of anyreference to Asuras in ayurvedic rasāyanasources I doubt that Patantildejali referred toayurvedic rasāyana when he used the wordasurabhavana54 See Maas 2008 152 f


philipp a maas 81

specialists at least until the twelfth century when the commentators Ḍalhanaand Aruṇadatta tried to fully integrate rasāyana into Ayurveda by establishing arelationship between the theories of bodily elements and tastes and the discip-line of rasāyana This integration is reflected in the widely accepted etymologicalderivation of rasāyana as a way (ayana) of invigorating etymology is based onan anachronistic interpretation of the ancient definition of rasāyana in Caraka-saṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 117ndash8 A historically valid etymological derivation of theword rasāyana which possibly is a cultural loanword into Sanskrit remains to beestablished



REFERENCES

Ācārya Yādavaśarman Trivikrama ed (1941) मह षणा पनवसनोपिद ा ति णाि -वशन णीता चरकडबला ा ितस ता चरकसिहता ौीचबपािणद िवरिचतया आयवददी-िपका ा या सविलता = The Charakasaṃhitā by Agniveśa Revised by Charaka andDṛidhabala with the Āyurveda-Dīpikā Commentary of Chakrapāṇidatta 3rd edMumbayyāṃ Nirnaya Sagara Press url https archive org details Caraka1941 (on 1 Jan 2018)

Ācārya Yādavaśarman Trivikrama and Narayan Ram Acharya eds (2003)सौतसिहता ौीड णाचायिवरिचतया िनब समहा ा या िनदान ान ौीगयदासाचा-यिवरिचतया ायचि का पि का ा या च सम िसताhellipआचाय पा न िऽिवबमा जनयादवशमणाhellipसशोिधता = The Suśrutasaṃhitā of Suśruta with the Nibandhasaṅ-grahā commentary of Śrī Dalhaṇāchārya and the Nyāyacandrikā Pantildejikā of ŚrīGayadāschārya on Nīdanasthāna Chaukhamba Ayurvijnan Granthamala 42Varanasi Chaukhamba Surbharati Prakashan Reprint of Bombay 1938edition

Āgāśe Ve Śā Rā Rā Kāśīnātha Śāstrī ed (1904) वाच ितिमौिवरिचतटीकासविल-त ासभा समतािन पात लयोगसऽािण तथा भोजदविवरिचतराजमात डािभधवि समतािनपात लयोगसऽािण Ānandāśramasaṃskṛtagranthāvaliḥ 47 Puṇyākhya-pattana Ānandāśramamudraṇālaya url https archive org details YogasutraAgashe (on 3 Mar 2018)

Gode P K C G Karve et al eds (1957ndash1959) Revised and EnlargedEdition of Prin V S Aptersquos the Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary3 vols Poona Prasad Prakashan url https archive org details ThePracticalSanskritEnglishDictionaryPart1PKGode (on 20 Oct 2017) Seealso pt II and pt III

Halbfass Wilhelm (1991) ldquoŚaṅkara the Yoga of Patantildejali and the So-calledYogasūtrabhāṣyavivaraṇardquo In Tradition and Reflection Explorations in IndianThought 1st ed Albany NY SUNY Press Chap 6 pp 205ndash242 isbn0791403629

Hellwig Oliver (2008) ldquoRasāyana und die āyurvedische Krankheitskunderdquo InTraditional South Asian Medicine 8 pp 32ndash64 url httpswwwacademiaedu35623137Rasayana_und_die_ayurvedische_Krankheitskunde (on 3 Mar 2018)

Jacobsen Knut A (2012) Yoga Powers Extraordinary Capacities Attained throughMeditation and Concentration Brillrsquos Indological Library 37 Leiden Brill isbn9789004212145

Kirfel Willibald (1920) Die Kosmographie der Inder Nach Quellen dargestellt Bonnund Leipzig Schroumlder

Kuṃṭe Aṇṇā Moreśvara Kṛṣṇaśāstrī Navare and Hariśāstrī Parādkar eds(1939) ौीम ा टिवरिचतम अ ा दयम ौीमद णद िवरिचतया lsquoसवा स या ाrsquoा या हमाििणीतया lsquoआयवदरसायना याrsquo टीकया च सम िसतम = The Astāngahṛi-


philipp a maas 83

daya A Compendium of the Ayurvedic System Composed by Vāgbhaṭa withthe Commentaries (Sarvāngasundarā) of Arunadatta and (Āyurvedarasāy-ana) of Hemādri 6th ed Bombay Nirnaya Sagara Press url https archiveorgdetailsAshtangaHridayaofVagbhata (on 4 June 2017)

Maas Philipp A (2008) ldquoThe Concepts of the Human Body and Disease in Clas-sical Yoga and Āyurvedardquo In Wiener Zeitschrift fuumlr die Kunde Suumldasiens = Vi-enna Journal of South Asian Studies 51 pp 125ndash62 doi 101553wzkslis123

mdash (2010) ldquoOn What Became of the Carakasaṃhitā After Dṛḍhabalarsquos RevisionrdquoIn eJournal of Indian Medicine 3 pp 1ndash22 url httpsugprugnleJIMarticleview24728 (on 3 Mar 2018)

mdash (2013) ldquoA Concise Historiography of Classical Yoga Philosophyrdquo In Histori-ography and Periodization of Indian Philosophy Ed by Eli Franco Publicationsof the De Nobili Research Library 37 Vienna Sammlung de Nobili pp 53ndash90 url httpwwwacademiaedu3520571 (on 27 May 2016)

mdash (2014) ldquoDer Yogi und sein Heilsweg im Yoga des Patantildejalirdquo In Wege zumHeil(igen) Sakralitaumlt und Sakralisierung in hinduistischen Traditionen Ed byKarin Steiner Wiesbaden Harrassowitz pp 65ndash89 isbn 0195124359 urlhttpswwwacademiaedu7054657 (on 3 Mar 2018)

Malalasekara G P (1960) A Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names 2 vols IndianTexts Series London Luzac amp Co url https archive org details PaliProperNamesVolIADh (on 27 Feb 2018) Vol 2 httpsarchiveorgdetailsPaliProperNamesVolIINH


Olivelle Patrick (1998) The Early Upaniṣads Annotated Text and TranslationSouth Asia Research New York Oxford Oxford University Press isbn9780195124354

Pingree David E (1970ndash1994) A Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit 5 volsPhiladelphia American Philosophical Society url httpsarchiveorgdetailsPingreeCESS (on 3 Mar 2018)

Rama Sastri and S R Krishnamurthi Sastri eds (1952) पात लयोगसऽभा िववर-णम (श रभगव ादणीतम)= Pātnjala[sic]-yogasūtra-bhāṣya Vivaraṇam of Śaṅkara-Bhagavatpāda Critically Edited with Introduction Madras Government OrientalSeries 94 Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts Library url https archiveorgdetailsPatanjala- yogasutra- bhasyaVivaranamOfSankara-bhagavatpada (on 20 Oct 2017)

Shee Monika (1986) Tapas und tapasvin in den erzaumlhlenden Partien des MahābhārataGerman Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik Dissertationen 1 Reinbek IWezler Verlag fuumlr Orientalische Fachpublikationen

Sukthankar Sitaram Vishnu Shripad Krishna Belvalkar et al eds (1933ndash1959)The Mahābhārata 19 vols Poona Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute



Utgikar N B (1923) ldquoThe Story of the Ṛṣi Aṇī-Māṇḍavya in its Sanskritand Buddhistic Sourcesrdquo In Proceedings and Transaction of the SecondOriental Conference Calcutta January 28th to February 1st 1922 CalcuttaCalcutta University pp 221ndash38 url https archive org details ProceedingsAndTransactionsOfTheSecondOrientalConference (on 3 Mar2018)

Wezler Albrecht (1997) ldquoThe Story of Aṇī-Māṇḍavya as Told in the Mahā-bhārata Its Significance for Indian Legal and Religious Historyrdquo In BeyondOrientalism The Work of Wilhelm Halbfass and its Impact on Indian and Cross-Cultural Studies Ed by E Franco and K Preisendanz Poznań Studies in thePhilosophy of Sciences and the Humanities 59 Amsterdam Brill Rodopipp 533ndash55 isbn 9789042002470

mdash (2001) ldquolsquoPsychedelicrsquo Drugs as Means to Mystical Experience Aldous Hux-ley Versus Indian lsquoRealityrsquordquo In Aldous Huxley Between East and West Ed byC C Barfoot Textxet Studies in Comparative Literature 37 Amsterdam Ro-dopi pp 199ndash220 isbn 9789042013476

White David Gordon (1996) The Alchemical Body Siddha Traditions in MedievalIndia Chicago University of Chicago Press isbn 0226894975

Wujastyk Dagmar (2015) ldquoOn Perfecting the Body Rasāyana in SanskritMedical Literaturerdquo In AION Annali dellrsquoUniversitagrave degli Studi di Na-poli ldquoLrsquoOrientalerdquo Elisir Mercuriale e Immortalitagrave Capitoli per una StoriadellrsquoAlchimia nellrsquoAntica Eurasia A cura di Giacomella Orofino AmnerisRoselli e Antonella Sannino XXXVII pp 55ndash77 issn 11128-7209 urlhttpswwwlibrawebnetarticoliphpchiave=201509901amprivista=99 (on16 Aug 2017)

mdash (2017) ldquoActs of Improvement On the Use of Tonics and Elixirs in SanskritMedical and Alchemical Literaturerdquo In History of Science in South Asia 52pp 1ndash36 url httphssa-journalorg

Wujastyk Dominik (2003) The Roots of Ayurveda Selections from Sanskrit MedicalWritings 3rd ed Penguin Classics London New York etc Penguin Groupisbn 0140448241

mdash (July 9 2014) Kuṭipraveśam rasāyanam Cikitsā blog url httpscikitsablogspotca201407kutipravesam-rasayanamhtml (on 23 Dec 2017)






Yogis Ayurveda and Kayakalpa ndash TheRejuvenation of Pandit Malaviya

Suzanne NewcombeInform based a the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Open University

MLA style citation form Suzanne Newcombe ldquoYogis Ayurveda and Kayakalpa ndash The Rejuvenation of PanditMalaviyardquo History of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) 85ndash120 doi 1018732hssav5i229Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










This article considers a significant incident of rejuvenation therapy whichwas advertised as kāyakalpa (body transformation or rejuvenation) in 1938

Although widely publicised at the time it has largely been occluded from thenarratives of yoga and Ayurveda in the second half of the twentieth centuryThis article will argue that despite this cultural amnesia the impact of thisevent may have still been influential in shifting the presentation of Ayurvedain the post-war period The rejuvenation of Pandit Malaviya presented thefigure of the yogi as spectacular healer and rejuvenator popularly and visiblyuniting yoga with ayurvedic traditions and the advancement of the Indiannation Moreover the emphasis on the methods of rejuvenation can be seenin retrospect as the beginning of a shift in public discussions around the valueof Ayurveda In the late colonial period public discussions on indigenousmedicine tended to focus on comparing methods of diagnosis and treatmentbetween Ayurveda and ldquoWesternrdquo biomedicine In the second half of thetwentieth century ayurvedic methods of promoting health and longevity weregiven greater prominence in public presentations of Ayurveda particularly inthe English language The 1938 rejuvenation of Pandit Malaviya can be seen asa pivot point in this narrative of transformation

Today a close association between Ayurveda and yoga seems axiomaticSwami Ramdev is perhaps the best-known face of this association promotinghis own brand of ldquoPatantildejali Ayur-vedrdquo pharmaceuticals (established in 2006)with swadeshi authenticity1 Ramdevrsquos line of Patantildejali products in whichayurvedic pharmaceuticals hold a prominent place is particularly successful

1 Newcombe (forthcoming) Swadeshi refersto Indian-made or produced materials andthe term was closely associated with thenon-violent agitation for Indian self-rule

lead by Gandhi Swami Ramdev more spe-cifically uses this association to protest thepower of neoliberal global capitalist firmson the Indian economy


86 yogis ayurveda and kayakalpa

financially and has been called ldquoIndiarsquos fastest-growing consumer productsbrandrdquo2 Prior to Ramdev a close association between yoga and Ayurveda hasalso been promoted by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918ndash2008) as ldquoMaharishiAyur-Vedrdquo from the late 1970s onward Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (b 1956) morerecently introduced a line of ldquoSri Sri AyurvedaSri Sri Tattvardquo products in 2003a trend being echoed by a number of less well known guru-led organisations3Maya Warrier has noted in the early twenty-first century the ldquomushroomingof ayurvedic luxury resorts spas and retreats across many of Indiarsquos touristdestinationsrdquo which offer ldquoexpensive lsquorelaxationrsquo and lsquorejuvenationrsquo therapyyoga and meditation sessions lifestyle advice as well as beauty treatmentsto affluent clients mostly (though not exclusively) from overseasrdquo4 Contem-porary Indian university syllabuses for the Bachelors in Ayurvedic Medicineand Surgery (BAMS) now require graduates to have a basic understanding ofPatantildejalirsquos formulation of yoga as well as therapeutic applications of āsana andprāṇāyāma5

Presentations within a tradition have distinct shifts as well as gradualchanges through time Malaviyarsquos rejuvenation treatment marks one such pointof change in the public presentation of the ayurvedic tradition I will argue thatwhen Pandit Malaviya turned to a wandering sadhu for an intense rejuvenationtreatment it can be understood as part of a growing trend towards exploringand promoting the potentials of indigenous healing systems But it can alsobe seen as a nodal point for a change in association between yogis yoga andayurvedic medicine Before detailing Malaviyarsquos ldquohealth curerdquo and its impacton twentieth century associations between yoga and Ayurveda the relativedisassociation between yoga yogis and Ayurveda in the first quarter of thetwentieth century needs to be established

A close association between yoga yogis and Ayurveda is not prevalent inthe known pre-modern ayurvedic record Texts in the ayurvedic canon do not

2 Patantildejali company turnover for 2015ndash2016 was reported to be in the region ofUSD $750 million and projections for sub-sequent years even higher (India InfolineNews Service 2016)3 For more on Maharishi Ayur-Ved see thecollection of chapters by Humes Jeannotatand Newcombe in Dagmar Wujastyk andSmith 2008 and for Sri Sri Ravi ShankarrsquosArt of Living Foundation see Jacobs 20154 Warrier 2011 86 A shift previously ob-served by Zimmermann (1992) and Zysk(2001)5 Central Council for Indian Medicine

(2014 2017) In contemporary BAMSprogrammes yoga is sometimes combinedwith the specifically ayurvedic recom-mendations for self-care and communityhealth eg ldquoSwasthavritta amp Yogardquoand sometimes taught separately as anindependent topic of Yoga These currentassociations have also been clarifiedthrough conversations with Kalyan Gansa student in the Jamnagar AyurvedicUniversity BAMS programme For changesto ayurvedic education in modern India seealso Langford 2002


suzanne newcombe 87

generally refer to the practices of yoga and meditation as part of their thera-peutic framework before the twentieth century6 Kenneth Zysk has concludedthat teachers and practitioners of Ayurveda continued to maintain ldquothe relativeintegrity of their discipline by avoiding involvement with Yoga and other Hindureligious systemsrdquo7 Jason Birch has recently done a survey of texts which can beconsidered part of the haṭhayoga canon He concludes that as far as frameworksof health and healing are evident in the haṭhayoga manuscripts

yogins resorted to a more general knowledge of healing diseasewhich is found in earlier Tantras and Brahmanical texts withoutadopting in any significant way teachings from classical AyurvedaIn some cases it is apparent that yogins developed distinctly yogicmodes of curing diseases8

It appears that until very recently the necessity of a yogi dealing with the phys-ical body while aspiring towards mokṣa created specific forms of self-therapyamongst the ascetic community in contrast the ayurvedic tradition focusedlargely on a physician-led model of health and healing

Yet there are also intriguing traces of entanglement Some texts ie the Sat-karmasaṅgraha (c 18th century) and the Āyurvedasūtra (c 16th century) show spe-cific and interesting points of dialogue between ayurvedic vaidyas (physicians)and yogic sādhakas (practitionersaspirants)9 Another interesting text identifiedrecently is the Dharmaputrikā (c 10ndash11th century Nepal) which suggests a greaterintegration of ancient classical medicine and yogic practices at an early date thanhas previously been found In particular the Dharmaputrikā has a chapter namedyogacikitsā ie ldquotherapy in the context of yogardquo10 Other texts that may betterhelp scholars trace the history of entangled healing traditions in South Asia arelikely to emerge in the coming decades But to date scholarly consensus holdsthat Ayurveda and yogic traditions are better characterised as distinctive tradi-tions which have some shared areas of interest

However from the early twentieth century onwards there are increasingoverlaps between the yogic and ayurvedic traditions of conceptualising the bodyand healing in the textual sources This appears to be particularly relevant whenthinking about how to imagine the body with some attempts to synthesise and

6 The Carakasaṃhitā does contain an inter-esting explanation of yoga as both spiritualliberation and the means for attaining itHowever this section is not directly relatedto the application of treatments for eitherspecific complaints or increasing longevity

see Dominik Wujastyk 2011 for details onthis very interesting passage7 Zysk 1993 2138 Birch 20189 See Birch 2018 and Slatoff 201710 See Barois forthcoming



visualise chakras from the yogic traditions into an ayurvedic understanding atthe beginning of the twentieth century11 Health and healing through Indianldquophysical culturerdquo techniques which included the incorporation of postures(āsana) and breathing techniques (prāṇāyāma) was being developed in severaldifferent locations around the 1920s onwards12 But it is particularly difficult togauge what India healers and vaidyas were doing in their daily practices untilthe later twentieth century

The way medicine in this period has been understood has been framed morefrom the historical record of extant printed documents rather than through de-scriptions from indigenous practitioners themselves on the nature of their activ-ities Rachel Berger explains the situation at the turn of the twentieth centuryas found in official documents and most Anglophone discourses ldquoThe experi-ence of medical practitioners was marginalised and alienated from the greaterdiscourse of a mythical ndash and fallen ndash ancient medical past while pre-colonialpractices and institutions were retained and reframed to fit the new model of co-lonial medicinerdquo13 Colonial efforts to control and promote medical treatment inIndia have been well documented by medical historians It is generally acceptedthat colonial framings of the body and its relation to race and nationality had pro-found impact on the formation of institutions and public debates14 The extentto which these efforts actually resulted in fundamental changes to the practiceof indigenous vaidyas and other healers has begun to be explored but itrsquos hardto get a clear descriptive picture of medical practice from the extant historicalsources

Medical historians have begun to examine vernacular literature relating to thepractice of medicine in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century India Bengalithen Hindi translations of the canonical ayurvedic texts were produced and cir-culated amongst the literate populations There are also a variety of journalsdictionaries and advertisements from the late colonial period Berger character-izes the large variety of Hindi pamphlets produced in the early twentieth centuryas focusing on illness remedy and Ayurveda more generally These would of-ten incorporate eclectic and local cures alongside aphorisms (śloka) from Sanskritworks and can be identified into particular genres

11 See Mukharji 2016 205ndash25 and Haṃsas-varūpa Mahārāja 1903) as well as DominikWujastyk 200912 Joseph Alter has emphasised the devel-opment of yoga and naturopathy as healthcare systems in India through Gandhirsquos ini-tiatives see Alter 2004 2005ab 2010 2014Singleton (2010) provides an excellent start-ing place for understanding the transform-

ations of the international physical culturemovement on the presentation of āsana in In-dia For a summary of the development ofyoga in contemporary India see also New-combe 201713 Berger 2008 5814 See Ramasubban 1982 Arnold 1993Harrison 1994 Hodges 2008 Berger 2013and Mukharji 2016


suzanne newcombe 89

The first is the product targeting the power (or lack thereof) of In-dian men often having to do with the sapping of his virility throughdisease The second are the ads aimed for information about babiesand the family usually through books or through enriched medicalproducts (or food substances) The third category advertised indi-genous food products for a healthy nation15

Of these categories the material targeting the virility and sexual potency of In-dian men has attracted the most historical attention and has the most overlapwith traditional rasāyana formulations16 A systematic study of the extent towhich rasāyana techniques and formula were promoted in the vernacular litera-ture in the early twentieth century has yet to be conducted

Certain categories and techniques did appear to be emphasised in printeddiscourse though and these did not emphasise rasāyana treatments For ex-ample the Ayurvediya Kosha the Ayurvedic Dictionary published by Ramjit andDaljit Sinha of Baralokpur-Itava from 1938ndash1940 was intended to be

a definitive ayurvedic interpretation of pathology (rog-vigyan)chemistry (rasayan-vigyan) physics (bhotikvigyan) microbiology(kadin-vigyan) as well as to the study of deformity17

Neither yoga as a treatment method or restorative or rejuvenation treatmentsappear to be a significant element of the conception of this work

An interesting document of this period which contains a large variety of first-hand accounts by ayurvedic medical practitioners is the Usman Report (Usman1923) which offers an unusual snapshot of ayurvedic Unani and Siddha practi-tionersrsquo responses to a set of questions about their practices However colonialconcerns were still clearly central in the framing of the questions put to practi-tioners This report was commissioned by the government of Madras focusingon those qualified practitioners of the ayurvedic Unani and Siddha systems ofmedicine It became known by the name of its chairman Sir Mahomed UsmanKCSI (1884ndash1960)18 The report was partially initiated in response to a seriesof colonial reports and investigations into ldquoIndigenous Drugsrdquo which sought toexplore the possibilities of producing cheap and effective medicines on Indiansoil19 The Usman Report voiced explicit concerns that such mining of indigen-ous ingredients without understanding the traditional systems and compounds

15 Berger 2008 159 f16 See Alter 2011 and Dagmar Wujastyk2017 8 (in this volume) on the connectionsbetween rasāyana and virility treatments(vṛṣya)17 Berger 2008 143

18 See Usman 1923 and Dominik Wujastyk200819 For some examples of these reports seeDey and Mair 1896 and Bahdur and Avargal1921



in which the plants were used amounted to ldquoquackeryrdquo on the part of biomed-ical physicians20 The summary findings largely justify the case for further statesupport of these indigenous forms of medicine It is clear that the majority ofthe population was more likely to have access to traditional rather than ldquowesterntrainedrdquo medical professionals in the name of promoting the general health ofthe Indian population the authors argued that harnessing the power of tradi-tional medical practitioners was vital Pragmatic concerns were seen to be moreimportant than creating a single mode of explanation for ill-health

However the written submissions betray a clear concern to clarify the theor-etical assumptions which underlie what the report identified as the major tradi-tional Indian medical practices There were over 180 written submissions andover forty oral reports were transcribed these reports came from all over In-dia and in a number of regional languages21 These written submissions wereprimarily concerned with ascertaining the key principles and treatment mod-alities of each of the three systems of Ayurveda Unani and to a lesser extentSiddha medicine22 The survey responses often focus on explaining and justi-fying tridoṣa-vidyā (ldquoknowledge of the three humoursrdquo) and other categories ofpathology and diagnosis The primary challenge being addressed in this workseems to be the conceptual discord between germ-theories of disease and de-scriptions of imbalance as the framework for understanding illness Indigenouspractitioners were urged to keep more careful records of their efficacy in curingspecific complaints in order to justify public health expenditure on promotingsystems of registration and education for indigenous medical arts23 An idea thatAyurveda was able to promote wellness and longevity more effectively than bio-medicine was certainly present in the Usman Report but this was particularly inresponse to dealing with chronic illnesses24

An appendix to the Usman Report summarises the syllabus of sixteen insti-tutions of ayurvedic Unani or Siddha medicine at this time As discussed byDagmar Wujastyk in this volume rasāyana is an integral part of the classicalayurvedic canon and most major works devote a chapter to the subject25 Herewe can see that the classical works attributed to Suśruta and Caraka as well as

20 Usman 1923 2721 The Ayuryog project is currently trans-lating the submissions in Tamil TeluguMalayalam Oriya and Kannada22 However there is a closer associationbetween the Siddha practitioners and yogaalthough the overlap of specific yogic prac-tices as treatment methods is not clearin the way the questions are framed and

answered For example the Siddha submis-sion by Swami Virudai SivagnanayogigalAvargal to the Usman committee (Usman1923 part 2 330ndash40) translated from Tamilfor the Ayuryog project23 Usman 1923 part 2 624 Usman 1923 part 2 7 55 79 and 8025 Dagmar Wujastyk 2017


suzanne newcombe 91

the works attributed to Vāgbhaṭa amongst a few others are part of the stand-ard materials covered26 All of these works contain chapters on the subject ofrasāyana Vāgbhaṭarsquos Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (early c 7th century) which attemptsto bring the Suśrutasaṃhitā and the Carakasaṃhitā into a single coherent text waswidely used in the period between 1400ndash1850 as Dominik Wujastykrsquos evaluationof manuscript collections shows and continues to be an important resource forthe practice of Ayurveda in Kerala in particular27 As Dagmar Wujastyk notesin this volume both the Suśrutasaṃhitā and the Carakasaṃhitā describe differentrasāyana recipes and procedures although they share ideas about appropriatemethods of treatment ie the necessity of preliminary treatments of internalcleansing followed by a mild diet for regaining strength and then treatmentproper with the chosen tonic over a period of time28 Significantly the Aṣṭāṅga-hṛdayasaṃhitā opens with passages on how to promote longevity before detail-ing the other major divisions of ayurvedic practice In classical ayurvedic textualpresentation disease can be caused by wrong mental attitudes ndash an idea whichmirrors contemporary presentations that blend yoga and Ayurveda more expli-citly However āsana and prāṇāyama do not form any part of the treatment meth-ods or longevity prescriptions in premodern ayurvedic texts Although thesetexts and therefore theoretically also rasāyana practices are part of the syllabusformal courses of study in 1923 appear to be framed in ways that mirrored thepreoccupations of colonial medicine eg anatomy physiology materia medicapathology and therapeutic prescriptions While we cannot infer an absence ofrasāyana from the repertoire of ayurvedic teaching and practice from the UsmanReport it is clear that rejuvenation was not a major focus of activity for ayurvedicpractitioners at this time

For example nowhere in the Usman Report does there appear to be a men-tion of the more complicated methods of rasāyana treatment such as kuṭipraveśakuṭipraveśika conducted ldquoinside a hutrdquo in contrast to the simpler vātātapika ldquoinwind and sunshinerdquo treatment as outlined in the Carakasaṃhitā The kuṭipra-veśika treatment as will be detailed below was costly and time-consuming anddoes not appear to have been commonly practiced29 Neither did the Usman Re-port highlight the purification and cleansing practices which are an importantprerequisite to rasāyana practices as an important or distinctive feature of Ayur-veda30 The individual testimonies in the Usman Report also reveal only scattered

26 Usman Report Appendix III to Vol 1 (Us-man 1923 117ndash34) summarises the syllabusof sixteen institutions of Ayurvedic Unanior Siddha medicine at this time27 Dominik Wujastyk 2003 193ndash5

28 Dagmar Wujastyk 201729 Dagmar Wujastyk 201530 In modern globalized ayurvedic prac-tice the panchakarma (pantildecakarman) prac-tices are probably the most well-known



references to yoga (as either philosophy or āsana) or prāṇāyāma (breathing exer-cises) as an experimental technique for ayurvedic vaidyas31 While the preserva-tion and extension of life is an essential part of the ayurvedic canon interestsof professionalization pathology diagnosis and treatment were clearly at theforefront of early twentieth-century presentations of Ayurveda

Therefore in 1938 when one of the most prominent activists for Indian ad-vancement and independence approached a sadhu for rejuvenation treatment itwas a novel matter of national and international interest

1 PANDIT MALAVIYArsquoS HEALTH CURE 32

Madan mohan malaviya (1861ndash1946) was an Indian educationist andpolitician notable for his role in the Indian independence movement

He trained as a lawyer and was well-known for his activity as a newspaperpublisher becoming increasingly dedicated to nationalist and Hindu causesHe was involved with the founding of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) andserved as Vice Chancellor from its establishment until 1938 then as a Rectoruntil his death Additionally he was elected president of the Indian NationalCongress party in 1909 1918 and 1933 he generally argued for moderateand constitutional activism33 He also powerfully argued for Hindu unityre-conversion to Hinduism and removing ldquountouchabilityrdquo from HinduismMalaviya was extremely active and very much in the public spotlight Onvarious occasions he publically supported or challenged Gandhirsquos proposalsand was arrested for his agitations for independence34 The year before hisrejuvenation treatment Malaviya had retired from active politics due to hiselderly age and failing health35 It is logical that such a man would feel in need ofsome rest and regeneration That this high-profile individual chose a relativelyunusual and intense treatment ensured global media coverage

ayurvedic interventions Lists of whatcounts as panchakarma are however notstandardized They often include vamana(emetics) virecana (purgatives) basti (en-emas) nāsya (medicinal nasal oils) and rakta-mokṣana (blood-letting) The ayurvedic textsdescribe the preliminary cleansing proced-ures in rasāyana treatments which are notreferred to as pantildecakarman as including theuse of emetics purgatives blood-letting andsweating therapy31 For example in Usman 1923 part 2 51a Dr Prasadhi Lal Jha of Cawnpore pro-poses various experimental treatments in-

cluding ldquoFasting cure (cf Ayurvedic Up-vas) Chromopathy (cf Shit-Ushna ViryaRus) through the influence of the vary-ing sunrsquos rays Countmatteirsquos [sic] differ-ent electricities Respiratory exercises (cfPranayam) Physical exercises (cf the Hat-yog Asana or exercises used for the devel-opment of the physical body not for worldlyobject alone but for Yogic purposes also)rdquo32 Title taken from Anon 1938f33 Anon 194634 Mariau 200835 Misra 2016 283


suzanne newcombe 93

According to his own report Malaviya was urged by supporters to meet anUdāsi sadhu called Tapasviji who had recently completed a successful rejuven-ation treatment in Uttar Pradesh36 Shriman Tapasviji (c 1770ndash1955) was alsoknown as Tapsi Baba Bishandasji Udasi Bishundasji Baba Bishnu Das TapsiBaba Maharaj and Swami Bishundasji (as well as other variants) he was widelyreported to be much older than he looked and to have undergone radical reju-venation three times most recently in the early 1930s37 According to Malaviyawho enquired about the sadhu in the local area

A lot of people had seen the Tapsi Baba as a decrepit old man themost sober estimate of his age being between 65 and 70 years beforehe entered the cottage for his treatment Others put his age muchhigher But when he came out after 40 days he looked not more than40 years38

After meeting Tapasviji on the introduction of a Swami Anand Malaviya wasimpressed and became convinced that he would benefit from a similarly intenserejuvenation practice despite his weak state of health A friend Pandit Harr DattShastri committed to undertaking the same treatment in a nearby hut parallel toMalaviya

According to Malaviya the two friends entered separate huts 50 feet aparton January 16 1938 and emerged forty days later on February 24 193839 Asreported in The Hindu Malaviya aged 76

entered a dark chamber in a bungalow on the Ganges bank fromwhich light and air had been practically shut off to produce con-ditions similar to those existing inside a motherrsquos womb Within acouple of days the cycle of day and night was lost to the Pandit whonow slept soundly for several hours in the day and used to sit up latein the night to meditate and study by the ghee lamp which was per-mitted He lived on a diet of milk butter honey and ldquoaonlardquo and was

36 Mooss 1938 22ndash9 ldquoUdāsi sadhurdquo is acommon name for an initiate of the UdāsīnAkhāṛā which was founded by Śrī Cand(1494ndash1629) son of Guru Nanak and ini-tially connected to Sikhism Since the aus-terities of the order were not in line withGuru Nanakrsquos teachings Śrī Cand started anew order that later on was associated withŚaiva cults For more on the yogic prac-tices of sannyāsa in contemporary India seeBevilacqua 2017

37 In contemporary press reports he wasmost frequently referred to as Tapsi BabaHowever for the remainder of this articlehe will be referred to as Tapasviji followingthe name used by his two hagiographersAnantha Murthy (1968) and Sharma (1940)38 Mooss 1938 2339 Mooss 1938 24 If these dates are cor-rect the time inside the huts was fortydays not forty-five as some media accountssuggest



not allowed to shave or bathe In the morning and evening he wasgiven the medicine which itself costs nothing but its preparation in aforest 30 miles away is a long process One ldquodhakrdquo or ldquopalasrdquo tree andseveral mounds of cow dung cakes comprised the fuel for preparingone dayrsquos dose40

In all accounts Tapasviji administered the treatment but he had the assistanceof two others Krishnadas and Anandswami Krishnadas was described by TheIllustrated Weekly of India as responsible for preparing the medicine ldquowhich wasdone in a palas forest about 30 miles from Allahabad The forest was placed atthe disposal of Pandit Malaviya by one of the princesrdquo41 Krishnadas was a long-term devotee of Tapasviji who is described in Ananda Murthyrsquos hagiography asa reincarnation of the Babarsquos long-dead son42

Through comparing the various accounts a fairly comprehensive descriptionof the treatment can be built up One of the newspaper accounts provides someinteresting detail about the method of preparation of the medicine used for Ma-laviyarsquos treatment in the forest

Every fourth day Tapsi goes forth into the distant jungle to supervisethe preparation of medicines from rare herbs The main ingredient isfrom the dhak tree Such a tree is cut down and the bottom of the treeis hollowed to form a cup where bark and precious dried herbs areplaced The cup is covered with dried cow dung which is ignitedThe fire burns all day and by evening the medicine is ready to betaken back to Allahabad where more secret herbs are mixed in Bythis time it forms a dust-like powder43

The Illustrated Weekly of India identified aonla (also known as amla ldquoIndianGooseberryrdquo or emblic myrobalan) as one of the main ingredients in the

40 Anon 1938f As Dagmar Wujastyk(2015 68) explains ldquoThis may have beenthe recipe found in AṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitāUttarasthāna 3928ndash32 according to whichemblic myrobalan fruits are cooked insidea Flame of the Forest (palāśa) log and thenmixed with honey and ghee The prescrip-tion specifies that the patients can drinkas much milk as they like and that theyshould avoid cold water during the one-month treatment This correlates with Pan-dit Malaviyarsquos description of his diet andregimen Tapsi Baba changed the recipe

by adding four more herbal powders to itldquocalculated to increase the efficacy of themedicinerdquo Dagmar Wujastyk (2015 65) alsodescribes another interesting rejuvenationwith the palāśa bark in Carakasaṃhitā Cikit-sāsthāna 14741 Lal 193842 Anantha Murthy 1968 222ndash26 Krish-nadas predeceased Tapasviji sometimein the early 1950s Tapasvijirsquos reaction tohis death is recorded in Anantha Murthy1968 277ndash8143 Anon 1938d


suzanne newcombe 95

mixture heated in the tree-puṭi (fire pit) and specified that the milk used must betaken fresh from black cows44 In another account Tapasviji is reported to haveexplained that there are four main herbs which must be gathered at particulartimes of the year used to coat the aonla in the compounding Malaviya reportsthat what he consumed twice daily was brought from the forest by railwaybefore eight each morning and consisted of two ounces of the aonla medicinetwo ounces of butter and ldquonearlyrdquo two ounces of honey reportedly preparedaccording to the ldquomethod laid down in Vagbhutrdquo Beyond the medicine itselfthey were only allowed to drink the fresh milk of a black cow throughout theperiod of treatment Despite this diet restriction Malaviya claims to have gainednine pounds during his sojourn in the purpose-built hut (kuṭī)45

In her explorations of the history of rasāyana practices Dagmar Wujastyk hasnoted that although the specific kuṭīpraveśika treatment undergone by Malaviyais found in the classic compendia of both Caraka (Carakasamhitā Cikitsāsthāna1116ndash20) and Suśruta (Suśrutasamhitā Cikitsāsthāna 2910) later ayurvedic worksno longer give full descriptions of this more complicated method On this basisand the other experimental treatment of Vaidyaratnam P S Warrier describedin the All-India Ayurvedic Directory of 1938 Wujastyk has suggested that kuṭī-praveśika treatment might have been preserved in ascetic communities and wasnot a part of the standard ayurvedic treatment modalities in the early modernperiod46

Dagmar Wujastyk (2015) describes kuṭīpraveśika treatment as specified in theCarakasaṃhitā in detail Significantly prior to entering the kuṭī the texts recom-mend an internal purification through oleation and purging the stomach andbowels processes now associated with the five cleansing methods called ldquopan-chakarmardquo (pantildecakarman) Wujastyk argues that although spectacular rejuvena-tion is promised by the full techniques the practice does not appear to have beencommonly undertaken The expense in terms of both time and money for suchtreatments is likely to have been prohibitive

As noted in reports surrounding Malaviyarsquos treatment all the medicinesmight be obtained without cost from the indigenous forests However the sumof the process involved was time-consuming and expensive The constructionof a purpose-built hut (kuṭī) was itself a significant undertaking and the timeaway from work or providing for a family would also be costly In Malaviyarsquostreatment each man procured their own volunteer for the job of attending tothem daily and administering the medicine provided by Tapasviji Malaviyareported that his son fulfilled these duties One contemporary newspaper

44 Lal 193845 Mooss 1938 24 f

46 Dagmar Wujastyk 2015 74 and Mooss1938 29ndash32



report suggested the overall cost of this treatment in 1938 could ldquorun from$2000ndash$17000rdquo putting it out of the reach of most individuals Neverthelessafter Malaviyarsquos success newspapers reported that several offers to sponsorGandhirsquos rejuvenation were forthcoming47

There were strict restrictions on the activities of the two men in the hut duringthe course of treatment They were not to emerge from the hut day or nightto experience neither sunlight nor open air They were not allowed to batheshave or experience massage For several hours during the day it was arrangedthat pandits would sit on the veranda outside the hut and their voices could beheard reciting verses of the ldquoRudrabhishek pujardquo and the Bhagavadgītā Personalreading material was permitted but they were advised ldquonot to exert themselvestoo much in that way eitherrdquo While only the attendant administering medicinewas supposed to enter the hut Malaviya reported that the two men were alsopermitted an occasional visitor48

The effects of Malaviyarsquos treatment were considered universally positive butless extreme than promised in the Carakasaṃhitā Suśrutasaṃhita or VāgbhaṭarsquosAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā49 In his own long testimony Malaviya explains that

in fairness to Tapsi Babaji he told me beforehand that a new set ofteeth will not come out nor would the nails fall off by the treatmenthe was giving me He did expect that my hair would largely becomeblack and I would look and feel as if I was twenty years younger50

Malaviya concurred with the effectiveness of the treatment and noted he feltmore confident and walked more upright

The Hindu which did not offer photographs in its coverage of the incidentdescribed it as ldquoA Wonderful Changeldquo

His wrinkles had practically disappeared His gums had gone stiffRumours of new teeth growing were however discredited His facewas fleshy and cheerful hellip Compare with this the bowed and ema-ciated figure of the old Pandit when he delivered the Convocationaddress of the Allahabad University on December 14 This was thelast occasion when Malaviya appeared in public before the Kayakalpatreatment and after a few introductory sentences he seated himself ina chair to deliver his address Such was the state of his health Todaydespite his white moustache he hardly looks sixty51

47 Anon 1938d48 Mooss 1938 24 f49 For more details and translations seeDagmar Wujastyk 2015 and Dominik Wu-

jastyk 2003 126ndash950 Mooss 1938 2751 Anon 1938f


suzanne newcombe 97

Figure 1 Before and after pictures of Pandit Malaviya as appeared in The Illustrated Weekly of Indiaof 20 March 1938 (Lal 1938)

However Malaviya did not consider the treatment an unreserved success Hewas troubled by insomnia during and after the course of kuṭīpraveśa Malaviyareflected that he would have benefited much more fully if he had prepared him-self for the kuṭīpraveśa with a course of ldquoPanch Karmardquo a course of ayurvediccleansing practices recommended in ayurvedic sources and then allowed timeto regain strength before commencing the kuṭī treatment He also suggested thathis friend Pandit Harr Datt Shastri achieved greater benefits by starting the pro-cess at a younger age (he was fourteen years Malaviyarsquos junior) and in betterhealth52

Pandit Harr Datt Shastri described the treatment as psychologically hard butultimately very beneficial

For the first 2 to 3 weeks I felt at times weakness and depressionoccasionally accompanied by loose motions or nausea But just aftera couple of days of my starting the treatment I began to feel distinctimprovement in my eye-sight which was very weak and defective formany years This kept me up in that dark cellar and at the end of thecourse I felt immensely improved in general health All wrinkles on

52 Mooss 1938 26



my face disappeared body became more muscular my hair becameperceptively darker and as so many of my friends suggested I lookedyounger at least by 15 years Above all I found I could concentrate andcontemplate better than before53

Malaviya was somewhat embarrassed by the extent and tone of the mediarsquosinterest in his treatment Upon his exit from the hut Malaviya commented thatldquoI was sorry to learn that the treatment was very much advertised and that veryexaggerated hopes were created about its resultsrdquo54 The tone and interest in thetreatment varied depending on context but it was syndicated by the AssociatedPress as well as being attended to by a variety of ldquocorrespondentsrdquo for majorglobal newspapers in India

The concern Malaviya expressed about the exaggerated reports is evidencedby one found in The Daily Telegraph usually considered to be a sober broadsheetOn 19 January 1938 The Daily Telegraph ran a short note that Malaviya

has entered a specially prepared chamber on the banks of the Gangesfor rejuvenation treatment by Sannyasi who is reputed to be 172 yearsold hellip it is claimed that after 10 days treatment the pandit will look20 years younger in every way55

The ldquoexaggerated hopesrdquo which Malaviya spoke of are clear in this report Ma-laviyarsquos political activities were widely covered in British newspapers his activit-ies in this arena having direct impact on British colonial interests This news itemis focused on the extreme end of the claims being made in what might be bestdescribed as a condescending tone Unlike in the United States where syndic-ated accounts of the report were widely reprinted in small-town papers Britishpapers generally did not pick up the feature as an item of interest56

The Indian press on the other hand were both more thorough and circum-spect in their descriptions of Malaviyarsquos health cure While The Times of Indiaonly listed a short note on the entry of Malaviya into the kuṭī there were lengthyfeatures describing the result given in The Hindu The Illustrated Weekly and inseveral contemporary pamphlet publications57 Although not a miracle curethe general consensus was that Malaviya did visibly benefit from the treatment

53 Swami 1939 2654 Mooss 1938 2455 Anon 1938c56 Searches in United States Newspaperson wwwnewspapercom revealed widecoverage of Malaviyarsquos treatment and theterm ldquokaya kalpardquo which will be consideredfurther in the article UK local newspapers

are less easy to digitally search than thosefrom the United States but through mul-tiple databases I found very few referencesto Malaviyarsquos 1938 treatment57 Lal 1938 Anon 1938f Swami 1939There were also a few classified ads forldquoKayakalpardquo treatment in Indian newspa-pers in 1938


suzanne newcombe 99

We will now consider the preservation of rejuvenation techniques in asceticmilieus and the extent to which this overlapped with ayurvedic practice at thetime of Malaviyarsquos treatment

2 KĀYAKALPA YOGIS AND AYURVEDA

Malaviya ends his personal account of his treatment with a warning thatalthough sadhus may have special knowledge of kāyakalpa treatment

ldquowherever it is decided to resort to the Kayakalpa Chikitsa of either the firstor the second type it should be done in consultation with and under theguidance of the most capable and experienced Ayurvedic practitionerrdquo58 Asmentioned in the introduction the term ldquokāyakalpardquo (body transformation) isnot found in Sanskrit medical works nor medieval Sanskrit works on yoga andit seems to only rarely occur in Sanskrit alchemical works59 However it is partof rejuvenation traditions associated with yogis ascetics and the Tamil Siddhamedical tradition as kāyakarpam Contemporary ascetics and sadhus in India usethe term kayākalpa and it appears to be associated with a variety of rejuvenationtechniques and the results of those techniques60 Most accounts of Tapasvijirsquoscredentials emphasise his own prior self-rejuvenation and secrets acquired in alife of ascetic wandering as the primary validation for acting as a physician It isalso possible that Tapasviji engaged more formally with ayurvedic physicians atsome point61 According to Malaviyarsquos account he appears to have been familiarwith Vāgbhaṭarsquos Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā62 The extent to which Malaviyarsquos owntreatment was supervised by an ayurvedic physician (vaidya) is not entirelyclear In some accounts Tapasviji is described as a vaidya but in the majority heis identified as a yogi

It is also possible that the second attendant to the processing of the medi-cine for Malaviya and Shastri had training in Ayurveda this was a man calledAnandswami or Anand Swami his identity is not entirely clear In Malaviyarsquosown account of his treatment in the All India Ayurvedic Yearbook he mentionsa Mr Anand Swami who encourages him to undergo treatment with Tapasvijindash this could have been the same person photographed as the ldquodevoteerdquo Anan-daswami after Malaviya exited his hut In 1939 an Anand Swami who claimsto have been present at Malaviyarsquos kāyakalpa treatment is described as a Vaid(ayurvedic physician) in a testimonial by a K Sanjwa Row63 In this year Anand

58 Mooss 1938 2959 Dagmar Wujastyk Newcombe andBarois 201760 Personal communications with DanielaBevilacqua and James Mallinson

61 Sharma 1940 9ndash1162 Mooss 1938 24 and Dagmar Wujastyk2015 66 Wujastyk dates this text to aroundthe seventh century ce63 Swami 1939 ii



Figure 2 Tapasviji with his assistants for the Malaviya treatment as appeared in The IllustratedWeekly of India in Lal 1938

Swami was primarily offering treatments in Colombo Ceylon (Sri Lanka) whichoffered rejuvenation for more modest commitments of time and money than Ma-laviyarsquos more famous example However the existing documents do not makeit clear if Anandaswami was primarily an ascetic who later set himself up as aphysician or if he was first trained in Ayurveda studied further rejuvenationtechniques under Tapasviji and then established his own business on the backof Malaviyarsquos well-publicised success64

The evidence suggests that particular rejuvenation treatments may have beenpreserved during the colonial and pre-modern periods within ascetic communit-ies outside of mainstream lineage traditions of ayurvedic families It is generally

64 He is not mentioned in the Murthy bibli-ography as being an important associate ofTapasviji although Malaviya mentions him

as providing his first face-to-face introduc-tion with Tapasviji


suzanne newcombe 101

accepted that by the mid-nineteenth century the idea of yoga and the figuresof yogis were associated with a high degree of ambivalence at best65 Yet thereis also evidence that throughout the nineteenth century those who renouncedfamily life (variously known as sannyasis fakirs and yogis) played many andvaried roles in society including acting as ldquotraders money-lenders mercenariesprotection guards bandits and on occasion even diplomatsrdquo66It also appearsthat so-called fakirs were present in some early medieval and colonial princely-state courts at times offering medical advice67 Shaikh Rizqullah Mushtaquirsquossixteenth-century text the Waqiat-e-Mushtaqui describes fakirbhagat (who mightbe Sufi ascetics) as being popularly believed to hold secrets of transformativeelixirs and offering health cures to those who could not afford more qualifiedmedical advice68

It is very likely that in colonial and pre-modern India like today lay peoplemight approach particular sadhus and sannyasis for assistance with a variety ofphysical psychological and life circumstance problems69 Sondra Hausner ex-plains that in contemporary India legends persist about idealised sadhus wholive in isolation in the Himalayas but know how to harness the healing powers ofroots and herbs She also notes that more prosaically contemporary sadhus arefrequently approached for medical advice or offer their own spontaneous remed-ies for the sufferings of those who approach them70 Today in India a variety ofldquocuresrdquo might be offered in response to these requests including magical ritualsmantras haṭhayoga techniques sacred ash (vibhūti) andor various herbal or mer-curial compounds Moreover spontaneous healing might be attributed to theblessing of or encounter with a saint71 Kirin Narayanrsquos ethnography of a Nasik-based ldquoSwamijirdquo in the 1980s reveals that he was prescribing ldquofolk medicinerdquoand herbal remedies to fund his pilgrimages as an ldquouninitiated asceticrdquo duringthe mid-twentieth century

[He] made a living through folk medicine soothsaying and astro-logy His reputation spread and he was soon earning enough to es-tablish a new pattern of spending three months in one place and thentraveling for the next three72

65 White 2009 and Singleton 201066 Clark 2006 1467 Honigberger 1852 92ndash95 and 116 Maz-ars (2006 14) notes that Hakīm Ḍiyā al-DīnBakhshi dedicated a chapter in his Majmū-eḌiyā-ī (1336) to ldquothe medicine of Nāgārjunaand the other yogis of Indiardquo68 Sv Mushtaqui in Berger 2008 51

69 Bhaktavatsalam and Naidu 1911 and in-terview with Isha Nath conducted on behalfof Ayuryog on 11 March 201770 Hausner 2007 168ndash7071 Personal communication with DanielaBevilacqua72 Narayan 1989 53



Other anecdotal reports support this hypothesis that ascetics throughout havespecific rasāyana recipes known as kāyakalpa which they might pass on withinnetworks of sadhus73

Contemporaries of Malaviya and Tapasviji also assumed that kāyakalpa treat-ments particularly the kuṭīpraveśa treatment were associated with ascetic tra-ditions rather than ayurvedic physicians Swami Sivananda conflates kāyakalpawith all the various methods yogis or ascetics (tapasvin) might use to extend theirlives in order to achieve liberation in their lifetime Sivananda explains in Healthand Long Life (1945)

The process of rejuvenation through ldquoKaya Kalpardquo is the keeping ofthe great Tapasvins Kaya-kalpa is the real elixir of life by which theRasayanas make the body immortal hellip They teach to immortalise thebody first by means of Kaya-Kalpa made out of herbs or mercury orsulphur Neem or Amlaka fruits in order to achieve the goal of Yogain this very life74

Sivananda continues to enumerate other ways that yogis might achieve a ldquoKayaSampatrdquo (perfected body) suggesting that ldquoKaya Kalpardquo is but one of many tech-niques available Nothing in Sivanandarsquos book suggests knowledge beyond thatwidely circulating around the time of Malaviyarsquos cure Sivananda follows con-temporary reports of Tapasvijirsquos recipe as relating to that found in VāgbhaṭarsquosAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā75

Kāyakalpa (Tamil kāyakarpam) treatments are associated with the kāyasiddharsyogis venerated in Tamil texts as having mastered the ability to control the bodytherefore to maintain eternal youth these SiddharsSiddhasCittars are also con-sidered the founders of medicine in Tamil traditions76 Contemporary TamilSiddha medical traditions make more use of mercury-based rasāyana remediesand make more reference to elixirs of immortality than most ayurvedic tradi-tions77 Sivanandarsquos ideas about kayākalpa may have been influenced by TamilSiddha traditions particularly as his youth and initial biomedical training tookplace in Madras Tamil Nadu78

73 Comment by James Mallinson on 21 May2016 at Yoga darśana yoga sādhana traditionstransmissions transformations an interna-tional conference at the Jagiellonian Univer-sity Krakoacutew Poland 19ndash21 May 2016 andfurther discussions with Daniela Bevilac-qua See also Mallinson 2007 240 n 46374 Sivananda 1945 240 Sivanandarsquos men-tion of mercury and sulphur in this con-text shows a connection to rasaśāstra or post-eleventh-century ayurvedic texts See Dag-

mar Wujastyk 2017 (in this volume) for moredetails on these literatures75 See Dagmar Wujastyk 2015 for more de-tails on this as well as Maridassou 193876 See Kędzia 2017 in this volume and alsoMaridassou 1938 Weiss 2009 48 and White199677 Usman 1923 part 2 325ndash40978 For a critical summary of Sivanandarsquosbiography and legacy see Strauss 2005



Another reported example of a related rejuvenation treatment originatingfrom a sadhu dating from the 1970s concerns a Madras-based judge who wasgiven a lsquorejuvenation treatment by a Siddha sadhursquo in the form of a paste whichhe took without any preparation or adjustment to his daily routine The result in-volved the peeling of skin and nails but it is unclear what the long-term effects ofthis treatment might have been (and the symptoms may have been indicative ofmercury poisoning)79 The unexplored connections between northern Indian as-cetics Ayurveda and Tamil medical traditions are a vast web which merits moreextended and sustained research80

But returning to Malaviyarsquos treatment at this time Tapasviji himself seems tobe put up as the best representative of an ascetic rasāyana tradition known to hiscontemporaries Tapasviji suggested to one journalist that ldquokayakalpasiddhirdquois just one of 80 kinds of rejuvenation Indian yogis say they know81 Accord-ing to another newspaper report Tapasviji ldquomodestly claims to know at least 35kinds himself but says that the necessary herbs are hard to getrdquo82 While someof Tapasvijirsquos claims might be exaggerated bravado in response to the media in-terest a more in-depth interview with Tapasviji does suggest that there were atleast three different kāyakalpa treatments that Tapasviji had himself undergone

In 1940 M H Rama Sharma interviewed Tapasviji and wrote a short bookbased on these interviews which includes some biography of Tapasviji but isprimarily focused on the potential for and varieties of kāyakalpa treatment83

Sharma took a sceptical attitude in his biography directly asking the readerto keep an open but critical mind He argued that to some extent kāyakalpatreatment should be judged by the example and reputation of Tapasviji himselfSharma recommended that the reader ldquoconcentrate his attention on a study ofthe science of Kaya-Kalpa and of the personality of its reputed exponent theTapasvijirdquo84 Here Tapasvijirsquos reputation as an ascetic and yogi was paramountto convincing the reader of the credibility of his reports as well as the potentialfor transformational rejuvenation through kāyakalpa

79 Balaramiah in Zvelebil 1996 97 f note102 and Horowitz Greenberg and Ling200280 Zimmerman 2007 and also Kędzia 2017in this volume81 Anon 1938e82 Anon 1938d83 I have not yet been able to discover any-thing else about the biography of M HRama Sharma but from this publication itappears that he was not acquainted withTapasviji prior to his well-publicised treat-

ment of Malaviya and his short book wasbased on interviews with Tapasviji alone84 Sharma 1940 iii This is in line withRobin Rinehartrsquos observation that the firsthagiographies tend to focus more on es-tablishing facts while later hagiographiesplace the life of the saint in the context ofwhat can be identified with hindsight asimportant themes andor historical events(Rinehart 1999 especially ch 5 ldquoFrom lsquoBareFactsrsquo to Myth Swami Rama Tirtha asAvatārrdquo)



According to Sharmarsquos report Tapasviji renounced the life of a householderat approximately the age of fifty his wife and child having died His first prac-tices as a sadhu were that of bhajan (devotional singing) and prāṇāyāma Tapas-viji reports that he moved to a cave north of Rishikesh and practiced exercisesgiven to him by ldquoa sadhu called Prem Das which included nauli neeti khata-chakra-chedana Ganesha kriya ndash and a form of kumbakha pranayamardquo Theseyoga practices listed by Sharma are associated with internal cleansing The yo-gic practices of ṣaṭkarman (six cleansing practices) have similar functions to thepantildecakarman (five cleansing practices) of Ayurveda but for the ascetic popula-tion these techniques are self-administered rather than physician-led85 Afterstaying in this cave for a few years he began traveling to various sacred loca-tions

Tapasviji describes that his initiation into kāyakalpa came in Kamaksha in theeastern edge of Assam Here he reportedly became friendly with a sadhu whohad twenty-one black pills the size of pigeon eggs According to this accounttwo sadhus debated for two months what to do with the pills and finally it wasdecided that Tapasviji should take them At this time Tapasviji claims to havealready been an old man with wrinkles So reportedly he took one pill a dayfor three days Then he lost consciousness for three days during which his as-sociate sadhu administered four more pills Tapasviji claimed that at the end often days his skin peeled off to be replaced with new wrinkle-free skin At theend of fifteen days Tapasviji reported that he had grown a new set of teeth andthat his hair had turned from white to black He reports that in total this treat-ment took three months After he experienced such rejuvenation his companionsadhu underwent the treatment and also experienced the same positive changesregaining his youth and strength86 In this first treatment rejuvenation occurredwithout Tapasviji being clear about the processes being used but suggests thatvarious herbal compounds were shared amongst ascetics

After this incident Tapasviji reports that he travelled to Burma and then wasinitiated into an Udāsīn Akhāṛā after which he took up residence near Kotbanin Uttar Pradesh87 After the Udāsī initiation he undertook a vow of austerity(tapasyā) of holding one arm upright for years (ūrdhvabāhu) He claims that ldquoLike

85 Birch (2018) considers this issue in somedetail in the haṭhayoga texts Accordingto Birch the ṣaṭkarman consist of cleansingthe stomach with cloth (vastradhauti) vomit-ing (gajakaraṇī) a water enema (jalabasti)cleansing the sinuses with thread (sūtra-neti) gazing at a fixed point (trāṭaka) churn-ing the abdomen (nauli) and rapid breath-ing (kapālabhāti) Although this list con-

tains seven practices it appears that ga-jakaraṇī was considered a variation of dhautiThe five pantildecakarman practices are emet-ics (vamana) purgatives (virecana) enemas(basti) medicinal nasal oils (nāsya) andbloodletting (raktamokṣana)86 Sharma 1940 9ndash1187 See footnote 36 for the Udāsīn Akhāṛā



this I kept it in that position for about thirteen or fourteen years hellip [then] by mas-sage and other means I brought down my uplifted handrdquo88 Sometime after thisperiod in Kotban Tapasviji claims to have undergone a second kāyakalpa treat-ment This treatment involved staying in a cave for a year where he lived onldquoonly one eighth seer of milk taken at noon every dayrdquo which he claims ldquorestoredhim to youthrdquo89 This section places austerities together with rejuvenation prac-tices Tapasviji presents a cycle in which both tapas and rejuvenation are usedtogether on his quest for achieving liberation from the cycle of rebirths (mokṣa)

The final kāyakalpa the one which brought him to the attention of Malaviyais described as being undertaken under the supervision of both a vaidya namedKanyalal and Krishna Das Both these individuals were still associated withTapasviji in 1940 and Malaviyarsquos treatment appears to have been modelled onthis third kāyakalpa90 In particular the time-intensive kuṭī treatment may havebeen preserved in the ascetic communities As Tapasviji observed

Kaya Kalp is most commonly performed by sadhus who live in quietjungles and devote their lives to Bhajans [devotional chanting] He[Tapasviji] thought it was beneficial for men of a quiet disposition[satviki brit]hellip91

Malaviya also reflected that

as Charak has laid down every Vaidya is not fit to offer this treatmentnor is every man qualified to receive it It is repeatedly pointed outby Charak and other medical authors that these Kayakalpa Rasayanaswere meant primarily for the benefit of the great sages and other ser-vants of the community and for those who are spiritually inclined92

This prescription about the nature of those suited to more intense rasāyana treat-ments is found in Carakasaṃhitā Cikitsāsthāna 1116ndash20 and is echoed by contem-porary ayurvedic physicians who have reintroduced this treatment Althoughoften phrased in idealistic ways this stipulation of the character of the personundergoing kuṭīpraveśa in particular requires someone who is able to stay isol-ated for a long period of time without much stimulation

88 Sharma 1940 15 Tapasviji also claimsthat ldquoOn account of the torture it had gonethrough even now it is relatively weakerand cannot be stretched and kept in positionwithout the help of the other limbhelliprdquo89 Sharma 1940 16 A seer was a commonbut non-standardised measurement in co-

lonial India The amount referred to heremay have been approximately one eighth ofa litre in todayrsquos measurements90 Sharma 1940 16ndash2091 Lal 193892 Mooss 1938 28



Ashtavaidyan Ravi Mooss a contemporary practitioner from a family of tra-ditional Keralan ayurvedic physicians offers a variety of rasāyana as well as kuṭī-praveśa treatment at his Kerala-based practice He explained that those who werededicated to a regular meditation practice were much more likely to complete aperiod of treatment inside the kuṭī

[One kuṭī patient] is doing meditation so he has more time He is ndashif you tell him to stay inside the room for two months you know hewill be really happy to hear that He can do that Not read not reallyHe can sit in meditation for hours and hours like that kind of peopleSo itrsquos more easy for them to Others are not always like that If youask them to sit for five minutes in the chair then they wonrsquot Many ofthem are not capable of doing such things93

Mooss emphasised that many of those who approach him for rejuvenation ther-apies would hesitate to even spend fifteen days in the kuṭī and that compliancewith preliminary cleansing and post-treatment diet recommendations are alsoimportant for ensuring efficacy only a minority fully comply with his recom-mendations

3 WHAT MALAVIYArsquoS TREATMENT INSPIRED PANtildeCAKARMANRASĀYANA AND YOGIC HEALTH CURE

From 1938 onwards Ayurveda and yoga became increasingly amalgamated ashealing traditions and rasāyana became much more prominent in presentationsof Ayurveda than during the late colonial period Initially there was a smallflurry of treatments under the names of kāyakalpa and pantildecakarman The laterwere presented as both a necessarily preliminary to kāyakalpa and as independ-ently efficacious rejuvenation treatments In late 1938 and 1939 there were ad-vertisements in Indian papers suggesting that variations of the kāyakalpa treat-ment were accessible to a wider population upon payment One advert ran sev-eral times in The Times of India during 1938 in the classified section

KAYA KALPA TREATMENT UNDER-gone by Pandit Malaviyajimay now be practiced by anyone Those desirous should seeVaidyaraj Parabhashanker Ratanji Bhatkopar ndash 2409594

Also inspired by Malaviya in 1939 Vaidya P S Warrier who in 1902 had foun-ded the Arya Vaidya Sala a successful ayurvedic pharmaceutical company un-derwent a rasāyana treatment of his own devising Today the Arya Vaidya Sala

93 Personal Interview with Ravi Mooss 28September 2016

94 Anon 1938h



Figure 3 rdquoFrench Scientists Triumph Over Old Age Rejuveninrdquo advertisement in India IllustratedWeekly Calcutta 1938 (Anon 1938g)

mass produces a variety of rasāyana compounds from its headquarters in Kot-takkal95 Indigenous medicines were seeing something of a revival in respect orat least acknowledgement of a continued usefulness particularly highlighted bythe patronage of nationalist figures such as Malaviya

Within India Malaviya himself was well-known for promoting the Hindu-ness of India Tapasviji was quoted in the Indian press as being willing to offerthe treatment to anyone ldquowith the good of the country [India] at heartrdquo96 andwould be ldquovery much gratified if through him the leaders of the country prolongtheir lives and live longer to serve the cause of the motherlandrdquo97 Press coverageof the incident in the United States also drew in Malaviyarsquos treatment with thename of Gandhi and the promotion of the Indian nationalist cause98 I wouldargue that Malaviyarsquos health cure offers an earlier example of Swami Ramdevrsquoshighly marketable combination of yoga Ayurveda and swadeshi rhetoric

Offering rasāyana as a treatment made good business sense at this time partic-ularly in the form of more easily accessible rasāyana formulations Indian news-papers were filled with advertisements of various products claiming the abil-ity to rejuvenate the physical body A sample from Calcuttarsquos India IllustratedWeekly which was aimed at a wealthy English-speaking audience include ad-vertisements for a Dr Nixonrsquos ldquoVi-Tabsrdquo which promise ldquoGlands Made Active

95 See Mooss 1938 Bode 2008 2015 Dag-mar Wujastyk 201596 Lal 1938

97 Anon 1938f98 Anon 1938d



and Youthful Vigour Restored within 24 Hoursrdquo99 as well as the French ldquoReju-veninrdquo formula (Fig 3)

And from The Hindu an advert appeared for ldquoNERVINUSrdquo made with goldan ldquoelixir of liferdquo which promised to help its consumer regain their ldquomanlypowerrdquo100 In context Tapasvijirsquos kāyakalpa treatment can be seen as one of manyproducts and treatments aimed at rejuvenation and implicit life extension SergeVoronoffrsquos monkey gland treatments were being held in popular acclaim inEurope and Lyndson of America and Steinarch of Austria were also exploringnew rejuvenation therapies from the context of European science101 To under-stand the popularity of these products it is worth remembering that penicillinonly widely became available after World War II people of all classes coulddie relatively quickly from what might now be considered minor infectionsPhysical vitality was not simply a matter of vanity it could be the differencebetween life and death for someone with an infection

Anand Swami one of the attending sadhus during Malaviyarsquos retreat set uphis own business in Colombo Ceylon (Sri Lanka) offering a variety of lsquoKayaKalparsquo treatments However most of the treatments he offered were based ona simple use of rasāyana compounds and pantildecakarman treatments Malaviya waswidely reported to have omitted the crucial preparatory internal cleansing beforehis kuṭīpraveśa In a 1939 publicity pamphlet Anand Swami emphasised theseldquoPanch Karmardquo above and beyond the lauded ldquoKuti treatmentrdquo He explainedthat

the Panch Karma I now feel was more important even than the Kalpamedicines In the light of my experience I would recommend to myfriends to take Panch Karma under the guidance of a very experi-enced Vaidya every two to three years even if it is not to be followedby a course of Kalpa102

These were certainly more affordable and less intensive than the kuṭīpraveśikamethod undertaken by Shastri and Malaviya However the pantildecakarman treat-ments offered by Anand Swami are still rather invasive and uncomfortable ndash in-volving purgatives induced vomiting sweating and enemas Anand Swamialso recommends a variety of even simpler but effective rejuvenation therapy in-cluding ldquoAja Kalpardquo primarily drinking goat milk daily from a black goat who isfed with specific foods and carefully cared for over a period of 80 days Swamirsquos

99 Anon 1938a100 Anon 1938b101 Sharma 1940 vi See also Augier Salf

and Nottet 1996 and Anon 1927b102 Swami 1939 9



pamphlet includes a moderate endorsement by Mahadev Desi the private sec-retary to Mahatma Gandhi who claims to have undergone the pantildecakarman treat-ment himself ldquowithout much discomfort and I think not without some bene-fitrdquo103 Although this endorsement of pantildecakarman could perhaps have been bestronger the association of Indian rejuvenation therapy with pantildecakarman andsupport of the nationalist cause at least for marketing purposes was very clear

During the war years there appears to be largely a break in interest in rasāyanaand kāyakalpa in India The reasons why interest in time-consuming rejuvenationtherapy soon became side-lined are fairly obvious Malaviya emerged from hishut the same month Hitler marched into Austria Britain joined the war after theinvasion of Poland in September 1939 and India was preoccupied with growinghome-rule demands as well as being drawn into the British war effort PanditMalaviya did not live forever He died about eight years after this treatmentat the age of 85 in 1946 The immediate post-war period saw a golden age ofhope in biomedical power as well as a preoccupation with the birth of the Indiannation-state in 1947

In the United States coverage of Malaviyarsquos ldquokaya kalpardquo treatment was suchthat it was picked up as a marketing strategy by at least one of the swamis onwhat Phillip Deslippe has described as the ldquoSwami Circuitrdquo which characterizedEarly American Yoga in the first half of the twentieth century104 A variety oftravelling ldquoyogisrdquo some of Indian origin offered large lectures on India yogaand a variety of other topics relating to spirituality According to Deslippe yogawas closely associated with movements such as

New Thought occultism and Spiritualism either openly pseud-onymously or with no indication of their origin at all ConverselyIndian-born teachers of yoga in the United States were adept atemploying different elements of American metaphysical religioninto their own presentations and pointed their students towardsMetaphysical Asia while offering them teachings taken very close tohome105

The coverage of Malaviyarsquos health treatment seemed to fit into this generalagenda for some of the travelling yogis This is exemplified by this 1939 advertfrom ldquoDr Maneck of Indiardquo who promises that the thousands who hear his LosAngeles lectures will never grow old (Fig4)106 This is coupled with specific

103 Swami 1939 23104 Anklesaria ca 1930 My thanks to Phil-lip Deslippe for this pamphlet and the sug-gestion of looking for kāyakalpa cures as partof Early American Yoga

105 Deslippe forthcoming106 Anon 1939 and Anon 1927a describelectures as being given by Dr ManeckAnklesaria



Figure 4 Advertisement for ldquoDr Maneck of Indiardquo offering a ldquoKaya-Kalpa Pattern of Living Liferdquofrom The Los Angeles Times in 1939

claims that Malaviya was rejuvenated to look only forty years of age grew newteeth and ldquodiscarded his glassesrdquo

Equally vague claims were made in 1974 by a ldquoyoga teacherrdquo student ofDr Maneck Lillian Carter ldquoa private instructor of yoga hatha and rajardquo inan advert for a philosophy talk at Peninsula College in Washington StateMrs Carter claimed to have entered Samadhi under the instruction of ldquoGuruAnklesariardquo (Maneck) in 1936 and had been initiated into the ldquoKaya KalpaSocietyrdquo in 1938107

Only in the early 1970s did the limits of biomedical models begin to get popu-lar attention The global exchange of people and ideas at this time accelerated toallow another revival of interest in yoga and soon after Ayurveda108 The termkāyakalpa itself does not seem to have received a renaissance despite a few at-tempts at revival In 1978 a Delhi-based luxury hotel Maurya marketed its ldquoKaya

107 Anon 1974 108 Newcombe 2012



Kalpa Health Clubrdquo (alongside the Maya Shopping Arcade an all-weather solar-heated pool and other amenities)109 In 1981 there was also a short attempt tomarket a product called ldquoHerbofitrdquo as an ldquoayurvedic breakthroughrdquo which ldquoen-sures the reconstitution and regeneration of the human tissues (kaya kalpa) inan easy to take capsulerdquo110 By this point ldquokayakalpardquo largely seems to refer toany activity or medicinal compound which claims to rejuvenate the body Theterm ldquokayakalpardquo was also briefly revived when Deepak Chopra was gaininginternational attention for Ayurveda by appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Showas a representative of Maharishi Ayur-Ved the language of kāyakalpa again wasvisible in some marketing during this period111

Today one of the few to actively market these techniques is Ram Pandeya whoruns the Kayakalpa Alchemy Foundation in Glen Ellen California which aimsldquoto educate heal and enlighten todayrsquos humanity using ancient yet postmoderntoolsrdquo112 Pandeya describes his training in rejuvenation therapy as coming froma variety of sources familial tantric traditions academic knowledge from Alla-habad University as well as techniques gathered while travelling around Indiaas a wandering sadhu What he has been offering in California from 1979 un-der the name of ldquokāyakalpardquo is an individualised rejuvenation technique ofteninvolving pantildecakarman cleansing practices before the administration of specificremedies He explains that the essence of kāyakalpa treatment is to purify thebody make it free from disease and then rejuvenate He also notes that withhis kāyakalpa treatments he is doing lsquoenergy workrsquo based on prāṇāyāma from thehaṭhayoga traditions ldquothey have to hold while they are holding the enema theyhave to do certain breathing This hellip technique comes from siddhardquo This is incontrast to simply ingesting ayurvedic or Tamil Siddha compounds which ldquocanbe taken by anybodyrdquo113

Although Ram Pandeyarsquos treatment centre is unusual in its offering treat-ment under the term kāyakalpa his emphasis on rejuvenation echoes more gen-eral global presentations of Ayurveda The over-the-counter rasayāna formula-tions which ldquocan be taken by anybodyrdquo such as Chyawanprash are extremelypopular in contemporary India as highlighted by Martin Bode and Francis Zi-mmermanrsquos recent research in contemporary pharmaceutical presentations ofAyurveda in India114 When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi launched his own brand ofMaharishi Ayur-Ved it was again drawing on associations between yogis Ayur-veda and rasāyana products Its flagship product in the promotion of ldquoperfect

109 Anon 1978110 Anon 1981 Herbofit Advert111 Anon 1993 and Stephenson 1994112 R Pandeya and S Pandeya 2017

113 Personal interview with Ram Pandeya29 July 2016114 Bode 2015 See also Dagmar Wujastyk2015 and Zimmermann 2016



healthrdquo was Maharishi Amrit Kalash the ldquomost important ayurvedic food sup-plementrdquo which has as one of its main ingredients amla (Indian Gooseberry) ina multi-herbal compound115 Amongst the global population of upper-middle-class yoga practitioners the milder pantildecakarman treatments for rest and rejuven-ation have come to exemplify Ayurveda in popular understanding116

Yoga-āsana as therapy has become an accepted part of ayurvedic degreeprogrammes in early twenty-first century India Popular author David Frawleypresents yoga and Ayurveda as a fully united system for ldquoself-healing andself-realizationrdquo117 Swami Ramdev whose vision of yoga and Ayurveda isboth popular and influential throughout India lists the treatment methods ofAyurveda as consisting of pantildecakarma rasāyana cikitsā and vājīkaraṇa (treatmentfor infertility and virility and aphrodisiacs) followed by a chapter devoted toldquoYoga Therapy and Āyurvedardquo118 A recently published guide to Ayurveda aimedat western audiences devoted substantial headed sections including

9 Lifestyle and Behaviour Regimens in Ayurveda and in Yoga10 Ayurvedic Therapies Panchakarma and Materia Medica11 The Cultivation of Consciousness

While the author of this book admits ldquoit is one manrsquos grasp of Ayurveda as aworldview and as a way of liferdquo it is a fairly comprehensive presentation by abiomedically qualified doctor on contemporary practice of the subject119 This isan exposition of Ayurveda which is radically different from that presented in theearly twentieth century

CONCLUSION

This article has argued that the 1938 rejuvenation of Pandit Malaviya by theascetic yogi Tapasviji Baba might offer a forgotten window into how pub-

lic presentations of Ayurveda were radically transformed during the twentiethcentury Although undoubtedly part of the ayurvedic repertoire rasāyana prac-tice (male virility treatments excepted) was not a major feature of early twenti-eth century presentations of Ayurveda By the late twentieth century ayurvedicrasāyana formulations and pantildecakarman treatments for rejuvenation were heav-ily advertised aspects of the ayurvedic repertoire albeit in a somewhat gentlerform than the classical texts recommend The importance given in reports of

115 Maharishi Ayur-Ved 2004 and New-combe 2008116 See Langford 2002 as well as Zimmer-mann 1992 Zysk 2001 Reddy 2002 2004

117 Frawley 1999118 Balkrishna 2013 xiii119 Ninivaggi 2010 xiiindashxiv



Malaviyarsquos rejuvenation to pantildecakarman as a preliminary treatment to a success-ful kuṭīpraveśika treatment as well as the emphasis on pantildecakarman in AnandSwamirsquos practice may be seen as precursor to the popularity of pantildecakarman treat-ments from the 1980s onwards By the twenty-first century yoga āsana andprāṇāyāma became incorporated into government-sanctioned ayurvedic degreeprogrammes Yogis and the practices of yoga became popularly and respectfullyassociated with both Ayurveda and promoting longevity more generally PanditMalaviyarsquos 1938 ldquohealth curerdquo can be seen as a reifying and accelerating factor inthese transformations of tradition

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


research and innovation programme under grantagreement No 639363 I would like to thank myAyuryog team members Dagmar Wujastyk ChristegraveleBarois and Jason Birch who have all enriched my un-derstanding I also must thank all of those I inter-viewed or spoke with informally on the topics of thispaper your generosity has been very much appreci-ated and I apologize for any potential misinterpreta-tion or misrepresentation of your words I would alsolike to thank the anonymous reviewers for their timeand comments which helped shape the direction ofthe final article

REFERENCES

Alter Joseph S (2004) Yoga in Modern India The Body between Science and Philo-sophy Princeton NJ and Oxford Princeton University Press url https pressprincetonedutitles7886html

mdash (2005a) Asian Medicine and Globalization Philadelphia University ofPennsylvania Press doi httpsdoiorg1097839780812205251

mdash (2005b) ldquoModern Medical Yoga Struggling with a History of Magic Al-chemy and Sexrdquo In Asian Medicine 11 pp 119ndash46 doi httpsdoiorg101163157342105777996818

mdash (2010) ldquoA Therapy to Live By Public Health the Self and Nationalism in thePractice of a North Indian Yoga Societyrdquo In Medical Anthropology Quarterly174 pp 309ndash35 doi httpsdoiorg1010800145974019979966144



Alter Joseph S (2011) Moral Materialism Sex and Masculinity in Modern IndiaNew Delhi Penguin

mdash (2014) ldquoShri Yogendra Magic Modernity and the Burden of the Middle-Class Yogirdquo In ed by Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg New York Ox-ford University Press pp 60ndash82 doi httpsdoiorg101093acprofoso97801999387040030004

Anantha Murthy T S (1968) Biography of Sreeman Tapaswiji Maharaj a MahatmaWho Lived for 185 Years Born 1770 AD ndash Maha Samadhi 1955 AD BangaloreRaja Power Press

Anklesaria Maneck K (ca 1930) rsquoKaya-Kalparsquo Life Guidance Institute of the Initiatesof Master Occultistsrsquo Presents to the American Public Their Grand President Ma-neck K Anklesaria Bsc Ma Phd of Bombay India in a Course of Twelve Lessonson Kaya-kalpa Health Culture Psychology Psycho-anlaysis Mind Control HinduPhilosophy and Alchemy of Happy Consciousness for the Individual Higher Edific-ation in the Science of Living Conscious Positive and Harmonious Life PamphletTacoma Washington Miami Florida Dallas Texas San Francisco Califor-nia Spokane Washington and Hollywood California

Anon (Feb 4 1927a) ldquoAll Religions to Be Made One That is Belief of BombayScholar Visiting Miami for Lecture Seriesrdquo In The Miami News p 4

mdash (1927b) ldquoVoronoffrsquos Method of Rejuvenationrdquo In The Lancet 2095400pp 446ndash47 doi httpsdoiorg101016s0140-6736(00)72966-7

mdash (Jan 2 1938a) ldquoDr Nixonrsquos rsquoVi-Tabsrsquordquo In Calcutta Illustrated Weekly p 77mdash (Jan 2 1938b) ldquoNervinusrdquo In The Hindu p 2mdash (Jan 19 1938c) ldquoRejuvenation of a Panditrdquo In The Daily Telegraph and Morning

Post p 10mdash (Feb 27 1938d) ldquo172-Year-Old Youth Maker Wants Gandhi for Patientrdquo In

Monroe Morning World p 1mdash (Feb 27 1938e) ldquoYogi Turns Back Years Follower of Gandhi Reported rsquoRe-

juvenatedrsquo by rsquoAyurvedic Medicinersquordquo In Arizona Republic p 6mdash (Mar 13 1938f) ldquoPandit Malaviyarsquos Health Curerdquo In The Hindu p 9mdash (Mar 20 1938g) ldquoFrench Scientists Triumph Over Old Age Rejuveninrdquo In

Calcutta Illustrated Weekly p 5mdash (Aug 27 1938h) ldquoKaya Kalpa Treatmentrdquo In The Times of Indiamdash (June 10 1939) ldquoYou Can Be Young and Healthy Againrdquo In The Los Angeles

Times p 16mdash (Nov 13 1946) ldquoObituary Pandit Malaviya ndash A Pioneer of Hindu National-

ismrdquo In The Times p 9mdash (Nov 19 1974) ldquoLillian Carter Philosophy Talk at Peninsula Collegerdquo In The

Daily News p 8mdash (May 16 1978) ldquoThe Garden Resort at the Heart of the Capitalrdquo In The Times

of India



mdash (Nov 24 1981) ldquoHerbofitrdquo In The Times of Indiamdash (Sept 25 1993) ldquoYogiraj Vethathiri Maharishirdquo In Arizona Daily Star p 24Arnold David (1993) Colonizing the Body State Medicine and Epidemic Disease in

Nineteenth-Century India London University of California PressAugier F E Salf and J B Nottet (1996) ldquoLe Docteur Samuel Serge Voronoff

(1866ndash1951) ou lsquola quecircte de lrsquoeternelle jeunessersquordquo In Histoire Des SciencesMedicales 302 pp 163ndash71 issn 0440-8888 url http www biusante parisdescartesfrsfhmhsmHSMx1996x030x002HSMx1996x030x002x0163pdf(on 19 Mar 2018)

Bahdur M R Ry Rao and M C Koman Avargal (1921) Report of the Special Com-mittee Appointed by the Joint Board the Dravida Vaidya Mandal and the MadrasAyurveda Sabha in Reply to the Report on the Investigations into the IndigenousDrugs Srirangam Sri Vani Vilas Press

Balkrishna Acharya (2013) A Practical Approach to the Science of Ayurveda AComprehensive Guide for Health Living Haridwar Divya PrakashanDivyaYog Mandir Trust

Barois Christegravele (forthcoming) ldquoMedical Practices of Yogins in Medieval IndiaThe Testimony of the Dharmaputrikārdquo Forthcoming

Berger Rachel (Jan 15 2008) ldquoAyurveda State and Society in Colonial NorthIndia 1895ndash1947rdquo PhD thesis Cambridge University of Cambridge urlhttpswwwrepositorycamacukhandle1810252066 (on 4 Mar 2018)

mdash (2013) Ayurveda Made Modern Political Histories of Indigenous Medicine in NorthIndia 1900-1955 London Palgrave Macmillan doi 1010579781137315908

Bevilacqua Daniela (2017) ldquoLet the Sādhus Talk Ascetic understanding ofHaṭha Yoga and Yogāsanasrdquo In Religions of South Asia 112 issn 1751-2697url httpswwwacademiaedu25569049 (on 4 Mar 2018) In press

Bhaktavatsalam T and N Rajoo Naidu (1911) The Sage of Narayanavaram His LifeMiracles and Prophecies Madras R Vivekananda Press Vepery url httpsarchiveorgdetailsinernetdli2015203920 (on 4 Mar 2018)


Bode Maarten (2008) Taking Traditional Knowledge to the Market The Mod-ern Image of the Ayurvedic and Unani Industry 1980ndash2000 New Per-spectives in South Asian History 21 New Delhi Orient BlackswanPvt Ltd isbn 9788125033158 url https archive org details BodeTakingTraditionalKnowledgeToTheMarket 2008600dpilossy (on 6 Mar2018)

mdash (2015) ldquoAssembling Cyavanaprāsh Ayurvedarsquos Best-selling Medicinerdquo InAnthropology amp Medicine 221 pp 23ndash33 doi 1010801364847020151005285



Central Council for Indian Medicine (2014) Syllabus for Post-Graduate Course inAyurved Central Council for Indian Medicine url httpswwwccimindiaorgayurveda-syllabusphp (on 3 Mar 2018)

mdash (2017) Undergraduate Syllabus for Third Year BAMS Central Council for In-dian Medicine url httpswwwccimindiaorgdownloads3rd20year20syllabuspdf (on 3 Mar 2018)

Clark Matthew (2006) The Daśanāmī-Saṃnyāsīs The Integration of Ascetic Lineagesinto an Order Leiden The Netherlands Brill isbn 9004152113

Deslippe Phillip (forthcoming) ldquoThe Swami Circuitrdquo In Journal of Yoga Studies11 Forthcoming

Dey Kanny Lall and William Mair (1896) The Indigenous Drugs of India ShortDescriptive Notices of The Principal Medicinal Products Met with in British India2nd ed Calcutta Thacker Spink amp Co url httpsarchiveorgdetailsb21914114 (on 3 Mar 2018)

Frawley David (1999) Yoga amp Ayurveda Self Healing and Self-Realization TwinLakes WI Lotus Press isbn 978-0914955818

Haṃsasvarūpa Mahārāja (1903) षबिनपणिचऽ भा समलकत भाषाटीकोपत =Shatchakra Niroopan Chittra with Bhashya and Bhasha Containing the Pictures ofthe Different Nerves and Plexuses of the Human Body with Their Full DescriptionShowing the Easiest Method How to Practise Pranayam by the Mental Suspensionof Breath through Meditation Only by Shree Swami Hansa Swaroop MuzaffarpurBihar Trikutivilas Press url httpswellcomecollectionorgworksquery=hamsasvarupa (on 3 Mar 2018)

Harrison Mark (1994) Public Health in British India Anglo-Indian Preventive Medi-cine 1859-1914 Cambridge Cambridge University Press

Hausner Sondra L (2007) Wandering with Sadhus Ascetics in the Hindu HimalayasBloomington Indiana University Press url httpwwwiupressindianaeduproduct_infophpproducts_id=68386

Hodges Sarah (2008) Contraception Colonialism and Commerce Birth Control inSouth India 1920ndash1940 Aldershot Ashgate doi 1043249781315259383

Honigberger John Martin (1852) Thirty-five Years in the East Adventures Discov-eries Experiments and Historical Sketches Relating to the Punjab and Cashmere inConnection with Medicine Botany Pharmacy and Together with an Original Ma-teria Medica and A Medical Vocabulary in Four European and Five Eastern Lan-guages London NY and Calcutta H Bailliegravere url httpsarchiveorgdetailsthirtyfiveyearsi00honi (on 4 Mar 2018)

Horowitz Y D Greenberg and G Ling (2002) ldquoAcrodynia A Case Report ofTwo Siblingsrdquo In Archives of Disease in Childhood 86 p 453 doi httpsdoiorg101136adc866453

India Infoline News Service (Feb 6 2016) India Consumer Patanjali Is DisruptingIndiarsquos Consumer Space url httpswwwindiainfolinecomarticlenews-



top- storyindia- consumer- patanjali- is- disrupting- indiaE28099s-consumer-space-116020600292_1html (on 3 Mar 2018) Source HSBC

Jacobs Stephen (2015) The Art of Living Foundation Spirituality and Wellbeingin the Global Context Aldershot Ashgate doi httpsdoiorg1043249781315612621

Kędzia Ilona Barbara (2017) ldquoMastering Deathlessness Some Remarks onKarpam Preparations in the Medico-Alchemical Literature of the TamilSiddhasrdquo In History of Science in South Asia 52 (Transmutations Rejuvena-tion Longevity and Immortality Practices in South and Inner Asia)

Lal Kanhaiya (Mar 20 1938) ldquoShut in a Sealed Chamber for Six Weeks PanditMalaviyarsquos Kaya Kalp and How It Was Donerdquo In The Illustrated Weekly ofIndia pp 26ndash7

Langford Jean M (2002) Fluent Bodies Ayurvedic Remedies for Postcolonial Im-balance London Duke University Press doi https doi org 10 1215 9780822384113

Maharishi Ayur-Ved (2004) Maharishi Amrit Kalash PamphletMallinson James (2007) The Khecarīvidyā of Ādinātha A Critical Edition and An-

notated Translation of an Early Text of Haṭhayoga London Routledge doi httpsdoiorg1043249780203938263

Mariau Daniel (2008) ldquoMalaviya Pandit Madan Mohan (1861ndash1964)rdquo In En-cyclopedia of Hinduism Ed by D Cush C Robinson and M York LondonRoutledge pp 485ndash6

Maridassou Paramananda (1938) Medicine traditonnelle de lrsquoInde le rajeunissementpar le kayacarpam Pondicherry India Impremerie Sainte Anne

Mazars Guy (2006) A Concise Introduction to Indian Medicine (La Medeacutecine indi-enne) Delhi Montal Banarsidass

Misra Jagannath Prasad (2016) Madan Mohan Malaviya and the Indian Free-dom Movement Oxford Scholarship Online Oxford University Press isbn9780199463756 doi 101093acprofoso97801994637560010001

Mooss N S Vayaskara (1938) The All India Ayurvedic Directory 1938 Second Yearof Issue Vol 2 Kottayam Vaidya Sarathy url httpsarchiveorgstreamAIADVolume11937AIAD20volume202201938 (on 4 Mar 2018)

Mukharji Projit Bihari (2016) Doctoring Traditions Ayurveda Small Technologiesand Braided Sciences Chicago Chicago University Press doi httpsdoiorg107208chicago97802263818240010001

Narayan Kirin (1989) Storytellers Saints and Scoundrels Folk Narrative in HinduReligious Teaching Contemporary Ethnography Series Philadelphia Univer-sity of Pennsylvania Press url httpswwwdegruytercomviewproduct454153



Newcombe Suzanne (forthcoming) ldquoYoga in Modern Indiardquo In Religionand Medicine in Asia Ed by Pierce Salguero and Michael Stanley-BakerManchester Manchester University Press Forthcoming

mdash (2008) ldquoAyurvedic Medicine in Britain and the Epistemology of PracticingMedicine in rdquoGood Faithrdquordquo In Modern and Global Ayurveda Pluralism andParadigms Ed by Dagmar Wujastyk and Fredrick M Smith Albany NYSUNY Press pp 257ndash284

mdash (2012) ldquoGlobal Hybrids lsquoEastern Traditionsrsquo of Health and Wellness in theWestrdquo In The Gaze of the West and Framings of the East Ed by Shanta Nair-Venugopal New York Palgrave Macmillan Chap 13 pp 202ndash217 doi 1010579781137009289_13

mdash (2017) ldquoThe Revival of Yoga in Contemporary Indiardquo In Oxford Research En-cyclopaedia doi 101093acrefore9780199340378013253

Ninivaggi Frank John (2010) A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional Indian Medi-cine for the West New York Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers Inc isbn 978-1442207097

Pandeya Ram and Sophie Pandeya (2017) About Us url http www kaya -kalpaorgabout-us (on 10 Jan 2018)

Ramasubban Radhika (1982) Public Health and Medical Research in India TheirOrigins under the Impact of British Colonial Policy SAREC Report 1982 4 Stock-holm Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries

Reddy Sita (2002) ldquoAsian Medicine in America The Ayurvedic Caserdquo In An-nals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 583 pp 97ndash121 doihttpsdoiorg1011770002716202583001007

mdash (2004) ldquoThe Politics and Poetics of lsquoMagazine Medicinersquo New Age Ayurvedain the Print Mediardquo In The Politics of Healing Histories of Alternative Medicinein Twentieth-Century North America Ed by Robert D Johnston London Rout-ledge pp 207ndash30

Rinehart Robin (1999) One Lifetime Many Lives The Experience of Modern HinduHagiography Atlanta Georgia Scholars Press

Sharma M H Rama (1940) The Life and Experiences of Tapasviji Maharaj of KotbanBangalore Saraswathi Power Press

Singleton Mark (2010) Yoga Body The Origins of Modern Posture Practice Ox-ford Oxford University Press isbn 9780195395358 doi 10 1093 acprof oso97801953953580010001

Sivananda Swami (1945) Health amp Life Rishikesh India Swami Chitananda -Divine Life Society Trust

Slatoff Zoeuml (Oct 3 2017) Seeds of Modern Yoga the Confluence of Yoga and Ayurvedain the Āyurvedasūtra url httpwwwayuryogorgblogseeds-modern-yoga-confluence-yoga-and-ayurveda-C481yurvedasC5ABtra (on 3 Mar 2018)



Stephenson Mary (Aug 24 1994) ldquoHealers Offer Ancient Healingrdquo In The TaosNews p 24

Strauss Sarah (2005) Positioning Yoga Balancing Acts Across Cultures OxfordBerg isbn 9781859737347 doi 1050409781474215374

Swami Anand (1939) Kayakalpa Colombo CeylonUsman Mahomed (1923) The Report of the Committee on the Indigenous Systems

of Medicine Madras [1921ndash1923] Tech rep Madras Government of MadrasMinistry of Local Self-Government Committee on the Indigenous Systemsof Medicine 2v

Warrier Maya (2011) ldquoModern Ayurveda in Transnational Contextrdquo In ReligionCompass 53 pp 80ndash93

Weiss Richard S (2009) Recipes for Immortality Medicine Religion and Communityin South India New York Oxford University Press isbn 9780195335231 doi101093acprofoso97801953352310010001

White David Gordon (1996) The Alchemical Body Siddha Traditions in MedievalIndia London University of Chicago Press isbn 9780226149349

mdash (2009) Sinister Yogis Chicago University of Chicago Press isbn9780226895130 doi doiorg107208chicago97802268951540010001

Wujastyk Dagmar (2015) ldquoOn Perfecting the Body Rasāyana in Sanskrit Med-ical Literaturerdquo In Aion xxxvii pp 55ndash77 url httpswwwlibrawebnetarticoliphpchiave=201509901amprivista=99 (on 3 Mar 2018)


Wujastyk Dagmar Suzanne Newcombe and Christegravele Barois (2017) ldquoIntroduc-tionrdquo In History of Science in South Asia 51 (Transmutations RejuvenationLongevity and Immortality Practices in South and Inner Asia) pp indashxvii

Wujastyk Dagmar and Fredrick M Smith (2008) Modern and Global AyurvedaPluralism and Paradigms Albany NY SUNY Press isbn 978-0-7914-7489-1

Wujastyk Dominik (2003) The Roots of Ayurveda Selections from Sanskrit MedicalWritings 3rd ed London Penguin isbn 0-140-44824-1

mdash (2008) ldquoThe Evolution of Indian Government Policy on Ayurveda in theTwentieth Centuryrdquo In Modern and Global Ayurveda Pluralism and ParadigmsEd by Dagmar Wujastyk and Fredrick M Smith New York SUNY Presspp 43ndash76 isbn 978-0-7914-7489-1 url httpswwwacademiaedu492294(on 3 Mar 2018)

mdash (2009) ldquoInterpreting the Image of the Human Body in Premodern Indiardquo InInternational Journal of Hindu Studies 132 pp 189ndash228 issn 1022-4556 doi101007s11407-009-9077-0



Wujastyk Dominik (2011) ldquoThe Path to Liberation through Yogic Mindfulnessin Early Ayurvedardquo In Yoga in Practice Ed by David G White Princeton NJPrinceton University Press pp 31ndash42

Zimmerman Marion (2007) A Short Introduction The Tamil Siddhas and the SiddhaMedicine of Tamil Nadu Muumlnchen

Zimmermann Francis (1992) ldquoGentle Purge The Flower Power of AyurvedardquoIn Paths to Asian Medical Knowledge A Comparative Study Ed by CharlesLeslie and Allen Young Delhi Munshiram Manohaial pp 209ndash223 isbn9780520073173 doi 101525california97805200731730010001

mdash (2016) ldquoRasāyana Today on the Market of Proprietary Medicines Paperpresented at the AyurYog workshop rdquoRejuvenation longevity immortalityPerspectives on rasāyana kāyakalpa and bcud len practicesrdquordquo

Zvelebil Kamil (1996) The Siddha Quest for Immortality Oxford Madrake Pressisbn 1-869928-43-1

Zysk Kenneth (1993) ldquoThe Science of Respiration and the Doctrine of BodilyWinds in Ancient Indiardquo In Journal of the American Oriental Society 1132pp 198ndash213 doi 102307603025 url httpwwwjstororgstable603025

mdash (2001) ldquoNew Age Āyurveda or What Happens to Indian Medicine When ItComes to Americardquo In Traditional South Asian Medicine 6 pp 10ndash26






Mastering Deathlessness Some Remarks onKarpam Preparations in the Medico-AlchemicalLiterature of the Tamil Siddhas

Ilona Barbara KędziaJagiellonian University

MLA style citation form Ilona Barbara Kędzia ldquoMastering Deathlessness Some Remarks on Karpam Pre-parations in the Medico-Alchemical Literature of the Tamil Siddhasrdquo History of Science in South Asia 52(2017) 121ndash142 doi 1018732hssav5i216Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board








Mastering Deathlessness Some Remarks onKarpam Preparations in the Medico-Alchemical

Literature of the Tamil Siddhas


This paper aims at presenting remarks about the practices oriented towardsrejuvenation longevity and even immortality described in Tamil Siddha

medico-alchemical literature1 Those medico-alchemical practices relate mainlyto the use of certain substances and preparations for internal and external ap-plication called karpam2 This essay describes and exmines several selected sub-stances and procedures such as the use of black herbs (karumūlikai) the rdquotriplesaltrdquo (muppu) the rdquotied saltrdquo (kaṭṭuppu) mercury (iracam) and urine (amuri) re-lated to karpam therapy along with the effects ascribed to the karpam prepara-tions in Tamil Siddha literature As observed in the examined passages karpamtherapies seem to be closely connected with the discipline of yoga in medico-alchemical texts The affinity between the purpose of medico-alchemical prepar-ations on the one side and of yogic practices on the other such as the stabilisationand preservation of the physical body as well as the synergy of the methods ofboth disciplines stated by the medico-alchemical Tamil Siddha literature suggesta close relation between Siddha medicine alchemy and yoga

The chronology of Tamil Siddha medico-alchemical literature remains un-certain due to the lack of critical and comprehensive studies done so far Oftenscholars date texts that are traditionally accepted as authoritative works of Tamil

1 The medico-alchemical stream of TamilSiddha literature is one of the few categoriesof Siddha texts recognized by scholars Onthe classification of the Tamil Siddhas andtheir literature see eg Venkatraman 1990Ganapathy 1993 22ndash24 Zvelebil 1993 17ndash19 2003 19ndash20 On the content of non-

medical Tamil Siddha literature see egBuck 1976 Venkatraman 1990 Zvelebil1993 Meenakshi 19962 The term karpam is the Tamilized versionof the Sanskrit word kalpa rdquoproceed-ingrdquo rdquorulerdquo rdquotreatmentrdquo rdquomedicinalcompoundrdquo


122 mastering deathlessness

Siddha medico-alchemical literature to the period starting from the 15thndash16th cen-tury onwards However the material contained in them most probably derivesfrom earlier centuries3 At the same time it is also probable that the texts includelarge interpolations of recent origin It is estimated that the number of TamilSiddha medico-alchemical texts encompasses hundreds of works preserved onpalm-leaf manuscripts only some of which have been printed so far The textsare scattered and unorganized and it is assumed that the vast amount of manu-scripts still remains in private hands4

1 SOURCES

This essay is based on the reading of selected Tamil Siddha medico-alchemicaltexts The text most widely cited here is the Pōkar Karpaviti (PKV)5 by Siddha

Pōkar6 It is almost entirely dedicated to prescriptions for drugs called karpam Itconsists of 342 stanzas divided into ninety-four small subsections each of whichdeals with a particular topic often with a particular prescription The text inmajor part contains practical recipes for preparations with herbal animal min-eral and metallic ingredients Prescriptions usually provide lists of ingredientsand a general description for the method of preparation some of them also listthe diseases against which the preparation can be used as well as other effects

3 See eg Scharfe 1999 609ndash612 Weiss2009 48ndash50 Zysk 2013 182ndash1834 See Venkatraman 1990 15 Zvelebil2003 139 Recently a project entitled rdquoCon-servation Documentation and Preservationof the Knowledge of Siddha Medicinerdquoheaded by Brigitte Seacutebastia and supportedby the British Library was carried out atthe French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) inorder to preserve catalogue and digitiseextant Siddha manuscripts One of theaims of the project was to put the digitisedmanuscripts online on the website of theBritish Library (see the project websiteSeacutebastia 2015ndash2017)5 I have used the edition of the text with thecommentary edited by Citta maruttuva il-akkiya ārāycci āvaṇatturai citta maruttuvamaiya ārāycci nilaiyam in Chennai on thebasis of the palm leaf manuscripts collec-ted at the Maharaja Serfojirsquos Saraswati Ma-hal Library in Thanjavur

6 In scholarly publications other transcrip-tions of the Tamil name rdquoPōkarrdquo are alsoused such as rdquoPōgarrdquo rdquoBōgarrdquo or rdquoBhōgarrdquordquoPōkarrdquo is a Tamil name which derivesfrom the Sanskrit noun bhoga rdquoenjoymentrdquordquoeatingrdquo rdquopleasurerdquo rdquowealthrdquo The Siddhacalled Pōkar considered to be the author ofthe text is a highly-esteemed figure amongtraditional Siddha practitioners Howeverit is possible that among Tamil Siddhasthere were several authors with the namerdquoPōkarrdquo (see Venkatraman 1990 65) Themost famous one probably could be re-garded the author of the monumental workCaptakāṇṭam (rdquoSeven Chaptersrdquo) in whichmarvellous and sometimes phantasmagor-ical journeys undertaken by the author withthe use of mercurial pills are described Onthe biography and works of Siddha Pōkarsee eg Ganapathy 2003 Little 2006 Nata-rajan 2009 Kędzia 2017


ilona barbara kędzia 123

of the drugs In this essay I also refer to the works of other Siddhas that elab-orate on the subjects relevant for the present study that are not discussed ad-equately in the text of Pōkar Those texts include two works ascribed to SiddhaAkastiyar7 namely the Kuru Nūl Muppu 50 (KNM) consisting of 49 stanzasand the Karpa Muppu Kuru Nūl 100 (KMKN) consisting of 103 stanzas Bothtexts deal mostly with rdquotriple saltrdquo (muppu) and they provide recipes for somekarpam preparations as well Yet another Siddha whose works have been usedfor the present research is Yākōpu alias Irāmatēvar8 the prolific author of at leastseventeen works9 which are highly esteemed and used as manuals by contem-porary Siddha doctors especially with regard to metallic preparations10 Cita-

7 Akastiyar is traditionally considered tobe the founder of the Tamil Siddha med-ical system He is claimed to be the authorof more than two hundred texts in Tamil(see Zvelebil 1993 32) According to thecommon view he is credited with found-ing the first Sangam and with composingthe first grammar of the Tamil Language(Sivaraja Pillai 1930 36ndash38) However it hasbeen indicated by T P Meenakshisundaranthat the language of the medical writingsof Akastiyar cannot be older than the fif-teenth century (T P Meenakshisundaranquoted by Zvelebil 2003 71) It is alsohighly dubious that a single person com-posed all of the works ascribed to Akasti-yar According to Zvelebil in the medi-eval and modern Tamil tradition several au-thors of the same name (with some variantssuch as rdquoAgastyardquo rdquoAkattiyanrdquo rdquoAkatti-yarrdquo) have been merged into one singlepersonage credited with some supernaturalcharacteristics (see Zvelebil 1992 235ndash261)The name rdquoAkastiyarrdquo is a Tamil version ofSanskrit rdquoAgastyardquo the name of the reveredVedic sage whose figure is well attestedin the Sanskrit literature starting from theṚgveda See rdquoAgastyardquo in Macdonell andKeith 1912 6ndash78 Siddha Yākōpu probably lived betweenthe fifteenth and seventeenth centuries(Natarajan 2004 257) However Venkat-raman places his works in the later periodie between the seventeenth and theeighteenth century (Venkatraman 1990 63)The author introduces himself as a person

originally called rdquoIrāmatēvarrdquo in severalpassages in his texts and provides a storyabout the origin of his family whichbelongs to a lineage of warriors Accordingto autobiographical accounts contained inhis texts Irāmatēvar travelled to Mecca insearch of alchemical knowledge There heconverted to Islam underwent circumcisionand received the Muslim name rdquoYākōpurdquoOn the life of Yākōpu see Natarajan 2004Venkatraman 1990 63ndash64 Kędzia 20179 Yākōpu is credited with seventeen textsclaimed to be composed after his conversionto Islam The list of his texts provided byJi Irāmacāmik Kōn the general publisherof Yākōpursquos works includes the follow-ing titles Vaittiya Cintāmaṇi Elunūru Kur-unūl Aimpatti Aintu Cuṇṇakkāṇṭam Arun-ūru Cuṇṇam Munnūru Centūra Cūsti[ram]Nūrru Aimpatu Cūstiram Aimpatti AintuVakārak Kaḷaṅku Munnūru PantildecamittiramMunnūru Taṇṭakam Nūrru Pattu CūstiramAimpatti Aintu Iṭaipākam Patināru CeypākamPatināru Vaitya Vātacūstiram Nānūru Vait-tiyam Munnūru To this list the text entitledKallāṭam traditionally ascribed to Yākōpuis also added (see VaiCin 2) Moreover be-fore his travel to Mecca Irāmatēvar mayhave also composed a few texts for exampleCivayōkam Irunūru (see Natarajan 2004 258)10 Personal communication from Dr Kavia-rasu Balakrishnan traditional Siddha prac-titioner According to Dr BalakrishnanYākōpursquos works are the prominent works onalchemy of the Tamil Siddha tradition



tions from the Cuṇṇakkaṇṭam 600 (CuṇKaṇ)11 consisting of 605 stanzas whichprovide many recipes related to cuṇṇam12 preparations as well as from the Vait-tiya Kallāṭam (VK)13 which is especially interesting with regard to its languageas it contains manifold riddles were the most relevant for the present paperThe Ntildeānakarpam 222 (NtildeK) of Siddha Pulastiyar has also been referred to14 Asindicated by the title the text consists of 222 stanzas and concerns subjects re-lated to medicine alchemy and yoga I will also refer to an important older textthat is usually not included among the medico-alchemical literature of the TamilSiddhas namely the Tirumantiram by Tirumūlar15 (twelfth century)16 The Tiru-mantiram is often regarded as a foundational text of Tamil Siddha literature in-cluding the medico-alchemical stream The text consists of nine chapters calledtantiram that comprise over 3000 verses and it deals with a number of subjectsprimarily yoga and Śaiva philosophy

The content of the literature of the medico-alchemical stream of the TamilSiddha tradition covers a wide spectrum of subjects including medicine al-chemy yoga magic etc The number and choice of themes can vary significantlyfrom one text to another The texts often have the form of practical manuals es-pecially for certain medical and alchemical preparations However the prescrip-tions are frequently not provided with details necessary for the procedure and

11 I have used the printed edition providedwith the modern commentary12 cuṇṇamcunnam is a variety of drug pre-pared from metals white in colour and pos-sessing qualities similar to calcium It is re-garded as very potent It is obtained withthe use of ceyanīr (a pungent liquid preparedby exposing the mixture of minerals to nightdew) fullerrsquos earth and acids See cunnam inSambasivam Pillai 1931ndash199413 The Vaittiya Kallāṭam consists of threeparts dealing with medicine alchemy andyoga respectively The first and the longestmedical part which has been used forthe present study contains 53 stanzas thatprovide recipes for medical preparationsagainst various diseases and is accompan-ied by an explanatory commentary14 In contrast to the above-mentionedSiddhas no information about the life ofSiddha Pulastiyar has been found in theavailable sources15 The twelfth-century text Tiruttoṇṭar-purāṇam recounts a story about the author

of the Tirumantiram According to thetale the author was a yogi who travelledto South India from the north On hisway the yogi saw a herd of cows weepingover the body of a cowherd called Mūlanwho had died suddenly from a snakebite The yogi secured his own body in asafe place and having migrated into thecorpse of the deceased cowherd he ledthe cows to their home Remaining in thecowherdrsquos body the yogi attained rdquorealknowledgerdquo (meyntildeānam) Then he sat downin meditation for three thousand yearscomposing the three thousand verses of theTirumantiram at the rate of one verse peryear See Venkatraman 1990 46ndash4716 The date of the Tirumantiram remainsuncertain However as demonstrated byGoodall on the grounds of the conceptualcontent of the text most probably it can-not be earlier than the twelfth century SeeGoodall 1998 xxxvii-xxxix n 85 Goodall2000 213 n 27



are sometimes hardly understandable without a commentary because of the pe-culiar esoteric language which contains colloquial Tamil forms cryptic symbolicexpressions and ambiguous technical terms of the traditional lore The use ofthe symbolic and equivocal rdquotwilight languagerdquo (Tamil cūniya-campāṣanai rdquodis-course on the voidrdquo) is considered to be a common feature of the Siddha textsalso beyond the Tamil tradition Such language among other possible purposesmay serve to protect the great truths of the Siddha doctrine from profanationby uninitiated persons Through the use of colloquial expressions it may allowpersons outside the literary elite to access Siddha teachings Symbolic expres-sions may also be used to convey mystical experiences expression of which re-mains beyond the abilities of ordinary language17 Interestingly in Tamil Siddhamedico-alchemical literature even simple recipes against common diseases maybe intentionally presented in a highly perplexing way In some texts informa-tion necessary for the preparation such as names of crucial ingredients instru-ments or doses have been hidden in rebuses and riddles the solving of whichis frequently impossible without a commentary The riddles are often based onword-play with the use of synonymous words For example the solution of theriddle rdquojoin the mother to the beginning of leadrdquo18 is rdquocloverdquo (ilavaṅkam) be-cause when the synonymous words of the word rdquomotherrdquo (avvai) ie ila19 is ad-ded to the beginning of the word rdquoleadrdquo (vaṅkam) the word ilavaṅkam (rdquocloverdquo)will be obtained Another example is based on the simily between Tamil let-ters and numbers rdquoadd the mother (tāy) to the eighty (eṇpatu)rdquo20 In the Tamilsystem of writing the numerals rdquo8rdquo and rdquo0rdquo of number rdquo80rdquo have a very sim-ilar shape to the letters rdquoardquo and rdquoyardquo If we add yet another synonymous wordfor rdquomotherrdquo ie kāntai (rdquowiferdquo rdquowomanrdquo) to the cluster rdquoa+yardquo we obtain theword ayakkāntai which is almost identical with ayakkāntam ie the Tamil Siddhaterm for lodestone21 The use of such an enigmatic language is also found in eso-teric yogic texts which contain passages concerning spiritual practices aimed atobtaining liberation One remarkable example of such esoteric passages is thewhole seventeenth chapter of the ninth section (tantiram) of the Tirumantiram en-titled cūniya-campāṣanai (rdquoDiscourse on the voidrdquo) or maraiporuṭ kūrru (rdquoSpeech

17 See Ganapathy 2004 3ndash618 VK 323 [hellip]vaṅkamuta lavvaic cērttuc[hellip]19 The word used in ancient times in ad-dressing a woman in a familiar manner Seeila in the University of Madrasrsquos Tamil Lex-icon (1924ndash1936)20 VK 49 [hellip] eṇpatoṭu tāyai cērttu [hellip]21 This method of encoding based on thesimilarity between the visual form of the

Tamil numerals and the letters is more com-mon in the Tamil Siddha tradition also bey-ond the medico-alchemical stream One re-markable example is number rdquo82rdquo whichhas an important meaning for the TamilSiddhars Numbers rdquo8rdquo and rdquo2rdquo look verysimilar to Tamil letters rdquoardquo and rdquourdquo so thenumber rdquo82rdquo is used to denote the sacredsyllable rdquoaumrdquo



on secret senserdquo) The chapter consists of seventy stanzas composed in symbolicand highly ambiguous language and it concerns yogic practices which aim atliberation22

The view that rejuvenation and long life can be achieved through certain prac-tices is well-attested in Tamil Siddha medico-alchemical literature Moreover insome texts it is also suggested that some preparations and therapies may evenbestow immortality23 Nonetheless the concept of immortality is not elaboratedin the consulted medico-alchemical texts From the context it may be inferredthat immortality as conceived by the medico-alchemical Siddha writers is re-lated to the preservation of a prosperous youthful and handsome physical bodywhich is often suggested to be the result of the application of the described pre-parations In the consulted texts it is not explicitly stated what the aim of theattainment of such a body is The pursuit of an immortal body found in medico-alchemical texts may indicate a link between yoga and medicine within the TamilSiddha tradition Bodily immortality and the preservation of youthfulness are re-peatedly stated to be a result of yogic practices in the Tirumantiram The authorclaims that both the body and the soul are equally important and interdepend-ent entities and the body is considered to be indispensable for achieving rdquotrueknowledgerdquo (meyntildeānam) leading to liberation24 This view although not expli-citly stated in medico-alchemical texts may underlie the practices described inthem as well

2 RECIPES FOR REJUVENATION LONGEVITY ANDIMMORTALITY

In medico-alchemical literature it is karpam therapy that is widely recommen-ded to achieve rejuvenation longevity and the power to remain deathless

I have told [you] about the karpam preparations which have the powerto [keep a person] alive without dying25

22 TM 2826ndash289523 See eg VK 53 PKV 32824 TM 704ndash705 rdquoIf the owner of a bodyperishes then the owner of the soul will per-ish [too] He will not achieve real knowledgewith certainty Having learnt the means forcultivating the body I have cultivated thebody and [therefore] indeed I have cultiv-ated [my] soul Previously I considered thebody to be inferior [to the soul] [Then] inthe body I saw the wealth Knowing thatGod set [his] temple in this body I am pro-

tecting the bodyrdquouṭampār aliyil uyirār alivartiṭampaṭa meynānancēravu māṭṭāruṭampai vaḷarkkum upāyam arintēuṭampai vaḷarttēn uyirvaḷarttēnēuṭampinai munnam ilukken riruntēnuṭampinuk kuḷḷē yuruporuḷ kaṇṭēnuṭampuḷē uttaman kōyilkoṇ ṭānenruuṭampinai yānirun tōmpukin rēnē25 PKV 3281 māḷātē irukkavallō karpantildeconnēn



Recipes for karpam drugs are found in numerous medico-alchemical textsHowever as indicated by A Shanmuga Velan none of the texts presents the com-plete line of the treatment26 Some passages suggest that certain herbs alone mayserve as a powerful karpam27 Siddha texts frequently mention extraordinary re-juvenating powers of karpam plants It is often repeated that karpam herbs pos-sess not only rejuvenating and healing properties but that they are also power-ful catalysts in alchemical operations effecting rdquobindingrdquo (kaṭṭu) operations onmany metals28 Pōkar enumerates forty-five karpam herbs that are credited withalchemical powers including effecting kaṭṭu on sixty-four substances29 It is alsosaid that those herbs provide support for yogic practices bestow rejuvenationand immortality upon the human body and allow one to walk in the sky30

The majority of karpam preparations are recommended to be taken internallyHowever there are also preparations prescribed to be applied externally for ex-ample as an anal ointment eye ointment or in the bath31 The range of karpamrecipes encompass both very simple preparations32 as well as extremely complic-ated prescriptions fulfilment of which requires repeated operations with the useof special apparatuses and numerous ingredients from plant animal mineraland metal kingdoms

26 See Velan 1992 55ndash5627 For example passage PKV 204ndash6ascribes certain herbs to particular SiddhasIt states that the Siddhas have lived foraeons only due to the application of thoseherbs28 Kaṭṭu (rdquobondrdquo) is an important alchem-ical operation frequently mentioned in thetexts The operation aims at consolidatingthe substances and rendering them heat-resistant (see kaṭṭu in Sambasivam Pillai1931ndash1994) Substances subjected to kaṭṭu of-ten mentioned in Pōkarrsquos text are mercurymetals salt and sulphur Kaṭṭu seems to bethe art of rendering the substances stabledense resistant and solid Materials recom-mended to be used for effecting the rdquobondrdquoon the substances are usually herbals whichare also used as karpam medicines A coun-terpart of kaṭṭu can also be found in Sanskritalchemical literature Among operationsaimed at perfecting mercury (saṃskāra) theoperation of rdquobindingrdquo (bandhana) mercuryis also listed The goal of the operation is thefixation of the mercury with the use of one

of the 25 or 26 alchemical rdquobondsrdquo (bandha)Each of the bonds may also be used in medi-cine (see White 1996 266ndash67)29 PKV 190ndash9430 In Indian alchemical traditions the abil-ity to walk in the sky is regarded as a skill ac-quired by the alchemist due to the speciallyprepared mercurial pill kept in the mouthSee White 1996 211ndash12 Stories about theSiddhas travelling around the world due tothe powers of mercurial pills are also foundin Tamil Siddha literature see eg works ofSiddha Yākōpu such as VāVai 4 Cuṇ 153ndash156 CuṇKaṇ 28731 PKV 8 9ndash10 532 For example miḷaku karpam (black pep-per karpam) consists of just one ingredient(black pepper) Initially 5 peppercorns perday should be taken with urine Every fol-lowing day the dose should be increased by5 peppercorns until it reaches the amount of100 peppercorns per day Subsequently thedose should be reduced by 5 peppercornseach day (see PKV 37)



The most common operation in metallic karpam preparations described in thetexts seems to be roasting the drug in the puṭam ie a capsule constructed withthe two identical earthen plates The usual sequence of actions in the puṭam op-eration starts with the repeated grinding of the metals in the mortar with thejuice of certain karpam herbs the choice of which depends on the metal usedIngredients should subsequently be put inside the capsule after which a speciallute usually made with herbal leaves is applied Then the capsule should beplaced into a fire of a determined number of burning cow dung patties and roas-ted Usually the whole sequence of the above-mentioned operations should berepeated several times The products of metal processing are named after theform they obtain at the end of the puṭam operation the most common drugsbeing centūram33 parpam34 and cunnamcuṇṇam35 All three preparations areconsidered to be highly assimilable metallic compounds

Among materials used by the Siddhas in karpam therapy some items belong-ing to herbal animal mineral and metal domains are credited with particularlypowerful rejuvenating and life prolonging properties

black herbsAmong herbal recipes Pōkar mentions certain karpam preparations which re-quire the use of black varieties (karumūlikai) of some common medical plantsfor example karantai (fragrant basil) or nelli (amla)36 Those plants are creditedwith medical properties even in their common form but according to the Siddhatheir black variants possess particular rejuvenating powers Pōkar provides in-struction for cultivating such herbs37 The preparation of a special soil appearsto be crucial for their cultivation According to the text one should fill half ofa box with a dark alluvium soil and tamp it down The remaining volume ofthe box should be packed with marking nuts (cēṅkoṭṭai) Then the soil shouldbe watered for six months if whole nuts were used or for three months if thenuts were previously halved When the nuts decompose the soil should be leftto dry Next on the soil prepared in the described way one sows the seeds ofthe medical herbs When the crop ripens the new seeds should be collected andthe whole operation should be repeated three times Pōkar claims that the fourthcrop will be black in colour The text states that cultivated black herbs rejuven-ate the body and remove wrinkles and grey hair To test the efficacy of the black

33 centūram ndash red calcined oxides Forthe varieties of centūram type of drugs seecentūram in Sambasivam Pillai 1931ndash199434 parpam ndash calcined oxides white in col-our For the varieties of parpam see parpamin Sambasivam Pillai 1931ndash1994

35 See supra note 12 Cunnam may look sim-ilar to parpam but it is regarded as more po-tent See cunnam in Sambasivam Pillai 1931ndash199436 karantai PKV 62ndash63 nelli PKV 12837 PKV 198ndash203



herbs one should take a feather of a crane and smear it three times with the blackherb juice The feather having dried in the sun should become as black as thefeather of a crow38

Apart from the black herbs plants collected in mountain regions are be-lieved to be of better quality than herbs growing elsewhere39 This belief prevailsamong contemporary traditional Siddha doctors40

rdquotriple saltrdquo (muppu)Muppu is one of the most mysterious items mentioned in the literature of theTamil Siddhas The term muppu may be translated literally as rdquotriple saltrdquo (mu-uppu)41 In a great number of medical texts it is suggested that muppu should beunderstood as a compound of the three material substances According to thetext Karpa muppu kuru nūl ascribed to Siddha Akastiyar the essential ingredientof muppu is obtained from soil found in desert-like places devoid of plants andgrass

Indeed in the place where grass does not grow [there] will be [thesubstance white like] garlic [hellip]42

On soil with white foam-like salty efflorescence one should look for stones re-sembling skulls or eggshells

What [kind of] soil [is it] It is a brackish soil with consolidated foamit [is] a beautiful white salty substance [hellip] What [is its] form Learn[it] it [would appear] to you in such a way [as if it was] an eggshell[or] a skull43

38 PKV 20339 Passage PKV 184ndash9 relates that onemountain herb even transformed a cowwho consumed it into the mythicalwish-fulfilling cow (kāmatēnu)40 In order to find the best quality herbsyet another special plant called rdquograss oflightrdquo (jōti pul arukampul ie hariyali grass)is used The blade of the grass when wetwith water and held in two fingers startsto spin In order to test a plant the spin-ning blade should be held above it Whenthe grass spins clockwise it should be inter-preted that the herb being tested possessesbeneficial properties See my video demon-stration Kędzia 201641 According to yet another interpretationthe original term should be spelled with a

long -ū as a final vowel (it should be kept inmind that spelling mistakes and inconsist-encies are not uncommon in Tamil Siddhaliterature) In that case the term mup-pūcould mean rdquotriple blossomsrdquo understoodas a mixture of three bodily secretions InTamil a word rdquoblossomrdquo (pū) means alsordquomenstruationrdquo and by extension mup-pūmay be interpreted as the three bodily flu-ids menstrual blood semen and urine SeeZvelebil 2003 9842 KMKN 11 4 pullaṭā muḷaiyāta viṭat-tilētān pūṇṭirukkum [hellip]43 KMKN 12 1ndash2 4 [hellip] pūmiyenna poṅkininra uvaruppu yiramaveḷḷaikaruvennaitu uruvenna terintukoḷḷu unakkuttānumoṭenru maṇṭaiyenru muraikkalāccē [hellip]



It is often claimed by scholars that this essential ingredient of triple saltshould be interpreted as a salty substance obtained from the water collectedfrom fullerrsquos earth (pūnīr rdquoa water of earthrdquo)44 It is stated in the Siddha textsthat pūnīr should be collected only during three months of the Tamil yearie Māci Paṅkuni and Cittarai (mid-February to mid-May)45 Another twoingredients of muppu are often enlisted as aṇṭakkal (rdquoegg-stonerdquo) considered tobe white stones found in the sites of fullerrsquos earth and kalluppu (rdquorock-saltrdquo)46

The last ingredient remains the most obscure since it may signify a salt minedfrom rocks sea salt or an artificially prepared salt According to some Siddhatexts kalluppu is insoluble in water and it melts in fire Some texts also listveṭiyuppu (rdquoexplosive saltrdquo potassium nitrate) among the ingredients of triplesalt47 Siddha Yākōpu provides the following recipe for the preparation of triplesalt (cavukkāram another term for triple salt in Siddha literature)

Look dear in merciful Paṅkuni the month [appropriate] to collectpunīru48 collect [it] and listen [hellip] Dear measure four units(paṭi) of [punīru] add one unit (paṭi) of the well-formed limestone(karcuṇṇam) Indeed dear add one unit (paṭi) of rock-salt (kalluppu)Listen still with esteem [there] is one method [of preparation] [hellip]Dear I have spoken about the processed urine (amuri) in the 700[verses] study [that]Take eight units of [processed] urine (amuri) about which has been[previously] spoken and add [it to the mixture] In the well-knownway leave it for three days Kindly collect the liquid on the fourthday put it in the oven [and] heat it in the firm fire Having noticedthe change [in consistency] into a thick liquid like molasses orderlyadd [to the mixture] half a unit of sesame oil [hellip]Pour [the liquid into the vessel] and cook [it] in order to coagulateAfter it becomes beautifully ripened praise God at the proper time[and] according to [my] wholesome words expose the ground to thewidth of nine inches and spread the ashes on it Listen In an affec-tionate manner place [on the ashes] two [layers] of cloth apportionthe [cooked] thick liquid with the ladle and pour [it on the first layerof the cloth] in order to sink in ListenThen with tenderness leave the liquid [prepared in the describedmanner] with punīru which has been taken and poured with the

44 See eg Jappār 201445 Jappār 2014 546 Jappār 2014 12ndash13 and 20ndash2247 See Velan 1992 66

48 In Yākōpursquos work the variants punīruand punīru are used interchangeably forpūnīr



ladle without failure On the top just like before orderly spread the[second layer of] the cloth on [the cloth] vigorously shed the ashesAs [you will be] watching for the liquid on the top it will appearsoftly Carefully without error remove the upper cloth and watchHaving removed [the upper cloth you will see that] the ash placed onthe ground will absorb the liquid contained in the punīru [prepara-tion] For an auspicious fate take [the remainder] and form it in [theshape of] a ball Humbly make a ball [of a size] similar to the fruitof a wood-apple Carefully place it in the sunlight for eighteen daysplace it on the ground [Then] take [it] [hellip]49

The triple salt is said to be an essential substance in the process of the calcinationof metals

The one who knows the methods of calcining will become a doc-tor Regard the one who calcines as an alchemist who immobilizes[substances] [In order to calcine metals] it is necessary to know themuppū50 which has been spoken about51

Listen about the killing [ie calcination] of metals The powder ofmuppū which is called rdquothe powerrdquo is necessary [for the process]52

It is also considered to be a powerful catalytic in karpam drug preparation as wellas an enhancer of the potency of life-prolonging mercurial preparations53 The

49 CuṇKaṇ 11ndash15 kāṇappā punīruyeṭukkamātam karuṇaiperap paṅkuniyileṭuttukkēḷu vāṇappā paṭinālu aḷantuviṭṭuvaṭivāna karcuṇṇam paṭitānpōṭu tānappākalluppup paṭitānpōṭu takaimaiyā yinnumorutanmaikēḷu pāṇappā yelunūrri lamurit-annaip pakkkuvamāy murikkavē connēnpārēconnatoru amuripaṭi yeṭṭuttānum curutiyāyppōṭṭumē tirināḷvaittu nannayamāy nālānāḷteḷivaivāṅki nalamāka aṭuppilvaittu yer-inērpākam kannalpōr kuḷampāka varutalkaṇṭukaṇakkākap paṭiyarainal leṇṇeyviṭṭu [hellip]vārttiṭṭut tiraḷavē kāyccinīyum vaṭivākappakkuvamā yānapinpu ēttiṭṭup paruvamuṭancāmpalatannai itamāka aṭitanilē cāṇunīḷamkāttiṭṭup parappiyē atinmērkēḷu kanivākayiruṇṭumē cūlaiyiṭṭu pāttiyiṭṭu akappaitinārkuḷamputannaip patiyavē yeṭuttūttip pinpukēḷēpinputān akappaiyināl moṇṭuūttap picākamalpunīri lirukkumnīrai anpāka uṇṭuviṭum

mēlētānum aṭaivāka munpōlē tuṇiparappitenpākac cāmpalaittān mēlēkoṭṭit tiramākappārkkamēl nīraittānum vanpāka uṇṭuviṭumellattānum valuvillā mērruṇiyai nīkkippārēnīkkiyē punīrilirunta nīrai nilaiyākac cām-palatu kuṭittuppōṭum pākkiyamā yeṭuttumēuṇṭaipaṇṇip pativākaviḷāṅkāypō luṇṭaiceytunōkkiyē katirilvaittut tirināḷāru nilaiyākavaittumē yeṭuttukkoḷḷu vākkilē nilaittumēcollakkēḷu vaṭivākap pākattai valuttakkēḷē50 The author of the Kuru Nūl Muppu usesthe variants muppu and muppū interchange-ably as a name of the same substance Seenote 4151 KNM 5 1ndash2 nīrruvakai yarintavan vayit-tiyanākum nilaittatoru vātiyenrāl nīrruvānpārcārrukinra muppūvai yariyavēṇum [hellip]52 KNM 4 1ndash2 [hellip] lōkamāraṇattaik kēḷuurutiyenra muppūvin cuṇṇam vēṇum [hellip]53 Velan 1992 64ndash65 Anandan 2008 viiindashx



final portion of Karpaviti enumerates the benefits bestowed by the rdquosaltrdquo (muppu)The salt is especially credited with beneficial properties in the fields of yoga andalchemy

Study with delight ndash all the successes [are bestowed] by the saltStudy The above-mentioned bodily powers [are bestowed] by thesalt all the flying pills [are bestowed] by the salt all the alchemical[operations] which were explained in order [are enabled] by the saltthe [yogic] exercises in breathing [are supported] by the salt all thepuṭam operations [are enabled] by the salt accelerated ripening ofgold [is enabled] by the salt rare eight-limbed [yoga] [is supported]by the salt Everything [is bestowed] by the excellent salt54

Yet another passage suggests that one cannot become a rdquofulfilled onerdquo ie aSiddha (cittan) without valalai which is another synonymous term for muppu

Would [one] become fulfilled without the fundamental valalai55

rdquotied saltrdquo (kaṭṭuppu)Another salt important for the karpam practices is kaṭṭuppu (rdquotied saltrdquo) describedin the texts as a processed edible salt used in place of common kitchen salt dur-ing karpam therapy56 According to Pōkar in order to prepare kaṭṭuppu rock saltshould first be ground with juices of medical herbs such as kuppaimēni (Acalyphaindica L)57 and kalluruvi (Ammannia vesicatoria) and with lemon juice The mix-ture should be left to dry Then mineral ingredients such as borax cinnabar andred arsenic should be added and pounded with the two herbal juices and mixedinto the salt Then the mixture should be roasted as part of the puṭam operationSubsequently the whole procedure should be repeated The obtained substanceshould be pulverized and eaten with food in place of common salt It is said thatrdquotied saltrdquo makes the body rdquolike an iron pillarrdquo (uṭampu irumput tūṇām) and thatit is not evacuated with the urine It is also stated that if one eats an ordinarynon-tied salt all his rdquoflourishing powersrdquo (vāyttirunta cittiyellām) will rdquobecomedustrdquo (maṇṇāy pōmē)58 The rdquopowersrdquo (citti a Tamilized version of the Sanskritterm siddhi) refer to the powers acquired during yogic practices

54 PKV 328 4ndash329 [hellip] vaḷappamellām up-pālē makilntu pārē pārenra kāyacitti uppi nālēparantōṭuṅ kuḷikaiyellā muppi nālē vārenravātamellā muppi nālē vāciyuḷḷē āṭuvatum uppinālē pūrenra puṭaceyamum uppi nālē ponnōṭippaluttatuvum uppi nālē ārenra aṣṭāṅkam uppinālē atītamā muppālē ellā māccē55 PKV 335 3 [hellip] atiyāna valalaiviṭṭāl cittanāmō

56 According to Siddha Yākōpu in order toachieve efficacy in alchemy it is absolutelyessential to learn how to prepare the triplesalt and the tied salt See CuṇKaṇ 557 See kuppaimēni in Pandanus Databaseof Indian Plants (Charles University 1998ndash2009)58 PKV 207ndash10



mercury and the rdquonine poisonsrdquo (nava-pāṣāṇam)It is often claimed that mercury plays a central role in the Siddha system of medi-cine59 Pōkar states that there is no death for the one who has mastered the op-eration of rdquobindingrdquo (kaṭṭu ie consolidating) of mercury which is consideredto be the semen of the god Śiva

Indeed the truth [is that] there will never be death for the one whohas bound the semen of Śiva [ie mercury]60

Mercury and its compounds are widely used in recipes for karpam prepar-ations in the consulted texts Three mercurial compounds namely vīram (cor-rosive sublimate) pūram (subchloride of mercury) and iliṅkam (vermillion) areincluded in one of the traditional categories of the fundamental materials usedby Siddhas in medicinal preparations called rdquothe nine poisonsrdquo (navapāṣāṇam)61

Mercury as well as the poisons should be subjected to operations which removetheir toxicity However the consulted texts do not contain systematic descrip-tions of such operations

An especially powerful form of mercury described in Tamil Siddha literatureis called rasamaṇi rdquothe mercurial jewelrdquo There is a saying among the Siddhas thatkarpam therapy consists of the three elements namely mantiram maṇi and mar-untu ie rdquomantras the [mercurial] jewel and medicinesrdquo62 Generally rasamaṇiis consolidated mercury rendered fire-resistant and formed into a bead Vari-ous methods of maṇi preparation are described in Siddha literature Usuallyit is stated that the liquid consistency of mercury should be first turned into abutter-like state during the repeated operation of curukku ie adding herbaljuices to liquid metals63 According to one recipe mercury should be placedin an iron ladle and the juice of a certain karpam herb (veṇkarantai white Indianglobe thistle64) should be applied for twelve hours

Having taken and squeezed white karantai take more than the unitof one palam of its juice Clean an iron ladle and put the purified

59 See Velan 1992 69ndash7360 PKV 60 4 [hellip] civavintaik kaṭṭi nōrkkuorukālum cāvillai uṇmai tānē61 The whole list of the nine poisonsencompasses vīram (corrosive sublimate)pūram (subchloride of mercury) iliṅkam(vermilion) mānōcilai (realgar) tāḷakam(yellow orpiment) kauri (golden colouredarsenic) veḷḷai (white arsenic) elipāṣāṇam(arsenic oxide) kārmukil (dark prepared

arsenic) See navapāṣāṇam in SambasivamPillai 1931ndash199462 Personal communication with anonym-ous informant63 See eg PKV 28ndash32 50ndash55 57ndash6164 Other passages recommend differentherbs for the curukku operation such asaloe gall-nut (PKV 28ndash32) or civakkarantai(PKV 57ndash61)



mercury in it For twelve hours apply the curukku operation [Themixture] will beneficially become like butter collect [it]65

Afterwards the butter-like mixture of metal and herbal juice should be formedinto lumps and roasted in burning camphor Next the lumps should be againroasted in a puṭam capsule sealed with the leaves of the ārai plant (Marsilea minutacoromandelica) Another puṭam should then be applied and this time mercurialballs should be inserted into the shells of Datura Then the lumps should beroasted in a puṭam capsule sealed with the ground leaves of the abovementionedveṇkarantai plant yet another three times The text states that the consolidatedmercury when melted would appear like gold and when crushed would looklike a diamond

Form [the mixture] into lumps roast [the lumps] in the fire of theflawless camphor roast [the mixture] in the [capsule sealed with] theleaves of ārai plant roast [the mixture] in the Datura shells Prepare[the capsule sealed with] karantai plant apply the puṭam three timesLook when melted it will appear like gold Look when crushed intopieces it will shine like a diamond66

After consolidation the mercurial bead may be worn as an amulet Some pas-sages of the Karpaviti state that the jewels can also be worn as a necklace and thatif an adept wears a necklace made of 108 mercurial pills and repeats the mantrasin mind then lord Śiva with his consort shall come to him and bestow upon himsupernatural powers including the power of preserving the body (kāyacitti)

Having put on 108 [mercurial] jewels as a necklace repeating theproper mantras consisting of five and six letters if [you] look withyour internal [eye] indeed lord Śiva with the Goddess will come andwill bestow [upon you] great power in yoga and the power [to pre-serve] the body If you desire wealth he will give [you] the power[associated with] alchemy If your mind is firm all the powers willbecome [yours]67

65 PKV 57 2ndash4 [hellip] veṇkarantai koṇṭuvantu atikamām paṭiccāru pilintuvaittu [hellip]ayakkaraṇṭi cutti paṇṇi cuttitta cūtattai atilēviṭṭu [hellip] nālcāmam curukkup pōṭu nalamākaveṇṇeyām valintu vāṅkē66 PKV 58 vāṅkiyē kilipōlak kaṭṭik koṇṭumācarra cūṭanatu tīyil vāṭṭu āṅkiyē āraiy-ilaik kuḷḷē vāṭṭu atikamā mattaṅkāyk kuḷḷēvāṭṭu mūṅkiyē mun karantaik kavacaṅkaṭṭu

mūnru puṭam pōṭṭeṭuttu urukkippārutāṅkiyē taṅkampōl uruki yāṭuntakarttuṭaittālvayirampōl taḷukkām pārē67 PKV 259 2ndash4 [hellip] nūrru yeṭṭumaṇitāvaṭamāyk kōttuiyalpāna ainteluttu āreluttumōta manampārttu tēviyoṭu civantān vantumakattāna yōkacitti kāyacitti īyvār tanampārttuvātamoṭu cittai īvār cāṅkamāy manamuraittālcitti yāmē



It is believed that the jewel possesses healing properties protects its ownerfrom aging and witchcraft and supports meditative practices The bead can alsobe processed further in order to obtain edible forms such as centūram68 Prepar-ing digestible forms of the jewel requires roasting it with addition of other metals(eg gold and lead) and certain rdquopoisonsrdquo (eg cinnabar arsenics) pounding itwith the juice of other karpam herbs and subjecting it to fire69 Some passages alsomention mercury consolidated in the form of a rdquopillrdquo (kuḷikai) The distinctionbetween a pill (kuḷikai) and a jewel (maṇi) requires further research Howeversome passages suggest that both the terms might be used interchangeably70 Insome Siddha texts a pill is often mentioned in connection with the power ofwalking in the sky which it is said to bestow upon the one who keeps it in theirmouth71 Pōkarrsquos text suggests that the pill could be furthermore subjected to theempowering operation called cāraṇai72 however the description of the operationis not provided by the texts73 It is stated that the empowered kuḷikai enables itsuser to perform some extraordinary actions such as going to the moon and backwith great speed It is also suggested that the pill turned into an edible drug(centūram) and taken with honey for forty days would rejuvenate the body byshedding its external cover

If [you] perform cāraṇai operation on hardened mercury [you will]go to the moon and back with high speed If you prepare centūram[you will reach] mountain peaks in thousands Prepare centūram as[described] before in order [to gain] the power With attention eat[centūram] for forty days in honey having shed the external skin [thebody] will become reddish74

urine (amuri)According to the Tamil Lexicon the term amuri can designate rdquourinerdquo as well asthe rdquonectar believed to be generated in the body by yōgic practicerdquo75 The term

68 PKV 60ndash6169 See PKV 53ndash5470 See eg PKV 249ndash26271 See eg CuṇKaṇ 287 Cuṇ 153ndash155PKV 278ndash28572 cāraṇai is the Tamilized form of the San-skrit word cāraṇa In Sanskrit alchemicalliterature (rasaśāstra) this term has a tech-nical meaning It is one of the sequencedoperations for perfecting mercury before itsinternal application (see White 1996 268)The processing of mercury in perfecting op-

erations is also described in Sanskrit med-ical literature starting from the ninth cen-tury and becoming more prominent afterthe thirteenth century (see Wujastyk 2013)73 PKV 26274 PKV 180 1ndash3 kaṭṭiyāntilde cūtattil cāraṇaiyōceytāl kaṭuvēka matiyaḷavu kaṇṭu mīḷumoṭṭināl centūram āyirattir kōṭum urutiyāymunpōlē centūram paṇṇu tiṭṭiyāy maṇṭalantāntēni luṇṇu ciritākac caṭṭaikakkic civappumākum75 See amuri in Tamil Lexicon (1924ndash1936)



might be used in both senses in Siddha literature which contributes to the am-biguities in the interpretations76 Nonetheless there are numerous passages inwhich the term may be most certainly interpreted as urine Urine is an importantvehicle for numerous herbal karpam recommended in the texts Besides in somekarpam recipes urine is listed as the main ingredient For example the followingpassage from the text Ntildeānakarpam 222 ascribed to Siddha Pulastiyar provides arecipe for a preparation in which the urine of young boys fed with sweets is themain ingredient

Properly take sixteen measures of the urine of young boys fed withsweets In a harmonious manner put the water of the body [ie ur-ine] [in the vessel] similarly take eighteen measures of slaked limeand dissolve it without hesitation in the urine Keep it in separationfor three days [exposed] to the sun [Then put it] in a secret place un-known to the people away from dew sun wind and the shadow ofwomen for four days Collect the bright liquid [accumulated] in the

76 A prominent example of the ambigu-ities concerning the interpretation of theterm amuri is found in the TirumantiramThe chapter kāyacitti upāyam (rdquoMeans of[attaining] bodily powersrdquo) describes thepractice called amuri taraṇai (rdquopreservationof amurirdquo TM 825ndash30) This crypticpassage deals with the drinkable fluid(kuṭinīr) contained in the body and calledamuri (rdquourinerdquo rdquonectarrdquo) It is said thatone should keep control over the flow ofamuri Drinking the fluid is presentedas a therapy which prevents and curesdiseases stabilises breath and mind andchanges the body into gold (TM 826teḷitarum intac civanīr parukiloḷitaru mōrāṇṭilūnamon rillaivaḷiyurum eṭṭin manamumoṭuṅkumkaḷitaruṅ kāyaṅ kanakama tāmērdquoIf one drinks this water of Śiva whichbestows clarity in one year [he] willreceive the light there will be no defect[in him] the breath will stabilise in eight[years] the mind too will be restrainedthe body granting delights will indeedbecome goldrdquo) It is also stated that theliquid removes grey hair and wrinkles andvanquishes death (TM 8284 naraitiraimāru namanumaṅ killaiyē rdquoGrey hair andwrinkles will change and there will be

no deathrdquo) One passage recommendsdrinking amuri mixed with black pepperas well as externally using the mixture onthe crown of the head It is suggested thatthe preparation is the best of all medicinesand that it eliminates grey hair (TM 827nūru miḷaku nukaruntilde civattinīr mārum itarkumaruntillai māntarkaḷtēril itanait teḷiyuccikappiṭinmārum itarku marumayi rāmē rdquoThewater of Śiva consumed [with] one hundredblack pepper grains ndash there is no medicinefor human equal to [it] If you accept itand apply it on the grey crown of thehead it [the head] will be transformedthe [grey] hair will changerdquo) The lastportion of the section contains a recipefor a preparation in which the fluid andsome common Indian medical herbs ieblack pepper amla turmeric and neemare used It is stated that the mixturerejuvenates the body and changes greyhair into black (TM 8292ndash4 kaḷavu kāyaṅkalantain nīrilēmiḷaku nelliyum mantildecaḷumvēmpiṭiliḷakum mēni iruḷuṅ kapālamē rdquoIf oneplaces black pepper amla turmeric andneem in this water contained in the bodythe body will grow tender and the [hair on]the head will darkenrdquo )



pit of the vessel Now leave it alone in the vessel Accordingly to theprescription place it on the fire place Keep it on a moderate fire77

When taken during yogic practices this preparation is expected toturn the human body into a diamantine body78

3 ANALOGIES

From the presentation above the question arises what the relation betweenthe mentioned items and rejuvenation longevity and immortality is In the

case of the black herbs the black colour of the plants may be easily associatedwith the black pigment in hair of the person who has not aged yet and thereforeby extension with youthfulness and vitality Moreover the recurring theme inthe discourse on the abovementioned substances is their immobilization espe-cially with regard to mercury which in the form of a bound resistant and consol-idated jewel is expected to bestow immortality Such immobilization associatesmedical and alchemical preparations with yogic practices aimed at the stabil-isation of mind breath and semen Yet another mentioned instance refers tothe binding of the salt into kaṭṭuppu which is stated to have the power to stabil-ize the body so that it resembles an iron pillar The stabilization and retentionof the movement and changeability is associated with resistance to the passingof time and ageing Karpam substances such as herbs and triple salt are alsobelieved to effect the operation of rdquobindingrdquo (kaṭṭu) on the physical substancesmanipulated by the Siddha doctor-alchemist which justifies their use in the sta-bilisation and preservation of the body Moreover the special status of triple saltamong the substances may be also connected with the symbology of the num-ber three In the Siddha tradition various triplets of concepts are recognizedamong which the three phonemes of the syllable aum are especially importantThe triadic character of the salt may suggest correspondences between the man-tra seen as the transformative agent during spiritual practices and the salt usedto transform physical substances and the human body79 Drinking urine is alsostated to stabilise the body and it may be further related to yogic practices inwhich the bodily secretions are applied on the body of the practitioner As poin-ted out by Mallinson numerous haṭhayogic texts contain references to practices

77 NtildeK 73 iniyapattiyamāncirivarkaḷmuriyīreṭṭu paṭiyatukaṇakkāyicaivatāy pāṇṭaminnīrviṭṭatani liṇaiy-ilāk kalcunnanīru paniyeṭṭuppaṭikoṇṭamuriyiltākkiccaṅkaiyillāmalum karaittutaniyavaittatanai mūnrunāḷraviyiltaraṇimāniṭarkaḷu mariyā paniravikārrum

vanitaiyarnilalumpaṭāmalum raka-ciyamākap pākamāycaturnāḷ pāṇṭamān-cillupativatāy teḷintanīrvāṅki iniyorupāṇṭamētaninirreḷivaiviparamāy viṭṭuṭanaṭuppil [hellip]mitamatāyt tīyerintiṭumē78 See Venkatraman 1990 11079 See Zvelebil 2003 27ndash31 98ndash99



associated with massaging the body with various bodily secretions includingurine In certain passages human urine is also credited with the power of trans-mutation of copper into gold as well80 Drinking urine is also part of the yogictechnique called amarolī81 In addition the ambiguous Tamil term amuri suggestsconnotations between urine and the concept of immortalizing nectar believed tobe the effect of yogic practices

Passages on karpam drugs repeatedly advise to practice yoga during therapywith karpam82 The text Pōkar Karpaviti also states that during karpam therapysome side effects may occur such as a burning sensation in the body The exper-ience of excessive heat in the body is often regarded as a characteristic symptomof the awakening of the kuṇḍalinī energy during practices of yoga which alsomay suggest a further connection between yoga and karpam therapy Pōkarrsquos textprescribes herbal karpam to fight such heat83 Connections between medicine al-chemy and yoga are apparent in regard to the effects ascribed to the karpam pre-parations contained in medico-alchemical literature The most often mentionedeffects of karpam therapy in Siddha texts are rejuvenation and strengthening ofthe body The purifying properties of the preparations are also frequently men-tioned especially with regard to phlegm84 which is considered to be a seriousobstacle in yogic practices as it is believed to obstruct the oozing of the yogicnectar to the throat of the practitioner85 In Siddha literature it is repeatedlystated that karpam preparations support yogic practices for example by facilit-ating control of the breath and by supporting and opening the central channel(culumunai)86 Yet another frequently mentioned effect of eating karpam is thevisible transformation of the body which becomes healthy beautiful and youth-ful87 It is claimed that due to karpam therapy the body becomes as beautiful asthe one of the love-god88 or like gold89 and that it is consolidated like a dia-mond90 As already mentioned the consolidation of the body is associated alsowith yogic practices connected with the stabilisation of breath mind and semenFinally it is claimed that karpam substances provide immortality91

80 See Mallinson 2007 220 n 32881 Mallinson 2007 221 n 33382 See eg PKV 68 PKV 97 PKV 16683 PKV 111ndash11284 See eg PKV 785 See Velan 1992 82 86 See eg NtildeK 11ndash76 PKV 12 PKV 73See Venkatraman 1990 109ndash11087 In Karpaviti it is even claimed that cer-tain preparations may rejuvenate a ripened

banana which after administering the drugthrough the cut in the skin would becomegreen within a few hours See PKV 15888 See eg PKV 78 4 [hellip] matanpō lākum89 PKV 128 3 [hellip] taṅkampōl mēniyellāntaḷukkuk kāṇum90 PKV 90 1 [hellip] vayiram pōlirukum tēkam91 PKV 90 4 [hellip] orukālum cāvillai uṇmaitānē



4 CONCLUSION

To conclude the application of karpam drugs seems to be closely associatedwith yogic practices in Tamil Siddha medico-alchemical literature On the

one hand it is repeatedly stated that karpam preparations support yogic practicessuch as meditation and breath control they remove phlegm seen as an obstaclein the process of yogic perfection open internal channels and so on On the otherhand it is also claimed that yoga supports the efficacy of the karpam therapy Ad-ditionally the two disciplines are also related with alchemy references to whichare widely present in the consulted texts Looking from the broader perspect-ive some parallels with karpam therapy can also be found within alchemical andmedical Sanskrit texts which refer to certain preparations (rasāyana) connectedwith attaining the special powers such as extending life span far beyond theordinary length or rendering the body imperishable92

The conviction that the body and soul are equivalent and interdependent andthat the body is necessary to achieve the final aim of liberation directly expressedin the Tirumantiram legitimizes karpam practices aiming at the preservation ofthe physical body which are described in the later texts This conviction whichunderlies the practices described by Tirumūlar although not explicitly statedresonates strongly in Tamil Siddha medico-alchemical literature The concep-tion that the human being is an inseparable connection of the material body andsoul authorizes the synthesis of the disciplines of medicine yoga and alchemywhich refer to both material and spiritual domains The three disciplines mightbe regarded as the three integral parts of a wider Siddha system of knowledgeoriented towards achieving immortality and liberation

TEXT EDITIONS

Cuṇ Ta Kuppucāmi Nāyuṭu ed (1952) Yākōpu TiruvāymalarntaruḷiyaCuṇṇam 300 Maturai Śri Rāmaccantira Vilācam Piras

CuṇKaṇ Ār Ci Mōkan ed (2014a) Yākōpu Cuṇṇak Kāṇṭam 600 Cennai Tā-marai Nūlakam First published 2002

KMKN ldquoKarpa Muppu Kuru Nūl 100rdquo (2014b) In Akastiya Munivar AruḷiyaMuppu Cūttiraṅkaḷ Ed by Ār Ci Mōkan Cennai Tāmarai Nūlakam

KNM ldquoKuru Nūl Muppu 50rdquo (2014c) In Akastiya Munivar Aruḷiya MuppuCūttiraṅkaḷ Ed by Ār Ci Mōkan Cennai Tāmarai Nūlakam

NtildeK Pulastiyar Viḷakkiya Ntildeānakarpam-222 (1936) Cennai Cakkaravarttipiras

92 On the special powers associated withrasāyana preparations in medical and al-

chemical Sanskrit texts see Wujastyk forth-coming



PKV ldquoPōkar Karpavitirdquo (2004) In Cittar Kāyakarpam Ed by citta maruttuvamaiya āraycci nilaiyam Citta maruttuva ilakkiya ārāycci āvaṇatturaiand citta maruttuva maiya ārāycci nilaiyam Citta maruttuva ilakkiyaārāycci āvaṇatturai Cennai Citta maruttuva ilakkiya ārāycci āvaṇat-turai citta maruttuva maiya āraycci nilaiyam

TM P Irāmanāta Piḷḷai ed (2007) Tirumantiram Mūvāyiram 2 volsTirunelvēli Tennintiya caiva cittānta nūrpatippuk kalakam Firstpublished 1942 1957

VaiCin Ta Kuppucāmi Nāyuṭu ed (1960) Yākōpu Aruḷic Ceyta VaittiyaCintāmaṇi 700 Kurulūl 55 Cērttatu Maturai Śri Rāmaccantira VilācamPiras

VāVai Ta Kuppucāmi Nāyuṭu ed (1955) Yākōpu Vakārak Kaḷaṅku EnnumVātavaittiyam 300 Maturai Śri Rāmaccantira Vilācam Piras

VK Ji Irāmacāmikkōn ed (1963) Vaittiya Kallāṭam Maturai Śri Rāmac-cantira Vilācam Piras


Anandan Anaivaari R ed (2008) Siddha Materia Medica Chennai Departmentof Indian Medicine and Homeopathy

Buck David C (1976) Dance Snake Dance A Translation with Comments of theSong of Pāmpāṭṭi-Cittar Calcutta A Writers Workshop Publication

Charles University (1998ndash2009) Pandanus Database of Indian Plants Seminar ofIndian Studies Faculty of Arts Charles University Prague Czech Republicurl httpiuffcuniczpandanus (on 8 Jan 2018)

Ganapathy TN (1993) The Philosophy of the Tamil Siddhas New Delhi IndianCouncil of Philosophical Research isbn 9788185636030

mdash (2003) The Yoga of Siddha Bhōganāthar Vol 1 Quebec Babajirsquos Kriya Yoga andPublications Inc isbn 9781895383195

mdash (2004) The Yoga of the Eighteen Siddhars An Anthology Quebec Babajirsquos KriyaYoga and Publications Inc isbn 9781895383249

Goodall Dominic (1998) Bhaṭṭa Rāmakaṇṭṭharsquos Commentary on the Kiraṇatan-tra Vol 1 Pondicherry Institut Franccedilais de Pondicheacutery Eacutecole franccedilaisedrsquoExtrecircme-Orient isbn 9788184700862

mdash (July 2000) ldquoProblems of Name and Lineage Relationships between SouthIndian Authors of the Śaiva Siddhāntardquo In Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society102 pp 205ndash16

Jappār A Aptul (2014) Muppu Enum Karpa Maruntu Cennai Tāmarai NūlakamKędzia Ilona (2016) Video Recording of rdquomastering Deathlessness - Some Remarks

about Immortality Teachings from Selected Tamil Siddha Textsrdquo Ayuryog ProjectWorkshop University of Vienna url https youtu be ALqn5yOJqxM t =



14m47s (on 8 Jan 2018) Video recording of lecture Conference URL httpsgooglmgxycr

mdash (2017) ldquoGlobal Trajectories of a Local Lore Some Remarks about Medico-Alchemical Literature of the Two Tamil Siddha Cosmopolitesrdquo In CracowIndological Studies XVIII pp 93ndash118

Little Layne Ross (2006) ldquoBowl Full of Sky Story-making and the Many Livesof the Siddha Bhogarrdquo PhD Berkeley University of California

Macdonell Arthur Anthony and Arthur Berriedale Keith (1912) Vedic Index ofNames and Subjects Vol 1 London John Murray

Mallinson James (2007) The Khecarīvidyā of Ādinathā London Routledge isbn9780415586139

Meenakshi K (1996) ldquoThe Siddhas of Tamil Nadu A Voice of Dissentrdquo In Tra-dition Dissent and Ideology Ed by R Champakalakshmi and S Gopal DelhiOxford University Press

Natarajan Kanchana (2004) ldquorsquoDivine Semenrsquo and the Alchemical Conversion ofIramatevarrdquo In The Medieval History Journal 72 pp 255ndash278

mdash (2009) ldquorsquoEntering the Universe of Fire and Lightrsquo The Life and Philosophyof Pokar from Pokar Elayiramrdquo In Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences121-2 pp 147ndash164

Sambasivam Pillai T V (1931ndash1994) Tamil-English Dictionary of Medicine Chem-istry Botany and Allied Sciences 5 vols Madras Government Central Press

Scharfe Hartmut (1999) ldquoThe Doctrine of the Three Humors in the TraditionalIndian Medicine and the Alleged Antiquity of Tamil Siddha Medicinerdquo InJournal of the American Oriental Society 1194 pp 609ndash629 doi 102307604837

Seacutebastia Brigitte (2015ndash2017) Conservation Documentation and Preservation of theKnowledge of Siddha Medicine Header text Institut Franccedilais de Pondicheacuteryurl httpwwwifpindiaorgcontentconservation-documentation-and-preservation-knowledge-siddha-medicine (on 9 Jan 2018)

Sivaraja Pillai K N (1930) Agastya in the Tamil Land Madras University ofMadras

Tamil Lexicon (1924ndash1936) University of Madras url httpdsaluchicagoedudictionariestamil-lex (on 9 Jan 2018)

Velan A Shanmuga (1992) Longevity and Kalpa Medicine of India Madras Direct-orate of Indian Medicine and Homeopathy

Venkatraman R (1990) A History of the Tamil Siddha Cult Madurai Ennes Pub-lications

Weiss Richard S (2009) Recipes for Immortality Medicine Religion and Communityin South India New York Oxford University Press isbn 9780195335231

White David Gordon (1996) The Alchemical Body Siddha Traditions in Medi-eval India Chicago and London The University of Chicago Press isbn9780226894997




mdash (Sept 2013) ldquoPerfect Medicine Mercury in Sanskrit Medical Literaturerdquo InAsian Medicine Tradition amp Modernity 81 pp 15ndash40 doi 10116315734218-12341278

Zvelebil Kamil V (1992) Companion Studies to the History of Tamil LiteratureLeiden Brill

mdash (1993) The Poets of the Powers Magic Freedom and Renewal 2nd ed LowerLake Integral Publishing isbn 9780941255325 First published in 1973

mdash (2003) The Siddha Quest for Immortality Oxford Mandrake of Oxford isbn9781869928438

Zysk Kenneth G (2013) ldquoAn Indologist Looks at Siddha Medicine in Tamil-nadurdquo In Medical Texts and Manuscripts in Indian Cultural History Ed byDominik Wujastyk Anthony Cerulli and Karin Preisendanz New DelhiManohar pp 181ndash194






Tibetan Bonpo Mendrup the Precious FormularsquosTransmission

Anna SehnalovaCharles University Prague and Oxford University

MLA style citation form Anna Sehnalova ldquoTibetan Bonpo Mendrup the Precious Formularsquos TransmissionrdquoHistory of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) 143ndash180 doi 1018732hssav5i227Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 INTRODUCTION

The present issue of History of Science in South Asia is dedicated to longevityand rejuvenation practices in South and Inner Asian medical alchemical

and yogic traditions with a particular focus on their mutual relatedness andinterconnectedness This study presents the emic textual history of the Bonpomendrup (Wylie sman sgrub)1 ritual a Tibetan practice of presumably Indian ori-gin2 embodying and intertwining all these spheres of knowledge and their prin-ciples

The Tibetan religious tradition ldquoBonrdquo in its current monastic form heavilydraws on Buddhist doctrine and practice and hence can stand as one of theschools of Tibetan Buddhism The mendrup ritual epitomises this milieu Never-theless the designation ldquoBonrdquo can be in certain instances viewed also in contrastto Buddhism when it is understood in relation to Tibetan pre-Buddhist cults (iepredating the seventh century ce) or to the non-Buddhist elements of both his-torical and contemporary Tibetan culture especially Tibetan popular religion3Some of the contrasting elements may be best understood as deliberate inver-sions of Buddhist categories in a process of establishing a unique and cultur-

1 For names I have used the recognisedTibetan phonetic transcription with the ex-ception of a few established forms Bonpo(instead of Boumlnpo) Tashi Menri (instead ofTrashi Menri) Triten Norbutse (Triten Nor-butseacute) and Menri Trindzin (Menri Tridzin)The phonetic transcription is followed bythe Wylie transliteration in brackets In

some cases I have added Sanskrit termscommonly used or referred to by Tibetanpractitioners2 See Cantwell 2015 and Cantwell 2017 (inthis volume) and Garrett 2009 20103 For discussion of the term rdquoBonrdquo seeKvaeligrne 1995 and van Schaik 2013


144 tibetan bonpo mendrup

ally effective interpretation4 Contemporary Bonpos monks of Bonpo monaster-ies and their lay communities adopt many Buddhist precepts often expressedwith original variations while maintaining a great deal of Tibetan non-Buddhistideas Currently Bonpos are found all across cultural Tibet and the HimalayasThe largest communities exist in Eastern Tibet (Sichuan Gansu and Qinghaiprovinces of China) and in the Nepali Himalayas (the regions of Mustang andDolpo the Kathmandu valley)5 Significant Bonpo centres have recently alsobeen established in the West in Europe (mainly France) the USA and Mexico

The Bonpo mendrup ritual is a tantric meditative practice (Sanskrit sādhana)and consecration rite of transforming substances into a most effective healingmixture Sādhana implies the basic tantric exercises of visualising and self-identifying with a tantric deity in order to achieve meditative accomplishment6Mendrup practice lets an adept attain such an inner transformation and spiritualprogress while also transforming material ingredients into empowered andconsecrated substances Such substances are then believed to hold special vir-tues powers and qualities of awakening (Tibetan byang chub Sanskrit bodhi)7Both the mendrup ritual process and the produced ldquomedicinerdquo men (sman) areconsidered extremely efficacious for healing rejuvenation and longevity aswell as for promoting spiritual progress As such the ritual is similar to othermendrup rituals and practices in Tibet as well as to chuumllen (bcud len) mani rilbu(ma ṇi ril bu) precious pillsrsquo (rin chen ril bu) processing etc8 The appellationldquomendruprdquo is a compound of two words 1 men (sman) denoting ldquomedicinerdquoa healing substance or in general something beneficial9 and 2 drup (sgrub)meaning ldquoto achieve attain accomplishrdquo which is also a term for the yogicand tantric practice of sādhana The name of the ritual can thus be translatedas ldquomedicinal accomplishmentrdquo or ldquoachievement of medicinerdquo ldquomedicinal

4 For instance the right-hand circumambu-lation in the Tibetan Buddhist context has aleft-hand alternation in the Bonpo contextSimilarly the colours associated with indi-vidual cardinal points of a mandala haveswitched locations for the Bonpos as will beshown below5 See Karmay and Nagano 20036 On the meditative and spiritual elementof mendrup in the Nyingma context seeCantwell 2015 and Cantwell 2017 (in thisvolume) and Garrett 2009 20107 Bentor 1996 19978 On mendrup see Cantwell 2015 and Can-twell 2017 (in this volume) Donden andHopkins 1997 Bstan-rsquodzin-rgya-mtsho et

al 2007 Garrett 2009 2010 Craig 20112012 Blaikie 2013 2014 Blaikie et al 2015On chuumllen (bcud len) see Gerke 2013 Par-fionovitch Dorje and Meyer 1992 I 119ndash22and II 275ndash78 Oliphant 2015 2016 205 f(for a chuumllen close to the mendrup describedhere) On mani rilbu (ma ṇi ril bu) see Kohn1988 On the processing of precious pills (rinchen ril bu) see Aschoff and Tashigang 20012004 Gerke 2012 Czaja 2013 Gerke 2013Blaikie 2015 Czaja 2015 Gerke 2017 (in thisvolume) and Millard unpublished On theseand other comparable practices see Samuel2010 and Schaeffer 20029 Cf Das 1902


anna sehnalova 145

practicerdquo ldquopractice of medicinerdquo or ldquomedicinal sādhanardquo10 Within its immensecomplexity the Bonpo mendrup ritual combines Indian tantrism Buddhismand its soteriological ideas the Tibetan medical tradition (Sowa rigpa gso ba rigpa) alchemy and Tibetan indigenous religious notions The ritual is centredon the inner-personal transformation through meditation upon tantric deitiesaccompanied by the production and consumption of the specially empoweredsubstance The substance is called ldquomedicinerdquo and is compounded followingrules of Tibetan medicinal drugs and ritual knowledge The medicine created inthis context acquires such epithets as ldquothe nectar of immortalityrdquo (rsquochi med bdudrtsi) ldquothe medicine overcoming poisonrdquo (dug rsquojoms parsquoi sman) ldquothe preciousnectarrdquo (bdud rtsi rin po che) ldquothe great nectarrdquo (bdud rtsi chen po) ldquothe secretnectarrdquo (bdud rtsi gsang ba) ldquothe nectar of wisdomrdquo (ye shes bdud rtsi) etc11

In general in both Tibetan Buddhism and Bon the performance of themendrup ritual can vary from being a small yearly rite for the enhancementof drug efficacy in medical clinics or other institutions producing medicinesfurther as an irregular village event or as an extended monastic celebration asthe one presented later in this article12 The Bonpo mendrup when performed ona large scale represents one of the most elaborate healing rituals of the presentTibetan realm It is also probably one of the rarest special most demandingand expensive Tibetan rituals The Bonpo community believe it to be extremelypowerful an event one should witness at least once in a lifetime

2 THE BONPO MENDRUP RITUAL PRACTICE

Historically the practice of the extended Bonpo mendrup ritual in the mon-astic setting used to be restricted to a single performance in the life of each

abbot of Tashi Menri monastery (bKra shis sman ri founded in 1405) in CentralTibet the leading monastery of Bon (Figure 1) The interval between perform-ances is said to have averaged around sixty years Nowadays the practice ismuch more frequent due to increasing (and global) sponsorship and facilitated

10 For a broader etymological excursus onthe term see Garrett 200911 MS Kathmandu Triten Norbutse mon-astery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdudrtsi sman gyi gzhung lags s+ho) dKar ruGrub dbang sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma1998a v 168 text 1 1998b v 230 text 22dPon slob Rin po che tshangs pa bstan rsquodzinet al 2014 For a discussion of the expres-sion and concept of ldquonectarrdquo in Buddhistmendrup contexts see Garrett 2009 2010

12 On mendrup as a small yearly rite forthe enhancement of drug efficacy in med-ical clinics see Craig 2011 2012 in other in-stitutions producing medicines see Blaikie2013 2014 Blaikie et al 2015 Kind (2002)provides an example of mendrup as an irreg-ular village event from Dolpo Nepal Andsee Cantwell 2015 and Cantwell 2017 (in thisvolume) for mendrup as an extended mon-astic celebration



Figure 1 Tashi Menri monastery in Central Tibet

logistics for the purchase of the required medicinal ingredients and substancesIt particularly flourishes in the exile in the substitute Tashi Menri monastery(founded 1969) in Himachal Pradesh India and the second most prominent ex-ile monastery Triten Norbutse (Khri brtan nor bu rtse initiated in 1986 founded1992) in Kathmandu Nepal (Figure 2)13

All Bonpo mendrup rituals are dedicated to a specific tutelary deity yidam(Tibetan (Wylie) yi dam yi dam gyi lha Sanskrit iṣṭa-devatā) and the deityrsquosspecific cycle of teachings Different teaching lineages14 of the Bonpos havetheir own mendrup rituals of different yidam deities ie of particular and oftenindividually attributed tantric deities to be meditated upon in order to guide theadepts to awakening For the prevailing Bonpo Dru (Bru also spelled Gru rsquoBrursquoGru) lineage15 inherently tied to the Menri monastery the two main yidams fora mendrup ritual are the deities Trowo Tsochok Khagying (Khro bo gtso mchog

13 The ritual in Menri was mentioned byCech (1988) and in Triten Norbutse byTsetan (1998)14 The liturgic and teaching lineages of theBonpos originated from hereditary familyfather-son transmission lineages Only asmall number of the original six main lines

have survived and had to adapt to the mon-astic system On the lineages see Karmay1998 2007 and rMersquou tsha bstan rsquodzin rnamrgyal 201415 See Karmay 2007 and rMersquou tsha bstanrsquodzin rnam rgyal 2014


anna sehnalova 147

Figure 2 Triten Norbutse monastery in Kathmandu Nepal during the mendrup ceremony inDecember 2012

mkharsquo rsquogying) ldquoWrathful One Supreme Lord Towering the Skyrdquo16 and Purwa(Phur ba Sanskrit kīla) ldquoDaggerrdquo Medicinal empowerment (sman dbang) ofthe peaceful and wrathful deities (zhi tro zhi khro) specifically connected toone of the respective wrathful yidams in each case is integral for the practiceThe mendrup particularly examined in this article is the one dedicated to TrowoTsochok Khagying called ldquothe light-swirled mendruprdquo (sman sgrub rsquood zer rsquokhyilba)

Within the Bonpo tradition the big monastic performances of mendrup havebecome synonymous with the designation drupchen (sgrub chen) which generallydenotes ldquoa Major Practice session or intensive communal tantric practice focusedon attaining realisation held over a number of days and typically requiring alarge team of lamas17 and ritualists as the principal practitionersrdquo18 The drupchenpractice can function without a mendrup19 but for the main monasteries of Bon

16 Kvaeligrne 1995 75ndash77 and 88ndash90 ldquoThe Su-preme Lord Poised with Majestic Splendorin Spacerdquo translation of Triten Norbutse(Yungdrung 2012)17 Lama (bla ma) is an honorary title for es-teemed Tibetan monks

18 Cantwell 2015 9019 Cantwell (2015 2017 in this volume)observed that for the Nyingma schooldrupchen principally exists without mendrupand the latter is a possible addition to theformer



the two have become conflated to a certain extent The word drupchen is thus andespecially in colloquial expression for the Bonpos usually understood to referto elaborate mendrup monastic celebrations and differentiates them from minormendrup rites conducted yearly or at another higher frequency20 or in villagesettings21

The following descriptions of the contemporary execution of mendrup areprimarily based on the last exile performance in Triten Norbutse monastery inKathmandu in 2012 supplemented by the ritualrsquos scriptures and other sources22

The event represented ldquothe light-swirled mendruprdquo of the deity Trowo TsochokKhagying The mendrup ceremony is very complicated and is divided into threemain phases by the Bonpos

1 Preliminary activities (sngon rsquogro) of purifications enhancing auspicious-ness and creating suitable conditions for the major practice gathering theprescribed substances which count over a hundred and compounding themendrup medicine

2 The central activities of accomplishing and empowering the medicine andattaining spiritual accomplishments in a meditational state upon TrowoTsochok Khagying and the peaceful and wrathful deities

3 The final medicinal empowerment (sman dbang) along with an empower-ment for long life (tshe sgrub gyi dbang) and the mendrup medicine distribu-tion

The mendrup act itself is constituted of the middle and longest part and theconcluding empowerments This second section lasts no less than fifteen daysduring which chanting cannot cease and the main mendrup ldquomedicinal mantrardquomendzap (sman rsquodzab) resonates many times Various other mantras special in-vocations dances hand gestures and music and melodies accompany the ex-tensive textsrsquo recitations Twenty-four selected monks receive exclusive trainingprior to each enactment to enable its performance

The focus and material centre of the whole ritual is the medicine It is placedin nine vessels (bum pa garsquou) and bags on and around the mandala (Tibetan dkyilrsquokhor Sanskrit maṇḍala) of the ritual enclosed and firmly sealed by cloth The

20 Such a ritual conducted in Menri In-dia in 1985 was briefly described by Cech(1987 272 f)21 As the one studied by Kind (2002)22 MS Kathmandu Triten Norbutse mon-astery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud

rtsi sman gyi gzhung lags s+ho) dKar ruGrub dbang sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma1998a v 168 text 1 1998b v 230 text 22dPon slob Rin po che tshangs pa bstan rsquodzinet al 2014 More details in Sehnalova 20132015 In press


anna sehnalova 149

Figure 3 Assembling the medicines in the respective vessels strictly follows the ritual textrsquos pre-scription

nine vessels one in the centre four in the main and four in the intermediate car-dinal points of the mandala are prescribed to contain specially assorted medi-cines of specific properties Their compounding follows a precise recipe in theritualrsquos texts for which a person knowledgeable in medical pharmaceutics (fol-lowing the Tibetan Sowa rigpa medical tradition) has to be put in charge (Figures3 4) The ritual requires that mixed raw ingredients undergo the first half of thesecond phase (number 2 above) of the ritual before being ground to pursue thenext stage of bestowing accomplishments (the second half of the second phase)For the sake of time and easier production almost all of the mendrup medicine isnowadays powdered mechanically well in advance and only a part of the medi-cinal vessels on the mandala contain unprocessed ingredients at the beginning ofthe ritual These are ground manually by pestle and mortar at the given middlephase of the celebration At this moment the ground and unground ingredientsare carefully mixed Afterwards the medicine is returned onto and around themandala and the ritual continues

The central medicinal container is on the mandala accompanied by the medi-cinal yeast papta (phabs gtarsquo also sman phabs) the ldquofermenting agentrdquo of the wholeritual and its medicine23 It is also a medicinal mixture believed to come from

23 For a discussion of this substance and its appellation see Sehnalova (forthcoming)



Figure 4 The monasteryrsquos practitioner of traditional Tibetan medicine helped by monks preparesthe vessels of medicine in the five cardinal pointsrsquo colours to be placed on the mandala of the ritual

deities and old masters bringing their powers and assuring the efficacy of theritual From the centre of the mandala a ldquospell cordrdquo (byang thag gzungs thagFigure 5)24 leads to the elevated seats of the two presiding monks bound to theBonpo ritual sceptre (chag shing)25 The thread helps to concentrate and navig-ate the powers of the deities on the mandala and the medicine The producedmedicine is considered extraordinarily efficacious Up to one thousand peoplearrived at Triten Norbutse to receive the medicine and the final empowermentThe compound is taken orally and various rules apply to its consumption andpreservation It is kept in monasteries and families for decades as a unique bless-ing helping to achieve awakening and a drug for any disease illness or disorderIt is perceived to work for all beings and the environment

transmission and continuation of the bonpo mendrup ritualAccording to contemporary Bonposrsquo narratives the mendrup of Trowo TsochokKhagying originates with the Primordial Buddha Kuumlntu zangpo (Kun tu bz-

24 The etymological explanation might beas follows Thag means ldquorope cordrdquo byangdenotes ldquoto purifyrdquo and gzungs ldquoa spellrdquoThe literal translation would thus be a ldquopuri-

ficatory cordrdquo or a ldquospell cordrdquo25 Alternative less correct spellings rsquochagshing phyag shing


anna sehnalova 151

Figure 5 The arrangement of the mandala with the nine medicinal vessels and various offeringsplaced on its top The vessels carry the colours of the given directions white in the centre yellowin the East green in the North red in the West and blue in the South Yellow also stands forthe four intermediate points The threads of corresponding colours are led upwards to eventuallycompose the spell cord The mandala is sealed and closed for most of the duration of the ritual

ang po Sanskrit Samantabhadra) He is believed to have bestowed the ritualrsquospractice and expertise to the deity Shenlha Oumlkar (gShen lha rsquood dkar) who thentaught it to the famous Bonpo master Drenpa Namkha (Dran pa nam mkharsquoeighth century)26 Drenpa Namkha is understood to have concealed the text(along with many others) during a time of persecution of Bon as a treasure(gter ma) to be rediscovered in more favourable times During the eleventh andtwelfth centuries the treasure revealers Shenchen Luga (gShen chen klu dgarsquo996ndash1035) and also Rindzin Chenpo Gyermi Nyiouml (Rig rsquodzin chen po gyer minyi rsquood eleventhndashtwelfth century) or Matoumln Sindzin (rMa ston srin rsquodzin akaMatoumln Soumlldzin rMa ston srol rsquodzin b 1092) unearthed the mendrup texts as wellas the essential ldquofermenting agentrdquo papta considered the medicinal core of themendrup27 Thus both the ritualrsquos text and its old medicine are perceived as treas-

26 Dating according to Karmay (2007 213)27 Dates based on Kvaeligrne 1971 The ac-counts of the discovery differ Accord-

ing to Kvaeligrne (1971 230) Gyermi Nyioumland Matoumln Sindzin found the treasure to-gether in 1108 Millard and Yungdrung (un-



Figure 6 The mandala being hidden behind cloth in its special structure White bags of additionalmedicine placed around are clearly visible The ritualrsquos practitioners pilgrims and visitors wouldcircumambulate the whole construction anticlockwise as well as prostrate to its sacred contentwhile reciting the mendruprsquos mantra called mendzap


anna sehnalova 153

Figure 7 At a certain stage of the ritual the nine medicinal vessels and the rest of the mendrupmedicine are ceremoniously circumambulated in the Bonpo anticlockwise direction around thetemple of the mandala as the centre of the mendrup ritual action



ures of divine origin28

Upon its discovery this particular mendrup is said to have been practiced inYeacuteru Wensaka (gYas ru dben sa kha) the first Bonpo monastery established in1072 and from the early fifteenth century in its successor Tashi Menri monasteryMendrup was also adopted by the nearby Yungdrung Ling monastery (gYungdrung gling founded in 1834) The practice continues in both institutions themost recent performance took place in 2013 at Yungdrung Ling29

With the flight of Tibetan refugees since the 1950s their rituals travelled withthem in their memories and in textual form on their backs In exile mendrup wasreinstituted in 1988 first in Menri and later in 1998 in Triten Norbutse30 Fur-ther performances of the ritual were conducted in 2009 (Menri) and 2012 (TritenNorbutse) The individual enactments varied according to the particular yidamand the deityrsquos textual corpus Mendrup was often scheduled to mark importantevents requiring powerful ritual action such as the celebration of the 25th an-niversary of the founding of Triten Norbutse monastery in 2012 or the mendrupplanned for the 90th birthday of Menri Trindzin the highest authority of contem-porary Bon for April 2018 Sadly His Holiness Menri Trindzin aka LungtokTenpai Nyima passed away in September 201731 The mendrup ceremony alsoexpresses the prestige political power and economic significance of the leadingmonasteries of Bon

3 THE BONPO MENDRUP RITUAL IN BONPO HISTORICALSOURCES

Let us turn to examining Bonpo textual evidence of the mendrup ritual In thehistorical textual corpus various kinds of documents feature myths and

rituals recordings of visions accounts on the origin of Bonpo teachings (bstan

published) describe a transmission of theformerrsquos discovery to the latter This ver-sion accords with Khud spungs pa dBra stonNgag dbang skal bzang bstan parsquoi rgyal mt-shan 2017 p 17 f 42 p 72 fol 234 A thirdnarrative states that Matoumln Sindzin madethe discovery upon Gyermi Nyioumlrsquos proph-ecy (dPon slob Rin po che tshangs pa bstanrsquodzin et al 2014 2) A more detailed lineageof transmission is given by Millard and Yun-gdrung (unpublished) Gyermi Nyioumlrsquos bib-liography by sKyang rsquophags does not con-tain an explicit mention of the discovery(sKyang rsquophags 1998 v 200 text 1) Cf Mar-tin 2017

28 This paragraph intends to demonstratethe commonly transmitted oral knowledgeon ldquothe light-swirled mendruprdquo For writ-ten historical evidence see the discussionbelow29 A dpal bzang 2013ab30 These big mendrup performances in1985 in Menri were preceded by a smallermendrup the first ever conducted in thenew Bonpo exile monastic community SeeCech 1987 272 f31 In January 2018 the Menri monastery inIndia had not decided whether to carry outa mendrup in the near future or not


anna sehnalova 155

Figure 8 Opening pages of the principal text of the mendrup of the deity Trowo Tsochok KhagyingThe Main Text of the Light-Swirled Nectar Medicine

rsquobyung)32 prophecies (lung bstan) biographies and hagiographies (rnam thar)Some dates can be established on the basis of chronological works (bstan rtsis)33

sources from the eleventh to thirteenth centuriesThe Bonpos themselves believe that the authoritative scripture for the mendrupritual of Trowo Tsochok Khagying The Main Text of the Light-Swirled Nectar Medi-cine (rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil pa bdud rtsi sman gyi gzhung bzhugs lags s+ho Figure 8)34 wasfound as a treasure in the eleventh to twelfth century Contemporary leadingscholars on Tibetan treasure literature use the dates of such supposed discover-ies as an approximate (and sometimes the latest possible) dating for the time ofthe given textsrsquo composition The language of this text also indicates the likelyorigin in this period

This dating is also supported by another treasure text discovered in thetwelfth century This scripture The Transmission of Knowledge of Family Holders(Rigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugs rgyud)35 contains myths about origin of the worlddeities Bonpo teachings and ritual instructions As such it is neither a healingpractice nor a tantric sādhana text Like the mendrup text and ritual the work isagain attributed to the deity Kuumlntu Zangpo as its original source then to DrenpaNamkha as its supposed receiver and finally to a master of the Ma (rMa) family

32 The Bonpo term and genre are analog-ous to the Buddhist chos rsquobyung33 Kvaeligrne 1971 and Martin 2017 Furtherwork on the sources by the author is inprogress34 MS Kathmandu Triten Norbutse mon-astery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud

rtsi sman gyi gzhung lags s+ho) dKar ruGrub dbang sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma1998a v 168 text 1 1998b v 230 text 2235 The standard spelling of the beginningwould be rig rsquodzin Rigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugsrgyud (Anon 1972b ff 186ndash237)



dated to the twelfth century Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute possibly Matoumln Sindzinrsquosgrandson as its discoverer36 Further other close similarities to the mendrupcan be observed The same classes of deities are important here ndash the zhi trothe forty-five peaceful and eighty-six wrathful deities among them TrowoTsochok Khagying Throughout the work more categories corresponding to themendrup occur such as the opposition of harmful poison (dug) and beneficialmedicine (sman) or nectar (bdud rtsi) and the notion of possible transformationof the former into the latter through the power of certain divinities (dug smandu bsgyur)37 The former is linked to the five mental poisons or afflictions(nyon mongs dug lnga)38 This contrast and the intended conversion into thefive wisdoms (ye shes lnga)39 which are also mentioned form the key elementof the mendrup The text also touches upon rasayana medicine (ra sa ya nasman)40 possibly mercury41 which plays a role in the mendrup ritual as wellThus both The Main Text of the Light-Swirled Nectar Medicine of the mendrupand The Transmission of Knowledge of Family Holders at the least partly derivefrom a shared body of knowledge and traditions and likely reflect the Bonpointellectual environment of the twelfth century

A much stronger support for this possible dating of the mendrup ritual andtext is found in The Biography of Lama Shen (Bla ma gshen gyi rnam thar) dated tothe thirteenth century42 This relatively short composition presents the historyof the famous Shen (gShen) family lineage and its transmissions of teachings43

The title evokes the familyrsquos most prominent character master Shenchen Lugawho is strongly associated with mendrup by the Bonpo tradition44 Here we findthe earliest historical account of Bonpo mendrup I am aware of Poumlnseacute Dzamling(dPon gsas rsquodzam gling b 12591271)45 a direct descendant of Shenchen Lugaafter a few generations figures in the following account (translation by Dan Mar-tin)

36 Martin 2017 and Karmay 1972 170 f37 ldquoRigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugs rgyudrdquo (Anon1972b ff 201ndash2 and 209) Further inSehnalova In press38 ldquoRigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugs rgyudrdquo (Anon1972b f 192)39 ldquoRigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugs rgyudrdquo (Anon1972b f 188)40 ldquoRigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugs rgyudrdquo (Anon1972b f 215)41 The exact meaning of the term remainsa speculation actual mercury a mercury-based medicine another substance or a cer-tain healing or other practice The sman

(ldquomedicinerdquo) syllable is likely to indicate amaterial substance Cantwell 2017 (in thisvolume) elaborates on the complexity of theword ra sa ya na (Sanskrit rasāyana)42 ldquoBla ma gshen gyi rnam tharrdquo (Anon1972a ff 238ndash44) dated by Martin (2001)43 For further information on the lineagesee Karmay 2007 and rMersquou tsha bstan rsquodzinrnam rgyal 201444 Moreover he is associated with bothmain mendrup rituals of the Bru lineage ofboth the deities Trowo Tsochok Khagyingand Purwa45 Dating in Martin 2001 77


anna sehnalova 157

He [Poumlnseacute Dzamling]46 obtained the essential scriptures blessingsand empowerments of the past masters including lsquouncle andnephewrsquo (khu dbon) lamas He performed the Zhi-khro (ldquoPeacefulWrathfulrdquo) and Medicine practices (sman sgrub)47 and became a greatmaster in the transmission of blessings48 His mental continuumwas thoroughly tamed and his thoughts were immaculately pureHe was completely free of erroneous conceptions of the subjectiveand objective and devoid of attachment to partial perspectives thatcome from holding on to the lsquoselfrsquo and onersquos own special qualitiesTherefore he could overpower and control other peoplesrsquo experienceof the phenomenal world Because of his blessings and compassionhe could overpower all hindrances and injuries49

Mendrup appears as powerful ritual knowledge which is continued from thepast and transmitted by the Shen lineage as one of their main practices It is ex-plicitly listed as one of the chief achievements of master Poumlnseacute Dzamling As thetext indicates Poumlnseacute Dzamling was granted the practice performed it excelledin it was entitled to hand it over and is believed to have gained extraordinaryskills from the practice The necessity of acquiring the given text and empower-ment along with the previous mastersrsquo blessings for performing and furtherbestowing the practice are stressed as they are today In addition the connec-tion of the mendrup practice with the zhi khro peaceful and wrathful deities isclearly visible

Relying on the examined sources and their plausible dating it can be statedthat the Bonpo mendrup ritual and its scriptures very likely existed before thethirteenth century and probably originated between the eleventh and thirteenthcentury This dating would correspond with the emergence of the Nyingmamendrup rituals50

sources from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuriesThe evidence for the existence of the Bonpo mendrup ritual by the thirteenth cen-tury is further strengthened by the only known commentary on the ritual and its

46 My insertion47 My insertion48 I suggest an alternate translation ldquoHebecame a great master of the lineage ofblessings of [the practices of] the peacefuland wrathful deities and the mendrup [as-sociated with them] as well as other [prac-tices]rdquo (zhi khro dang sman sgrub la swogs pa

bying brlabs rgyud parsquoi dpon gsas chen por gyurcig) ldquoBla ma gshen gyi rnam tharrdquo (Anon1972a f 243)49 ldquoBla ma gshen gyi rnam tharrdquo (Anon1972a f 243) tr by Martin (2001 77 f)50 Cantwell 2017 (in this volume) and Gar-rett 2009 2010



Main Text of the Light-Swirled Nectar Medicine The commentary comes from thepen of the eminent Bonpo master Nyouml Tsuumlltrim Gyeltsen (gNyos Tshul khrimsrgyal mtshan) active in Yeacuteru Wensaka monastery in the fourteenth century Thework is entitled The Mirror Illuminating the Practice of Good Qualities of the Light-Swirled Nectar (rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil pa bdud rtsi yon tan gyi phyag bzhes gsal byed me longbzhugs so)51 Apart from the mendrup text itself this writing constitutes the firstextensive historical evidence of the Bonpo mendrup ritual in general and of themendrup of Trowo Tsochok Khagying in particular It gives detailed instructionson the ritualrsquos performance is very technical and prescriptive and is consideredvery authoritative The work has codified the practice of the ritual and is fol-lowed in contemporary performances It is regarded as the main work on theritual within the Bonpo tradition The commentary frames the ritual into a veryformalised structure of a Buddhist sādhana and organised large-scale monasticritual practices with many stages and substages elaborated preliminary activit-ies various sequences of the main activities etc Moreover it imposes a clearerBuddhist cosmological and ritual framework to create the whole as an exten-ded and coherent unit The manual gives accurate guidance throughout the ritewhich suggests that the mendrup ritualrsquos practice might have not significantlychanged since the time of Nyouml Tsuumlltrim Gyeltsen The individual stages of theritual as we know it today might have been expanded elaborated etc but notcreated anew and still follow Nyouml Tsuumlltrim Gyeltsenrsquos writing

From a slightly later period from between the fourteenth to sixteenth centur-ies52 come two short mentions of mendrup in the historical work The Lamp Illu-minating the Explanations and Developments of the Teachings (bsTan parsquoi rnam bshaddar rgyas gsal barsquoi sgron ma zhes bya ba bzhugs)53 written by the famous scholarPatoumln Tengyel Zangpo (sPa ston bsTan rgyal bzang po)54 The work enumer-ates transmitted teachings and practices of Bon and organises them into lists ofgroups and subgroups The mendrup here appears under its common epithet asldquothe nectar medicinerdquo (bdud rtsi sman) and is listed among cycles of the tantrasof the zhi tro the peaceful and wrathful divinities55

Similarly a biography of Nyammeacute Sheacuterap Gyeltsen (mNyam med Shes rabrgyal mtshan 1356ndash1415)56 one of the chief leading figures of Bon in its history

51 MS Kathmandu Triten Norbutse monas-tery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil pa bdud rtsi yontan gyi phyag bzhes gsal byed me long bzhugsso by gNyos tshul khrims rgyal mtshan) (at-tribution of the work in its colophon) Mil-lard and Yungdrung (unpublished) providean English translation52 See the discussion on its time of compos-ition in Martin 1997 78 f

53 Spa-ston Bstan-rgyal-bzang-po 1972ff 498ndash769 sPa ston bsTan rgyal bzang po2010 187ndash364 Cf Martin 1997 78 f54 Dating in Martin 1997 78 f and Karmay2007 7255 Spa-ston Bstan-rgyal-bzang-po 1972ff 519ndash25 sPa ston bsTan rgyal bzang po2010 204ndash556 Dating in Karmay 2007


anna sehnalova 159

has mendrup performed in a list of various practices Nyammeacute Sheacuterap Gyeltsenwas an extremely influential Bonpo scholar who is credited with establishing theprincipal Bonpo Tashi Menri monastery in Central Tibet in 1405 and with trans-forming Bon into its current institutionalised monastic form In The SplendorousLotus Rosary Biography of the Omniscient Precious Lord the Great One-eyed Master(rJe rin po che thams cad mkhyen pa slob dpon spyan gcig pa chen porsquoi rnam thar ngo mt-shar pad morsquoi phreng ba)57 one of the several accounts of his life58 the empower-ment of Trowo Tsochok Khagying and ldquomedicinal ritual arrangementsrdquo (sman gyichog khrigs) feature among the recorded activities master Nyammeacute Sheacuterap Gyelt-sen engaged in59 The account is supposed to have been composed by DrakpaGyeltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) a disciple of the masterrsquos spiritual son Gyelt-sap Rinchen Gyeltsen (rGyal tshab Rin chen rgyal mtshan b 13604)60 andhence can presumably be dated to the late fourteenth or fifteenth century

The dating of two other writings significant to the endeavour of tracing theBonpo mendrup ritual remains very problematic In my estimation they mightbe included into this period of the fourteenth to seventeenth century or intoslightly later times Both compositions deal with important Bonpo historical fig-ures who at least are datable The first is Druchen Namkha Yungdrung (Bru chenNam mkharsquo gyung drung 994999ndash1054)61 one of the most prominent mas-ters of the Dru lineage and the second the above-mentioned treasure revealerMatoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute (twelfth century) who figures in both works NamkhaYungdrung aka Druchen ldquothe Great Dru [lineage master]rdquo the alleged founderof the Yeacuteru Wensaka monastery is the central figure of the explicitly-titled TheBiography of Lama Druchen (Bla ma gru chen porsquoi rnam thar bzhugs so)62 authoredby a certain Tazhi Duumllwa Senggeacute (Mtharsquo bzhi rsquoDul ba seng ge) who is difficult totrace The work presents Namkha Yungdrungrsquos life story and within it recordsthe very first performance of the mendrup ritual The text records how froma young age the master travelled meeting teachers and requesting teachingsfrom them63 Having acquired a diverse education and experience of practicehe himself became a teacher followed by a number of disciples Among themwas Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute In a group with two other students Darma DrogoumlnAzha (Dar ma rsquoGro rsquogon rsquoa zha) and Poumlnseacute (dPon gsas) he approached the mas-ter and requested the outer inner and secret empowerments and transmissions

57 Tshe ring bkra shis 2004 20ndash6958 Cf Tshe ring bkra shis 200459 Tshe ring bkra shis 2004 4060 Tshe ring bkra shis 2004 3ndash4 The birthyear 1364 in Tshe ring bkra shis 2004 1360in Achard 2004 256 Kvaeligrne 1971 232 andcf Karmay 1972 143 f

61 Kvaeligrne (1971 229) lists the wood horseyear of 994 whereas The Biography itself(Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 f 239) placesthe birth into a pig year which would be999 (Vostrikov 1970 238 f)62 (Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 ff 438ndash57)63 (Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 ff 440)



of bdam skar64 The text remains silent about the possible inclusion of mendrupamong them Reading further the transmission of this specific practice seems tobe have been confined to a single chosen disciple In a section of the biographyrecording the masterrsquos bestowed practices and empowerments their recipientsand eventually the payments made for them the transmission of mendrup is ex-plicitly registered as granted to student Poumlnseacute

In [the place of] Zhikha (bZhis kha)65 the above-mentioned BiriAgom (Bi ri a sgom) offered a part of a nomadic estate [to masterDruchen] At that great place [master Druchen] practised thefamiliarisation and accomplishment (snyen (bsnyen) sgrub) andconcentrated practice (nyams len) According to the prophecy of SipeacuteGyelmo (Srid parsquoi rgyal mo)66 he gave the instructions (lung nos) forthe nectar medicinal accomplishment (bdud rtsi sman grub [sic]) tomaster Poumlnseacute67

Then again Poumlnseacute was honoured by receiving the practice from the master atanother location

In [the place of] Chi (sPyi) [master Druchen] offered the nectar medi-cinal accomplishment (bdud rtsi sman bsgrub [sic]) to master Poumlnseacuteand [the rites] of the earth demons and sky demons as well as manyother selected practices to Rikdzin khandro (Rigs rsquodzin mkharsquo rsquogro)and others68

Yet the most interesting is the reference to the very first celebration of themendrup ritual with which master Druchen is credited

[Master Druchen] led the first mendrup ritual (sman sgrub [sic])Having conducted it five times69 he collected the various medicines

64 The word bdam skar remains unclear itmight refer to a certain name (possibly de-rived from a star constellation as skar meansstar) de dus bla ma dar ma rsquogro rsquogon rsquoa zha blama rma sher seng (shes rab seng ge) bla ma dpongsas dang bzhi bar rsquodzom pa la phyi nang gsangbarsquoi dbang lung dang bdam skar mthalsquo dagzhus (Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 f 441)65 Probably in Central Tibet66 One of the main protectors of Bon(Kvaeligrne 1995 107 f 113)67 bzhis kha la snga ba bi ri a sgom gyisrsquobrog bzhis (gzhis) dum cig phul gnas chen der

snyen (bsnyen) sgrub dang nyams len grims parmdzad pas srid rgyal gyis (srid pa rgyal mos)lung stan (bstan) nas bla ma dpon gsas la bdudrtsi sman grub [sic] gi (kyi) lung nos gsung(Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 f 442)68 spyi ru bla marsquoi (ma) dpon gsas la bdud rtsisman bsgrub [sic] dang rigs rsquodzin mkharsquo rsquogro laswogs pa sa gdon dang gnam gdon gzhan yangbdams parsquoi bzhug rnams mang du zhus (Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 f 442)69 The source does not provide any detailsof the mentioned five performances of themendrup ritual


anna sehnalova 161

(sman rnams) and many good signs appeared The welfare of beingsspread and increased and [all] the four lands were blessed InShubar (Shu bar) close to the teacher Śrī Vajrapāṇi he enslaved(tamed) demons [hindering] men and eliminated those [demons]who opposed In Wensaka and Chi offerings were presented [tothe master] several times [Also] the Bonpos of the pastoralistlands invited [the master] in order to tame [the harmful demonsthere] [By this the master] showed kindness to all [Master Druchenthen] performed the familiarisation and accomplishment of thepeaceful and wrathful deities (zhi khrorsquoi snyen (bsnyen) sgrub) andthe accomplishment of liberation by eating nectar (bdud rtsi zos grolsgrub pa) [Subsequently] the big violent spirits together with theirretinues the to-be-tamed rock demoness Dakpa Shago (bDag pasha rsquogo lsquoThe deer-headed onersquo) the lords of the land (gzhi bdag)of Droshong (Gro shong) and others were truly and completelybound by oath to the Doctrine (bkarsquo)70

This passage ascribes Druchen with the orchestration of the first mendrup Itemphasizes that there are a number of different medicines which must be ac-quired before the ritual can commence The ritual is depicted as bringing uni-versal prosperity and blessings this is also the way it is understood by the con-temporary Bonpo community Druchen performs the ritual for lay communitiesin response to their request and offerings in this case along with other ritualservices In this context Druchen also pacifies malevolent forces of the envir-onment and tames them into the protectors of the Doctrine suggesting that themendrup performance itself might have been perceived as effecting these actionsIt is now difficult to prove such claims yet the capability of the mendrup ritual tobalance and pacify the whole environment is overtly stressed by Bonpos duringcontemporary performances

70 In the Bonpo context the term ka (bkarsquo)ldquoWordrdquo refers to the teachings of the sup-posed founder of the religious tradition ofBon Toumlnpa Shenrap Mibo (sTon pa gShenrab mi bo) In the Buddhist context theldquoWordrdquo signifies the teachings of BuddhaShakyamuni see Kvaeligrne 1995sman sgrub [sic] dang porsquoi sna drangs nasthengs lnga mdzad pas sman rnams slongs(slong) cing bzang rtags du ma byung rsquogro donrgyas par rsquophel cing sa bzhi byin gyis rlabs shu

bar du bha vadzra pa ṇi stan parsquoi dra ru langs pala mi bdud bran du bkol nas rsquogal byed cham laphab dben tsha kha dang spyi ru rsquobul ba rnamsgzhag thengs rsquogarsquo mdzad rsquobrog phyogs bon postul gyur spyan drangs kun la bkarsquo drin gnangzhi khrorsquoo snyen (bsnyen) sgrub dang bdud rtsizos grol sgrub pa mdzad nas che btsun sde rsquokhordang tul kyursquoi brag srin bdag pa sha (shwa) rsquogola swogs gro shod kyi bzhi bdag rnams dngos suyongs nas bkarsquo dang dam la btags (Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng 1972 f 446)



Throughout the quotes the mendrup ritual is referred to as the ldquonectar medi-cinal accomplishmentrdquo or the ldquopractice of the nectar medicinerdquo (bdud rtsi smansgrub) In the last example the rite is attributed with the capacity of liberatingie achieving awakening through digestion which refers to the Tibetan practiceof liberation through the sense of taste (myong grol) The mendrup practice is againconnected to the peaceful and wrathful deities Both master Druchen NamkhaYungdrung and the mendrup are placed into the area of the first known Bonpomonastery Yeacuteru Wensaka in Central Tibet This locality of the initial mendrupperformances as well as their link to the Dru lineage are similarly accentuatedby the contemporary oral histories of Bonpos The supposed dating of Druchen(994999ndash1054) and Shenchen Luga (996ndash1035) the alleged discoverer of a partof the mendrup practice make them contemporary and thus make this story pos-sible However the two other discoverers of other bits of the mendrup RindzinChenpo Gyermi Nyiouml (eleventh to twelfth century) and Matoumln Sindzin (b 1092)post-date Druchen This indicates that parts of the mendrup practice might beof different periods and origin (authorship) or simply that its precise dating re-mains difficult Alternatively we might be dealing with two distinct mendruprituals each having its own history of discovery and transmission Neverthelessthis does not seem likely in the context of the other sources presented below

Another hard-to-date text relevant for the understanding of the history of theBonpo mendrup are the Visions of Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute (rMa ston shes rab seng gigzigs snang lags so)71 by Zhoumltoumln Soumlnam Drakpa (gZhod ston bSod nams gragspa) As the straightforward title indicates the tract deals with various visionsreceived by the master and treasure revealer Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute (twelfth cen-tury) in dreams and during his spiritual practice at varied locations The nar-ration is presented in the first person and reads as a succinct diary or autobio-graphy Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute and not his grandfather Matoumln Sindzin acts hereas the acquirer of the mendrup text Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute recounts his procure-ment of the text as well as of the practical knowledge for performing the ritualin detail

Then [I] stayed at the rock in Goklung (sGog lung) One day whileentering a narrow passage [of the rock] [I] experienced a vision Thattime the previous[ly encountered] master was there all dressed incotton robes He had returned again and come to his companion (iemyself) and said [Where] the mouth of the rock cave faces East in-side [of the cave] there is an opening In the middle [of its inside]

71 Gzhod-ston Bsod-nams-grags-pa1972 ff 310ndash24 gZhod ston bSod namsgrags pa 1981 162ndash75 gZhod ston bSod

nams grags pa 1998 ff 310ndash24 exactly thesame as the first edition


anna sehnalova 163

there is a mandala Nine vessels are spread [on it] To the cent-ral vessel there are eight vessels on the edges [of the mandala] [all]joined by a spell cord (bzungs thag) In the four cardinal points andin the four corners of the mandala there are eight men coming forthStretching the spell cord they stand in a row On the crowns of theirheads they have a tied plaited tuft of hair They stand facing [themandala]72 In the four corners of the mandala silk ribbons in thefour [colours of] white yellow red and blue are tied to the neck(ie upper part) of the four vulturesrsquo victory banners73 The seacute vesselin the centre is wrapped in fine silk74 Many offerings are arranged[there] In the West there is a big throne the master is on its top Alsoplenty of chang75 is [arranged] thererdquo [Then] the master said rdquoThisplace is a garden of the jewel of turquoise and this rock is a seacute rock ofheaped jewels The cave and the rock are in union [like] the sun andthe moon Here the nectar medicine will be accomplished (bdud rtsisman du bsgrub) It is a practice (sgrub) in order to [be] without (ieovercome) birth and deathrdquo he said[Upon that] I requested rdquoHow should the place [of the practice]be accomplished (ie established sgrub) As for the accomplish-ment of nectar medicine what are the root (ie main) and the branch(ie minor) [ingredients of the practice] How to master the generalmeaning of the practice How to accomplish the manual of the maintext [of the practice] (sgrub bzhung lag khrigs) How to accomplishthe main purpose [of the practice] What is the [actual] practice (laglen) of the [ritual] activities [How] to observe the particular kinds ofthe medicines How [to accomplish] the special siddhi of the medi-cinal empowerment (sman dbang) How to gather the three ways ofaccumulationrdquo76 To that [the master] said rdquoThis place is a gardenof the spontaneously achieved turquoise realm [to] accomplish thenectar without birth and death As for the accomplishment of thenectar medicine there are five root (ie main) and eight branch (ieminor) [ingredients] I have collected them The general meaning isto accomplish [the state] without birth and death He explained allthe methods of the practice (lag len bya thabs) of the lower door (ie

72 This is a tentative translation73 This refers to the arrangement ofparaphernalia on the mandala74 The seacute (bse) material can denote rhino-ceros or other animal horn a type of stoneor copper or leather See Jaumlschke 1881 Das

1902 Zhang 199375 Barley beer or another alcoholic bever-age as an offering to the deities76 The three ways likely refer to the follow-ing methods proposed by the master



esoteric instructions of the lower gate of the body) and the means ofaccumulating siddhi of the medicinal empowerment (sman dbang) Itwas explained in the Key of Medicine (ie of medicinal practice) (smangyi lde mig)rdquoWho are these eight men Donrsquot you have any helpersrdquo [I asked][After the master] explained how to prepare the vessels and howto tame (btul) the medicine the eight men acted as the eight vidyād-haras (rig rsquodzin brgyad) pressing the ground as a swastika77 The onein the East performed the peaceful medicinal accomplishment (smansgrub) of meditation on deities The one in the North accomplishedthe medicine of life without dying (ma dur tshe sman sgrub pa)78 Theone in the West accomplished the medicine of the empowerment ofDawa Gyeltsen (Zla ba rgyal mtshan) The one in the South accom-plished the life empowerment (tshersquoi dbang) of activities illuminatingthe meaning of eternity (gyung drung don gsal phrin las) The onein the southeast accomplished the spontaneous accomplishment ofthe earth medicine of [the deity] Mupung Seldang (Mu spungs gsaldangs [dwangs]) The one in the northeast accomplished the liftingaction of the lifting hollowness of the wind of Zarang Meacutebar (Za rangme rsquobar) The one in the northwest accomplished the ripening ofthe medicinal heat (sman drod smin pa) of Mutsa Gyemeacute (dMu tshagyer med) The one in the southwest accomplished the water medi-cine of Mugyel Tsukpuuml (dMu rgyal rtsug phud) Their purpose wasthe accomplishment of space (dbyings sgrub) [The action of] increas-ing (rgyas pa) was explained in the Key [The master] also bestowedthe medicinal yeast (sman phabs) [I] also attained the medicinal em-powerment (sman dbang) Thus is the sixth false word of a beggar79

77 Probably refers to the pattern of theirdistribution in the four cardinal and the fourintermediate points by which they form theshape of a swastika78 Literally ldquonot buryingrdquo (ma dur)79 Due to likely mispellings in the originalthe translation remains tentative Gzhod-ston Bsod-nams-grags-pa 1972 ff 318ndash20gZhod ston bSod nams grags pa 1981 171ndash73 gZhod ston bSod nams grags pa1998 ff 310ndash24 are exactly the same asthe first edition The transliteration isbased on the first edition supplemented bycorrections according to the second marked

by a small cross(318171) de nas sgog lung gi brang la yod tsamna nang cig bseb dagger(gseb) du phyin tsa nasnang ba phyed yengs nas rsquodug de dus sngongyi bla ma de ras kyi na bzarsquo kun ka rsquodug yangyongs zla la rsquodeng dang gsung brag phug khashar du ltas pa nang phye ba cig rsquodug dkyil nadkyil (319) rsquokhor cig rsquodug bum pa dgu spramdagger(skram) nas rsquodug dkyil gyi bum parsquoi mtharsquobum pa rgyad (brgyad) kyi bzungs dagger(bzung) thagsbrel nas rsquodug dkyil rsquokhor phyogs bzhi zur bzhina mi brgyad rtsog ge bzhugs nas zungs thag


anna sehnalova 165

In this vision Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute met a master and interacted with him in adialogue The master revealed the mendrup mandala to him all the medicinalvessels on top of it and their layout together with the spell cord He gave adviceon how to compose the ritualrsquos complex medicinal mixture As in the mendruptext itself the various ingredients are referred to as root and branch major andminor ingredients The structure of the mendrup medicine recipe is alluded toas well as the ingredients in it are divided into the main fivefold cluster organ-ised according to the five elements and a minor second cluster of an eightfoldpattern reflecting the eight classes of consciousness (rnam shes brgyad)80 Import-antly the master also granted the medicinal yeast (sman phabs) and the medicinalempowerment (sman dbang) crucial for the success of the ritual Sheacuterap Senggeacutereceived complex instructions upon his multiple questions He was also rewar-ded by seeing the firm arrangement of the mandala based on the elements alongwith their respective properties and medicines in each cardinal point81 This or-ganisation is typical for Bon the element of earth and the medicine of earth in the

rsquophyan dagger(rsquothin) na rsquograngs dagger(bgrangs) nas rsquodugspyi bo na thor cog bcings dagger(bcing) nas rsquodugbdong dagger(gdong) pa rsquophyan na bcug nas rsquodugdkyil rsquokhor zur bzhi na bya rgod rgyal mtshan(172) bzhi la skye (ske) na dar dkar ser dmarsngo bzhi btags nas rsquodug dkyil na bsersquoi ga rsquoudagger(garsquou) la dar dagger(der) zab kyis bril nas rsquodugmchod rdzas mang bar bshams nas rsquodug nubphyogs na khri che ba cig rsquodug dersquoi kha na blama de brda dagger(gdarsquo) chang yang mang bar brdadagger(gdarsquo) bla ma dersquoi zhal nas gnas rsquodi rin chengyu sdings kyi dagger(sding gi) rsquotshal dagger(tshal) bragrsquodi bse brag rin chen spungs pa yin brag phugnyi zla kha sbyor yin rsquodi na bdud rtsi sman dubsgrub skye shi med parsquoi don sgrub yin gsungbdag gis zhus pa gnas ji ltar sgrub parsquoi donlags bdud rtsi sman du sgrub pa ni rtsa bayan lag gang lags sgrub parsquoi spyi gang la bd-ags dagger(bdag) sgrub bzhung lag khrigs gang lasgrub dersquoi rgyu mtshan ci la sgrub bya barsquoi laglen gang ltar lags sman gyi bye brag du dagger(tu)yis srung sman dbang dngos grub ci ltar lagssdu (bsdu) thabs rnam gsum gang la sdu de layang gsungs pa gnas rsquodi lhun grub gyu sdingsdagger(sding) rsquotshal (tshal) skye shi med parsquoi bdudrtsi sgrub bdud rtsi sman du bsgrub pa la rtsaba lnga la yan lag rgyad nying (nyid) lag stoddu sog pa yin spyi ni skye shi med par sgrubrsquoog sgo la lag len bya thabs (320) sman dbangdngos grub sdu thabs kun gsungs te sman gyi

lde mig na bsal dagger(gsal) mi brgyad po rsquodi ganglags khyed la las rsquokhan dagger(mkhan) mi (173) dagger(mi)bdog gam garsquou rsquocharsquo na ji ltar rsquocharsquo sman gyibtul thabs ji ltar btul gsungs pas mi brgyad porsquodi gyung drung sa non rigs rsquodzin dagger(rig rsquodzin)brgyad bya ba yin shar na rsquodug pa rsquodi lha sgomzhi barsquoi sman sgrub bya ba yin byang na rsquodugpa rsquodi ma dur tshe sman sgrub pa yin nub narsquodug pa rsquodi zla ba rgyal mtshan dbang gi smansgrub pa yin lho na rsquodug pa rsquodi gyung drungdon gsal phrin las tshersquoi dbang sgrub pa yinlho shar na rsquodug pa rsquodi mu spungs gsal dangsdagger(dwangs) sa sman sgrub lhun grub tu sgrubpa yin byang shar rsquodug pa rsquodi za rang me rsquobarrlung rsquodegs parsquoi sbubs rsquodegs bya ba byed pa lassu sgrub pa yin byang nub na rsquodug pa rsquodi dmutsha gyer med sman drod smin par grub pa yinlho nub na rsquodug pa rsquodi dmu rgyal rtsug phudchu sman du sgrub pa yin rsquodi rnams kyi don ladbyings sgrub pa yin rgyas pa lde mig na gsalsman phabs yang gnang sman dbang yang thobsprang porsquoi rdzun tshig drug pa pa dagger(pa) yin80 MS Kathmandu Triten Norbutse mon-astery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdudrtsi sman gyi gzhung lags s+ho) dKar ruGrub dbang sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma1998a v 168 text 1 1998b v 230 text 2281 On the role of elements in the Tibetanmedical tradition see for example Gerke2014 Hofer 2014



East wind in the North fire in the West and water for the East In this text theelements have slightly moved to cover the intermediate directions as well Thecomplementing fifth element space is placed into the middle of the mandala82

The cardinal points are personified by eight divinities referred to as vidyādharasldquoholders of magical powerrdquo83 each of whom is responsible for accomplishing agiven ritual action and medicine of the direction84 The story closes declaring theevent to be a ldquofalse word of a beggarrdquo by which master Sheacuterap Senggeacute is depictedas adhering to the social code of modesty actually conveying his greatness

The comprehensiveness of this account suggests that its author was very fa-miliar with the mendrup rite The Zhoumltoumln Soumlnam Drakparsquos text as yet undatedaccords in the key features ritual arrangement and paraphernalia of the mendruppractice rendered in The Main Text of the Light-Swirled Nectar Medicine (rsquoOd zerrsquokhyil pa bdud rtsi sman gyi gzhung bzhugs lags s+ho) and still performed today

The mendrup ritual is also mentioned in later historical works which are easierto date with certainty

mendrup in the eighteenth centuryThere are several relevant passages in The Treasury of Wish-fulfilling Jewels Yield-ing all Desired on the General Origin of the Buddharsquos Teachings (Sangs rgyas bstan paspyi yi rsquobyung khung yid bzhin nor bu rsquodod pa rsquojo barsquoi gter mdzod) by Kuumlndroumll Drakpa(Kun grol grags pa b 1700) which is likely to have been written in 176685 Thistext presents the gradual development of the world the Bonpo doctrine and itsspread The chronicle mentions several mendrup treasure discoveries by differ-ent adepts likely referring to the mendrup rituals specific to individual Bonpolineages86 Thus the text seems to capture a rare piece of information on thediversification of the practice within Bon

It contains a section on treasure traditions which consists of short passageslisting the name of each discoverer and the texts and teaching cycles which theindividual revealed A certain Dranga Rinchen Dampa (Dra nga Rin chen dam

82 The same is found in the main mendruptext rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud rtsi sman gyigzhung lags s+ho transmitted in MS Kath-mandu Triten Norbutse monastery (con-taining rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud rtsi sman gyigzhung lags s+ho) dKar ru Grub dbang sprulsku bstan parsquoi nyi ma 1998a v 168 text 11998b v 230 text 22 more in Sehnalova2013 and Sehnalova In press83 Snellgrove 1987 135

84 In the Nyingma mendrup analysed byCantwell 2015 and Cantwell 2017 (in thisvolume) the vidyādharas play a similar role85 Kun-grol-grags-pa 1974 ff 197ndash552 Thedates are also based on this publication andthe workrsquos colophon86 Kun-grol-grags-pa 1974 ff 325 326ndash7338 356 and 400ndash401 On the lineages seeKarmay 1998 2007 and rMersquou tsha bstanrsquodzin rnam rgyal 2014


anna sehnalova 167

pa) from Samyeacute (bSam yas) is attributed with introducing the practice of ldquoam-araya nectar medicinerdquo (a ma ra ya bdud rtsi sman)87 The term amaraya is usuallyunderstood to refer to the mendrup ritual specific to the Bonpo Shen lineage88

The individual ritual lineages of Bon had the tendency to develop their ownmendrup practices just as the main Dru lineage cultivated the so called ldquolight-swirled mendruprdquo coined for the mendrup of the deity Trowo Tsochok KhagyingThe source thus witnesses the diversity of mendrup within Bon

In this chronicle Matoumln Soumlldzin already known to us as Matoumln Sindzin (thegrandfather of Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute) and the discoverer of the ldquolight-swirledmendruprdquo is recorded as the revealer of a treasure containing scriptures of theaccomplishment of peaceful and wrathful deities (zhi sgrub khro sgrub)89 Theseare likely to involve mendrup as well although no mendrup practices are explicitlyattributed to him in this document

Also someone called Butso Sipeacute Gyelpo (Bu mtsho srid parsquoi rgyal po) is re-corded to have found the ldquonine lineages of nectar medicinerdquo (bdud rtsi sman gyirgyud dgu)90 It is possible that various traditions of mendrup are being referredto by this phrase but it could (perhaps more likely) refer to the organisationwithin the mendrup ritual itself namely the nine distinct medicinal containers tobe placed on the mandala The writer mentions the nine vessels and also de-scribes the pattern of the mendrup based on the division of space into the centreand eight cardinal points ndash this is a very common practice in Tibetan (and tantric)ritual as has been described for mendrup above

mendrup in the twentieth centuryThe next known textual accounts of mendrup are found in early twentieth-centurywriting The same story is detailed in two important historical works of thisperiod The first is the Ketaka chronicle by Lungtok Gyatso (Lung rtogs rgyamtsho) a distinguished master of the Yungdrung Ling monastery The workhas been dated to 1917 and holds the elaborate title The Necklace of Ketaka JewelsDistinguishing the Knowledge on the Origin of the Teachings (bsTan rsquobyung rig parsquoishan rsquobyed nor bu ke ta karsquoi do shal zhas bya ba bzhugs)91 The second is the well-known Treasury of Good Sayings authored by Shardza Trashi Gyeltsen (Shar rdza

87 Kun-grol-grags-pa 1974 f 32088 The word amaraya is explained by con-temporary Bonpo monastics as probably de-riving from the Sanskrit amṛta and thus assynonymous to bdud rtsi ldquonectarrdquo89 Kun-grol-grags-pa 1974 f 32290 Kun-grol-grags-pa 1974 f 325 and thesame story is found in Karmay 1972 17091 mKhas grub Lung rtogs rgya mtsho

2010 449ndash557 and in Martin 1997 15 Theword ketaka is likely of Indian origin andin Tibetan denotes ldquoa gem which has theproperty of purifying waterrdquo or alternat-ively ldquoa great mountain situated north ofthe great forest plainrdquo See Das 1902 Zhang1993 In Sanskrit ketaka or ketakī refers tothe Pandanus tree See Charles University1998ndash2009 under Pandanus fascicularis Lam



bKra shis rgyal mtshan 1859ndash1933) one of the main Bonpo scholars of moderntimes92 and translated into English by Samten Karmay According to KarmayGyeltsenrsquos compilation was begun in 1922 The full name of the work reads ThePrecious Treasury of Good Sayings Pleasant Rain for the Wise (Legs bshad rin po chersquoimdzod dpyod ldan dgarsquo barsquoi char)93 As both scripts come from approximately thesame time it is unclear if one copied the other or if both used a third (so farunknown) source

The Ketaka chronicle reads

From the [Pa sPa] lineage Patoumln Pelchok [(sPa ston dpal mchogb 1014)]94 appeared at the same time as Shenchen Luga (ie theywere contemporaries) After Patoumln Pelchok heard that ShenchenLuga had discovered a treasure he went to Driktsam (rsquoBrig mtshams)to see him When he arrived and met him the master [ShenchenLuga] was of poor health Having proclaimed him [Patoumln Pelchok]a master of tantric teachings destined by his karma he [ShenchenLuga] bestowed the empowerment of Trowo [Tsochok Khagying]on him He instructed him in detail on how to obtain the blessedobjects the texts with their treatises and supplements from DziboumlnWanggyel (rsquoDzi bon dbang rgyal aka rsquoDzi ston Dzitoumln)95

In the Treasury the same account is in Karmayrsquos translation worded as follows

How the Tantric Teachings were commissioned rsquoDzi-bon rsquoPhan-rgyal entreated the Teacher [Shenchen Luga]96 to impart the Khro-bodbang-chen97 to him The Teacher gave even the (master) copy to himHe also gave him the cup containing the lees of the elixirs (bdud rtsigarsquou dang ru ma)98 He gave him the name of dBang-gi rGyal-mtshanSome have said that since sPa-ston dPal-mchog (Patoumln Pelchok)99

did not meet gShen-sgur [ie Shenchen Luga]100 he got in touch

92 See Achard 200893 Karmayrsquos translation in Karmay 197294 Dating in Karmay 2007 6095 dersquoi gdung las spa ston dpal mchog byon padang gshen chen klu dgarsquo byon pa dus mnyamste spa ston nyid gshen chen gyis gter thon pathos nas rsquobrig mtshams su mjal du byon skabsbla ma sku bsnyungs bzhes pa dang thug las cangsang sngags kyi bdag po zhig rsquodug gi gsungsnas khro borsquoi dbang bskur byin rlabs kyi rdzasrnams dang dpe dang cha lag bkrol byang rnamszhib par rsquodzi bon dbang rgyal la mnos shig gsungnas lung bstan mKhas grub Lung rtogs rgya

mtsho 2010 520 and cf Martin 2001 67ndash996 The bracketed insertion is mine97 The word Khro-bo dbang-chen (Khro bodbang chen) Trowo Wangchen can denoteboth an epithet of the deity Trowo TsochokKhagying (meaning lsquoThe Great WrathfulPowerful Onersquo) and refer to the linked prac-tices or the great empowerment (dbangchen) of Trowo Tsochok Khagying98 My insertion99 My insertion100 My insertion


anna sehnalova 169

with rsquoDzi-bon and Me-nyag But (in fact) when gShen-sgur was illhe bestowed the consecration of the Khro-bo dbang-chen to him Heproclaimed him a worthy master of Tantric teachings and instructedhim in detail to receive the sacred objects the copy of the text and itssupplementary texts and the treatises on them from rsquoDzi-bon101

The section immediately following the above text accords almost word-for-wordin both the Ketaka and the Treasury102 Hence I cite Karmayrsquos translation of theTreasury to continue the above-cited extracts of both works

Then dPal-mchog (Patoumln Pelchok)103 met rsquoDzi-bon and requested thetexts the medical specimen of the lsquopledgersquo (phud gtarsquo sman phab)104

which had been used (by the teachers) from rsquoChi-med gTsug-phud upto the ldquoFour scholarsrdquo rsquoDzi-bon also gave dPal-mchog the ldquoDance-spearrdquo and the cup (gar mdung dang bsversquoi garsquou) and appointed him tobe in charge of the Tantric Teachings Then he [sPa ston dpal mchogPatoumln Pelchok]105 practised the Khro-bo dbang-chen in the solitude ofYang-dban106 and beheld the countenance of Srid-rgyal107 according(to the representation of) the basic liturgy Once he saw her face withlightning issuing from her eyes whirlwinds from her nose roaringthunder from her ears her hair being like masses of clouds (212b)She was adorned with ornaments of cemetery-bones her eyes wereupturned her nose was wrinkled up and her mouth was wide openAs she tore her chest with her hands he saw distinctly without anyobstruction the body of gTso-mchog (Trowo Tsochok Khagying)108 inthe centre of the wheel of her heart which is one of the six wheels ofthe three vital channels in her body While he performed the medi-cinal rite of the Phur-bu dgu drops of nectar descended (into his mysticcircle) (phur bu dgursquoi sman sgrub la bdud rtsirsquoi zil thigs babs)109

I propose to amend the translation of the last sentence to ldquoThe drops of nec-tar then descended into the medicinal accomplishment of the nine vesselsrdquo110

101 Karmay 1972 135 transliteration of theTibetan original102 Apart from very few syllable and let-ter alternations the Treasury omits three syl-lable clusters within its verses that appearin the Ketaka whereas the Ketaka skips a fewsyllables of the Treasury103 My insertion104 Insertions of the Tibetan original aremine105 My insertion

106 More likely rdquoin the Wensaka (dBen sakha) monasteruml (de nas yang dben dgon par)Karmay 1972 297 and mKhas grub Lungrtogs rgya mtsho 2010 520107 See note 66108 My insertion109 My insertion Karmay 1972 135ndash136Tibetan original 297110 Based on the spelling in mKhas grubLung rtogs rgya mtsho 2010 520 bum dgursquoisman sgrub la bdud rtsirsquoi zil thigs babs



The passages record the transmission of the mendrup of Trowo Tsochok Khagy-ing within the Pa lineage directly from its revealer Shenchen Luga111 Besides thescriptures special attention is paid to describing the essential material objects ofthe ritual Master Patoumln Pelchok procured the crucial ldquoyeastrdquo papta here trans-lated as ldquomedical specimen of the lsquopledgersquo rdquo along with its cup container and aldquospearrdquo Such a ritual spear with ribbons in five colours is still used in circumam-bulating the mendrup medicine during the ritual today In both versions PatoumlnPelchok was also given the task to continue the mendrup practice by an empower-ment from Shenchen Luga himself Later in Wensaka he had a vision of TrowoTsochok Khagying in which the medicinal nectar of mendrup descended into itsnine vessels This has fully authorised Patoumln Pelchok to become the bearer andtransmitter of the mendrup of Trowo Tsochok Khagying

After the hagiographic genealogies of the Pa lineage the Ketaka continueswith the history of the Meu (rMersquou) family Their members are recorded tohave travelled around Central Tibet in the search of teachings including TrowoTsochok Khagyingrsquos mendrup

When Denpakpa Zigompa (Dan rsquophags pa zi sgom pa) requestedthe great empowerment of Trowo [Tsochok Khagying] (khro bodbang chen)112 for a few moments he saw the master (not identified)having the complete appearance ornaments and attributes of TrowoTsochok Khagying When he came with his request to the masterto the cave of Kyikharngo (sKyid mkhar sngo) he crossed theYeacuteru (gYas ru) river113 without any boat When he performed theaccomplishment of the nectar medicine (bdud rtsi sman sgrub) inSeacutebao (Se ba rsquoo) one [of the performers] was seated on a throne Oneled the recitation of the main mendrup mantra (sman rsquodzab) whileperforming a circumambulation [around the medicinal mandala]One went to a tavern offered a libation and seen by all becameinspired realising that he was a truumllku (sprul sku a reincarnatedmaster)114

111 The same story is also found in Karmay1972 10 2007 60ndash61 70 Martin 2001 68ndash70112 See note 97113 This might refer to the famous Bonpomeditation caves of mKhar sna (skyid as anattribute would mean ldquoof happinessrdquo) closeto Menri Yungdrung Ling and former Wen-saka monasteries as well as the Yeacuteru river114 dan rsquophag ba zi sgom pas khro borsquoi dbangchen zhig zhus skabs bla marsquoi sku gtso mchogmkharsquo rsquogying rgyan dang cha lugs rdzogs pa zhig

skad cig gsum gyi yun du mthong skyid mkharsngo phug tu bla ma zhu yi mdun du phebs dusgyas ru gtsang porsquoi kha nas gru gzings ganglarsquoang ma brten nas chu yi pha kir phebs seba rsquoo ru bdud rtsi sman sgrub mdzad dus skucig bzhugs khrir bzhugs gcig gis sman rsquodzabkyi sna drangs nas bskor ba mdzad gcig changtshang du phebs nas skyems gsol ba kun gyismthong bas mos pa tshud cing sprul sku yin parshes so mKhas grub Lung rtogs rgya mtsho2010 523


anna sehnalova 171

As can be seen the Ketaka chronicle recorded the practice of the mendrup ritualitself and the related miracles happening The author Lungtok Gyatso paid at-tention to various aspects of the act He mentioned the required unceasing re-citation of the main mendrup mantra and texts during the performance He alsonoted some of the accompanying offerings (libation) and the elevated throne ofthe principal master during the ritual as is done today The auspicious rite ofmendrup is probably concluded by a fellow monk realising himself to be a re-incarnated master Again the writer must have been well-acquainted with thepractice and may possibly have taken part in it himself

In 1929 mendrup found another expression in a few lines of the chronologicalwork The Lineage Succession (by full title The Immaculate Crystal Rosary of the Lin-eage Succession of the Collected Precious Kangyur the Teachings of the Teacher of theThree Bodies Transmissions)115 written by Khuumlpungpa Ratoumln Ngakwang KelzangTenpeacute Gyeltsen (Khud spungs pa dBra ston Ngag dbang skal bzang bstan parsquoirgyal mtshan) Once again mendrup is described as among important practicesat Bonpo monasteries Ten types of mendrup are suggested and the text describesauspicious signs occurring during the performances such as rainbows appear-ing in the sky and a diffusing fragrant smell116

Among the scriptures of medical knowledge cited in this chronicle the re-covery of a treasure of nine precious vessels (rin chen bum pa gdu) by Butso SipeacuteGyelpo is recorded as in the work from the eighteenth century discussed aboveThese then gave origin to the nine lineages of the nectar medicine (bdud rtsi smangyi rgyud dgu)117 ie mendrup Again the quote sounds like it is alluding to di-verse mendrup rituals but more plausibly it is describing one ritual and its nineprescribed containers of nectar medicine

By the early twentieth century mendrup is clearly presented as an integralcomponent of Bonpo teachings

4 CONCLUSIONS

It seems probable that the practice of the Bonpo mendrup ritual can be tracedback to the twelfth or at least the thirteenth century in Central Tibet The

twelfth and thirteenth centuries were also a crucial time for the establishment

115 Khud spungs pa dBra ston Ngag dbangskal bzang bstan parsquoi rgyal mtshan 2017I am indebted to Dan Martin for kindlysharing his introduction and laborious tran-scription of the work116 Khud spungs pa dBra ston Ngag

dbang skal bzang bstan parsquoi rgyal mtshan2017 ff 25 27)117 Khud spungs pa dBra ston Ngagdbang skal bzang bstan parsquoi rgyal mtshan2017 f 98)



of the Tibetan medical Sowa rigpa tradition118 The complex mendrup ritual ex-emplifies the rich and diverse intellectual milieu in Central Tibet of that time inwhich the spheres of tantra medicine alchemy Buddhist philosophy and soteri-ology as well as Tibetan autochthonous notions merged and mixed to producenew complex structures The mendrup ritual combines the knowledge and prac-tices of all these elements and its dating accords with Buddhist mendrup rites theNyingma treasure and Yutok Nyingtik (gYu thog rnying thig) traditions

Reference to the mendrup ritual in scattered textual sources indicates thatmendrup has mainly been transmitted by Bonpo teacher-student lineages in Cent-ral Tibet where it has been also preserved until modern times The sources at-test a certain existing variety of the mendrup ritual in general likely reflectingthe multiple existing lineages of Bon The texts suggest that over the centuriesspecific lineages developed their own traditions mendrup but also that even thetransmission of the specific ldquolight-swirled mendruprdquo (sman sgrub rsquood zer rsquokhyil ba)dedicated to the deity Trowo Tsochok Khagying was not confined to the singleDru family line which preserves the practices today Textual evidence suggeststhat this practice was transferred by and to other lineages as well including theShen the Pa and the Meu

In contrast with the Tibetan Buddhist school of Nyingma Bonpos do notseem to have needed to create an elaborate historiography which preciselytraces the evolution of certain ritual practices Different versions of TrowoTsochok Khagyingrsquos mendruprsquos discovery and transmission can be traced in thetexts Shenchen Luga of the Shen family and Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute of the Marepeatedly figure as the ritualrsquos revealers and tradents Similarly Matoumln Sindzinis credited with revealing a certain part of the cycle to which mendrup belongsInterestingly Rindzin Chenpo Gyermi Nyiouml who is ascribed the same role bypresent Bonpos does not explicitly appear in it in the studied sources A certaindevelopment of the recording of the practice can be observed ranging from ashort mention in the thirteenth century to the most extensive justification ofthe practicersquos lineage in the twentieth century We have also seen that even insuch an important ritual as the extended mendrup contemporary Bonpos tendto rely only on one commentary from the fourteenth century Oral knowledgeand personal transmission are obviously important for the imparting of ritualknowledge However the textual tradition also presents remarkable details ofmendrup practice and performance proving the authorsrsquo close comprehensionof and likely own experience with the ritual

If we accept the assumption that the sources can build up one coherent narra-tive despite the intricacies of their dating a tentative chronological reconstruc-tion of the development and transmission of the ritual is possible Shenchen Luga

118 See Emmerick 1977 Fenner 1996 Er- hard 2007


anna sehnalova 173

(996ndash1035) found the ritualrsquos text and paraphernalia which appears as a clearstatement already in one of the earliest documents However we do not learn anydetails As the twentieth centuryrsquos chronicles add Shenchen Luga passed all hisgains directly to Dziboumln Wanggyel who in turn had to give everything to PatoumlnPelchok (b 1014) who was actually empowered by Shenchen Luga as the holderof the practice Patoumln Pelchok performed it receiving a vision of Trowo TsochokKhagying A little later Druchen Namkha Yungdrung (994999ndash1054) conduc-ted the very first mendrup performance For that he would have had to receive theritualrsquos transmission and would have also been entitled to hand it down againHe bestowed secret teachings to a student group including Matoumln Sheacuterap Sen-ggeacute (twelfth century) Of the students a certain Poumlnseacute was entrusted the mendruppractice Here the chronology assumed by the sources might not accord withour contemporary dating according to which Druchen and Sheacuterap Senggeacute couldnot have met Master Druchen was active in the area of the future Yeacuteru Wensakamonastery (founded 1072) where mendrup is said to have then flourished

Nevertheless another lineage of mendrup transmission can be followed in thesources Matoumln Sindzin (b 1092) was recorded in the eighteenth century as a re-vealer of scriptures of the peaceful and wrathful deities among which mendrupmight have been included His grandson Matoumln Sheacuterap Senggeacute then had a vis-ion through which he was assigned the practice by an unnamed master His sofar undated account might have served as a legitimisation of the given form ofthe ritualrsquos realisation Its detailed authoritative description could have coinedmendrup performance and its arrangements The very early on mentioned PoumlnseacuteDzamling (b 12591271) a direct descendant of Shenchen Luga after several gen-erations would have come after as the mendrup holder and practitioner

Nyouml Tsuumlltrim Gyeltsenrsquos fourteenth-century commentary further codifiedand institutionalised the practice into an elaborate demanding and verycomplex monastic performance his instructions are still observed at the presentSimilarly the master Nyammeacute Sheacuterap Gyeltsen (1356ndash1415) likely engaged inthe practice in his newly-established Menri monastery The striking featureof the texts observed is the overall exclusion of Rindzin Chenpo Gyermi Nyiouml(eleventh to twelfth century) one of the presumed discoverers of mendrup bycurrent Bonpos In any case mendrup ritual clearly expresses the identity andcontinuity of Bonpo lineages monastic seats and power structures concerned

It is likely that more written documents mentioning the Bonpo mendrup willbe discovered as research in the field of Tibetan studies progresses Thereforethe dating presented should be understood as tentative based on the sourcescurrently available The available evidence demonstrates that mendrup has beenan important healing ritual practice for the Bonpo tradition for the last seven oreight hundred years


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks are due to the monastery of Triten Norbutse and particularly toYongdzin Rinpoche Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung and Amchi Nyima fur-

ther to the Menri monastery in India and His Holiness Menri Trindzin Tri Yun-gdrung and Nyima Woser Choekhortsang as well as Daniel Berounskyacute CathyCantwell Barbara Gerke Dan Martin and Rob Mayer I am also very grateful tothe editors of this volume and the two anonymous reviewers

This article is a result of the Project ldquoDeities and Treasures Perceptions ofLandscape and Wildlife in Tibetan Culture and Religionrdquo based at the Facultyof Arts Charles University Prague and funded by the Grant Agency of CharlesUniversity (GAUK project no 816516) 2016ndash2017

The photograph in Figure 6 was taken by Anja Benesch and Olga Ryznar inTriten Norbutse on 1st January 2013 All other photographs belong to the authorand were taken in Triten Norbutse during the mendrup ceremony in December2012 apart from the Figure 1 which is from Central Tibet December 2014

INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS

Kathmandu Triten Norbutse monastery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud rtsisman gyi gzhung lags s+ho) 145 148 155 165 166

Kathmandu Triten Norbutse monastery (containing rsquoOd zer rsquokhyil pa bdud rtsiyon tan gyi phyag bzhes gsal byed me long bzhugs so by gNyos tshul khrimsrgyal mtshan) 158

PRIMARY SOURCES

Anon (1972a) ldquoBla ma gshen gyi rnam tharrdquo In Sources for a History of Bon ACollection of Rare Manuscripts from Bsam-gling Monastery in Dolpo (NorthwesternNepal) Ed by Tenzin Namdak Dolanji Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre

mdash (1972b) ldquoRigs rsquodzin rig parsquoi thugs rgyudrdquo In Sources for a History of Bon ACollection of Rare Manuscripts from Bsam-gling Monastery in Dolpo (NorthwesternNepal) Ed by Tenzin Namdak Dolanji Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre


ldquorsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud rtsi sman gyi gzhung bzhugs pa lags s+hordquo (1998a) IngYung drung bon gyi bkarsquo brten Ed by dKar ru Grub dbang sprul sku bstanparsquoi nyi ma Vol 168 Lhasa Sog sde sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma

174

anna sehnalova 175

ldquorsquoOd zer rsquokhyil ba bdud rtsi sman gyi gzhung bzhugs parsquoi dbus phyogs legss+hordquo (1998b) In gYung drung bon gyi bkarsquo brten Ed by dKar ru Grub dbangsprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma Vol 230 Lhasa Sog sde sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyima

dPon slob Rin po che tshangs pa bstan rsquodzin dGe shes bSam gtan gtsug phudShes rab mthar phyin and Khri gtsug bstan pa (2014) bDud rtsi rsquood zer rsquokhyilbarsquoi lag len skor gYung drung bon gyi gdan sa chen mo dpal ldam khri brtan nor burtsersquoi thengs gnyis parsquoi sman sgrub chen mo Kathmandu dPal ldam khri brtannor bu rtse

gZhod ston bSod nams grags pa (1981) ldquorMa ston shes rab seng gi gzigs snangrdquoIn Biographical Materials about Bonpo Masters A Collection of Rare BonpoBiographical Sketches Calligraphed from Manuscripts from Nepal and Tibet at theTibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre Dolanji (HP) Ed by Lopon Tenzin NamdakDolanji Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre

mdash (1998) ldquorMa ston shes rab seng gi gzigs snangrdquo In gYung drung bon gyi bkarsquobrten Ed by dKar ru Grub dbang sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma Lhasa Sog sdesprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma

Gzhod-ston Bsod-nams-grags-pa (1972) ldquorMa ston shes rab seng gi gzigs snanglags sordquo In Sources for a History of Bon A Collection of Rare Manuscripts fromBsam-gling Monastery in Dolpo (Northwestern Nepal) Ed by Tenzin NamdakDolanji Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre

Khud spungs pa dBra ston Ngag dbang skal bzang bstan parsquoi rgyal mtshan(2017) ldquosKu gsum ston parsquoi gsung rab bkarsquo rsquogyur rin po chersquoi lung rgyunji snyed pa phyogs gcig tu bsdus parsquoi bzhugs byang brgyud rim bcaspa dri med shel gyi phreng bardquo In transcriber Dan Martin url https sitesgooglecomsitetibetologicaltransmission-document-of-bon (onSept 2017)

Kun-grol-grags-pa (1974) ldquoSangs rgyas bstan pa spyi yi rsquobyung khung yid bzhinnor bu rsquodod pa rsquojo barsquoi gter mdzodrdquo In Three sources for a history of Bon theRgyal rab of Khyuṅ-po Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan the Bstan byung of Kun-grol-grags-pa and the Bstan byung of Tenzin Namdak Delhi and Dolanji Khedup Gyatsoand Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre

Millard Colin and Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung eds (unpublished) rsquoOd zer rsquokhyilpa bdud rtsi yon tan gyi phyag bshes gsal byed me long lsquozhug so Mendrup OserKyilba ndash The Light-Infused Medicine Blessing Ritual unpublished

mKhas grub Lung rtogs rgya mtsho (2010) ldquobStan rsquobyung rig parsquoi shan rsquobyednor bu ke ta karsquoi do shal zhas bya ba bzhugsrdquo In Deb dang po sTon parsquoi mdzadrnam dang lo rgyus kyi skor Ed by sTong skor Tshe ring thar et al Beijing Mirigs dpe skrun khang

Mtharsquo-bzhi-rsquoDul-seng (1972) ldquoBla ma gru chen porsquoi rnam thar bzhugs sordquo InSources for a History of Bon A collection of rare manuscripts from Bsam-gling Mon-



astery in Dolpo (Northwestern Nepal) Ed by Tenzin Namdak Dolanji TibetanBonpo Monastic Centre

sKyang rsquophags (1998) ldquoRig rsquodzin gyer mi nyi rsquood kyi gyer mi skyang rsquophags chenporsquoi skyes rabs sgal thar yon tan thung rje nyi ma bzhugsrdquo In gYung drungbon gyi bkarsquo brten Ed by dKar ru Grub dbang sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma lhasa sog sde sprul sku bstan parsquoi nyi ma

sPa ston bsTan rgyal bzang po (2010) ldquobsTan parsquoi rnam bshad dar rgyas gsal barsquoisgron ma zhes bya ba bzhugs sordquo In Deb dang po sTon parsquoi mdzad rnam danglo rgyus kyi skor Ed by sTong skor Tshe ring thar et al Beijing Mi rigs dpeskrun khang

Spa-ston Bstan-rgyal-bzang-po (1972) ldquobsTan parsquoi rnam bshad dar rgyas gsal barsquoisgron ma zhes bya ba bzhugsrdquo In Sources for a History of Bon A collection ofrare manuscripts from Bsam-gling Monastery in Dolpo (Northwestern Nepal) Edby Tenzin Namdak Dolanji Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre

Tshe ring bkra shis (2004) rJe rin po che mnyam med shes rab rgyal mtshan gyi rnamthar Chengdu Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang

SECONDARY SOURCES

A dpal bzang (2013a) sMan sgrub chen mo rsquotshogs rgyursquoi gsal brda url httpoldhimalayaboncomarticlenews20130125936html (on Apr 2017)

mdash (2013b) sMan sgrub chen mo rsquotshogs rgyursquoi gsal brda url http blog himalayaboncomubasangarchives20133000html5252 (on Dec 2017)

Achard Jean-Luc (2004) Bon po Hidden Treasures a catalogue of gTer ston bDe chengling parsquos collected revelations Leiden amp Boston Brill

mdash (2008) Enlightened Rainbows the Life and Work of Shardza Tashi Gyeltsen LeidenBrill

Aschoff J C and Tashi Yangphel Tashigang (2001) Tibetan ldquoPrecious Pillsrdquo theRinchen Medicine A Tantric Healing System with Great Benefits Some ProblemsMany Secrets Ulm Donau Fabri Verlag

mdash (2004) Tibetan Jewel Pills the Rinchen Meditation Ulm Donau Fabri VerlagBentor Yael (1996) ldquoLiterature on consecration (Rab gnas)rdquo In Tibetan Literature

Studies in Genre Ed by J I Cabezoacuten and R Jackson Ithaca NY Snow LionPublications pp 290ndash311

mdash (1997) ldquoThe Horseback Consecration Ritualrdquo In Religions of Tibet in PracticeEd by Donald Lopez Princeton Princeton University

Blaikie Calum (2013) ldquoCurrents of Tradition in Sowa Rigpa Pharmacyrdquo In EastAsian Science Technology and Society 7 pp 425ndash51 doi 10121518752160-2332223

mdash (2014) ldquoMaking medicine Pharmacy exchange and the production of SowaRigpa in Ladakhrdquo PhD Canterbury University of Kent


anna sehnalova 177

mdash (2015) ldquoWish-fulfilling Jewel Pills Tibetan Medicines from Exclusivity toUbiquityrdquo In Anthropology and Medicine pp 1ndash16 doi 1010801364847020151004504

Blaikie Calum Sienna Craig Theresia Hofer and Barbara Gerke (2015) ldquoCo-Producing Efficacious Medicines Collaborative Ethnography with TibetanMedicine Practitioners in Kathmandu Nepalrdquo In Current Anthropology 562pp 178ndash204

Bstan-rsquodzin-rgya-mtsho Dalai Lama XIV Lopon Tenzin Namdak Henry MVyner and Lopon Tegchoke (2007) The Healthy Mind Interviews The DalaiLama Lopon Tenzin Namdak Lopon Thekchoke Kathmandu Vajra

Cantwell Cathy (2015) ldquoThe Medicinal Accomplishment (sman sgrub) Practicein the Dudjom Meteoric Iron Razor (gnam lcags spu gri) Tradition Reflectionson the Ritual and Meditative Practice at a Monastery in Southern BhutanrdquoIn Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 8 pp 49ndash95

mdash (2017) ldquoReflections on Rasāyana Bcud len and Related Practices in Nyingma(Rnying ma) Tantric Ritualrdquo In History of Science in South Asia 52 doi 1018732hssav5i217

Cech Krystyna (1987) ldquoThe Social and Religious Identity of the Tibetan Bonposwith Special Reference to a North-west Himalayan Settlementrdquo PhD OxfordUniversity of Oxford Oxford

mdash (1988) ldquoA Bon-po bčarsquo-yig the Rules of sMan-ri Monasteryrdquo In Tibetan Stud-ies Proceedings of the 4th Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Stud-ies Munich 1985 Ed by Helga Uebach and Jampa L Panglung MuumlnchenKommission fuumlr Zentralasiatische Studien Bayerische Akademie der Wis-senschaften

Craig Sienna R (2011) ldquoFrom Empowerments to Power Calculations Notes onEfficacy Value and Methodrdquo In Medicine Between Science and Religion Ex-plorations on Tibetan Grounds Ed by Vincanne Adams Mona Schrempf andSienna R Craig Oxford Berghahn Books isbn 978-1-78238-122-8

mdash (2012) Healing Elements Efficacy and the Social Ecologies of Tibetan MedicineBerkeley University of California Press isbn 9780520273245

Czaja Olaf (2013) ldquoOn the History of Refining Mercury in Tibetan MedicinerdquoIn Asian Medicine 8 pp 75ndash105 doi 10116315734218-12341290

mdash (2015) ldquoThe Administration of Tibetan Precious Pills Efficacy in Historicaland Ritual Contextsrdquo In Asian Medicine 10 pp 36ndash89 doi 10116315734218-12341350

Das Chandra (1902) A Tibetan-English Dictionary Calcutta Bengal SecretariatBook Depocirct

Donden Yeshi and Jeffrey Hopkins (1997) Health Through Balance An Introduc-tion to Tibetan Medicine Delhi Motilal Banarsidas isbn 978-0937938256



Emmerick RE (1977) ldquoSources of the rGyud-bzhirdquo In Zeitschrift der DeutschenMorgenlaumlndischen Gesellschaft (Wiesbaden) 32 pp 1135ndash42

Erhard FP (2007) ldquoA Short History of the gYu thog snying thigrdquo In In Indicaet Tibetica Festschrift fuumlr Michael Hahn Zum 65 Geburtstag von Freunden undSchuulern uumlberreicht Ed by K Konrad and J Hartmann Wiener Studien zurTibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 66 Wien Arbeitskreis fuumlr Tibetische undBuddhistische Studien Universitaumlt Wien isbn 9783902501059

Fenner E T (1996) ldquoThe Origin of the rGyud bzhi A Tibetan Medical Tantrardquo InTibetan Literature Studies in Genre Ed by J I Cabezoacuten and R Jackson IthacaNew York Snow Lion Publications pp 458ndash69 url http www thlib org encyclopedias literary genres genres - book php book = studies -in-genresb27 (on 18 Mar 2018)

Garrett Frances (2009) ldquoThe Alchemy of Accomplishing Medicine (sman sgrub)Situating the Yuthok Heart Essence (Gyu thog snying thig) in Literature andHistoryrdquo In Indian Philosophy 37 pp 207ndash30 doi 101007s10781-009-9070-3

mdash (2010) ldquoTapping the Bodyrsquos Nectar Gastronomy and Incorporation inTibetan Literaturerdquo In History of Religions 493 pp 300ndash326

Gerke Barbara (2012) Long Lives and Untimely Deaths Life-span Concepts andLongevity Practices among Tibetans in the Darjeeling Hills India Leiden Brill

mdash (2013) ldquolsquoTreating the Agedrsquo and lsquoMaintaining Healthrsquo Locating bcud len Prac-tices in the Four Tibetan Medical Tantrasrdquo In Journal of the International As-sociation of Buddhist Studies 35 pp 329ndash326 url httpswwwacademiaedu6925072 (on 28 Mar 2018)

mdash (2014) ldquoThe Art of Tibetan Medical Practicerdquo In Bodies in Balance Ed byTheresia Hofer New York Rubin Museum of Art

mdash (2017) ldquoTibetan Precious Pills as Therapeutics and Rejuvenating LongevityTonicsrdquo In History of Science in South Asia 52 doi 1018732hssav5i215

Hofer Theresia (2014) ldquoFoundations of Pharmacology and the Compounding ofTibetan Medicinesrdquo In Bodies in Balance Ed by Theresia Hofer New YorkRubin Museum of Art isbn 9780295807089

Jaumlschke H (1881) A Tibetan-English Dictionary London url httpsarchiveorgdetailsatibetanenglisd00lahogoog (on 13 Mar 2018)

Karmay Samten G (1972) The Treasury of Good Sayings A Tibetan History of BonDelhi Motilal Banarsidas

mdash (1998) ldquoA General Introduction to the History and Doctrines of Bonrdquo In TheArrow and the Spindle Studies in History Myths Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet Edby Samten G Karmay Kathmandu Maṇḍala Book Point

mdash (2007) ldquoA Historical Overview of the Bon Religionrdquo In Bon The Magic WordThe Indigenous Religion of Tibet Ed by Samten G Karmay and Jeff Watt NewYork The Rubin Museum of Art isbn 9780856676499


anna sehnalova 179

Karmay Samten G and Yasuhiko Nagano eds (2001) A Catalogue of the New Col-lection of Bonpo Katen Text ndash Indices Bon Studies 4 Osaka National Museumof Ethnology

mdash eds (2003) A Survey of Bonpo Monasteries and Temples in Tibet and the HimalayaBon Studies 7 Osaka National Museum of Ethnology

Karmay Samten G Yasuhiko Nagano Nagru Gelek Jinpa and Tenpa Yung-drung eds (2001) A Catalogue of the New Collection of Bonpo Katen Texts BonStudies 4 Osaka National Museum of Ethnology

Kind Marietta (2002) Mendrup A Bonpo Ritual for the Benefit of All Living Be-ings and for the Empowerment of Medicine Performed in Tsho Dolpo KathmanduWWF Nepal Program

Kohn Richard Jay (1988) ldquoMani Rimdu Text and Tradition in a Tibetan RitualrdquoPhD Madison University of Wisconsin Madison

Kvaeligrne Per (1971) ldquoA Chronological Table of the Bonpo the Bstan rcis of Ntildei-mabstan-rsquoJinrdquo In Acta Orientalia 33 pp 205ndash82 issn 0001-6483

mdash (1995) The Bon Religion of Tibet The Iconography of a Living Tradition LondonSerindia isbn 978-1570621864

Martin Dan (1997) Tibetan Histories A Bibliography of Tibetan-Language HistoricalWorks London Serindia isbn 9780906026434

mdash (2001) Unearthing Bon Treasures Life and Contested Legacy of a Tibetan ScriptureRevealer with a General Bibliography of Bon Leiden Brill isbn 978-90-04-12123-2

mdash (2017) Prop Names Biblio Key url httpssitesgooglecomsitetiblicalprop-names-biblio-key (on Sept 2017)

Millard Colin (unpublished) ldquoRinchen Medicines in the Bon Medical Tradi-tionrdquo unpublished

Oliphant Jamyang Charles (2015) ldquoThe Tibetan Technique of Essence-Extraction(Bcud len) and its Benefitsrdquo In Tibetan and Himalayan Healing An Anthology forAnthony Aris Ed by Charles Ramble and Ulrike Roesler Kathmandu VajraBooks

mdash (2016) ldquolsquoExtracting the Essencersquo Bcud len in the Tibetan Literary TraditionrdquoPhD Oxford University of Oxford Oxford

Parfionovitch Yuri Gyurme Dorje and Fernand Meyer (1992) Tibetan MedicalPaintings Illustrations to the Blue Beryl treatise of Sangye Gyamtso (1653ndash1705)1st ed 1 vols New York Harry N Abrams

rMersquou tsha bstan rsquodzin rnam rgyal (2014) Bon gyi gdung rgyud chen po drug gibyung ba brjod pa Lha sa Bod ljong mi dmangs dpe skrun khang

Samuel Geoffrey (2010) ldquoA Short History of Indo-Tibetan Alchemyrdquo In Studiesof Medical Pluralism in Tibetan History and Society PIATS 2006 Proceedings ofthe Eleventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies Ed by



Sienna Craig Koumlnigswinter International Institute for Tibetan and BuddhistStudies isbn 978-3038091080

Schaeffer Kurtis R (2002) ldquoThe Attainment of Immortality From Nathas in In-dia to Buddhists in Tibetrdquo In Journal of Indian Philosophy 306 pp 515ndash33 doi101023a1023527703312

Sehnalova Anna (2013) ldquoThe Bon sman sgrub Ritualrdquo MPhil University of Ox-ford

mdash (2015) ldquoInviting Medicine Mendrub (Sman grub) healing for everyone andeverythingrdquo In Tibetan and Himalayan Healing An Anthology for Anthony ArisEd by Charles Ramble and Ulrike Roesler Kathmandu Vajra Books

mdash (In press) ldquoThe Bonpo Mendrub (Sman sgrub) Ritual Medicinal Materialityof a Universal Healing Ceremonyrdquo In Journal of the International Associationfor Bon Research In press

Snellgrove David (1987) Indo-Tibetan Buddhism Indian Buddhists and Their TibetanSuccessors London Serindia

Tsetan (1998) ldquoBoumln Tibetans Hold Their Holiest Ceremonyrdquo In Tibetan Reviewp 7

Van Schaik Sam (2013) ldquoThe Naming of Tibetan Religion Bon and Chos in theTibetan Imperial Periodrdquo In Journal of the International Association for Bon Re-search 1 pp 227ndash257

Vostrikov Andrei Ivanovich (1970) Tibetan Historical Literature Calcutta IndianStudies Past amp Present

Yungdrung Khenpo Tenpa (2012) 25th Anniversary of Triten Norbutse Ceremonyfor Blessing Healing Medicine 9 December 2012 ndash 2 January 2013 Himalayan BoumlnFoundation url httphimalayanbonorg2012120225th-anniversary-of-triten-norbutse (on Apr 2017)

Zhang Yisun (1993) Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo Beijing Minzu chubanshi






Reflections on Rasāyana Bcud len and RelatedPractices in Nyingma (Rnying ma) Tantric Ritual

Cathy CantwellUniversity of Oxford

MLA style citation form Cathy Cantwell ldquoReflections on Rasāyana Bcud len and Related Practices inNyingma (Rnying ma) Tantric Ritualrdquo History of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) 181ndash203 doi1018732hssav5i217Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 INTRODUCTION

References to rasāyana and its equivalent Tibetan term bcud len aboundin Tibetan Buddhist tantric traditions so much so that it is not altogether

straightforward to sum up the range of meanings of these terms1 The Tibetanterm bcud len is sometimes used entirely metaphorically the life story and songsof a great eighteenth-century lama for instance entitled ldquoMentally imbibing theessence juice of [the Buddha] Samantabhadrarsquos theatrical displayrdquo2 The secondpart of the term len is from the verb len pa which in everyday language is themost common word for to take Thus in this context taking the essence juice canimply incorporating essences into oneself and also the practice of taking or ex-tracting essences from a substance Non-metaphorical usages of the term bcudlen in tantric contexts generally draw on both these senses of the term and in-dicate the yogic practice of subsisting on nutritional essences and especially thepractice of making and consuming pills of such essences as part of such a yogicregime In my translation imbibing the essence juice I emphasise the aspect ofbodily incorporation which is a central feature of the tantric practice The termrasāyana in Tibetan transliteration in contrast does not seem to have such fre-quent metaphorical usage but can refer to tantric transmutation in various con-texts especially where material substances such as liquids and pills are involved

1 See the discussion of Fenner (1980 59ndash83) which focuses mainly on early Indo-Tibetan tantric sources although also in-cludes consideration of a Tibetan comment-arial text by the fourteenth to fifteenth-century Bodongpa (Bo dong phyogs las rnam

rgyal) who treats the spiritual exercisesfocused on the tantric channels and airswithin the body (rtsa rlung) as an inner typeof bcud len2 kun tu bzang porsquoi zlos gar yid kyi bcud lenNgawang Tsering 1978


182 reflections on rasāyana bcud len and related practices

In fact it is used in a broad sense to apply to Medicinal Accomplishment (smansgrub) practices which are widespread in Tibetan monastic temple settings andnot restricted to virtuoso meditators Such communal practices for compound-ing and consecrating sacred medicinal pills are integrated into large-scale MajorPractice Sessions lasting for many days and culminating in public blessings anddistribution of sacred pills and other items

In this article I consider two case studies the first of which is a specificallybcud len text deriving from a fourteenth-century source but integrated into atwentieth century collection of longevity rituals The second case study is aMedicinal Accomplishment (sman sgrub) ritual based on a textual manual whichexplicitly describes the process as rasāyana transcribed into Tibetan For both ex-amples I will refer to works by the late Dudjom Rinpoche (1904ndash1987) and theirassociated ritual practices so I introduce him first

Dudjom Rinpoche was a prominent and important twentieth century lamaand scholar who drew on many different Nyingma traditions in his writingsand teachings Nyingma being one of the major lsquodivisionsrsquo of Tibetan Buddhisttraditions Nyingma practices stem from the heritage of the early or ancienttantric transmissions to Tibet from the eighth century as well as further rev-elations linked to these sources Unlike many of the later transmissions fromIndia the early tantras did not become the basis for a school with a single or-ganisational structure Nyingma monasteries were in contrast loosely integratedthrough their common heritage while Nyingma transmissions also frequentlypassed through high status lamas of the more hierarchically structured schoolsAs a principal lineage holder of most of these separately transmitted teachingsDudjom Rinpoche was a key figure in bringing some coherency and integrationto the Nyingmapa in the twentieth-century He took a central role in salvagingthe Nyingma religious and textual heritage in the mid-twentieth-century follow-ing the Chinese invasion of Tibet and became the first Head of the Nyingmapawhen a more modern structure was created in exile He is renowned both for hisown textual revelations and for contributing manuals and commentaries for alarge number of the lineages he held his collected works amount to twenty-fivevolumes

2 A TEXT FOR IMBIBING THE ESSENCE JUICE

First we should consider practices associated with the translated word bcudlen ldquoimbibing the essence juicerdquo There are a great many Buddhist tan-

tric texts on bcud len since each tradition and even each cycle associated with aspecific tantric deity might require its own version compatible with the specificmeditation training The early history of tantric bcud len practices has not yet


cathy cantwell 183

been well researched3 but it is clear that short bcud len practices occur in someearly transmitted texts such as Drakpa Gyaltsanrsquos (grags pa rgyal mtshan 1147ndash1216) sman chen porsquoi bcud len4 These practices became particularly establishedin the Nyingma revelatory literature and were included in the twelfth-centurymedical classic the Four Tantras (rgyud bzhi) whose sources included Nyingmatantric texts (see Gerke 2012) I have not identified any specifically bcud len typetext in the works of the twelfth-century Nyingma ancestral forefather Nyang-ralNyima Oumlzer (Nyang ral nyi ma rsquood zer)5 By the time of Nyang-ralrsquos thirteenth-century successor Guru Choumlwang (Gu ru chos dbang) the various techniqueswere presumably well-known Thus Guru Choumlwang presents a classificationof bcud len into fourteen types and proceeds to give recipes and instructions foreach of them as well as producing a separate text on a different type of bcud lenfrom any of the fourteen6

Essentially bcud len practices in the Nyingma system are integrated with theinner tantras of Mahāyoga Anuyoga and Atiyoga (different but complement-ary tantric techniques for gaining liberation) and designed to support medita-tion and yogic practices aiming at Enlightenment The Nyingma inner tantrasassume that buddhahood is primordially fully developed and the practitionerneeds only to actualise this through the spiritual training The bcud len practicesare subsidiary rather than self-sufficient components of this training always de-pendent on the wider meditation system being practised and often serve as anoptional extra which can be added in This is even the case when complete en-lightenment is predicted as the result of a single bcud len practice since such apractice is always to be integrated with the yogic training and could not be per-formed by a person who had not been initiated into the tantric path

It is clear that there are some contrasts in this respect between the medical tra-ditions for creating ldquoprecious pillsrdquo (rin chen ril bu) and pills for ldquorejuvenationrdquo(bcud len) on the one hand (see Gerke this volume) and these tantric traditionsfor ldquoimbibing the essence juicerdquo as well as the Medicinal Accomplishment prac-tices described below on the other hand There is no doubt that the medicaland the tantric ritual traditions share much of the same historical heritage andhave much in common Their intertwined histories represent an important and

3 Jamyang Oliphant (2016) includes somediscussion of a few early bcud len practicesbut makes no attempt at an historical assess-ment of the early Tibetan sources4 Drakpa Gyaltsan 2007 on this text seeOliphant 2016 53 74 92ndash945 This is not to say that there are no extantbcud len passages amongst his many workssimply that I have not identified them and

there may also be texts no longer extantNyang-ralrsquos Key to Secret Mantra terms (gsangsngags bkarsquoi lde mig (Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquoodzer 1979ndash1980b v 4 333ndash451)) gives a glosson the word bcud (Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquood zer1979ndash1980d v 4 420ndash422) that is very muchin line with bcud len practices6 Guru Choumlwang 1976ndash1980a 287ndash314



currently under-researched topic But over many generations the medical tra-ditions of Sowa Rigpa became increasingly secularised even before the modernera (see Gyatso 2015) with more emphasis on the mix of ingredients and lesson the spiritual status of the person compounding the pills Moreover for SowaRigpa the primary aim of treatments or remedies is the physical well-being ofthe physicianrsquos patients rather than any spiritual benefits even though the phys-ical and spiritual aspects may be seen as complementary both by ldquomedicalrdquo andldquoreligiousrdquo specialists In Nyingma practice the compounding of the substancestakes place within the context of the tantric ritual and meditations the spiritualdimension is central does not simply represent an additional consecration orblessing while the benefits are as much for the practitioner as for those to whomthey may pass on the pills

Given their integration into the tantric training Nyingma bcud len texts arefrequently rather short unless they include a number of recipes and practiceswhich may be suitable for different circumstances or unless standard practice(sādhana) sections are included together with the bcud len instructions Thesepractices are considered appropriate especially for individual yogic training andretreat contexts rather than communal rituals7 and they also have the practicalpurpose of enabling the hermit to subsist on very little food since the meditationsand concentrated sacred pills are considered able to sustain the practitioner

Sometimes bcud len texts may consist simply of recipes giving lists of ingredi-ents andor the processes for preparing or compounding them but often the as-sociated meditationvisualisation practices will also be included and there areeven practices of subsisting on the inner or outer elements without consumingany substances at all Such a means of ldquoimbibing essence juicerdquo may be obliquelyreferred to in tantric manuals which are not specifically concerned with bcud len

For example Dudjom Rinpochersquos Guru Rinpoche revelation known as theLake-Bornrsquos Heart Creative Seed (mtsho skyes thugs thig) has a longevity practicewhich has some succinct instructions on transforming the body through medit-ating on imbibing the essence juices of conditioned and unconditioned existenceand although the specific word bcud len is not used explicitly it was explainedto me that this represented a kind of bcud len practice8

hellip in the ultra-profound longevity practice either with the elabora-tion of the deity mantra or without it onersquos own body empty yetradiant free of grasping rests in equanimity in the state like the sky

7 Sometimes there are some hints that thepractice may be performed in a group or atleast that it is to be done for the benefit ofothers with an empowerment as part of thepractice (eg Rigdzin Goumldem 1980b v 3 Ga23ndash24)

8 Indeed the same phrasing of ldquoconsum-ing the sky as foodrdquo (nam mkharsquo zas suza ba) is found in bcud len texts such asGuru Choumlwangrsquos Rin chen gter mdzod (GuruChoumlwang 1976ndash1980b 314)


cathy cantwell 185

All samsara and nirvanarsquos essence juice (and) vibrant lustrousappearance is drawn in liquid blue (like) the nature of the skyThrough collecting it in the abdomen stabilize the meditation of thepure awareness holder (Skt vidyādhara) of immortal life and throughtraining in (this) yoga of consuming the sky as food it is taught thatgradually the adamantine (Skt vajra) body is accomplished9

As a brief example of a tantric bcud len text I have selected one from DudjomRinpochersquos corpus of texts for Zilnoumln Namkhai Dorjersquos (zil gnon nam mkharsquoi rdorje) early twentieth-century longevity revelation cycle of the Immortal Lifersquos Cre-ative Seed (rsquochi med srog thig) When Dudjom Rinpoche was compiling this col-lection which takes up one volume in his Collected Works he added in a shortbcud len practice from the Jang Ter (byang gter) tradition10 since he wanted tocreate a complete set of texts and the original revelation had no bcud len sectionThe text he used is in fact a short section from a longevity practice text withinthe fourteenth-century Rigdzin Goumldemrsquos (rig rsquodzin rgod ldem 1337ndash1408) GuruDrakpo-tsal (thugs sgrub drag po rtsal gyi chos skor) revelation11 Rigdzin Goumldemproduced more substantial bcud len texts including a lengthy text found withinthe same revelatory cycle12 but it seems that Dudjom Rinpoche chose instead touse a short extract from the longevity practice since it is succinct and suitable touse as an insert for a different deity practice13

The text begins with preparatory instructions which concern the physicaland spiritual health of the practitioner ndash heshe is to modify the diet and drinkboiled water to clean out the system and also to save animal lives and give outmedicines practices which are considered to create auspicious conditions for

9 khyad par yang zab kyi tshe sgrub la lha sn-gags kyi spros parsquoang dor nas rang lus stong gsalrsquodzin med nam mkharsquo lta bursquoi ngang la mnyampar bzhag bzhin pas rsquokhor rsquodas kyi dwangs bcudthams cad nam mkharsquoi rang bzhin du sngo mergyis drangs te lto bar bskyil bas rsquochi med tshersquoirig rsquodzin brtan par bsam zhing nam mkharsquo zassu bzarsquo barsquoi rnal rsquobyor la bslab pas rim gyisrdo rjersquoi lus su rsquogrub par gsungs so from Ac-complishing Longevity (through) the profoundpath (of) the Lake-Bornrsquos Heart Creative Seed(cycle) the Quintessential Manual (of) Pith In-structions (zab lam mtsho skyes thugs thig gitshe sgrub man ngag gnad byang) (DudjomRinpoche 1979ndash1985g 576) here and belowall the translations from Tibetan are mine10 Dudjom Rinpoche 1979ndash1985f 513ndash17

11 The extract is within the tshe sgrub lcagskyi sdong po las phyi sgrub rin chen bum pa(Rigdzin Goumldem 1980c 517ndash520)12 Rigdzin Goumldem 1980b13 Since this four-volume collection of Rig-dzin Goumldemrsquos Guru Drakpo-tsal Heart Prac-tice was edited by Dudjom Rinpoche andpublished in Sikkim in 1980 (Rigdzin Gouml-dem 1980a) it is probable that DudjomRinpoche had been working on it during thesame period in which he was compiling andwriting texts for the Zilnoumln Immortal LifersquosCreative Seed cycle (mostly in Kalimpong inthe late 1970s) and perhaps it was in thecontext of his editorial work that the Rig-dzin Goumldem passage came to the forefrontof his attention and he decided to reuse it



generating longevity in oneself The main practice starts with the recipe theprincipal ingredients of which constitute two groups of substances consideredby Tibetans to provide natural vitality These groups of the five vital essences(dwangs ma) and four elixirs (bdud rtsi) are found also in the geriatric chapter ofthe rgyud bzhi and used in the medical tradition Gerke (2012 347) identifies thisgroup in the medical texts as most probably related to the Buddhist ritual ratherthan Ayurvedic sources of the medical classics The final section of the text waxeslyrical about the benefits to be achieved by the practice and the consumption ofthe bcud len which include longevity equal to that of the sun and moon therecovery of youthful vigour and mental clarity and disappearance of the signsof ageing as well as recovery from disease and divine protection

The vital essence of earth is mineral pitch (brag zhun) exuded from rocks in theHimalayas or other high mountains equivalent to śilājatu in Ayurvedic medicineSuch śilājatu is frequently included in Ayurvedic longevity recipes (rasāyana) Thevital essence of stone is a specially prepared form of calcite called cong zhi inTibetan I have been told that a good source is stalactites or stalagmites foundin caves in Bumthang in Bhutan and similar sites elsewhere14 The text claimsthat these substances will help to generate new teeth and strengthen the bones15

The vital essence of wood or trees is bu ram which is usually taken to be rawsugar or molasses although Lopon P Ogyan Tanzin suggested to me that maplesyrup or other tree syrups would be most appropriate for this category Thevital essence of vegetation is butter from a female yak (rsquobri mo) the idea is thatthe yak consumes good quality grasses and the richness is concentrated in herbutter These two vital essences are said respectively to increase strength16 andspread the essence juices through the body The vital essence of flowers is honey

14 Lama Kunzang Dorjee of Jangsa Monas-tery Kalimpong (personal communicationAccording to Dagmar Wujastyk (personalcommunication 23082017) calcite doesnot feature in the rasāyana sections in Ayur-vedic literature but there may be a link withthe Indian Siddha traditions15 See also Rigdzin Goumldemrsquos longer bcud lentext (Rigdzin Goumldem 1980b v 3 26) cal-cite and mineral pitch augment the flesh andbones (cong zhi dang ni brag zhun gyi sha dangrus pa rgyas par rsquogyur) This appears to be areversal of the perhaps rather more intuit-ively logical associations given in the med-ical tradition where brag zhun is given firstand restores the flesh while cong zhi restoresthe bones (see Gerke 2012 348) Perhaps at

some stage there was a scribal error with areversal of brag zhun and cong zhi On theother hand it is also possible that the med-ical tradition might have tidied up an ap-parent discrepancy in the tantric literaturewhich has little need to be presented in aconsistent or logical manner The consulta-tion of further sources would be necessaryto clear up this point16 See also Rigdzin Goumldemrsquos longer bcudlen text (Rigdzin Goumldem 1980b v 3 27)molasses brings great bodily strength (buram gyis ni lus stobs che) For the med-ical tradition see Gerke 2012 348 wherethe two enhanced qualities are given asas physical strength (stobs) and radiancelustre (mdangs)


cathy cantwell 187

Lopon Ogyan Tanzin commented that in this case the honey should have beenproduced by bees which have fed exclusively on flowers17 The text notes thatthis will help to restore the glistening luster of the complexion This category offive vital essences found in bcud len texts is closely related to a list of five essences(snying po lnga) found widely in other Nyingma ritual contexts18

The four elixirs are collected from plants possibly all evergreen and con-sidered to have good fragrance it is perhaps noteworthy that they are also burntas incense The text gives annotations in small writing supplying the informa-tion about when the plant sources should be gathered It is not clear whetherthese notes on the timing are part of the original revelation they are not markedby the revelation punctuation but nonetheless occur within the Rigdzin Goumldemrevelation text The first elixir is juniper (shug pa) which should be gatheredwhen the leaves are spreading out In Rigdzin Goumldemrsquos longer bcud len textin the corpus the timing is specified as when the fruits ndash presumably in thiscase the seed cones or berries ndash are ripening Here there is no indication of thepart of the plant to be collected but some other sources specify the seed cones19

The second elixir is ba lu which is a fragrant dwarf rhododendron species (per-haps Rhododendron capitatum Maxim) to be collected when the flowers are openThirdly mkhan pa a Himalayan species of artemisia is gathered when the leavesare green while fourthly ephedra (mtshe) is collected when the greenish colourand the fragrance is fading The text continues with a short instruction on howspecific amounts of the ingredients are to be mixed and processed boiling themdown and condensing them into a syrup

The next section moves to the ritual and visualisation practices to be per-formed the mixture is to be put into five skull-cups with auspicious character-istics and placed on the mandala The male and female deities of the five buddhafamilies are invited and offerings are made to them The main mantra is to berecited ndash instead of the appropriate mantra from the original revelation contextin Dudjom Rinpochersquos presentation the root mantra for the Immortal Lifersquos Cre-ative Seed would be recited here The accompanying meditation is very similar

17 See also Rigdzin Goumldem 1980b v 34 This specifies ldquounadulteratedrdquo (lhadmed) honey which may have the sameimplication18 For instance see the version given inMagsarrsquos ritual commentary ldquoThe essenceof water is sea-salt the essence of flowersis honey the essence of woodtrees ismolasses the essence of vegetation is but-ter or milk the essence of medicines ismyrobalan fruit or alternatively the es-sence of grain juice is beerrdquo (chursquoi snying po

lan tshwa me tog gi snying po sbrang rtsi shinggi snying po bu ram rtsi thog gi snying po marram rsquoo ma sman gyi sning po a rursquoi rsquobras bursquoamrsquobru bcud kyi snying po chang du byas kyangrung (Magsar 2003 153))19 Guru Choumlwangrsquos separate text for a bcudlen based on juniper speaks of gatheringthe seeds rdquowhen it is the time for care-fully gathering the juniper seedshelliprdquo (shugrsquobru legs par rsquothu barsquoi dushellip (Guru Choumlwang1976ndash1980b 307))



to that used in Medicinal Accomplishment practices (see below) the five visual-ised male and female buddhas unite and the fluids produced from their unionrain down as elixir filling the skull-cups After seven days of intensive practicethe ldquosiddhisrdquo are to be imbibed The ldquosiddhisrdquo (Skt siddhi Tibetan dngos grub)are tantric spiritual accomplishments and here indicate the bcud len substancessome of which are to be ceremonially eaten Here Lopon P Ogyan Tanzin elab-orated that the regular practice of the Immortal Lifersquos Creative Seed would be per-formed on the final siddhi-imbibing day such that the section on ldquoImbibing theSiddhisrdquo would be reached as the dawn is breaking and mixture from the skull-cups would on this occasion be consumed to transmit the siddhis He added thatwhen the practice is performed by an individual in retreat they would not needthe skull-cups fully filled since they will only need a small quantity but wherethe bcud len is being performed for distribution to others a large quantity can bemade and after the practice the substances can be made into pills

This concise example of a bcud len text perhaps covers the main componentsof bcud len in the Nyingma tantric context First the practice is integrated intothe wider spiritual and yogic training and the visualised tantric consecrationsare a central and necessary aspect of the practice Secondly with the exceptionof a number of specialised yogic practices such as those focused on the vital airsgenerally there is a physical support to the practice ndash real ingredients are usedmostly substances considered to constitute natural essences or naturally to havemedicinal value or life-enhancing qualities The substances are processed andconcentrated and after the accompanying meditations and consecrations theyare considered actually to possess real potency to bring about longevityand otherbenefits and this potency will continue beyond the practice context Much thesame could be said of other Nyingma rituals such as Medicinal Accomplishmentrituals (sman sgrub) and Longevity Accomplishment rituals (tshe sgrub) duringwhich ldquosacred elixir dharma medicinerdquo (dam rdzas bdud rtsi chos sman) or longev-ity pills (tshe ril) respectively are produced

3 MEDICINAL ACCOMPLISHMENT (SMAN SGRUB ) ASRASĀYANA

Medicinal accomplishment rituals are tantric practices which are generallyperformed communally by trained often monastic or full-time practition-

ers supported by sponsorship for the event They involve intensive meditationsand rituals over a number of days the primary purpose of which is the accom-plishment of the tantric deity and spiritual realisation As a part of these complexrituals medicinal substances are consecrated and compounded into pills whichare distributed at the end of the session to the entire congregation On the fi-nal day the gathered assembly may run into hundreds or even thousands of lay


cathy cantwell 189

people A store of the pills will also be retained and can be given away at latertimes The distribution of these highly valued pills may have some similaritiesto the commodified production and distribution of precious pills (rin chen ril bu)by medical institutions20 but with one important difference In this Buddhistproduction the tantric practice and any purchase of ingredients are funded bysponsorship and the pills must be given away not sold The pills may be seenespecially by devoted followers as panaceas which may help to promote healthor dispel disease but perhaps particularly in todayrsquos world when Buddhist mon-asteries would not wish to be brought under the purview of modern regulationsof ldquomedicinesrdquo it is their spiritual qualities which tend to be emphasised

I have written about these ritual practices at length elsewhere21 Accordingto important Nyingma sources these entire rituals and especially the manufac-ture of the tantric medicinal pills can be seen as a process of rasāyana DudjomRinpoche uses the term rasāyana in this broad sense to apply to the MedicinalAccomplishment practice as a whole such as in the final words of his openingeulogy to his Medicinal Accomplishment text for the Meteoric Iron Razor (gnam lcagsspu gri) tradition ie ldquoI hereby joyously set out the methods for accomplishingsacred substance rasāyana in this celebration of wondrous elixirrdquo22 and in similarvein at slightly greater length in introducing the sections of his Medicinal Ac-complishment text for Dudul Dorjersquos Enlightened Intention Embodied (dgongspa yongs rsquodus) cycle

There are seven general sections in this clarification of the methodsfor absorbing the profound accomplishment of the vajrayāna samayasubstance rasāyana while relying on the guru the mandala circle ofthe three roots23

Here the notion of rasāyana is linked to a fundamental feature of Buddhist tan-tra or vajrayāna that is the samaya (Tibetan dam tshig) or tantric bond linking thepractitioner with the guru the deity and the community of practitioners Thusimbibing the sacred substances is a way of connecting the practitioners with thesacred tantric vision and transforming everyday experience This usage is not

20 See Gerkersquos paper in this volume (Gerke2017)21 Cantwell 201522 rdquodam rdzas ra sā ya na sgrub parsquoi tshul ngomtshar bdud rtsirsquoi dgarsquo ston rsquodi na sprordquo (Dud-jom Rinpoche 1979ndash1985d 306ndash7)23 gu ru rtsa ba gsum gyi dkyil rsquokhor gyi rsquokhorlo la brten nas rdo rje theg parsquoi dam tshig girdzas ra sā ya narsquoi sgrub pa zab mo ji ltar

nyams su len parsquoi tshul gsal bar rsquochad pa laspyi don rnam pa bdun te (Dudjom Rinpoche1979ndash1985b 367) Dudjom Rinpoche wasconsidered a reincarnation of Dudul Dorje(bdud rsquodul rdo rje 1615ndash1672) he took on re-sponsibility for Dudul Dorjersquos heritage andwrote many practice texts for his tantricrevelations



Figure 1 Ritual grinding of the medicinal ingredients at the mid-point of the ritual

Figure 2 Mixing of the ground medicinal ingredients Note the face masks to avoid breathing onand polluting the substances

idiosyncratic we see for instance the same characterisation in a text on Medi-cinal Accomplishment in the twelfth-century cycle of the Eightfold Buddha WordEmbodying the Sugatas of Nyang-ral Nyima Oumlzer (nyang ral nyi ma rsquood zer 1124ndash1192)24 The specific reference is in the section on the signs of success where thequantity of collected rasāyana is said to increase greatly

24 Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquood zer 1979ndash1980drdquora sa ya na rsquodus pa la mang du rsquophel ba rsquoby-

ungrdquo Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquood zer 1979ndash1980c v 8 4165


cathy cantwell 191

Figure 3 Placing the dish of unground medicinal ingredients at the top of the maṇḍala construc-tion

To sum up sacred medicinal pill production is integrated into a fullmahāyoga tantric practice connected with realising all physical verbal and men-tal phenomena as enlightened body speech as mind led by an accomplishedlama and a team of specialised meditation masters and ritualists Specialingredients including sacred tantric substances and substances consideredto have natural medicinal potencies are prepared and installed in a three-dimensional tantric mandala which becomes the focus of the practice Inthe first half of the ritual a proportion of the raw ingredients are set out in aprescribed arrangement at the top of the mandala (see Figure 3) while furthersacks of ingredients are placed lower within the mandala Half-way throughthe practice session on day 4 or 5 of the ritual the now consecrated ingredientsare ceremonially removed ground up and compounded into medicinal pillpieces (see Figures 1 and 2) which are then installed within special medicinalcontainers placed back into the mandala (see Figure 4) and ritually sealed25



Figure 4 Maṇḍala with the large and small medicinal containers of ground and mixed ingredientsfor the second half of the ritual session

Following several further days of tantric practice the medicinal pills becomeone of the key sacred substances to be ingested as siddhi substances and dis-tributed in the public blessings The remaining store of pill pieces may be driedand further processed at this stage creating a large supply for further use anddistribution (see Figure 5)

The significance of these tantric pills should not be underestimated ndash as Dud-jom Rinpoche sums up the benefit of consuming them

rdquohellip if you eat them the qualities are indescribable You will attainthe qualities of the five buddha bodies Outwardly illnesses and evilforces afflicting your body will be vanquished inwardly the emo-tional afflictions and five poisons will be purified degenerated andbroken tantric vows (samayas) will all be restored secretly self-arisenprimordial wisdom will be realisedrdquo26

It is not only that many kinds of spiritual accomplishments and physical heal-ing and life extending qualities are attributed to the substances Equally signi-ficantly they are considered to be a vital embodied aspect of the tantric trans-mission from master to student and of the tantric community binding together

25 Again this ritual is more fully explainedin Cantwell 201526 zos pas yon tan brjod mi langs sangsrgyas sku lngarsquoi yon tan thob phyi ltar lus kyi

nad gdon rsquojoms nang du nyon mongs dug lngarsquodag dam tshig nyams chag thams cad skonggsang ba rang byung yes shes rtogs (DudjomRinpoche 1979ndash1985c 340)


cathy cantwell 193

Figure 5 Putting the medicinal pills into small bags for distribution to individuals

the generations of practitioners descending in specific lineages of tantric practiceThus they are known as samaya substances (dam tshig gi rdzas) That is by par-taking of these substances the bonds linking the tantric community are createdembodied and repaired And this is not only a matter of specific occasions whenthe pills are made Each time a small amount of concentrated pills will be re-tained by the lama for use in future batches so that the stream or continuity of thesacred ldquofermenting agentrdquo (phab gtarsquo or phab rgyun) never runs out Indeed TheHead Lama of the Jangsa Monastery in Kalimpong told me that the late DudjomRinpoche used to tell his students that while there were many different specificlines through which the phab gtarsquo had been passed all Nyingmapa lamas areconnected since some component of everyonersquos dharma pills ultimately stemsback to the mass ceremonies performed in the seventeenth-century by the greatlama Terdak Lingpa (gter bdag gling pa 1646ndash1714) I have no way of assessingthe accuracy of this claim but the circulation of this story encapsulates well thenotion of a spiritual bonding enacted and maintained through the consumptionof rasāyana tantric pills



Figure 6 Medicinal Cordial offering (sman mchod) the Head Lama takes up a little liquid andflicks it as the offering to the tantric deities is recited

More specifically within the Major Practice session rituals there are two sec-tions where the term rasāyana may be explicitly used and it is interesting to re-flect on what might connect these two sections My current hypothesis is thatwhile most of the mahāyoga meditations and rituals for actualising buddha bodyspeech and mind within these practices have a distinctly Tibetan flavour boththe contexts in which the term rasāyana occurs are picking up on specificallyIndian tantric precedents The first is during lengthy recitations for the medi-cinal cordial offering (sman mchod) (see Image 6) This offering is a standard partof all mahāyoga sādhana liturgies and here the rasāyana is not the tantric pill pro-duction of the Medicinal Accomplishment rite but the offering of liquid elixirin a skull-cup generally of white clear or light coloured alcoholic drink alongwith consecrated medicinal pills made to the tantric deities as one of the threeelements of the inner offerings The medicinal cordial offering then is madenot only in elaborate rituals but as part of the regular everyday tantric practices(sādhanas) of different deities performed by individuals as well as temple com-munities It has various symbolic connotations one is that it is to be equatedwith the or the male wrathful deityrsquos (Herukarsquos) sexual fluid in this tantric con-


cathy cantwell 195

text seen as the ambrosia of life and as the white bodhicitta or the substance ofenlightened mind and linked in a pair with the inner offering of blood (rakta)(red bodhicitta) connected with the female deity

The verses of recitation do not always equate the medicinal cordial offeringwith rasāyana but where the word occurs it seems that it is linked to a classicline relating to the varieties of medicine which occurs in early Nyingma sourcesincluding root tantras of the Elixir Qualities (bdud rtsi yon tan) class The line runs

medicines compounded from the eight principal and thousand (vari-eties)27

and then sometimes the rest of the verse or a subsequent verse continues with areference to the liquid as a rasāyana elixir in some cases elaborating that it em-bodies the five samaya substances and represents the five poisons transformed28

Here samaya substances imply the five substances considered most polluting inIndian thinking ndash human flesh excrement urine semen and menstrual bloodndash which through the tantric practice actually come to embody the five Buddhawisdoms29 Thus this inner offering of medicinal cordial is in tantric Buddhistterms an offering of the inner saṃsāric defilements - attachment aversion delu-sion jealousy and pride ndash while recognising and enjoying their flavour as the fivebuddha wisdoms30 And note that the practitioner or in the case of a communalritual the presiding lama not only visualises offering the elixir to the variousdeities in turn but then visualising himself as the deity actually partakes ofsome of the elixir at the end of the offering verses

The second instance in the Major Practice session rituals in which the termrasāyana may be used explicitly is within the central part of meditations for theMedicinal Accomplishment practice which is repeated each day before the re-citation of the main mantra for consecrating the medicines It is made up of

27 rtsa brgyad stong lalas sbyar barsquoi sman Formore on this classic line and its connota-tions see Cantwell 2017 as well as PemaLingpa 1975ndash197628 Amongst many examples see in Dud-jom Rinpochersquos works his Ritual Manualfor the Meteoric Iron Razor Vajrakīlaya (Dud-jom Rinpoche 1979ndash1985d 114) and that forhis Razor Disintegration-on-Touch Vajrakīlaya(Dudjom Rinpoche 1979ndash1985e 489) In hisGuru Accomplishment (bla sgrub) text theseelements all occur without the word rasā-yana being drawn upon (Dudjom Rinpoche1979ndash1985a 15) See also Terdak Lingparsquos

Ritual Manual for Guru Choumlwangrsquos UltraSecret Razor Vajrakīlaya cycle (Terdak Lingpa1998b 288v)29 Note that there is a discussion of the con-notations of the five samayas linked to adiscussion of the rasāyana medicines givenin a commentarial work within Nyang-ralNyima Oumlzerrsquos Eightfold Buddha Word Em-bodying the Sugatas (Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquoodzer 1979ndash1980b 288)30 The corresponding wisdoms discrimin-ating mirror-like spatial field accomplish-ing and sameness



consecutive sections leading up to the mantra The first is known in the Dud-jom Meteoric Iron Razor cycle as Inviting the Medicinal Guardians (sman srungspyan rsquodren pa) and the second as Clearing the Thoughts (rtog pa bsal ba) At thisstage the main deity visualisation for the medicinal sections has already beenset up The medicinal substances have been generated as elixir personified thedeity Amṛtakuṇḍalī with his consort Now an Invocation is recited (DudjomRinpoche 1979ndash1985c 317) calling upon the medicinal guardians who are de-scribed in terms of Indian categories brahmā seers (ṛṣis) nāgas and goddessesof herbal medicines31 They are reminded of the mythology of how they becameguardians of rasāyana They are requested to pay heed in accordance with theirformer vows and to grant the siddhis of rasāyana As this recitation ends musicis played the incense censer is carried around the hall and the principal prac-titioners wave coloured streamers bringing down the presence of the deitiesThese deities are then visualised gathering above the medicinal palace mandalacontaining the medicinal substances which has been constructed in the temple

The section on Clearing the Thoughts follows immediately and is accompan-ied by the flicking of medicinal cordial as in the inner offerings but here as a wayof bringing consecration The recitation for this section is particularly interestingbecause it draws on a passage found in root tantras and early Nyingma tantricmanuals It would seem that a variant of these verses is generally integratedinto Medicinal Accomplishment practice manuals of any length32 constituting akind of basis for the ritual and symbolic transformations The passage appearsthen to represent a root tantra citation significant for the entire Nyingma Medi-cinal Accomplishment literature expressing key values which summarise the ap-proach of this tantric meditative practice It draws on the Indian religious theme

31 For tsak li initiation cards which givedepictions of such medicinal guardianssee Himalayan Art Resources httpwwwhimalayanartorgitems53351968imagesprimary-458-133114650and httpwwwhimalayanartorgitems53351946imagesprimary-441-133114820 These cards are for a quitedifferent deity cycle the gYu thog snyingthig but they are nonetheless illustrative ofTibetan styles of depicting Indian seers etc32 Since I am not extensively familiar withthis literature I cannot be certain how ubi-quitous the passage is I may have over-stated the point here The passage is foundin the fifth bam po of the rNying marsquoirgyud rsquobumrsquos thams cad bdud rtsi lngarsquoi rangbzhin nye barsquoi snying porsquoi bdud rtsi mchog gi

lung bam po brgyad pa (rnying ma rgyudrsquobum mTshams brag 1982 40 gTing skyes1973 177) Terdak Lingparsquos Medicinal Ac-complishment manual identifies his sourceas the bam brgyad (written in small lettersTerdak Lingpa 1998a 125r) A version is alsofound in the probably early tenth-centurybSam gtan mig sgron of Nubchen SangyeacuteYesheacute (see Nubchen Sangyeacute Yesheacute ca 1990ndash2000 376) (thanks to Dylan Esler who isworking on the bSam gtan mig sgron fordrawing my attention to this source) inNyang ralrsquos bKarsquo brgyad bde gshegs rsquodus pain the bdud rtsi sman sgrub thabs lag khrid dubsdebs pa (Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquood zer 1979ndash1980a v 8 445ndash6) and in Guru Choumlwangrsquoszhi khro bkarsquo brgyad las bdud rtsi sman bsgrub(Guru Choumlwang 1979 283ndash4)


cathy cantwell 197

of the opposition between the pure and the impure and not simply a Buddhistopposition between a defiled saṃsāra and pure nirvāṇa

Here the imagery is more classically Indian Brahmā seers (Tibetan drangsrong = Skt ṛṣi) nāgas brahmans and cows are said to eat pure foods Dud-jom Rinpochersquos (and also the thirteenth-century Guru Choumlwangrsquos) version addsin an explicit opposition with dogs and pigs eating impure foods In any casethe refrain with each of the examples is that we would not say that they areliberated as a result of their ldquopurityrdquo (or ldquoimpurityrdquo) The text continues thatin contrast liberation is brought about by transcending the opposition betweenthe pure and the impure and recognising that the single ultimate body of theBuddha (dharmakāya) is displayed variously its natural qualities the five buddhafamilies Thus the genuinely rdquopurerdquo or consecrated potent substances33 are tobe consumed non-dualistically bringing alchemical transmutation and accom-plishment34

This section is concluded with a request for the gathered vidyādharas of rasā-yana to bestow consecrations upon the substances and practitioners The follow-ing section for the mantra recitation opens with a recited visualisation which in-cludes the medicinal deities raining down elixir into the mandala so that the su-preme alchemical transmutation takes place ndash and again the transliterated wordrasāyana is used35

It seems likely that the passage on the Medicinal Guardians and their con-secrations of the sacred medicines derives from an Indian source in the Tibetancase tantric transformation is more usually concerned simply with the same-ness of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa and realising ordinary body speech and mind asbuddha body speech and mind and in any case caste rules and ideas about cowsas sacred or pure are not a prominent feature of Tibetan life It seems that tran-scendence of Indian caste purity rules is particularly played on in the ritual tra-ditions focusing on producing transformative elixir with key ingredients classed

33 That is the arranged medicinal sub-stances which feature the tantric five fleshesand five elixirs the most polluting of all sub-stances from a classically Indian viewpointyet constitute potent consecrated elixir par-taking of Amṛtakuṇḍalīrsquos nature from thetantric pure-vision perspective already de-veloped in the earlier practice34 Toumlrzsoumlk (2014) discusses the ritual useof impure substances in various strands ofHindu tantras and their differing ontolo-gical connotations This Buddhist innertantra context is more similar to the later

groups described by Toumlrzsoumlk which uphelda non-dual ontology although of coursethe philosophical implications were some-what different in the Buddhist tantras Gar-rett (2010 302 ff) traces the usage of impuresubstances in Tibet from the Nyingma ElixirQualities (bdud rtsi yon tan) tantras and (ibid316ndash321) contextualises the uses and adapt-ations of the consumption of body partsand waste products etc in the Tibetan casewhere Indian notions of purity and pollu-tion are less central35 Dudjom Rinpoche 1979ndash1985c 319



as ldquopollutedrdquo substances36 and perhaps this is why we find the transliteratedSanskrit term in this context rather than a Tibetan translation

4 CONCLUSION

The practice of making and consuming sacred pills and other substances inthe tantric contexts of rituals of Medicinal Accomplishment (sman sgrub)

Longevity Accomplishment (tshe sgrub) and Imbibing the Essence Juice (bcud len)are clearly variations on the same theme and closely connected in both their con-ceptualisation and practice Each type of practice has its own specific emphasisand in the case of Imbibing the Essence Juice the main preoccupation is the dis-tillation of naturally occurring concentrated substances which can become nutri-tional essences sustaining the yogi On the other hand while some of the samesubstances might also be included in the more complex recipes for MedicinalAccomplishment pills the central theme in that case is a transmutation processtermed rasāyana focused on powerful substances which become tantric elixir

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the support of the Kaumlte Hamburger Kolleg in theCenter for Religious Studies at the Ruhr-Universitaumlt Bochum during my fel-

lowship year (2015ndash2016) which enabled me to write this paper Study of therituals and ritual texts discussed here owe much to research projects at the Ori-ental Institute University of Oxford funded by the UKrsquos Arts and Humanities Re-search Council (AHRC) particularly the project entitled Authorship originality

36 The imagery also sometimes occurs inthe Tibetan tantric feast (tshogs) rite Manytshogs texts include an exchange betweenthe Vajra Master and the Master of Of-ferings at the point where the food is tobe consumed and the Master of Offeringspresents a plate to the Vajra Master TheMaster of Offerings says one verse as heoffers the food ldquoHoḥ See these are su-preme dharmas beautiful It is not rightto doubt this Partake with the medita-tion that brahmans and untouchables dogsand pigs are one in their natural qualit-iesrdquo (hoḥ gzigs shig mdzes ldan dam parsquoichos rsquodi la the tshom byar mi rung bram zegdol pa khyi dang phag rang bzhin gcig tudgongs te rol the exchange occurs in many

texts here I cite Terdak Lingparsquos compila-tion of Guru Choumlwangrsquos Bla ma gsang rsquodus(Terdak Lingpa 1998c 11v)) The Vajra Mas-ter accepts the tshogs foods with a verse re-cognising their total purity and abandon-ing dualism Interestingly the exchange isalso referred to by the same term that wefind here Clearing the thoughts (rtog pa bsalba) Both cases involve the consumption ofconsecrated tantric substances the tshogsalso needs to contain the fleshes and elixirsembodied in the sacred Dharma medicinalpills There is also the element of creatingthe tantric community through commens-ality during which everyone becomes partof the divine display no matter what theirworldly status


cathy cantwell 199

and innovation in Tibetan Scriptural Revelations A case study from the Dud-jom Corpus (2010ndash2015) and an earlier project at Cardiff University (Longev-ity Practices and Concepts in Tibet 2006ndash2009) I must also thank Lama Kun-zang Dorjee Lopon Lhundrup Namgyal and the lamas and practitioners of theJangsa Dechen Choling Monastery Kalimpong West Bengal and Pema YoedlingDratsang Gelegphu Bhutan who welcomed me at their Major Practice Sessions(sgrub chen) in Kalimpong (2009) and Gelegphu (2013) enabling me to appre-ciate the richness of these traditions of spiritual practice and of making sacredmedicinal and longevity pills Thanks are also due to Lopon P Ogyan Tanzinwho acted as a Consultant to the Cardiff and Oxford projects and who read manyof the sources with me and helped to answer my many questions Any errorsremain my own

All photos were taken at the Medicinal Accomplishment practice held atPema Yoedling Dratsang Gelegphu Bhutan November 2013 and are copy theauthor

REFERENCES

The TBRC reference numbers refer to the electronic texts made available by theBuddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC) Cambridge MA USA (httpwwwtbrcorg)

Cantwell Cathy (2015) ldquoThe Medicinal Accomplishment (sman sgrub) Practicein the Dudjom Meteoric Iron Razor (gnam lcags spu gri) Tradition Reflectionson the Ritual and Meditative Practice at a Monastery in Southern BhutanrdquoIn Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 8 pp 49ndash95 url http wwwjocbsorgindexphpjocbsarticleview106 (on 3 Dec 2017)

mdash (2017) ldquoReflections on Pema Lingparsquos Key to the Eight Principal Tantric Medi-cines and Its Relevance Todayrdquo In A Maṇḍala of 21st Century Perspectives Pro-ceedings of the International Conference on Tradition and Innovation in VajrayānaBuddhism July 2016 Ed by Dasho Karma Ura Dorji Penjore and ChhimiDem Thimpu Bhutan Centre for Bhutan Studies amp GNH Research isbn978-99936-14-88-3 url http www bhutanstudies org bt mandala - on -21st-century-perspectives (on 7 Jan 2018)

Drakpa Gyaltsan (2007) ldquosman chen porsquoi bcud lenrdquo In Collected Works sa skyagong ma rnam lngarsquoi gsung rsquobum dpe bsdur ma las grags pa rgyal mtshan gyi gsungVol 3 5 vols Pe cin Krung gorsquoi bod rig pa dpe skrun khang pp 406ndash407TBRC W2DB4569

Dudjom Rinpoche (1979ndash1985a) ldquobla ma thugs kyi sgrub parsquoi las byang dngosgrub rsquodod rsquojorsquoi dgarsquo stonrdquo In The Collected Writings amp Revelations of His Holi-ness Bdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-che rsquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye



Shes Rdo Rjersquoi Gsung rsquobum Vol Ca 25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong DupjungLama pp 1ndash39 TBRC W20869

Dudjom Rinpoche (1979ndash1985b) ldquodam chos dgongs pa yongs rsquodus las dam rdzasbdud rtsirsquoi sgrub thabs gsal bar bkod pa rsquochi med rsquodod rsquojorsquoi gter bumrdquo InThe Collected Writings amp Revelations of His Holiness Bdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-che rsquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye Shes Rdo Rjersquoi Gsung rsquobum Vol Ja25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong Dupjung Lama pp 365ndash410 TBRC W20869

mdash (1979ndash1985c) ldquodpal rdo rje phur bu bdud rsquojoms gnam lcags spu grirsquoi mchoggi phrin las dam rdzas bdud rtsirsquoi sgrub thabs dngos grub rgya mtshorsquoi dgarsquostonrdquo In The Collected Writings amp Revelations of His Holiness Bdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-che rsquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye Shes Rdo Rjersquoi Gsungrsquobum Vol Tha 25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong Dupjung Lama pp 305ndash343TBRC W20869

mdash (1979ndash1985d) ldquodpal rdo rje phur bu thugs kyi sgrub pa gsang barsquoi rgyacan bdud rsquojoms gnam lcags spu grirsquoi las byang khrag rsquothung mngon parrol parsquoi dgarsquo stonrdquo In The Collected Writings amp Revelations of His HolinessBdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-che rsquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye ShesRdo Rjersquoi Gsung rsquobum Vol Tha 25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong DupjungLama pp 77ndash153 TBRC W20869

mdash (1979ndash1985e) ldquordo rje phur pa spu gri reg phung gi phrin las bdud sdersquoi gyulrsquojomsrdquo In The Collected Writings amp Revelations of His Holiness Bdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-che rsquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye Shes Rdo Rjersquoi Gsungrsquobum Vol Ba 25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong Dupjung Lama pp 418ndash520TBRC W20869

mdash (1979ndash1985f) ldquordo rje tshe sgrub dang rsquobrel bar bcud len gyi gdams pardquoIn The Collected Writings amp Revelations of His Holiness Bdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-chersquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye Shes Rdo Rjersquoi Gsung rsquobumVol Pha 25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong Dupjung Lama pp 513ndash17 TBRCW20869

mdash (1979ndash1985g) ldquozab lam mtsho skyes thugs thig gi tshe sgrub man ngag gnadbyangrdquo In The Collected Writings amp Revelations of His Holiness Bdud-rsquojoms Rin-po-che rsquojigs-Bral-Ye-Shes-Rdo-Rje bdud rsquojoms rsquojigs Bral Ye Shes Rdo Rjersquoi Gsungrsquobum Vol Ma 25 vols 0334ndash0358 Kalimpong Dupjung Lama pp 575ndash76TBRC W20869


Garrett Frances (2010) ldquoTapping the Bodyrsquos Nectar Gastronomy and Incorpora-tion in Tibetan Literaturerdquo In History of Religions 493 pp 300ndash26 issn 0018-2710 doi 101086651992

Gerke Barbara (2012) ldquolsquoTreating The Agedrsquo and lsquoMaintaining Healthrsquo Locatingbcud len Practices in the four Medical Tantrasrdquo In Journal of the International


cathy cantwell 201

Association of Buddhist Studies 351ndash2 pp 329ndash62 url httpsjournalsubuni-heidelbergdeindexphpjiabsarticleview13767 (on 3 Dec 2017)

mdash (2017) ldquoTibetan Precious Pills as Therapeutics and Rejuvenating LongevityTonicsrdquo In History of Science in South Asia 52 pp 1ndash30

Guru Choumlwang (1976ndash1980a) ldquobcud len gyi cho ga mchog tu zab parsquoi gdams pagu ru chos dbang gi gter kha bdun pardquo In rin chen gter mdzod chen mo Ed byrsquoJam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtharsquoyas Vol 48 111 vols Paro Ngodruband Sherab Drimay pp 287ndash304 TBRC W20578

mdash (1976ndash1980b) ldquobdud rtsi shug parsquoi bcud lenrdquo In rin chen gter mdzod chen moEd by rsquoJam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtharsquoyas Vol 48 111 vols Paro Ngod-rub and Sherab Drimay pp 305ndash14 TBRC W20578

mdash (1979) ldquozhi khro bkarsquo brgyad las bdud rtsi sman bsgrubrdquo In bKarsquo brgyadgsang ba yongs rdzogs a Complete Cycle of Rntildeiṅ-ma-pa Practice Focussing upon theAncient Eight Pronouncements of Guru Rin-po-che Padmasambhava Vol 3 ParoNgodrup and Sherab Drimay pp 277ndash303 TBRC W23819

Gyatso Janet (2015) Being Human in a Buddhist World an Intellectual History ofMedicine in Early Modern Tibet New York Columbia University Press isbn9780231164962

Magsar (2003) hur parsquoi rnam bshad he ru ka dpal bzhad parsquoi zhal lung (bcom ldan rsquodasdpal chen rdo rje gzhon nursquoi rsquophrin las kyi rnam par bshad pa he ru ka dpal bzhad parsquoizhal lung) sNgags mang zhib rsquojug khang (Ngak Mang Institute) Beijing Mirigs dpe skrun khang TBRC W25111 Authorrsquos Tibetan name mag gsar kunbzang stobs ldan dbang pa TBRC W25111

Ngawang Tsering (1978) ldquodpal ldan bla ma dam pa rsquokhrul zhig rin po che ngagdbang tshe ring gi rnam thar kun tu bzang porsquoi zlos gar yid kyi bcud lenrdquo Inrsquokhrul zhig ngag dbang tshe ring gi rnam thar dang nyams mgur sogs KawringTobdan Tsering pp 1ndash413 TBRC W1KG10256

Nubchen Sangyeacute Yesheacute (ca 1990ndash2000) ldquobsam gtan mig sgronrdquo In bKarsquo ma shintu rgyas pa (snga rsquogyur bkarsquo ma) Vol 97 110 vols Chengdu Kaḥ thog mkhan pomun sel pp 1ndash736 TBRC W21508 Authorrsquos Tibetan name gnubs chen sangsrgyas ye shes Edition was brought together by Khenpo Munsel (1916ndash1993)and his disciples

Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquood zer (1979ndash1980a) ldquobkarsquo brgyad bde gshegs rsquodus pa lasbdud rtsi sman bsgrub thabs lag khrid du bsdebs pardquo In ed by gzhan phanrdo rje Vol 8 13 vols Paro Lama Ngodrup Kyichu Temple pp 421ndash507TBRC W22247

mdash (1979ndash1980b) ldquobkarsquo brgyad bde gshegs rsquodus pa las gsang sngags bkarsquoi tharamrdquo In ed by gzhan phan rdo rje Vol 4 13 vols Paro Lama NgodrupKyichu Temple pp 181ndash331 TBRC W22247



Nyang ral Nyi ma rsquood zer (1979ndash1980c) ldquobkarsquo brgyad bde gshegs rsquodus pa lasmchod rdzas bdud rtsirsquoi bsgrub pardquo In ed by gzhan phan rdo rje Vol 813 vols Paro Lama Ngodrup Kyichu Temple pp 377ndash419 TBRC W22247

mdash (1979ndash1980d) bKarsquo brgyad bde gshegs rsquodus parsquoi chos skor Ed by gzhan phan rdorje 13 vols Paro Lama Ngodrup Kyichu Temple TBRC W22247

Oliphant Jamyang (2016) ldquoExtracting the Essencersquo bcud len in the Tibetan Liter-ary Traditionrdquo PhD thesis Oxford University url httpsoraoxacukobjectsuuid72121806-b3f5-4e87-8a9a-02b8b24ad12d (on 30 Nov 2017)

Pema Lingpa (1975ndash1976) ldquo1 rtsa brgyad yan lag stong gi lde mig (The Key to theEight Principal [Medicines] and Thousand Varieties) from the Elixir Medi-cinal Accomplishment cycle (bdud rtsi sman sgrub kyi skor)rdquo In CollectedWorks rig rsquodzin padma glin pa yi zab gter chos mdzod rin po che Vol 9 Ta 21 volsThimpu Kunsang Tobgay pp 391ndash397 TBRC W21727

Rigdzin Goumldem (1980a) thugs sgrub drag po rtsal gyi chos skor a Cycle of PracticeFocussing upon the Esoteric Form of the Guru from the Byan gter Revelations of Rig-rsquodzin Rgod-kyi-ldemrsquophru-can Ed by Dudjom Rinpoche Gantok Sikkim BariLongsal Lama TBRC W23453

mdash (1980b) ldquotshe sgrub bdud rtsi bcud len mdzod dbus ma nas byon pardquo Inthugs sgrub drag po rtsal gyi chos skor Ed by Dudjom Rinpoche Vol 3 GaGantok Sikkim Bari Longsal Lama pp 1ndash28 TBRC W23453

mdash (1980c) ldquotshe sgrub lcags kyi sdong po las phyi sgrub rin chen bum pardquo Inthugs sgrub drag po rtsal gyi chos skor Ed by Dudjom Rinpoche Vol 2 KhaGantok Sikkim Bari Longsal Lama pp 515ndash521 TBRC W23453

Rnying ma rgyud rsquobum (1973ndash1975) A Collection of Treasured Tantras Translatedduring the Period of the First Propagation of Buddhism in Tibet Gting-skyes edi-tion Vol La 36 vols Thimbu sn pp 146ndash200 TBRC W21518 Reproducedfrom mss preserved at Gting-skyes Dgon-pa-byang monastery in Tibet un-der the direction of Dingo Khyentse Rinpoche

mdash (1982) ldquobam po brgyad pa thams cad bdud rtsi lngarsquoi rang bzhin nye barsquoisnying porsquoi bdud rtsi mchog gi lung bam po brgyad pardquo In The AncientTantra Collection mTshams brag edition Vol 34 Ngi 46 vols Thimphu Na-tional Library Royal Government of Bhutan pp 2ndash68 TBRC W21521 In themTshams brag edition (The Mtshams brag manuscript of the Rntildeiṅ ma rgyud rsquobummtshams brag dgon parsquoi bris ma)

Terdak Lingpa (1998a) ldquoMedicinal Accomplishment manual Methods to Accom-plish Sacred Ingredient Elixir = dam rdzas bdud rtsirsquoi sgrub thabs gsang chen gi myurlamrdquo In smin gling gter chen rig rsquodzin rsquogyur med rdo rjersquoi gsung rsquobum Vol Ta 916 vols Dehra Dun D G Khochhen Tulku 107rndash152v TBRC W22096

mdash (1998b) ldquoRitual Manual for Guru Choumlwangrsquos Ultra Secret Razor Vajrakīlayacycle = rdo rje phur bu yang gsang spu grirsquoi las byang kun bzang rol mtshordquo In


cathy cantwell 203

smin gling gter chen rig rsquodzin rsquogyur med rdo rjersquoi gsung rsquobum Vol Ta 9 16 volsDehra Dun D G Khochhen Tulku 275rndash301r TBRC W22096

mdash (1998c) ldquoThe Lama Heart Accomplishment Practice = gsang rsquodus bla marsquoi lasbyang snying po rab gsalrdquo In smin gling gter chen rig rsquodzin rsquogyur med rdo rjersquoigsung rsquobum Vol Tha 10 16 vols Dehra Dun D G Khochhen Tulku 1rndash20rTBRC W22096

Toumlrzsoumlk Judit (2014) ldquoNondualism in Early Śākta Tantras Transgressive Ritesand Their Ontological Justification in a Historical Perspectiverdquo In Journal ofIndian Philosophy 421 pp 195ndash223 issn 0022-1791 doi 101007s10781-013-9216-1






Tibetan Precious Pills as Therapeutics andRejuvenating Longevity Tonics

Barbara GerkeUniversity of Vienna

MLA style citation form Barbara Gerke ldquoTibetan Precious Pills as Therapeutics and Rejuvenating LongevityTonicsrdquo History of Science in South Asia 52 (2017) 204ndash233 doi 1018732hssav5i215Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 MEETING MAGIC PILLS

It is a brilliant sunny afternoon in McLeod Ganj in spring 2016 and I just ob-served a foreign tourist buying a three-month supply of precious pills each

wrapped in green-colored silk cloth at a private Tibetan medical clinic Fromthe color I recognize them as Rinchen Chakril Chenmo the Precious Great IronPill a panacea for all kinds of eye disorders including cataracts1 I am curiousand strike up a conversation with the young man while walking down the bazaarroad lined with little Tibetan shops selling hand-knitted socks shawls and DalaiLama post cards Having settled here in the 1960s after fleeing the Chinese inva-sion Tibetan refugees and the Dalai Lama have re-established their government-in-exile here and it is now a vibrant international community ldquoLittle Lhasardquo asthis hillside settlement in northwestern India is often called2 is buzzing withtourists this time of the year The young man is from St Petersburg and tells methat a friend of a friend who is practicing Tibetan medicine in Russia recommen-ded this clinic to him In Russia he also heard about the precious pills When Iask him whether he knows what is inside the pills he says ldquoWe call them magicpills not precious pills I do not know what is inside them and I donrsquot want toknow I just want to believe in their magicrdquo He had taken Tibetan medicine him-self against stomach pain and felt better after ten days He explains ldquoNow I ambringing these magic pills back for my mother Her eyes are bad and the doctortold me these will improve her eyesightrdquo He is leaving town soon and hurriedly

1 A contemporary description of itstherapeutic usage has been publishedin English by the Men-Tsee-Khanghttpwwwmen-tsee-khangorg

medicinerinchen-pillschakrilhtmAccessed September 8 20172 Anand 2000


barbara gerke 205

bids me a quick good-bye before turning the corner I am left with the questionof how many foreigners are taking magic pills back to their loved ones from avisit to McLeod Ganj without knowing much about them and without the per-son taking the pills ever consulting a qualified Tibetan physician as is typicallyrequired in Tibetan medical practice also known as Sowa Rigpa3

Later I google the terms ldquomagicrdquo and ldquoprecious pillsrdquo and indeed find a web-site in German by the Tibetan Geshe Gendun Yonten who is a trained Tibetanmonk scholar but not a Sowa Rigpa physician4 Geshe Yonten presents preciouspills as magic jewel pills (magische Juwelenpillen) with descriptions that arelargely translated from the website of the Men-Tsee-Khang (MTK) the largestTibetan medical institute in the Indian diaspora5 The MTKrsquos website does notuse the term magic The Tibetan term for magical power is tu (mthu)6 As far as Iknow it is not found in medical descriptions of precious pills but I have seen theterm ldquoendowed with magical powersrdquo in descriptions of precious substancesGeshe Yonten uses the word magic to refer to the alchemical and astrologicalconditions that are considered important in the complex manufacturing of pre-cious pills7 We will see how some of these conditions form an integral part ofSowa Rigpa understandings of potency

Curious I walk back to the clinic and ask at the counter how many of eachprecious pill I could buy ldquoFive hundred a day per kind as long as stocks lastrdquo Iam told On another occasion at the same clinic I watch a young Tibetan manpaying his bill of several thousand Indian rupees8 and packing large bags of whatI guess are hundreds of precious pills into his backpack The price of preciouspills in this clinic varies from forty to sixty Indian rupees per pill an average ofeighty euro cents per pill Each is individually wrapped in colored silk Fivetypes are available each packaged in their own color ldquoWhere are you taking alltheserdquo I ask him in Tibetan ldquoBack to Tibetrdquo he smiles ldquoOver there it is difficultfor us to get precious pills They are expensive and these here have been blessed

3 In India Tibetan medicine was officiallyrecognized under the name of Sowa Rigpain 2010 under AYUSH (the Department ofAyurveda Yoga and Naturopathy UnaniSiddha Sowa Rigpa and HomoeopathyGovernment of India) See Craig and Gerke2016 for a critical discussion on the namingof Sowa Rigpa see Blakie 2016 and Kloos2016 for the recognition process in Indiaand see Kloos 2013 for how Tibetan medi-cine became a ldquomedical systemrdquo in India4 httpwwwopenyourlifedemagicpillshtm German website of Geshe

Gendun Yonten Accessed September 920175 Kloos 2008 20106 This article follows the transcription de-veloped by The Tibetan and Himalayan Lib-rary (THL) to provide the phonetic versionof Tibetan terms followed by their Wylie(1959) transliteration at first use On theTHL transcription system see Germano andTournadre 20037 See also Triplett 2014 199ndash2038 At the time one euro was about seventy-five Indian rupees


206 tibetan precious pills

by His Holiness so they are much betterrdquo His comments raise questions of whatelse other than their complex materia medica compositions of twenty-five to morethan one hundred ingredients contributes to their perceived efficacy

Moreover what kind of access do Tibetans have to their own medicines in thePeoplersquos Republic of China (PRC) Hofer describes from her fieldwork in 2006ndash2007 how precious pills are sold as OTC (over-the-counter) drugs in the Lhasaand Shigatse area in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) as well as to tour-ists in ldquobiomedical pharmacies-cum-souvenir shopsrdquo as a showcase for a ldquode-velopingrdquo and ldquoaliverdquo Tibetan medical culture9 Since 2003 their production inthe PRC follows Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) which are implementedin diverse ways at times opposing traditional practice10 but have recently re-ceived more positive responses from Tibetan physicians11 Their state regulationand pharmaceuticalization has turned them into valuable commodities express-ing ldquoTibetannessrdquo while they often remain expensive and unaffordable for ruralTibetans12 This situation is different in India where my fieldwork data is basedon

In Dharamsala precious pills are sold as OTC-drugs in only one privately-runTibetan clinic The MTK which currently produces eight types of precious pillson a regular basis (priced between 40 and 100 Indian rupees per pill) has strictregulations on their sale Here precious pills (as most other medicines exceptthree herbal OTCs13 Sorig supplements and teas) are principally prescriptiondrugs and one has to see a Tibetan physician and receive a proper prescriptionbased on a diagnosis There is even a limit for these prescriptions because of theshortage of precious pills

In 2015ndash2016 local Tibetans were given special passes with which they wereallowed to receive ten precious pills of each kind per month This set of eightypills cost 1890 rupees (around 27 euros) and was in high demand to be tradednot only among Tibetans but also to international Buddhist communities andpatients from all walks of life who value them for various reasons ldquoA trader willadd about five hundred rupees commissionrdquo I was told by one of the workers ata MTK branch clinic ldquoEspecially in winter when most Tibetans go on pilgrimageto Bodh Gaya the demand is very highrdquo I had heard many times from Tibetansthat they would take a precious pill before embarking on a journey to be strongerand to protect themselves from infectious disease especially in the hot Indianplains But now there seemed to be an additional demand developing He saidldquoApart from the Tibetans there were the Taiwanese buying precious pills Now

9 Hofer 2008 17710 Saxer 201311 Cuomo 201612 Hofer 2008 178

13 In 1996 the Men-Tsee-Khang launchedthree general herbal medicines as OTCs(Men-Tsee-Khang 1996 1)


barbara gerke 207

more recently Chinese Buddhists who come to Bodh Gaya take the pills back toTibet Last winter the demand was so high that we only gave out precious pillsonce a month On that day the line was always very long and wersquod see aboutone hundred patientsrdquo The current demand for precious pills in India is clearlyhigher than the supply even though the MTK has increased production14

In this paper I explore two basic questions 1) What makes precious pills ldquopre-ciousrdquo and 2) what is ldquorejuvenatingrdquo about them I approach this inquiry fromthe angle of how precious pills are publicly presented online how rejuvenationis explained in Tibetan works on precious pills and how Tibetan physicians un-derstand these attributes

2 ldquoEFFICACY COMES IN MANY FORMSrdquoldquoWhen taken for rejuvenation by a healthy person [this precious pill] should betaken on an auspicious dates [sic] like eight [the 8th of the Tibetan month] full moonand new moon days of [the] Tibetan lunar calendar to gain optimum result[s]rdquo

ndash MTK website advice for seven of eight precious pills15

The current popularity and perceived efficacy of precious pills appears to bebased on a variety of components They are valued as strong medicines

strengthening tonics travel protection spiritual blessings priced commoditiesmagic pills and also as an expression of Tibetan identity in the struggle for aFree Tibet16 Their preciousness is traditionally accentuated by the pillsrsquo indi-vidual silk wrapping (since 2009 the MTK has replaced these with machine-made blister-packs) It also refers to their content of between 25 and 140 plantssemi-precious stones and jewels (eg rubies diamonds corals turquoise pearlssapphires lapis) and the special processed compound of a refined mercury-sulfide powder known as tsotel (btso thal) Tsotel is processed with the ash ofeight other metals (copper gold silver iron bronze brass tin lead) and witheight pre-processed mineral or rock components (ldquosour-water stonerdquo red micagold ore or chalcopyrite orpiment magnetite pyrite or galena realgar and sil-ver ore or pyrargyrite)17

14 For example Ratna Samphelwhich appears to be in highest de-mand was produced twice in June2016 around 20000 kilos each batchhttpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgdeptpharmacyprod-finishedhtm AccessedSeptember 18 201715 Excerpted from the MTKrsquos Englishwebsite httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinepillshtm Accessed

September 18 2017 The relevant sectionson the Tibetan leaflets read nad med bcudlen du bsten mkhan rigs nas tshes brgyaddangbco lnga gnam gang sogs gzarsquo tshes dgebarsquoi dus su bzhes thub tshe phan nus che ba yod16 Kloos 201217 These are rough identifications for chuskyur rdo lhang tsher dmar po gser rdo babla khab len pha wang long bu ldong ros anddngul rdo respectively see Gerke 2013 127



Vincanne Adams reminds us ldquoEfficacy comes in many formsrdquo and with dif-ferent kinds of reasoning and is often ldquounattached to singular fixed biologicalground in any essential wayrdquo18 My examples above confirm Adamrsquos view thatldquoefficacy happens at the intersection of episteme and practice where personaland sociological contexts blur This inter-section forms the essence the heartof efficacyrdquo19 Anthropologists acknowledge that ldquoa medicinersquos efficacy is oftenproduced at the crossroads of ritual action and pharmacologyrdquo20 The taking ofTibetan pills has been ritualized to varying degrees21 Auspiciousness still playsa role in enhancing ldquoefficacyrdquo and is in fact one of the three main pillars on whichSowa Rigpa concepts of potency and efficacy are based as explained below

In the Tibetan language complex notions of potency are often found underthe umbrella term nuumlpa (nus pa) which is frequently translated into English asldquopotencyrdquo but also as ldquoefficacyrdquo Nuumlpa is combined with the term for ldquobenefitrdquopentok (phan thog) as pennuuml (phan nus) to indicate the ldquobenefit potencyrdquo whichSienna Craig aptly describes as ldquocoupling that which is useful with that which ispowerfulrdquo22 Pennuuml is often glossed as ldquoefficacyrdquo but in itself comprises a complexset of ideas to describe efficacies of medicines and ritual compounds23 Tibetantranslators have also used the Tibetan word phenyoumln (phan yon meaning ldquobene-ficial qualitiesrdquo) to express the ldquoeffectivenessrdquo24 of medicines but Tibetan phys-icians themselves do not find the biomedical distinction between ldquoefficacyrdquo andldquoeffectivenessrdquo useful25 They think of efficacy in different more complex ways

In Sowa Rigpa nuumlpa comes in three basic ways26 through the ldquonuumlpa of thesubstancerdquo itself dzeacute kyi nuumlpa (rdzas kyi nus pa) through the ldquonuumlpa of mantrardquo con-

18 Adams 2010 819 Adams 2010 1020 Craig 2010 21621 Czaja (2015) offers a detailed study ofseven medical texts on how to administerprecious pills which all involve Buddhistrituals22 Craig 2012 6 original emphasis23 For example Craig 2010 2015 and Schr-empf 2015 28824 See Witt (2009) for a differentiationbetween efficacy and effectiveness Effic-acy refers to clearly measurable effects ofa drug (through randomized control trials(RCTs)) while effectiveness is more inclus-ive of ldquopragmaticrdquo approaches to whethera drug works in normal practice also in-cluding ldquofelt effects of a medicinerdquo (Craig2012 8)

25 Craig 2015 16626 There are also other types of potencysuch as the ldquoeight potenciesrdquo nuumlpa gyeacute (nuspa brgyad) in Sowa Rigpa pharmacologywhich are the sensorial parameters of heavyoily cool blunt light coarse hot andsharp There are also distinctions madebetween the ldquotaste potencyrdquo nuumlpa ro (nuspa ro) which is based on different combina-tions of the five elements jungwa nga (rsquobyungba lnga) water fire earth wind and spaceand the ldquointrinsic potencyrdquo nuumlpa ngowo (nuspa ngo bo) which is based on the nature ofthe actual substances dzeacute (rdzas) These dif-ferent types of potencies are explained inchapter twenty of the Explanatory Tantrathe second part of the Four Treatises (YutokYoumlnten Gonpo 1982 6511 ff)


barbara gerke 209

secration ngak kyi nuumlpa (sngags kyi nus pa) and through the so-called ldquonuumlpa of aus-piciousnessrdquo temdrel gyi nuumlpa (rten rsquobrel gyi nus pa) which is generated not onlythrough processing substances at an auspicious time27 but also by administer-ing pills at a potentially powerful moment for example during ldquonectar hoursrdquoon days when onersquos vital forces are strongest28 or during the full and new moonand other favorable Tibetan lunar calendar days as in the MTKrsquos online indica-tions in the opening quote to this section29

The opening quote mentions three auspicious dates 1) the eighth day ofthe Tibetan lunar calendar which is dedicated to the Medicine Buddha and isthus considered auspicious for taking special medicines 2) the fifteenth daythe full-moon day auspicious in Buddhism because many life events of BuddhaShakyamunimdasheg his birth enlightenment and deathmdashare said to have oc-curred during full moon and 3) the thirtieth day which is the auspicious newmoon day Tibetan calendars and almanacs are filled with information on auspi-cious and inauspicious days based on temporal rhythms of various factors thatinfluence life-forces and longevity30 Both full and new moon are said to havean influence on the vital forces moving around the body such as a vital essencecalled la (bla) which is said to pervade the entire body for a short period of timeon full and new moon days31 Taking precious pills on any of these auspiciousdays is believed to make them more effective this is what is meant by the ldquonuumlpaof auspiciousnessrdquo

An example of the ldquonuumlpa of mantrardquo or ldquospiritual efficacyrdquo is seen in the aboveethnographic example of the young man from Tibet who attributed the DalaiLamarsquos blessings or jinlab (byin rlabs) to the precious pills he bought in Dharam-sala Jinlab is generated in different ways First precious pills are producedin the vicinity of the Dalai Lama and the entire surroundings are believed tobe permeated with his jinlab Second the MTK itself produces ldquodharma medi-cinerdquo (chos sman) which is ritually consecrated at the Dalai Lamarsquos temple andthen added to the medicines back in the pharmacy ldquoDharma medicinerdquo is of-ten confused with but is actually quite different from the mani rilbu distributedto the public at the Dalai Lamarsquos temple during certain holidays as describedfor example by Audrey Prost32 The ldquodharma medicinerdquo added to the preciouspills is so-called ldquonectar dharma medicinerdquo or duumltsi choumlmen (bdud rtsis chos sman)and is produced at the MTK pharmacy itself It is then consecrated at the Dalai

27 An example here is the processing of atype of calcite (cong zhi) which is processedduring a full moon night in August28 Gerke 2012b 132ndash3329 Czaja (2015 50ndash51) gives other examples

of auspicious times to take precious pills30 This is discussed at length in Gerke2012b31 Gerke 2012b 139ndash4032 Prost 2008 78



Lamarsquos temple and brought back to the pharmacy to be added as jinlab to medi-cines Duumltsi choumlmen follows a specific formula and contains more than a hundredingredients which are medicinal in nature and even include small amounts ofstandard herbal formulas for the prevention of infectious disease such as NorbuDuumlnthang and Pangyen 1033 Duumltsi choumlmen combines two types of nuumlpa relyingon the nuumlpa of substances as well as that of mantras adding ldquospiritual efficacyrdquoHowever it does not explain the rejuvenating effects assigned to several of theprecious pills found on the MTK website and leaflets today

Below I explore the question of how why and for whom Tibetan preciouspills are linked to ideas of rejuvenationmdashin Tibetan terms taken as a chuumllen (bcudlen) by the healthy How did these pills receive these attributes What do differ-ent texts reveal about their use as rejuvenators

3 PRECIOUS PILLS AS REJUVENATING TONICS ONLINE

An initial analysis of the MTK website and the corresponding leaflets fortheir set of eight precious pills shows that almost all of them (except

Rinchen Tsajor) are presented as rejuvenating pills for healthy people whentaken on auspicious days In seven out of eight pill descriptions we find theadvice ldquoWhen taken for rejuvenation by a healthy person it should be takenon an auspicious date like eight [sic] full moon and new moon days of [the]Tibetan lunar calendar to gain optimum result[s]rdquo34 Let us look at the eightprecious pill presentations in more detail (see Table 1 below numbers 1ndash8 fortheir names)35

The website descriptions are the English versions of the individual bi-lingualleaflets (English and Tibetan) that are given out at MTK dispensaries The

33 Personal communication Dr Choelo-thar Chontra April 201734 Excerpted from the MTKrsquos Englishwebsite httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinepillshtm AccessedSeptember 18 2017 The relevant sectionon the seven Tibetan leaflets reads nad medbcud len du bsten mkhan rigs nas tshes brgyaddangbco lnga gnam gang sogs gzarsquo tshes dgebarsquoi dus su bzhes thub tshe phan nus che ba yod35 Tibetan formulary texts document morethan these eight precious pills for exampleRinchen Gujor (rin chen dgu sbyor) RinchenJangchouml 37 (rin chen byang chos so bdun)Rinchen Tsukshel (rin chen gtsug bshal)

Rinchen Telkem Menjor (rin chen thal skemsman sbyor) and others (eg Dawa Ridak2003 502 Sonam Dhondup and BMTK2006 714ndash21) New formulas of preciouspills also exist For example Rinchen RatnaGugul (rin chen ratna gu gul) Rinchen MukKhyung Gugul (rin chen smug khyung gu gul)and Rinchen Dangtso (rin chen dang mtsho)are made by Gen Rinpoche Lozang TenzinRakdho at CUTS in Sarnath who formu-lated the first two Rinchen Dangtso was for-mulated by Khempo Troru Tsenam (1926ndash2004) All three contain tsotel Personal e-mail communication Dr Penpa Tsering Oc-tober 2017


barbara gerke 211

Nr Tibetan Name (Phonetics) English Translation Wylie Transliteration1 Rinchen Drangjor Rilnak

ChenmoPrecious Cold CompoundGreat Black Pill

Rin chen grang sbyor ril nagchen mo

2 Rinchen Ratna Samphelor Mutik 70

Precious Wish-fulfillingJewel or Pearl 70

Rin chen ratna bsam rsquophel orMu tig bdun bcu

3 Rinchen Tsajor Chenmo Precious Great HotCompound

Rin chen tsha byor chen mo

4 Rinchen MangjorChenmo

Precious GreatMulti-Compound

Rin chen mang sbyor chenmo

5 Rinchen Tsodru DashelChenmo

Precious Great RefinedMoon Crystal

Rin chen btso bkru zla shelchen mo

6 Rinchen Yunying 25 Precious Old Turquoise25

Rin chen gyu rnying nyerlnga

7 Rinchen Jumar 25 Precious Red Coral 25 Rin chen byur dmar nyerlnga

8 Rinchen Chakril Chenmo Precious Great Iron Pill Rin chen lcags ril chen mo9 Rinchen Wangril 25 Precious Powerful Pill 25 Rin chen dbang ril nyer lnga10 Rinchen Mutik 25 Precious Pearl 25 Rin chen mu tig nyer lnga

Table 1 The ten precious pills mentioned in this article

Tibetan version of the leaflet varies in some cases Each leaflet is dedicatedto one precious pill and describes its ldquoformulardquo ldquobrief indicationrdquo and ldquoin-structionscautionsrdquo on how to take the pill followed by the Medicine Buddhamantra which people may recite while taking precious pills Here are therelevant excerpts referring to rejuvenation and prevention of disease for each ofthe eight pills

1) Rinchen Drangjor Rilnak Chenmo Among the eight precious pills RinchenDrangjor is the most complex and mentioned first it is ldquolike the king of allprecious pillsrdquo36 with a rejuvenating and aphrodisiac effect on the healthyldquoWhen taken by a healthy person it enhances complexion clears sense or-gans is a rejuvenator acts as an aphrodisiac strengthens nerves bloodvessels and bones and is a prophylactic helliprdquo37

36 rin chen kun gyi rgyal po lta bu yin MTKleaflet on Rinchen Drangjor in Tibetan37 Excerpted from the MTKrsquos English web-site httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillsdrangjorhtmAccessed September 18 2017 The relevant

section on the Tibetan leaflet reads nad medrnams kyis bsten na lus mdangs rgyas shingdbang po gsal ba rgas ka sra ba ro tsa rsquophel bartsa dang rus pa mkhregs pa nad gzhi sngonrsquogog thub ba sogs bcud len gyi mchog tu gyurba yin



2) Rinchen Ratna Samphel ldquoWhen taken by a healthy person it helps to de-velop complexion clears sensory organs rejuvenates increases virility andcan prevent all disorders mentioned above helliprdquo38

3) Rinchen Tsajor Chenmo Rinchen Tsajor is not advertised as a rejuvenatingtonic rather the website cautions ldquoWhen taken by a healthy person it canprevent all disorders mentioned above However it is recommended to usethis pill only after consulting the physicianrdquo39

4) Rinchen Mangjor Chenmo ldquoWhen taken by a healthy person it devel-ops body radiance clears sensory organs helps in rejuvenation is anaphrodisiac strengthens nerves blood vessels and bones and acts as aprophylactic etcrdquo40

5) Rinchen Tsodru Dashel Chenmo ldquoWhen taken by a healthy person it acts asa rejuvenatorrdquo41

6) Rinchen Yunying 25 ldquoIt is exceptionally beneficial against chronic liver dis-order if taken regularly over a period of time It can prevent all disordersmentioned above when taken by a healthy personhelliprdquo42

7) Rinchen Jumar 25 ldquoIt helps to prevent all the disorders mentioned abovewhen taken by a healthy personrdquo43

8) Rinchen Chakril Chenmo ldquoWhen taken by a healthy person it can preventall disorders mentioned above and protects onersquos eyesrdquo44

38 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillsratnahtmAccessed April 8 2017 The relevant sectionon the Tibetan leaflet reads nad med rnamskyis bsten na lus mdangs rgyas shing dbang pogsal ba rgas ka sra ba ro tsa rsquophel ba gong gsalnad gzhirsquoi rigs sngon rsquogog thub ba sogs bcud lengyi mchog tu gyur ba yin39 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillstsajorhtmAccessed April 8 2017 The relevant sectionon the Tibetan leaflet reads nad med rnamskyis bsten na gong gsal nad gzhi rnams sngonrsquogogs thub pa yin rsquoon te sman par bsten gtugsgnang nas bsten na dge phan che40 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillsmangjorhtmAccessed April 8 2017 The relevant sectionon the Tibetan leaflet reads nad med rnamskyis bsten na lus mdangs rgyas shing dbang pogsal ba rgas ka sra ba ro tsa rsquophel ba rtsa dangrus pa mkhregs pa nad gzhi sngon rsquogog thub pa

sogs41 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillstso-truhtmAccessed April 8 2017 The relevant sectionon the Tibetan leaflet reads nad med rnamskyis bsten na stobs skyed bcud len gyi mchog tugyur ba yin42 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillsyunyinghtmnad med rnams kyis bsten na gong gsal nadgzhi rnams sngon rsquogog thub pa yin AccessedApril 9 201743 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillsjumarhtm nadmed rnams kyis bsten na gong gsal nad gzhirnams sngon rsquogog thub pa yin AccessedApril 9 201744 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgmedicinerinchen-pillschakrilhtmnad med rnams kyis bsten na gong gsal nadgzhi rnams sngon rsquogog dang mig srung skyobthub pa yin Accessed April 9 2017


barbara gerke 213

The last two precious pills in the above table Rinchen Wangril 25 and RinchenMutik 25 are not manufactured at the MTK but by some private physicians in In-dia and Nepal They are mentioned in the popular precious pill book by Aschoffand Tashigang (2009) but not as rejuvenating tonics (see further below)

Seven of the eight precious pills (with the exception of Rinchen Tsajor) arepresented by the MTK as rejuvenators as they all include the same advice high-lighted in this sectionrsquos opening paragraph The additional individual descrip-tions above show that in one way or another they can be taken by a healthy per-son for rejuvenation or disease prevention Other websites that sell precious pillsinternationally use similar approaches Here are two examples

ldquoJ Crowrsquos Marketplacerdquo website a private North American-based online salefor esoteric items offers seven of the above listed pills excluding Rinchen Tsa-jor These Indian MTK-made Tibetan precious pills are sold on J Crowrsquos websiteonly as talismans and with an FDA disclaimer45 at around twelve US dollarsa pill46 The websitersquos photos still show the older types of precious pill pack-aging that were used by the MTK in India before blister packs were introducedin 200947 Four of them (Rinchen Drangjor Mangjor Chenmo Ratna Sampheland Tsodru Dashel) are advertised as a ldquogeneral tonicrdquo for the healthy Jumar 25can be taken ldquooccasionally by healthy persons as a preventive measure againstnerve disordersrdquo and Chakril Chenmo ldquocan also be used generally to keep thevessels of the eyes fresh and healthyrdquo48 Only Old Turquoise 25 is advertised asa specific remedy for liver disorders

The website ldquoVajrasecretsrdquo is linked to the Buddhist foundation Kecharain Malaysia which was established in 2000 by the Mongolian-Tibetan TsemRinpoche a reincarnate lama from Ganden Shartse Monastery who follows thecontroversial Shugden tradition49 Their website sells a variety of precious pillsfrom India as ldquoholy itemsrdquo50 Among a range of blessed pills of various sizes thatare also called ldquoprecious pillsrdquo they are clearly identified as ldquoprecious pills ofTibetan medicinerdquo with a brief description of their therapeutic range Howeverthey are only to be ldquoinserted in statues or stupas or placed on the altar as an

45 This refers to the legislation of foodsdietary supplements and drugs by theUS Food and Drug Administration (FDA)which stipulates that dietary supplementsmust have a disclaimer on their label It typ-ically states that the product is not inten-ded to diagnose treat cure or prevent anydisease46 httpwwwjcrowscomincensehtmlpills Accessed April 9 2017

47 httpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgannouncementeng-rinchenhtm Ac-cessed April 9 201748 httpwwwjcrowscomprecioushistoryhtml AccessedApril 9 201749 Dreyfus (1998) offers a good summary ofthe controversy50 httpwwwvajrasecretscomprecious-pills Accessed April 9 2017



offering of medicinerdquo thus emphasizing their spiritual efficacy and avoiding anylegalities linked to their consumption as medicine51 The benefits of longevityor use as rejuvenation tonics are not mentioned Other websites such asldquoSiddhienergeticsrdquo mention precious pills as a ldquogeneral prophylacticrdquo describehow to take them but at the same time warn about possible dangers and addFDA disclaimers and advise consumers to consult a qualified physician and nottake ldquomore than one pill per month unless prescribed by a Tibetan doctor52

ldquoSiddhienergeticsrdquo was founded by Joseph Wagner in Denver Colorado afterhis own positive experience with Tibetan medicine in Nepal His medicines aremade by Ngawang Drakpa a Tibetan physician in Kathmandu

Non-academic grey literature on precious pills presents similar ideasAschoff and Tashigang published various undated leaflets on ten precious pills(the above eight plus Rinchen Wangril and Rinchen Mutig 25) from acrossIndia Nepal and some Tibetan pharmacies in the PRC53 Six of the ten preciouspills are presented for various diseases but also as tonics for the healthy invarious ways except Rinchen Tsajor Ratna Samphel Wangril and Mutig 2554

From these contemporary online and print examples one gets the impressionthat precious pills are both for the sick and the healthy and that they have a re-juvenating and disease-preventing effect Next I will explore the terms that areloosely translated from the Tibetan into English as ldquorejuvenatingrdquo and analyzewhether Tibetan textual formulas for precious pills actually present a similar pic-ture as found on contemporary leaflets and websites

4 TRANSLATING CHUumlLEN AS ldquoREJUVENATIONrdquo

Technical Tibetan terms employed in longevity contexts usually have a vari-ety of other meanings but tend to be translated in English in terms of ldquoreju-

venationrdquo which is easily associated with modern esoteric connotations of anti-ageing and well-being When looking at the Tibetan versions of the MTK pre-cious pill leaflets the predominant Tibetan term that in the English version istranslated as ldquorejuvenationrdquo is chuumllen55 Chuuml (bcud) has many meanings and canbe translated for example as taste essence elixir sap moisture potency nu-

51 For example httpwwwvajrasecretscomtsodruptashil-37Accessed April 9 201752 For example httpswwwsiddhienergeticscomproductsjumar-25-precious-pill Accessed April9 201753 Aschoff and Tashigang 2001 2004 2009

54 Aschoff and Tashigang 2001 60 63ndash6572ndash75 78ndash79 90 92 94ndash95 9755 Other terms used are ldquocan prevent thecause [of disease]rdquo (gzhi sngon rsquogog thub ba)and ldquonot looking as old as one isrdquo (rgas ka sraba) both translated by the MTK as ldquorejuven-ator rdquo


barbara gerke 215

trition extraction good substance vitality or distilled essence56 In pharmaco-logical contexts I translate chuumllen as ldquoessence extractionrdquo since chuuml must first beextracted from substances such as stones flowers metals or minerals throughsoaking cooking and other practices before it can be consumed57 While manychuumllen formulas are described as useful for preventing ageing and revitalizingthe body they also have significant religious pharmacological and nutritionalmeanings and purposes Their appearance in both medical and ritual contextssupports the wide-spread belief in Tibetan societies that vital essences can beextracted from the outer elementsmdashthrough visualization andor pharmaco-logical extractionmdashand imbibed by humans to support spiritual and physicalhealth Substances rich in chuuml carry ldquopotencyrdquo or nuumlpa that can be added tostrengthen other formulas I discussed elsewhere how notions of chuumllen havebeen re-invented at the MTK in the context of Sorig OTC ldquorejuvenating tonicsrdquosold as supplements58 Note that these MTK Sorig supplements do not includeprecious pills which are treated as medicine and are made in the pharmacy

The recurring sentence in the above opening quote of the MTK advice onhow to take (seven of the eight) precious pills ldquoWhen taken for rejuvenation bya healthy person helliprdquo (nad med bcud len du bsten) is significant for two reasonsFirst it includes the ldquohealthy personrdquo in the group of precious pill consumersSecond it points to the themes of ldquopreventionrdquo and ldquorejuvenationrdquo Both refer totwo well-known subject areas of Sowa Rigpa knowledge in the Four Treatises thatemphasize the importance of taking chuumllen ldquomaintaining healthrdquo and ldquotreatingthe agedrdquo59 Taking chuumllen for disease prevention and rejuvenation is a long-established Sowa Rigpa episteme going back to the twelfth century with clearlinks to Indian rasāyana (rejuvenation) practices mentioned in the great Ayur-vedic classic Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā60 Curiously none of the chapters dealingwith rasāyanachuumllen in the Four Treatises mention precious pills these are men-tioned in the chapter on ldquoprecious medicinerdquo (see below) and are not directlylinked to the chuumllen material adopted from the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā

This raises certain questions What is ldquorejuvenatingrdquo in a precious pill Howis this linked to what makes a precious pill ldquopreciousrdquo in Tibetan rinchen (rin

56 THL (2010)57 Gerke 2012a See also Oliphant 2016 foran analysis for chuumllen formulas58 Gerke 2012c59 I refer here to chapter 23 of the secondof the Four Treatises titled lsquoNormal Healthrsquo(nad med tha mal gnas ldquoremaining in a nor-mal state without diseaserdquo) and to chapter90 of the third of the Four Treatises titled

ldquoThe treatment of the aged with essence ex-tractionsrdquo (rgas pa gso barsquoi bcud len) YutokYoumlnten Gonpo 1982 8013ndash822 5486ndash55112 See Gerke 2012a for an analysis ofthese chapters60 I used the German translation of theAṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā by Hilgenberg andKirfel (1941 710ndash36) For an Englishtranslation see Murthy 1996



chen) Why when and how have precious pills been presented as chuumllen Threeof the MTK precious pills do not contain tsotel but are nevertheless presented asldquorejuvenatingrdquo (Jumar 25 Chakril Chenmo Old Turquoise 25) In Tibetan for-mularies only three of the more complex precious pill formulas (Rinchen Drang-jor Manjor Chenmo Tsodru Dashel) are called a chuumllen though not consistently(see below) The Tibetan versions of the MTK leaflets on Rinchen Drangjor RatnaSamphel and Tsodru Dashel highlight them as a ldquosupreme chuumllenrdquo (bcud len gyimchog tu gyur ba yin) Before exploring these key questions I ask what makes pre-cious pills actually ldquopreciousrdquo What is entailed in calling a formula a preciouspill in Tibetan a rinchen rilbu (rin chen ril bu)

5 WHAT MAKES A MEDICINE A RINCHEN RILBU

Precious pills are frequently grouped together as a special group of Tibetanmedicines that are categorized marketed and packaged as a set of com-

modities called rinchen rilbu translated as precious pills or jewel pills But whatis a rinchen Rinchen means precious and refers to substances categorized in theFour Treatises under ldquoprecious medicinesrdquo or rinpocheacute men Note that the Tibetanterm for medicine men can refer to both a compound or a single substance El-even substances are listed as precious medicines in the materia medica chapter(chapter 20 of the Explanatory Treatise) gold silver copper iron turquoise pearlmother of pearl conch shell coral and lapis lazuli61 Later pharmacopeias listmany more precious medicines For example the early eighteenth century well-known materia medica work A Lump of Crystal and its commentary A Rosary ofCrystal in Tibetan briefly called Shelgong Sheltreng62 introduces fifty-six precioussubstances63 The last part of the Four Treatises (chapter 11 of the Last Treatise) con-tains a chapter specifically dedicated to the preparation of rinchen medicine fo-cusing on the two precious pills Rinchen Drangjor and Rinchen Tsajor and theirmanufacturing64 Here it is said that rinpocheacute men should be prescribed when thebody has become used to other forms of medicines (liquids powders pills etc)and the disease remains untreated65

There are two common misunderstandings about precious pills First state-ments found online on sites that sell precious pills promote the historically ques-

61 In Tibetan these are gser dngul zangslcags gyu mu tig nya phyis dung byu ruand mu men respectively Yutok YoumlntenGonpo 1982 6612ndash1762 In Tibetan Shel gong shel phreng (DeumarTendzin Puumlntsok 2009)63 Deumar Tendzin Puumlntsok 2009 14ndash1542ndash68

64 Yutok Youmlnten Gonpo 1982 6019ndash60414 Gerke and Ploberger (2017)provide an English translation of thischapter See also Men-Tsee-Khang2011 125ndash3365 Yutok Youmlnten Gonpo 1982 60110ndash11Men-Tsee-Khang 2011 125


barbara gerke 217

tionable claim that they have been ldquoin use for more than 1200 years in Tibetrdquo66

The second widespread misunderstanding is that precious pills form a homo-genous group of special pills within a homogenous system called ldquoTibetan Medi-cinerdquo In fact precious pills comprise heterogeneous Sowa Rigpa formulas thatemerged from different histories contexts and sources The oldest (RinchenDrangjor Rinchen Tsajor) are mentioned in simplified forms in the Four Treat-ises dating back to the twelfth century67 The youngest formulas (eg Jumar 25Old Turquoise 25) emerged only around the seventeenth and eighteenth centurySome precious pills are common formulas to which tsotel is added For exampleRatna Samphel also called Mutik 70 is based on the formula Nyachi 25 men-tioned in the Four Treatises68 Its formula became more complex over time andit is called a rinchen rilbu when tsotel is added69 The case of Tsodru Dashel issimilar in that it is based on the common formula Dashel 37 but includes tsotelinstead of karduumll (dkar rsquodul)70 This turns it into a rinchen rilbu and changes itsname to Rinchen Tsodru Dashel

Precious pill formulas are scattered across Tibetan formularies and are oftenpresented in chapters dedicated to the diseases they predominantly treat (egMangjor Chenmo appears in chapters on poisoning Chakril Chenmo in chapterson eye disease) It is only in some contemporary pharmacopoeias that they ap-pear in unison as a group of pills (though with variations)71 all prefixed withrinchen only recently have they been commodified as a particular set of medi-cines which in part drive the Tibetan medical industry today though in verydifferent ways in both the PRC72 and in India

When discussing with Tibetan physicians in India the question of what makesa precious pill ldquopreciousrdquo I received several different answers emphasizing fouraspects (1) their costly and precious ingredients (2) their rarity (3) their tsotelcontent and (4) their packaging First they are precious because they containin varying amounts expensive and precious ingredients such as gold silver ru-bies turquoise pearls sapphires and so forth categorized as rinpocheacute men (seeabove) The term rinpocheacute is also used for a highly respected Buddhist masterThe Tibetan physician Dr Choelothar explained ldquoOne main quality of a rinpocheacute

66 httpswwwsiddhienergeticscomproductsjumar-25-precious-pillAccessed April 9 2017 See alsohttpwwwmen-tsee-khangorgannouncementrinchen-newhtm thatstates that ldquoThe practice of this formulation[rinchen rilbu] is approximately 1200 yearsoldrdquo Accessed April 9 201767 Men-Tsee-Khang 2011 126ndash129

68 Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 2802 Yutok Youmln-ten Gonpo 1982 3431ndash369 Sonam Dhondup 2000 232ndash33 SonamBakdrouml 2006 285770 Dawa Ridak 2003 68 Karduumll is a simpli-fied form of processed mercury sulfide71 For example Sonam Dhondup2000 229ndash3872 Saxer 2013



is lsquorarityrsquo called koumlnpa (dkon pa) Only something that is rare can be regardedas preciousrdquo73 In Tibetrsquos past precious pills were certainly a rarity since pre-cious ingredients were difficult to obtain and were considered rare and valuablenot only in medicine but also in Buddhist spiritual practices and rituals Theyoften had to be procured from far away and through spiritual and political alli-ances74 and their manufacture was expensive time consuming and required ex-tensive networks between sponsors monastics and pharmacological profession-als75 Furthermore only the elite could afford or had access to the pills throughtheir connections and socio-economic status76

The third which for many doctors is the most important aspect of whatmakes these pills precious is the addition of tsotel The famous scholar physicianKhempo Troru Tsenam (1926ndash2004) who was instrumental in spreading thetsotel practice after the Cultural Revolution in the PRC77 was once asked bya Chinese official about the most important practice in Tibetan medicine Hereplied ldquoIf you have tsotel from the Great Mercury Purification only then isone able to prepare and make all the varieties of precious pills Therefore thereal precious pill is actually tsotel Without it just saying lsquoprecious pillsrsquo has nomeaningrdquo78 Gen Rinpoche Lozang Tenzin Rakdho head of the Sowa RigpaDepartment at the Central University of Tibetan Studies (CUTS) in Sarnathnorthern India received the tsotel transmission from Troru Tsenam in Lhasa inthe 1980s and told me that ldquoAll rinchen rilbu should have tsotelrdquo79

When I went back to the private Tibetan clinic in McLeod Ganj where I couldbuy ldquo500 precious pills a day as long as stocks lastrdquo over the counter I inquiredfrom the physician at the dispensary which of their precious pills contained tsotelI was told

We produce six types of precious pills80 and these days only oneof them has tsotel which is Rinchen Tsodru Dashel Only one haschokla81 which is Jumar 25 We do not make Rinchen Drangjor andRinchen Tsajor those you get at the Men-Tsee-Khang

73 Personal communication ChontraApril 201774 Sangye Gyatso 2010 32775 Czaja 201376 For an example of availability of pre-cious pills among aristocrats in Lhasa in themid-twentieth century see the memoirs ofTubten Kheacutetsun (Kheacutetsun 2008 80ndash81)77 Gerke 2015 Lozang Lodrouml 200678 This is mentioned in the biography ofKhempo Troru Tsenam written by LozangLodrouml (2006 173) my translation

79 Interview Sarnath December 201280 At the time they produced TsodruDashel Mangjor Chenmo Ratna SamphelChakril Chenmo Jumar 25 Old Tur-quoise 25 (March 2016)81 Chokla (chog la) is processed artificialvermillion used to coat Jumar 25 with a red-dish color Several formulas of Jumar 25also list vermillion (mtshal dkar) as an in-gredient for example Khyenrap Norbu2007 17010 Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 313


barbara gerke 219

They did not distribute any leaflets and I cannot say if they promoted their pre-cious pills as rejuvenating to their patients I left the clinic wondering if so manyprecious pills did not contain tsotel what was ldquopreciousrdquo about them

Following Troru Tsenam and Gen Rinpoche Lozang Tenzin Rakdho onewould think that the label rinchen is largely a classifier not for the use of preciousgems or other forms of processed mercury but for tsotel clearly in the manycases as already shown above when tsotel is added to a formula the prefixrinchen is added to the name of the formula82 For example Ngulchu 18 isa common formula made with a simplified form of processed mercury theformula Rinchen Ngulchu 18 receives the title rinchen when it contains tsotelthough not any additional gems83 But things are not always that straightfor-ward All eight pills grouped together as ldquoprecious pillsrdquo by the MTK carrythe prefix of rinchen in their name even though three of them do not containtsotel and their names are not necessarily prefixed by rinchen in formularies The900-page formulary The Great Collection of Tibetan Medical Formulas edited bythe contemporary PRC-based medical author Sonam Dhondup only lists threeversions of the Drangjor formula as rinchen rilbu84 All other precious pills arelisted under their simple names An earlier work by the same author groupsthem all as rinchen rilbu85

Jumar 25 contains red coral pearl and lapis but no tsotel The contemporaryPRC-based author Sonam Bakdrouml includes tsotel in his Jumar 25 formula and callsit Rinchen Jumar 2586 Most formulas of Jumar 25 do not add tsotel but processedforms of cinnabar (the ore from which mercury is extracted mtshal) largely asartificial vermillion (rgya mtshal or mtshal skar) and while some authors call ita rinchen87 others do not88 The same is the case with Old Turquoise 25 whichcontains turquoise pearl coral and processed vermillion but no tsotel whilesome authors do not call it a rinchen89 others do but without adding tsotel90

The fourth aspect that makes rinchen rilbu ldquopreciousrdquo is their packaging TheTibetan physician Tenzin Namdul expressed that ldquopreciousnessrdquo also lies in theirindividual packaging with colored silk tied with a five-colored thread and a red

82 I noted a few exceptions Formulas canbe called rinchen when especially lsquotamedrsquosubstances such as a type of calcite (congzhi) which undergoes special processingduring full moon is added as for examplein Rinchen Gujor (Dawa Ridak 2003 67)83 Khyenrap Norbu 2007 1541 and 154584 Sonam Dhondup and BMTK 2006 718ndash2185 Sonam Dhondup 2000 229ndash3886 Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 31210 and 3156

87 Khyenrap Norbu 2007 1707 SonamDhondup 2000 2373 Sonam Bakdrouml2006 3121088 Lozang Nyima and Dhondup Tsering2006 264 Sonam Dhondup and BMTK2006 5175 Tshekho 2006 2391689 Lozang Nyima and Dhondup Tsering2006 271 Sonam Dhondup and BMTK2006 7001 Tshekho 2006 243190 Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 3101 SonamDhondup 2000 23513



wax seal with a Tibetan symbol which turns each pill into a piece of authen-tic Tibetan culture ldquosomething you like to keep on your altar at home or in aspecial place and take only when you are really in need of itrdquo For him highproduction numbers and blister-packsmdashwhile conforming to better hygiene andGMPmdash translate into a loss of preciousness ldquoYou donrsquot want to keep a machine-made blister-pack on your altar and think of it as blessed It looks cheap notpreciousrdquo91

6 CHUumlLEN IN PRECIOUS PILL FORMULAS

Chapter 11 on precious medicines called rinpocheacute men in the last part of theFour Treatises includes a general statement on the benefits of precious medi-

cines ldquoThey become a chuumllen when taken by a healthy personrdquo92 This statementis not linked to any specific precious pill but is a general assertion that all pre-cious medicines are chuumllen The same chapter offers a brief description of how tomake Rinchen Drangjor and Rinchen Tsajor with a focus on the necessary mer-cury refinement there is no mention of these formulas working specifically asa chuumllen but it is implied in the above statement that precious medicines havechuumllen benefits Contemporary Tibetan formularies use this general quote fromthe Four Treatises to highlight the chuumllen character of precious pills specifically ofRinchen Drangjor and Mangjor Chenmo93

The long list of diseases that can be treated in general with all kinds of pre-cious medicines appears at the beginning of chapter 11 It reappears as a specifictherapeutic target group of Rinchen Drangjor in later formularies Far from un-usual this is a common pattern of how Tibetan formulas are written94 It can beexplained by the fact that the Four Treatises is considered the root text for manyformulas and the chapter on precious medicines specifically contextualizes thebenefits of precious pills as a chuumllen95 This has to be taken into account for ourunderstanding of the general use of rinpocheacute men for the healthy

In contemporary formularies Rinchen Drangjor in particular is presented asa strengthening tonic for old age Here are some examples

91 Interview Dharamsala May 201692 nad gzhi med parsquoi mi la bcud len rsquogyurYutok Youmlnten Gonpo 1982 60114 Thetranslation by Men-Tsee-Khang (2011 125ndash6) reads ldquoThey are rejuvenating when takenby a healthy personrdquo93 For example Sonam Dhondup2000 23019ndash20 (Rinchen Drangjor)Sonam Dhondup 2000 2354ndash5 (MangjorChenmo) Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 2937

(Mangjor Chenmo)94 I discuss this for the Old Turquoise 25formula which includes the list of liver dis-eases from the Four Treatises in its formula asits therapeutic target group (Gerke in press)95 Men-Tsee-Khang 2011 12512ndash15translated from Yutok Youmlnten Gonpo1982 60111ndash14 reappears with slight vari-ations in Sonam Dhondup 2000 23018ndash20


barbara gerke 221

Even for the healthy [Rinchen Drangjor] is a supreme chuumllenThus in old age [the body] will be solid gaining full strengthThe physical condition will be comfortable and at night vitality willincrease[There will be] few infections and so forth the benefits are limitless96

The following is found in a contemporary formulary published in the PRCthe description is also found in an eighteenth century tsotel manual

[When] taken by the healthy [Rinchen Drangjor will] clear awaydecrepitude and old age Hair and beard [will become] shiny andsupple the bones will become [strong] like a vajra [thunderbolt]97

It is also advised to take Rinchen Drangjor with strong fermented barley beer(chang) when taking it as a chuumllen in healthy conditions98 A Tibetan-EnglishSowa Rigpa dictionary compiled by a MTK-trained physician in India lists sevenprecious pills Rinchen Drangjor is described as a ldquogeneral health tonicrdquo as theonly one among the seven which is quite different when compared to the MTKwebsite99

Mangjor Chenmo is advertised as a chuumllen for the healthy in several formulasusing the direct quote from the Four Treatises100 Tsodru Dashelrsquos therapeutic tar-gets are largely stomach and digestive disorders rejuvenation is not mentionedin most formularies101 but we sometimes find a brief reference to its use as apreventive medicine and a chuumllen For example the nineteenth century physi-cian Orgyen Tekchok alias Orgyen Tendzin from eastern Tibet in his brief texton Tsodru Dashel mentions at the end ldquoIf taken by the healthy disease will notarise and it becomes a chuumllenrdquo102

96 nad med la yang bcud len mchog yin te rgaska sra zhing lus stobs rgyas pa dang lus khamsbde la dgong mdangs rgyas par byed rsquogos nadnyung sogs phan yon mtharsquo yas shing (SonamDhondup 2000 2312ndash5 my translation)97 nad med mi la gtong bas ni rgas dang rgudpa sel bar byed skra dan sma ra snum zh-ing mnyen rus pa rdo rje lta bur rsquogyur (So-nam Bakdrouml 2006 2793ndash5 my translationThis phrase is also found in Dege DrungyigGurupel 1986 3716ndash3721)98 nad med bcud len yin na gar chang dang (So-nam Dhondup 2000 2319) This refers tothe practice that for each disease and con-

dition the medicine should be taken with akind of carrier or ldquomedicine horserdquo (smanrta)99 T T Drungtso and T D Drungtso2005 444100 nad gzhi med parsquoi mi la bcud len rsquogyur(Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 2937 Sonam Dhon-dup 2000 2355 see Yutok Youmlnten Gonpo1982 60114)101 Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 321 Sonam Dhon-dup 2000 23810ndash17102 nad med kyis bsten na nad mi rsquobyung zhingbcud len du rsquogyur ba dang (Orgyen Tekchok2005 1511 my translation)



When I interviewed contemporary Tibetan physicians in India on what thechuumllen in precious pills refers to I received answers that reveal that the actualchuuml or essence in the pills refers to mercury (dngul chu) in its processed formof tsotel A phrase found with variations in many sources is ldquoFor the healthy[refined mercury] is the best chuumllenrdquo103 Gen Rinpoche Lozang Tenzin Rakdhofrom CUTS explained the chuuml of mercury as follows

Mercury has a great potential They call it pārada [in Sanskrit]hellipa person who has suffering also has the potential to liberatehimself from suffering Mercury has many poisons hellip some haveto be washed away and some have to be bound and tamed Thenthe potential comes out and then it is droumll sgrol) pārada liberatedmercuryrsquo we say nguumllchu chuuml kyi gyelpo (ngul chu bcud kyi rgyal po)ldquomercury the king of rasāyanardquo If you have a little bit of chuuml insideyour body then you do not attract diseasehellip104

Referring to various medical texts the MTK-trained physician Penpa Tser-ing summarizes why refined mercury is a chuumllen it increases the life-span andprotects from ageing evil spells and poisoning105 Concerning the benefits ofrefined mercury in the form of tsotel for the healthy he writes

It is said that if ordinary people who do not have any diseases take[refined mercury] from time to time the strength of their life spanand bodily constituents will increase it sharpens all the senses suchas the eyes etc it brings well-being to the circulation pathways ofnerves and blood vessels (ldquowhite and black channelsrdquo) [it supports]staying strong in old age grey hair and wrinkles etc will not appearand therefore it is supreme among [all] chuumllen106

If the chuumllen aspect of precious pills was largely linked to refined mercuryin the form of tsotel which is rarely made I wondered how were precious pillsgiven to healthy people in the past and for what reasons It is beyond the scope ofthis paper to analyze all formulas of all the precious pills The examples sufficeto demonstrate that the formula texts generally do not promote precious pills

103 nad med rnams la bcud len mchog yin te(Nyima Tsering 2009 818)104 Gen Rinpoche Lozang Rakdho Inter-view CUTS Sarnath 1632015105 Penpa Tsering 1997 2715ndash18106 nad med tha mal du gnas pa rnams kyisyun du bsten na tshe dang lus zungs kyi thobsrsquophel ba dang mig la sogs parsquoi dbang porsquoi sgo

rnams gsal zhing lus la gnas parsquoi dkar nag rtsayi rgyu lam bde ba dang rgas kha sra basskra dkar dang gnyer ma mi rsquobyung ba sogsbcud len gyi mchog tu gyur cing (Penpa Tser-ing 1997 282ndash6 my translation) See alsoNyima Tsering (2009 581ndash21) on the bene-fits of refined mercury


barbara gerke 223

as rejuvenating except Rinchen Drangjor and Mangjor Chenmo and sometimesTsodru Dashel They focus on the ingredients and their therapeutic benefitsIt is predominantly the specific genre of texts on administering precious pillsdiscussed in the next section and the online leaflets given out by pharmacies thatstress precious pills as preventive rejuvenating and as tonics for the healthy

7 ADMINISTERING PRECIOUS PILLS TO THE HEALTHY

Avery useful paper for our understanding of how precious pills were admin-istered to both the sick and the healthy in Tibetrsquos past is by Olaf Czaja107

He analyzes seven Tibetan medical works from the sixteenth to the early twen-tieth century that focus entirely on the administration of precious pills He be-gins with a detailed description of the work by Deumar Tenzin Puumlntsok (b 1672)titled Practice of Administering Jewel Pills108 Deumar is still widely respected forhis writings on medicine materia media (eg the Shelgong Sheltreng)109 and pre-cious pill formulas (he is said to have first composed Jumar 25) At his time thepills were administered in a highly ritualized fashion110 In addition to extens-ive consecration rituals performed by the doctor before administering the pill tothe patient invasive therapies had to be avoided for the following three monthsand special dietary precautions had to be kept for at least a year if instructionswere strictly followed the jewel pill would remain in onersquos body for a year111 Allthese are indications of how rarely a precious pill would be taken It probablyalso involved quite an expense for the patient to cover the physicianrsquos ritual andpill production costs

For our discussion it is important to note that Deumar does not distinguishbetween the healthy and sick and administers precious pills for two main thera-peutic purposes 1) when ingested to treat all kinds of diseases specifically pois-oning and 2) when worn as amulets to protect from spirits and sorcery112 Thesemain emphases on poisoning and protective amulets are also found in the earliertext Ten Millions Relics (Bye ba ring bsrel) by Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorjeacute (1439ndash1475)who writes ldquoIt becomes the best of amulets if used by the healthy who bear thepromised vows and it will resist poisons for a life-timerdquo113 One can imaginethat at the time poisoning was a real concern in Tibet114 and therapeutics had to

107 Czaja 2015108 Deumar Tendzin Puumlntsok 2006 853ndash58109 Deumar Tendzin Puumlntsok 2009110 Czaja 2015 42ndash47111 Czaja 2015 48ndash49112 Czaja 2015 49ndash50113 dam tshig dang ldan pas bsten na nad med

pa la srung barsquoi mchog tu rsquogyur te mi tshe rsquodirsquoidug rigs thub rsquokhrug dang (Zurkhar NyamnyiDorjeacute 1993 29318ndash20 translated by Gyatso(1991 44))114 According to Da Col (2012) this is stillthe case in some Tibetan communities today



be developed to address these concerns which involved preparing antidotes topoisoning in the form of both medicines and protective amulets That preciouspills are still used as protective amulets became apparent in 2002ndash2003 duringthe SARS epidemic in the PRC when a special Black Pill 9 called Rilbu Gunak (rilbu dgu nag) and Rinchen Drangjor became very popular to be worn as an amuletfor protection from SARS115

The other six authors mentioned by Czaja more explicitly include theldquohealthyrdquo as a category of recipients of precious pills For example OrgyenTekchok in his nineteenth century work A Beautiful Ornament for the CompendiumA Treasury of Medicinal Elixirs116 distinguishes ldquotwo practices of administering[precious pills] for the sick and the healthyrdquo117 and gives special instructionson how to administer a precious pill to a healthy person but does not mentionrejuvenation

[If administering a jewel pill] to the healthy clean [the patientrsquos]stomach with a cleansing formula to clear the body from bad smellsGive medicine to protect the loss of regenerative fluid and avoidperspiration [Keep] a balance of food and exercise [and] rely onnutritious foods and remedies118

Orgyen Tekchok also offers much astrological advice on auspicious times andextensive rituals for precious pill intake His and the other works analyzed byCzaja filled a need for detailed manuals on how to administer precious pills Iargue that the appearance of these manuals along with the ldquohealthyrdquo as a cat-egory of recipients paralleled the gradual increase in the production of tsotel andprecious pills in both eastern Tibet (in the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries)and Lhasa (mainly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century)119 InLhasa Khyenrap Norbu (1883ndash1962) was a key figure in this regard He becamethe founding director in 1916 of the Mentsikhang the first secular medical in-stitute in Lhasa and took part in two tsotel events in 1919 and 1921120 He also

115 Craig 2003 Craig and Adams 2008 3116 The Tibetan title is Zin tig mdzes rgyanbdud rtsirsquoi sman mdzod (Orgyen Tekchok2005) The work is now published as partof a collection known under its short titleSorig Notes or Sor ig Zin tig (Kongtruumll Youmln-ten Gyatso et al 2005)117 btang tshul lag len nad can nad med gnyis(Orgyen Tekchok 2005 28420)118 nad med lto sbyong rsquojam pos snod dri bsalrsquodzag srung bcangs la sman btang rngul rsquodon

spang zas spyod gzhan mtshungs bcud ldan zassman brten (Orgyen Tekchok 2005 2853ndash5My translation cf Czaja 2015 52)119 According to published records tsotelwas made in eastern Tibet in 1767 17951820 1838 1856 and 1872 In Lhasa tsotelwas made in 1678 1783 1893 1919 and1921 (Sonam Bakdrouml 2006 56ndash7) Small-scale events are often not documented120 For details on these two events seeGerke 2015 876ndash878


barbara gerke 225

wrote a manual on how to administer precious pills121 These major tsotel pro-duction events are fairly well documented and point to a time in which Tibetanmedicine flourished and had governmental and financial support In Lhasa theDalai Lamas supported the making of precious pills in eastern Tibet the king ofDerge local chieftains and the large monasteries of Dzongsar and Palpung sup-ported famous Buddhist scholars and physicians (Situ Panchen Kongtruumll YoumlntenGyatso and others) to refine mercury and make precious pills on a larger scalethan before122

Sponsors of tsotel events were usually rewarded with a large portion of thetsotel123 which was also used for spiritual purposes in the consecration of stupasand statues Sponsors also received precious pills and we can assume that notall of them were patients Emphasizing the benefits of precious pills specificallyfor the healthy enlarged the group of their beneficiaries The point I make here isthat while precious pills and their benefits for the healthy have been mentionedin Tibetan texts since the twelfth century with their increasing availability be-ginning in the eighteenth century the healthy person seems to receive more at-tention as is shown in the manuals on how to administer precious pills Whileit will take more research to establish the exact reasons for this we can assumethat their greater availability influenced how precious pills were highlighted forthe healthy

8 CONCLUSION

My textual and ethnographic inquiries of what makes a medicine a rinchenrilbu revealed several rationales in the naming practices of precious pills

First they are labeled ldquopreciousrdquo by prefixing the Tibetan term rinchen whichis done for the most part but not always when the complex processed mercurysulfide powder tsotel is added Such inconsistency in naming can be explained tosome extent by a second rationale they are also considered precious if they con-tain precious substances categorized in medical literature as rinpocheacute men whichinclude precious metals (gold silver etc) and precious and semi-precious stones(pearls lapis turquoise coral etc) What exactly defines the ldquopreciousnessrdquo ofa medicine or substance can be quite fluid among those who are conferring theterm rinchen or rinpocheacute In conclusion while we can come to a tentative defini-tion that rinchen rilbu are precious pills that for the most part contain tsotel thereare no set standards in naming a medicine a rinchen that are followed across thoseformularies I analyzed for this paper which were mostly published recently inthe PRC and in India

121 Khyenrap Norbu 2007 198ndash209122 Czaja 2013

123 See for example Gerke 2015 883



Thus the ldquopreciousrdquo aspects of a precious pill is on the one hand stronglylinked to its tsotel content but on the other hand also depends on the other ldquopre-ciousrdquo (gold silver jewels etc) and also rare and costly substances (eg musk)included in the formula This complexity is also apparent from the ways in whichTibetan physicians describe the potency or nuumlpa of these pills the three main pil-lars of which are the potency of ldquosubstancesrdquo ldquomantrasrdquo and ldquoauspicious tim-ingrdquo All of these contribute to how Tibetan physicians explain the efficacy ofprecious pills Even if they do not contain tsotel they are often presented as aldquorejuvenatingrdquo chuumllen for the healthy This refers to the characteristics of pre-cious medicines or rinpocheacute men that are described in the Four Treatises as havinggeneral chuumllen benefits

My data raises questions on the contemporary commodification of preciouspills in India On the one hand the production and sale of precious pills in Indiais higher than it ever has been in the history of Sowa Rigpa and on the other handprecious pills are perceived as less ldquopreciousrdquo for varying reasons for examplethe loss of rarity through mass-production machine-made packaging instead ofindividual silk-cloth wrapping or the lack of tsotel in precious pills despite ldquopre-ciousrdquo packaging Like efficacy preciousness comes in many forms and a lossof potency and preciousness can occur when precious medicines are commod-ified machine-packaged and marketed for a larger clientele If they are mass-marketed they are no longer rare an important aspect of a rinchen Moreover forsome a machine-made blister pack does not look ldquopreciousrdquo enough

Apart from the packaging Czajarsquos work on the manuals describing how toadminister precious pills also reveals ldquopreciousrdquo ways of administering rinchenrilbu Administering them to patients is described as being highly ritualizedwith prayers and mantras at an auspicious time and observing all kinds of di-etary and behavioral rules This demonstrates the rarity of such an event whichcan transform the doctor-patient relationship into a precious moment of humaninteraction of healing It also highlights the complex interface of pharmacolo-gical spiritual and auspicious potency The ways of administering preciouspills today have been simplified Some dietary and behavioral restrictions aredescribed on the leaflets but patients take the pills by themselves maybe recit-ing the Medicine Buddha mantra if they are drawn to Buddhism Some patientsstill adhere to the basic preliminaries of taking precious pills which are usingSichuan pepper to open the channels before the intake of the pill and takingsaffron to close the channels afterwards124 For some the pillsrsquo magic lies in thebelief of their efficacy without knowing much else about them

124 Czaja (2015) points to several other sub-stances that were prescribed to open and

close the channels


barbara gerke 227

Sowa Rigpa texts talk about what we loosely translate as ldquorejuvenationrdquo asldquoessence extractionrdquo or chuumllen which refers to powerful often ritually as wellas pharmacologically enhanced substances that provide strength nourishmentand virility I showed how the chuumllen theme in the Four Treatises is largely dis-cussed in terms of maintaining normal health and treating the aged The relev-ant chapters however do not mention any mercury or precious pills Just onesentence in the chapter on rinpocheacute men in the Four Treatises attributes chuumllen be-nefits to precious medicines in general when taken by the healthy however in arevered root text such as the Four Treatises one sentence can be very significant

Notions of preventative and rejuvenating benefits have been adoptedwidely in precious pill presentations more extensively so in notices leafletsand on websites addressed to a foreign clientele than in traditional Tibetanformulary works The noticeable difference between these domains is that manywebsites and leaflets advertise the rejuvenating and disease-preventive effectswhile Tibetan formularies limit attributing chuumllen benefits to three of the eightprecious pills currently made in India Rinchen Drangjor Mangjor Chenmoand sometimes Tsodru Dashel These pills contain both tsotel and other rare andexpensive precious substances

Refined mercury sulfide in the form of tsotel is considered the ldquoking of re-juvenationrdquo and is said to have preventive benefits also for the healthy Whenadded to certain precious pills tsotel increases their potency and makes themeven more precious Based on Czajarsquos recent work I pointed out how with theemergence of special manuals on how to administer precious pills beginning inthe eighteenth century the category of the ldquohealthyrdquo came more to the forefrontallowing more peoplemdashpossibly also including the sponsors of tsotel eventsmdashto partake in the preciousness and benefits of the pills The partaking in theconsumption of what Tibetan culture offers as ldquopreciousrdquo including its spiritualaspects certainly plays a part in the contemporary popularity of precious pillswhich in turn also drives their commodification and commercialization

Today leaflets and online descriptions of almost all precious pills are aimedalso at the healthy as general tonics and rejuvenators While this seems to bepart of the commercialization of precious pills it is still directly referring to in-dications from the root text Four Treatises and the long historic use of preciousmedicines The overall popularity of precious pills draws on a combination oftheir therapeutic and chuumllen benefits which are based on the preciousness of po-tent rare and expensive substances as well as the use of tsotel as the king ofchuumllen



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research and writing of this article was carried out during the Lise Meit-ner senior research fellowship M1870-G28 supported by the Austrian ScienceFund (FWF) I am grateful to the Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamsala especiallythe Tibetan physicians Dr Choelothar and Dr Tendzin Namdul as well as GenRinpoche Lozang Tenzin Rakdho and Dr Penpa Tsering from CUTS in SarnathI also thank Florian Ploberger and two anonymous reviewers for their helpfulcomments

ABBREVIATIONS

AYUSH The Department of Ayurveda Yoga and Naturopathy UnaniSiddha Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy Government of India

BMTK Bod rang skyong ljongs sman rtsis khang (Men-Tsee-Khang ofthe Tibetan Autonomous Region)

CUTS Central University of Tibetan Studies Sarnath IndiaFDA Food and Drug AdministrationFWF Austrian Science FundGMP Good Manufacturing PracticesMTK Men-Tsee-Khang ldquoMedicine-Astrology-Houserdquo also Mentsi-

khang is the name of the first secular Tibetan medical insti-tute founded in Lhasa in 1916 It was also established in 1961in Dharamsala by exiled Tibetans in India

OTC Over-the-counterPRC Peoplersquos Republic of ChinaRCT Randomized Controlled TrialSARS Severe Acute Respiratory SyndromeTAR Tibetan Autonomous RegionTHL Tibetan amp Himalayan Library (Germano Weinberger et al 2010)US United States


barbara gerke 229

REFERENCES

Adams Vincanne (2010) ldquoEncounters with Efficacyrdquo In Asian Medicine 61pp 1ndash21 doi 101163157342110x606833

Anand Dibyesh (2000) ldquo(Re)imagining Nationalism Identity and Representa-tion in the Tibetan Diaspora of South Asiardquo In Contemporary South Asia 93pp 271ndash287 doi 101080713658756

Aschoff Juumlrgen C and Tashi Yangphel Tashigang (2001) Tibetan ldquoPrecious PillsrdquoThe Rinchen Medicine A Tantric Healing System with Great Benefits Some Prob-lems Many Secrets UlmDonau Fabri-Verlag isbn 3931997138

mdash (2004) Tibetan Jewel Pills UlmDonau Fabri Verlag isbn 3931997162mdash (2009) Tibetan Jewel Pills With Some Remarks on Consecration (Byin rlabs) of the

Medicines 3rd ed UlmDonau Fabri Verlag isbn 9783931997380Blakie Calum (2016) ldquoPositioning Sowa Rigpa in India Coalition and Antag-

onism in the Quest for Recognitionrdquo In Medicine Anthropology Theory 32pp 50ndash86 doi 1017157mat32352

Craig Sienna (2003) ldquoSARS on the Roof of the Worldrdquo In Explorers Journal Sum-mer issue pp 20ndash21

mdash (2010) ldquoFrom Empowerments to Power Calculations Notes on Efficacy Valueand Methodrdquo In Medicine between Science and Religion Explorations on TibetanGrounds Ed by Sienna Craig Vincanne Adams and Mona Schrempf OxfordBerghahn pp 215ndash40 isbn 9781845459741

mdash (2012) Healing Elements Efficacy and the Social Ecologies of Tibetan Medi-cines Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press isbn9780520273238

mdash (2015) ldquoThe Efficacy of Collaboration Tibetan Medicine Across Coun-tries and Conversationsrdquo In Asian Medicine 101ndash2 pp 152ndash75 doi10116315734218-12341343

Craig Sienna and Vincanne Adams (2008) ldquoGlobal Pharma in the Land ofSnows Tibetan Medicines SARS and Identity Politics Across Nationsrdquo InAsian Medicine 41 pp 1ndash28 doi 101163157342108x381205

Craig Sienna and Barbara Gerke (2016) ldquoNaming and Forgetting Sowa Rigpaand the Territory of Asian Medical Systemsrdquo In Medicine Anthropology Theory32 pp 87ndash122 doi 1017157mat32350

Cuomo Mingji (2016) ldquoDeconstructing and Reconstructing Tradition GoodManufacturing Practices and the Tibetan Medicine Industry in China2001ndash2014rdquo Conference paper June 22 2016 Bergen Norway


mdash (2015) ldquoThe Administration of Tibetan Precious Pillsrdquo In Asian Medicine101ndash2 pp 36ndash89 doi 10116315734218-12341350



Da Col Giovanni (2012) ldquoThe Poisoner and the Parasite Cosmoeconomics Fearand Hospitality among Dechen Tibetansrdquo In Journal of the Royal Anthropolo-gical Institute 18s1 S175ndashS195 doi 101111j1467-9655201201771x

Dawa Ridak (2003) Bod kyi gso ba rig pa las sman rdzas sbyor bzorsquoi lag len gsang sgorsquobyed parsquoi lde mig Delhi Rig Drag Publications Authorrsquos Tibetan name Zlaba ri brag

Dege Drungyig Gurupel (1986) Srid Gsum Gtsug Rgyan Si Tu Chos Kyi rsquobyungGnas Kyi Zhal Lung Dngul Chu Btso Chen Dang Rin Chen Ril Bursquoi Sbyor Sde ZlaBa Bdud Rtsirsquoi Thig Le Rin Chen Dngul Chu Sbyor Sde Phyogs Bsdebs = Collec-ted Works on Mercury Formulations (Rasasiddhisastra) by Ju Mi-pham Bla-smanOrgyan Bstan-dzin Sde-dge Drun-yid Guru-phel Kon-sprul Yon-tan Rgya-mtshoReproduced from Rare Manuscripts and Sde-dge Woodblocks from the Library ofLate Dr Jamyang Tashi Dr Tenzin Chodrak and Dr Lobsang Tashi Ed by TashiTsering Library of Tibetan Works and Archives Dharamsala pp 303ndash91 Au-thorrsquos Tibetan name Sde dgersquoi drung yig Gu ru rsquophel (18th century) EditorrsquosTibetan name Bkra shis tshe ring

Deumar Tendzin Puumlntsok (2006) ldquoRin chen ril bu gtong thabs lag len nges zabsnying thigrdquo In Dersquou dmar gso rig gces btus Pecin Mi rigs dpe skrun khangpp 853ndash58 Authorrsquos Tibetan name Dersquou dmar Bstan rsquodzin phun tshogs(b 1672)

mdash (2009) Shel gong shel phreng Dharamsala Men-Tsee-Khang Authorrsquos Tibetanname Dersquou dmar Bstan rsquodzin phun tshogs (b 1672)

Dreyfus Georges (1998) ldquoThe Shuk-Den Affair Origins of a Controversyrdquo InJournal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 212 pp 227ndash70

Drungtso Tsering Thakchoe and Tsering Dolma Drungtso (2005) Tibetan-EnglishDictionary of Tibetan Medicine and Astrology Dharamsala Drungtso Publica-tions isbn 8190139525

Gerke Barbara (2012a) ldquolsquoTreating The Agedrsquo and lsquoMaintaining Healthrsquo Locat-ing bcud len Practices in the four Tibetan Medical Tantrasrdquo In Journal of theInternational Association of Buddhist Studies 351ndash2 pp 329ndash62 doi 102143JIABS3513078168

mdash (2012b) Long Lives and Untimely Deaths Life-span Concepts and Longevity Prac-tices among Tibetans in the Darjeeling Hills India Leiden Boston Brill isbn9789004217034 doi 1011639789004217485

mdash (2012c) ldquoTreating Essence with Essence Re-inventing bcud len as VitalisingDietary Supplements in Contemporary Tibetan Medicinerdquo In Asian Medicine71 pp 196ndash224 doi 10116315734218-12341248

mdash (2013) ldquoThe Social Life of Tsotel Processing Mercury in ContemporaryTibetan Medicinerdquo In Asian Medicine 81 (Mercury in Ayurveda and TibetanMedicine) pp 120ndash52 doi 10116315734218-12341287


barbara gerke 231

mdash (2015) ldquoBiographies and Knowledge Transmission of Mercury Processingin Twentieth Century Tibetrdquo In Asiatische Studien ndash Eacutetudes Asiatiques 694pp 867ndash99 doi 101515asia-2015-1041

mdash (in press) ldquoThe Signature of Recipes Authorship Authenticity and the Epi-stemic Genre of Tibetan Formulasrdquo In Revue drsquoEtudes Tibeacutetaines 45

Gerke Barbara and Florian Ploberger (2017) ldquoJewels in Medicines On theProcessing and Efficacy of Precious Pills According to the Four TreatisesrdquoIn Buddhism and Medicine An Anthology Ed by Pierce Salguero New YorkColumbia University Press pp 583ndash92 doi 107312salg17994-062

Germano David and Nicolas Tournadre (2003) THL Simplified Phonetic Tran-scription of Standard Tibetan The THL Tibetan Dictionaries Tibetan to EnglishTranslation Tool Tibetan and Himalayan Library url httpwwwthliborg reference transliteration 5C essay = thl phonetics (on 8 Apr2017)

Germano David Steven Weinberger et al (2010) The Tibetan amp Himalayan Lib-rary Tibetan to English Translation Tool University of Virginia url httpwwwthliborgreferencedictionariestibetan-dictionarytranslatephp(on 1 Dec 2017)

Gyatso Yonten (1991) ldquoThe Secrets of the Black Pill Formulationrdquo In TibetanMedicine 13 pp 38ndash55

Hilgenberg Luise and Willibald Kirfel (1941) Vāgbhaṭarsquos Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitāein altindisches Lehrbuch der Heilkunde aus dem Sanskrit ins Deutsche uumlbertragenmit Einleitung Anmerkungen und Indices Leiden Brill

Hofer Theresia (2008) ldquoSocio-Economic Dimensions of Tibetan Medicine in theTibet Autonomous Region China ndash Part Onerdquo In Asian Medicine 41 pp 174ndash200 doi 101163157342108x381250

Kheacutetsun Tubten (2008) Memories of Life in Lhasa under Chinese Rule Ed by Mat-thew Akester New York Columbia University Press isbn 9780231142861

Khyenrap Norbu (2007) ldquoRin chen ril bursquoi phan yon dang bsten thabs gsal barsquoime longrdquo In Mkhyen rab nor bursquoi sman yig gces btus Mā yang sman yig gces btusEd by Khyenrap Norbu et al Pe cin Mi rigs dpe skrun khang pp 198ndash209Authorrsquos Tibetan name Mkhyen rab nor bu (1883ndash1962)

Kloos Stephan (2008) ldquoThe History and Development of Tibetan Medicine inExilerdquo In Tibet Journal 332 pp 15ndash49

mdash (2010) ldquoNavigating lsquoModern Sciencersquo and lsquoTraditional Culturersquo the Dharam-sala Men-Tsee-Khang in Indiardquo In Medicine Between Science and Religion Ex-plorations on Tibetan Grounds Ed by Vincanne Adams Mona Schrempf andSienna Craig London Berghahn pp 83ndash105 isbn 9781845459741

mdash (2012) ldquoDie Alchemie exil-tibetischer Identitaumlt Anmerkungen zurpharmazeutischen und politischen Wirksamkeit tibetischer Pillen (Pro-



cessing Exile-Tibetan Identity The Alchemy of Tibetan Medicinelsquos Pharma-ceutical and Political Efficacy)rdquo In Curare 353 pp 197ndash207

Kloos Stephan (2013) ldquoHow Tibetan Medicine in Exile became a lsquoMedical Sys-temrsquo rdquo In East Asian Science Technology and Society 73 pp 381ndash95 doi 10121518752160-2333653

mdash (2016) ldquoThe Recognition of Sowa Rigpa in India How Tibetan Medicine be-came an Indian Medical Systemrdquo In Medicine Anthropology Theory 32 pp 19ndash49 doi 1017157mat32351

Kongtruumll Youmlnten Gyatso et al eds (2005) Gso rig zin tig yang tig Pe cin Mirigs dpe skrun khang Editorrsquos Tibetan name Kong sprul yon tan rgya mt-sho (1813ndash1899)

Lozang Lodrouml (2006) Gnas lnga rig parsquoi paN+Di ta mkhan chen khro ru tshe rnammchog gi rnam thar baiḍūrya sngon porsquoi rang mdangs (= Mkhan chen khro ru tshernam gyi rnam thar) Pe cin Krung gorsquoi bod rig pa dpe skrun khang AuthorrsquosTibetan name Blo bzang blo gros

Lozang Nyima and Dhondup Tsering (2006) Gso rig lag len spyi don sgron maZi ling Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang Authorsrsquo Tibetan names Blobzang nyi ma and Don grub tshe ring

Men-Tsee-Khang (1996) ldquoOver the Counter Medicinesrdquo In Men-Tsee-KhangNewsletter 43 p 1

mdash trans (2011) The Subsequent Tantra from the Four Tantras of Tibetan MedicineDharamsala Men-Tsee-Khang

Murthy K R Srikantha (1996) Vāgbhaṭarsquos Aṣṭāntildega Hṛdayam Text English Transla-tion Notes Appendix and Indices 3rd ed 3 vols Krishnadas Ayurveda Series27 Varanasi Krishnadas Academy

Nyima Tsering (2009) Dngul chu btso bkru chen morsquoi lag len Lha sa Bod ljongs midmangs dpe skrun khang Authorrsquos Tibetan name Nyi ma tshe ring


Orgyen Tekchok (2005) ldquoZin tig mdzes rgyan bdud rtsirsquoi sman mdzodrdquo In Gsorig zin tig yang tig Ed by Kongtruumll Youmlnten Gyatso Pe cin Mi rigs dpe skrunkhang pp 191ndash360 Authorrsquos Tibetan name O rgyan theg mchog editorrsquosTibetan name Kong sprul yon tan rgya mtsho (1813-1899)

Penpa Tsering (1997) ldquoGso rig sman sbyor gyi nying khu bcud rgyal bdud rtsidar ya kan nam dngul chu btso thal gyi lag len mdo tsam bkod pardquo In Menrtsis dus deb 3 pp 26ndash32 Authorrsquos Tibetan name Spen pa tshe ring

Prost Audrey (2008) Precious Pills Medicine and Social Change among TibetanRefugees in India Epistemologies of Healing 2 Oxford New York BerghahnBooks isbn 9781845454579


barbara gerke 233

Sangye Gyatso (2010) Mirror of Beryl A Historical Introduction to Tibetan MedicineTrans by Gavin Kilty 1st ed The Library of Tibetan Classics 28 Boston MAWisdom Publications isbn 9780861714674

Saxer Martin (2013) Manufacturing Tibetan Medicine The Creation of an Industryand the Moral Economy of Tibetanness Epistemologies of Healing 12 OxfordNew York Berghahn isbn 9780857457721

Schrempf Mona (2015) ldquoContested Issues of Efficacy and Safety betweenTransnational Formulation Regimes of Tibetan Medicines in China andEuroperdquo In Asian Medicine 101ndash2 pp 273ndash315 doi 10 1163 15734218 -12341360

Sonam Bakdrouml (2006) Dngul chursquoi byung ba spyi dang bye brag btso bkru rig parsquoi laglen rgyas par bkral ba mkhas grub ratna shrirsquoi dgongs rgyan Bod ljongs mi dmangsdpe skrun khang Lha sa Authorrsquos Tibetan name Bsod nams bag dros

Sonam Dhondup (2000) Sman sbyor lag len gyi gdams pa myong grub ma Bod lugssman rig 21 Pe cin Mi rigs dpe skrun khang Authorrsquos Tibetan name Bsodnams don grub

Sonam Dhondup and BMTK (2006) Bod sman sbyor sde chen mo Lha sa Bod ljongsmi dmangs dpe skrun khang Authorrsquos Tibetan name Bsod nams don grub

Triplett Katja (2014) ldquoMagische Medizin Kultur- und religionswissenschaft-liche Perspektiven auf die tibetische Heilkunderdquo German In Tote Objektendash lebendige Geschichten Exponate aus den Sammlungen der Philipps-UniversitaumltMarburg Ed by Irmtraut Sahmland and Kornelia Grundmann PetersbergImhof Verlag pp 189ndash205 isbn 3865689485

Tshekho (2006) Rgyun spyod bod sman thang phye ril bu gsum gyi sbyor sde dang laglen gyi skor brjod pa kun phan bdud rtsilsquoi chu rgyun Khreng tulsquou Si khron dpeskrun tshogs pa Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang Authorrsquos Tibetan nameTshe kho

Witt Claudia M (2009) ldquoEfficacy Effectiveness Pragmatic Trials ndash Guidance onTerminology and the Advantages of Pragmatic Trialsrdquo In Forschende Kom-plementaumlrmedizin Research in Complementary Medicine 165 pp 292ndash94 doi101159000234904

Wylie Turrell (1959) ldquoA Standard System of Tibetan Transcriptionrdquo In HarvardJournal of Asiatic Studies 22 pp 261ndash67 doi 1023072718544

Yutok Youmlnten Gonpo (1982) Bdud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man ngaggi rgyud Lha sa Bod ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang Authorrsquos Tibetanname Gyu thog Yon tan mgon po (fl 12th century)

Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorjeacute (1993) Man ngag bye ba ring bsrel pod chung rab rsquobyams gsalbarsquoi sgron me Lanzhou Kan sursquou mi rigs dpe skrun khang Authorrsquos Tibetanname Zur mkhar Mnyam nyid rdo rje (1439ndash1475)






The Flame and the Breeze Life and LongevityPractices in Three Bengali Sufi Texts from theLong Seventeenth Century

Projit Bihari MukharjiUniversity of Pennsylvania

MLA style citation form Projit Bihari Mukharji ldquoThe Flame and the Breeze Life and Longevity Practicesin Three Bengali Sufi Texts from the Long Seventeenth Centuryrdquo History of Science in South Asia 52 (2017)234ndash264 doi 1018732hssav5i230Online version available at httphssa-journalorg


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board








The Flame and the Breeze Life and LongevityPractices in Three Bengali Sufi Texts from the

Long Seventeenth Century


Straddling the artificial boundary between South and South East Asiafrom 1430 to 1784 there existed a powerful multicultural kingdom called

Roshang1 Its Buddhist kings directly and indirectly patronized generationsof Muslim Bengali scholars Many of these scholars were deeply interested inbraiding together Islamic and Indic traditions of spiritual praxis A crucial partof these spiritual praxes were longevity practices that were tied up with ritualperformance Drawing variously from tantric Sufi Nāth and yogic traditionsthese authors created a new set of Islamic yogic longevity practices2

These texts unfortunately remain woefully understudied The little schol-arship that does exist on the matter is overwhelmingly in Bengali3 Moreoverscholarly accounts of this literature have been almost entirely focused on thetheological and literary dimensions of the texts4 Yet as France Bhattacharyapoints out ldquoA lrsquoeacutepoque les Soufis comme les yogis eacutetaient aussi creacutediteacutes de savoirsdrsquoordre plus lsquomondainsrsquordquo5 Naturally therefore the texts produced by Bengali Sufiscontain a wealth of information about topics such as the mysteries of concep-tion birth and death general cosmology and what may be called ldquolong-liferdquo orldquolongevity practicesrdquo

Long-life or longevity practices are a set of practices found across South Asiaand beyond As Geoffrey Samuel points out many of these practices seem to be

1 Today historians generally refer to thekingdom either as the ldquoArakan kingdom orthe ldquoMrauk-U kingdomrdquo The Bengali au-thors who lived and wrote there howeveralmost always called it Roshang and so Ishall stick to their name in this article Seefor instance Huq 19932 See for instance Bhattacharya 2003

3 The best-known and most detailed workremains Huq 19934 See for instance Hatley 2007 DrsquoHubert20145 ldquoAt the time Sufis and yogis were alsocredited with more ldquomundanerdquo powersrdquoBhattacharya 2003 69


projit bihari mukharji 235

connected in one way or another with Indian tantric techniques6 In this regardit is also worth noting that the ideal of the jīvanmukta pursued by Nāth Siddhasentailed much that was akin to life prolongation practices

According to the Nāth philosophy the state of jīvanmukti is the idealhellip The Nāths say that the body in which the supreme wisdom hasbeen received (parampadprāpti) must be kept disease-free (ajara) im-mortal (amara) and capable to travelling wherever they pleasehellip7

As a result the Nāths discuss longevity and immortality at great length includ-ing actual techniques for achieving these ends8 But the relationship of the Nāthtraditions with tantrism and Sanskrit culture not to mention between its ownvarious regional variants remain very ill-understood to date9

Much of the extant scholarship on such longevity practices has been focusedspecifically on Buddhist practices10 Dagmar Wujastyk and Lawrence Cohenhowever have studied longevity practices and particularly longevity tonics ascomponents of Indian medicine11 Some of the emergent work on the histor-ies of yoga has also discussed longevity practices in passing12 Islamic longevitypractices too have recently begun receiving some attention Y Tzvi Langermanfor instance has discussed rasāyana in an eighteenth-century Shirsquoite text whilstFabrizio Speziale has discussed a fascinating Indo-Persian alchemical treatise at-tributed to the thirteenth-century saint Hamid al Din Nagawri and others13

In the present paper I wish to add to this discussion by focusing on threeBengali Islamic texts produced in the kingdom of Roshang in the period betweenthe late sixteenth century and the early eighteenth century These three texts arecomplex lengthy works that cover a number of different topics So it is best toclarify at the very outset that I do not intend to study them as a whole Myinterest is mainly in their discussions of life and longevity practices I want tocompare how each of these texts conceptualize the entity called ldquoliferdquo and whatkind of practices they recommend for prolonging life

The paper is divided into seven principal sections Section one introduces thethree texts I will be discussing giving brief outlines of their content provenance

6 Samuel 2012 2647 Mallik 1986 2928 Mallik 1986 310ndash199 For Bengal see Mallik 1986 For accountsof the Nāth tradition more generally seeLorenzen and Munoz 2011 On Nāth textssee Bouy 1994 For an effort to work outa single coherent and linear chronologyfor Nāth and tantric traditions across South

Asia which I find problematic for a tradi-tion as diverse plural and widespread asthe Nāth and tantric traditions see White199610 Gerke 2012 Samuel 201211 Wujastyk 2015 2017 (in this volume)Cohen 199812 Mallinson and Singleton 201713 Speziale 2006 Langermann 2018


236 the flame and the breeze

and some general introduction to the available scholarship on these texts Sectiontwo will then provide a general historical context of the kingdom of Roshangand its fascinating polycultural political order Sections three four and five willrespectively describe the longevity practices discussed in each of the three textsThe sixth section then explores the way ldquoliferdquo and ldquolongevityrdquo are conceptualizedin these texts in general Finally the seventh section locates these texts within thematerial culture in which they were produced and suggests that the images oflife and longevity reflect the actual material culture of the times

1 THE THREE TEXTS

The three texts I will be discussing here are respectively an anonymous workcalled Joga KalandaraYoga Kalandar a text entitled Nurjāmāl bā Suratnāmā by

Haji Muhammad and finally the Sirnāmā by Kaji Sheikh Monsur My reason forchoosing these three works is that each of them uses certain strikingly similarmetaphors and images suggesting that they participated in a common tradi-tion Of course such participation might have meant direct knowledge of earlierworks by later authors or affiliation or acquaintance with a common oral tradi-tion

The Joga Kalandara is generally held to be the oldest of the three texts thoughits own history is a matter of some dispute Ahmed Sharif who had collectedcollated and published all these texts argued that the text derived from a Persianoriginal written by Shaffaruddin Bu Ali Kalandar (d 1324) who is buried in Pan-ipat in north India and is credited with several Persian works in a similar veinThe lack of a colophon as was customary at the time suggests however thatthe text circulated orally for some time before it was finally committed to writ-ing Sharifrsquos uncle Abdul Karim Shahityavisharad who first discovered manyof these Bengali texts in manuscript form in the early twentieth century foundnearly three hundred manuscript copies of the Joga Kalandara in the south-easterncorner of Bengal ie in Chittagong Another Bengali scholar Enamul Huqhowever disagreed with Sharif and argued that the author of the Bengali JogaKalandara was one Saiyid Murtuza in the seventeenth century (Huq 1993) Huqidentified his author as one who lived in the western Bengali city of Murshidabadand wrote poems influenced by Vaishnavite devotees of Krishna However Huqfailed to explain why the manuscripts of the work are concentrated in the Chit-tagong area if the author had actually lived in Murshidabad The two cities werenot only geographically distant but also politically part of different kingdomsat the time To complicate matters further when France Bhattacharya chose totranslate the Bengali Joga Kalandara into French she found there were significantdiscrepancies between the manuscript versions used by Sharif and Huq All thistends to confirm that the Joga Kalandara existed as an oral text in the region and



that the manuscripts probably drew variously and independently upon that oraltradition This also makes dating the text difficult Yet given its popularity it isprobably not unfair to assume that it is the oldest of the three texts that deploysimilar phrases and images in other words that the Joga Kalandara is the sourceof these images

We are on firmer grounds with the Nurjāmāl ba Suratnāmā Ahmed Sharifwho edited and published the Nurjāmāl cited circumstantial evidence suchas poet Mir Muhammad Shafirsquos reference to his own discipleship to oneHaji Muhammad as the basis for estimating Haji Muhammad to have livedapproximately between 1565 and 1630 Sharif also estimated that the Nurjāmālwas written in the 1590s14 The surviving manuscripts of the text were all foundin Chittagong and clearly evinced the textrsquos connections to the Arakanese courtA copyist with a distinctly Arakanese-sounding name viz ldquoMongarpongrdquo hadproduced the manuscript upon which Sharif based his published version15 Inany case if the dating of the text is correct and it was in fact written in 1590 thenChittagong itself would have been part of the Roshang kingdom at the timeSharif and Huq however disagree once again upon the identity of the Nurjāmālba Suratnāmā Huq was of the opinion that the Nurjāmāl and the Suratnāmā werein fact two distinct texts rather than two alternate names for the same text

The Nurjāmāl (ldquoDivine Lightrdquo) is part of a medieval Bengali textual traditionof writings on ldquodivine illuminationrdquo Razia Sultana mentions the existenceof at least five known Nurnamas by five different authors excluding HajiMuhammadrsquos work The best-known of these Nurnamas was a seventeenth-century iteration by Abdul Hakim whilst other authors included Sheikh Paran(1550ndash1615) Mir Muhammad Shafi (1559ndash1630) and even one by the brahminauthor Dwija Ramtanu16 Recently Ayesha Irani has explored the theologicaland ontological evolution of what she terms the ldquoprophetic principle of light andloverdquo in the hands of Bengali authors in splendid detail17 Despite the volumediversity and complexity of this tradition many scholars have recognized HajiMuhammadrsquos work as being particularly significant Thus Sharif for instancewrote that

no other author was able to equal Haji Muhammadrsquos adeptness(naipunya) He had the habitual deftness (sbabhābik dakshyata)to express complex and subtle theoretical issues in a plain andmeaningful way18

14 Sharif 1969 114ndash1715 Sharif 1969 11416 Sultana 2017

17 Irani 201618 Sharif 1969 119



Asim Roy similarly writes that Haji Muhammad offered the ldquomost brilliant ex-positionrdquo of what Roy calls ldquomonistic pantheismrdquo a position he attributes to anumber of Islamic religious authors of middle Bengali texts19

The Sirnāmā of Kaji Sheikh Monsur is the latest of our three texts Monsurinforms us in a colophon that he was the son of one Kaji Isa and lived in theimportant town of Ramu in the kingdom of Roshang He also gives us a datein the local Maghi calendar for his composition The date he gives us is 1065which according to the Georgian calendar would be 1703

Notwithstanding the similarity of some of the contents the three texts wereorganized in distinctive ways The Sirnāmā for instance had nine core chaptersand five introductory chapters The core chapters were adapted by the authorrsquosown acknowledgement from a work called the Ahārul Masā In the first of thesechapters Monsur described the bio-cosmological system that related the micro-cosm of the human body to the macrocosm of the cosmos using a complexsystem of correspondences organized around four key ldquostationsrdquo or mokāmsmuqams As Shaman Hatley and others have pointed out these ldquostationsrsquo werealso correlated to the bio-cosmological ldquocentersrdquo or chakras known in tantric andyogic circles20 These ldquostationsrdquo of spiritual ascent are then further related tofour increasingly more sublime paths of spiritual progress viz Śariata (IslamicLaw) Tarikata (The Path) Hakikata (Reality) and finally Mārifata (Knowledge) Itwas these paths and matters related to it that were described in the subsequentchapters Chapter Three for instance gave a detailed description of the composi-tion and the mechanisms of the human body and self The next chapter describeddifferent types of bodies and selves The fifth chapter described the structure andfunctions of the heart whilst the following chapter dwelt at length on breath Itis here that longevity practices are dealt with Other chapters are devoted to thehuman seed or ldquospermrdquo the ldquosoulrdquo and the Creator

Haji Muhammadrsquos Nurjāmāl also had fourteen chapters But they covered awider range of topics and were not as clearly demarcated into primary and in-troductory chapters Many of the textrsquos early chapters were devoted to topicssuch as fate the duties of pious Muslims and so forth It is only in the twelfthchapter that Muhammad introduces the bio-cosmological system and its fourldquostationsrdquo which incidentally he calls monjilmanzil (ldquodestinationsrdquo) In thiselaborate chapter he outlines the correspondences between the microcosm andthe macrocosm as well as the four different paths to spiritual progress In factthe chapter itself is subdivided into four sub-chapters according to the path It isin the last of these sub-chapters ie one devoted to the description of the Māri-fata path that the longevity practices are mentioned The two final chapters that

19 Roy 1970 193 20 Hatley 2007



follow this lengthy chapter are devoted respectively to conception and birth andthe matters of the ldquosoulrdquo

Finally the Joga Kalandara (at least the version published by Sharif) containedonly seven chapters It introduced the bio-cosmological system straight awayafter the inaugural paeans It then very briefly described the body before movingon to the various paths of spiritual progress The next chapter described a seriesof postures (āsanas ) together with directions for particular forms of meditativevisualizations The penultimate chapter was devoted to the signs that foretelldeath while the final very short chapter dealt with the esoteric meanings ofvarious colors More cogently for our present purposes the longevity practiceswere introduced right at the outset of the very first chapter in this text

The main scholarly interest in this material as I have said above hasmainly been in its literary and theological content The early Bengali scholarssuch as Abdul Karim Shahityavisharad Ahmed Sharif and Enamul Huq wereprincipally interested in recovering the literary contributions of Muslim authorsto Bengali language and literature though they also shared an interest inSufism Amongst western scholars France Bhattacharya and Shaman Hatleyhave both explored the religious blending and braiding in these texts21 RecentlyAyesha Iranirsquos work has also been along similar lines22 Tony Stewartrsquos workon cross-denominational translations in early modern Bengal and Carl Ernstrsquoswork on the interactions between Sufism and tantrism elsewhere in SouthAsia provide important contexts agendas and vocabularies for these works23

Similarly Thibaut drsquoHubertrsquos recent explorations of the literary dimensions ofthe intellectual world of Roshang also tangentially illuminate these texts24

2 THE WORLD OF ROSHANG

Before proceeding any further in our analysis of Haji Muhammadrsquos texthowever it is necessary to have a fuller understanding of the context within

which he wrote Modern national borders and the arbitrary contours of AreaStudies have together conspired to obliterate the once powerful kingdom ofRoshang from contemporary historical memory25 Yet for nearly four centuriesthis powerful kingdom and its intricately braided culture had dominated theArakan and stretched well into the eastern districts of modern Bangladesh

Founded in 1430 with its capital at Mrauk-U along one of the branches ofthe Kaladan river Roshangrsquos early history is still mired in controversy and con-

21 Bhattacharya 2003 Hatley 200722 Irani 201623 Stewart 2001 Ernst 2005

24 DrsquoHubert 201425 For the most comprehensive history ofRoshang see Galen 2008



jecture Myths tell of a displaced king who had been given shelter and there-after military support by the Sultans of Bengal to regain his throne Once re-turned to power it was this king Nara Mit Lha (c 1404ndash1434) also referred toas Manh Co Mvan and Narameikhla who is credited with introducing BengaliIslamic forms and styles to the court26 But Roshang remained a weak neigh-bor to Bengal for almost a century It was only with the accession of king MinBa also known as Sabaq Shah in 1531 that Roshang became a power to reckonwith Relying on a large contingent of Portuguese Catholic mercenaries Min Barapidly expanded his domain by defeating the neighboring kingdoms of Tripuraand Bengal The lucrative Bengali port of Chittagong along with its hinterlandspassed into Arakanese hands and remained with them until 1666 The waningof the Bengal Sultanatersquos powers in the seventeenth century allowed Roshang tofurther consolidate its position In 1625 the Roshang troops even defeated themighty Mughal army in Bengal and sacked the Mughal capital at Jahangirnagar(Dhaka) It was only in 1666 that the Mughals finally managed to wrest Chit-tagong back from the Arakanese The kings of Roshang however continued torule over their depleted kingdom all the way up to 1784 when the Konbaungdynasty finally annihilated the kingdom and incorporated it into the Burmesemonarchy

The kings of Roshang depended heavily upon Portuguese military power es-pecially autonomous Portuguese mercenaries and adventurers operating in theBay of Bengal27 Through their trading contacts with the southern Indian portof Masulipatnam they also recruited mercenaries from the kingdom of Gol-conda in the Deccan At one point the seventeenth-century king of RoshangThirithudhamma described his own army to the Mughal governor of Bengalas being manned mainly by ldquoFirangis (Portuguese) and Telingas (Telegus)rdquo28

The Portuguese-Arakanese alliance was intimate enough for the Portuguese toeven briefly try to foist a Lusianized minor member of the Arakanese royal housewho had converted to Catholicism upon the throne29 The Bengali Muslims par-ticularly after the incorporation of Chittagong into the kingdom provided keyintermediaries and service officials

As Sanjay Subrahmanyam points out the geography of Roshang with its coreisolated from the rest of Burma by the formidable Arakan Yomas but connectedby rivers to the sea meant that it could only look outwards through the oceansand not overland30 This meant its trade was largely maritime and depended

26 On Nara Mit Lha and his role in real andimagined histories of the Arakan see Leiderand Htin 201527 Charney 2005

28 Cited in Subrahmanyam 1993 8429 Subrahmanyam 199330 Subrahmanyam 1997 203



heavily upon the Dutch East India Company viz the Verenigde Oostindische Com-pagnie (VOC) It also meant that culturally the kingdom saw itself as a part ofthe Persianate world rather than the Sinophone one The Bengali Muslim liter-ati were important intermediaries in both these networks They were the localpartners of the Dutch traders as well as the main conduits for Persianate culture

It was in this milieu that there emerged a sophisticated and rich body ofcourtly literature Given the polyglot and multicultural nature of the Roshangkingdom the court literature was also multilingual Arakanese Pali SanskritPersian Portuguese and Bengali were just some of the languages that were in usein the kingdom The famous Bengali poet Alaol noted the presence in the king-dom of Arabs Egyptians Syrians Turks Abyssinians Ottomans KhorasanisUzbeks Lahoris Multanis Hindis Kashmiris Deccanis Sindhis Assamese andBengalis Yet as Thibaut drsquoHubert points out it was the Bengali literature ofRoshang that was most significant in its originality and ambition The Pali andSanskrit works produced there were largely copies of older works and did notattempt to create a new canon as the Bengali authors did31 DrsquoHubert explainsthis in terms of the formation of a unique society of Bengali Muslim elites withclose ties to the Roshang court who mediated both trade and cultural contactswith the outside world across the seas

Court poetry and etiquette literature however were not the only things thatthese Bengali Muslim intellectuals wrote about As Shaman Hatley notes

One of the most consistent concerns of this genre is the explication ofIslamized forms of tantric yoga the practices of which appear integ-ral to Sufism as it was developed in Bengal32

Tantric practices Hatley continues had become

prevalent across an extraordinary spectrum of sectarian boundariesin South Asia and beyond flourishing with Śaivism Buddhism andVaiṣņavism and finding a place in both Jainism and brahmanicalsmārta traditions33

Most important for us however is Hatleyrsquos observation that ldquoIslam constitutedno less likely a ground for the assimilation of tantric yogardquo34 Haji MuhammadrsquosNurjāmāl is an excellent testament to this process of Islamization of tantric yogain Bengali texts from Roshang

31 DrsquoHubert 2014 47 f32 Hatley 2007 351

33 Hatley 2007 35234 Hatley 2007 352



3 LIFE AND LONGEVITY IN THE JOGA KALANDARA

After a hasty ten-line invocation the Joga Kalandara jumped straight intothe question of ldquoliferdquo and longevity It described life through a vivid image

of a vital flame burning incessantly on three furnaces35

These three furnaces you must know are the nāsuta (নাসত) stationThe Angel Azrael stands guard thereKnow that those subterranean regions are the place of fireFires burn forever without respiteKnow that the sun rises at that mūlādhāraJīvātmā is the lord of itMeditate on that with your eyes and ears shutDevote yourself to the teacher as you think of HimThe lord of the house sits in a white lotusLight the fire every day in that countryThe fire should never go outLight the fire with care at all timesMy body arises from that fireBe careful so that it never is extinguishedForever the fire and eternal you must know is the furnaceClap shut the tenth portalJust as you push loads onto an animalPush similarly at the base of the anusJust like lighting the fire in a smithyPush similarly frequentlyIf you can do this every dayStrong body will annul all disease36

নাসত মাকাম জান এ িতন িতহরআ াইল িফির া আেছ তথাত হরস সব পাতাল জান আনেলর ানসদাএ আনল েল নািহক িনবাণঅ ণ উিদত জান সই মলাধারজীব মা াম হন জািনঅ তাহারকণ আিখ মিদ তথা করহ িজিকর

35 Though I call this a ldquovital flamerdquo theactual text does not really name the flameThere is no corresponding Bengali word forldquovitalrdquo in these texts It is presented merely

as a flame that is coterminous with life Itsextinction leads to death36 This and all following translations in thispaper are mine



মিশদ ভিজয়া কর তাহার িফিকরধব কমল তথা গহ াম বেসঅনিদন আনল া লও সই দেশস আনল-যাবেত িনিব নিহ যাএা লবা আনল যে জান সবথাএ

শরীর অমর হএ স আনল হেসাবধােন থািকবা না িনেব যন মেতসদা এ আনল িনত জািনবা িতহরদশম দয়াের তেব লাগাইব তা লপ এ লািদেল যন টপ িদয়া তােলতনমত টপ জান িদব মেলকামার শােলত যন অনল ালনতনমত টপ তথা িদব ঘন ঘনএই কম অনিদন কিরেত যিদ পারশরীর বয়ািধ যথ খ েবক দড়37

The three furnaces burning at the mūlādhāra (chakra) at the base of the spine wasnot novel Bhattacharya points out that it was well-known in earlier Nāth textssuch as the Goraksha Bijay of Sheikh Faijullah Yet the Joga Kalandararsquos specificdescriptions of the fire are illuminating The text clearly connects the flame tolife It asserts that the body becomes immortal from this flame (শরীর অমর হএস আনল হে ) It instructs the reader to be careful that the fire does not go out

(সাবধােন থািকবা না িনেব যন মেত) but it also advises the reader to carefully lightthe fire regularly ( া লবা আনল যে জান সবথাএ)

The key practice however seems to involve putting pressure on onersquos anusin a way so as to raise the fire in a way akin to the way loads are raised on to thebacks of animals (দশম দয়াের তেব লাগাইব তা লপ এ লািদেল যন টপ িদয়া তােল) Ifone can do this daily then the body will be free of all disease

But interestingly this was not the only vital flame discussed by the JogaKalandara The same chapter also mentioned another flame This latter flamewas to be ldquoseenrdquo by meditating upon the ldquoPlace of Bilerdquo (pittasthāna) where aldquospring breezerdquo blows strongly Unlike the vital flame of the three furnaces orovens this is the flame of a lamp

Know that these three furnaces are the main homeAt the place of bile blows a large spring windEvery day look at it with careA lamp-flame there you will behold

37 Sharif 1969 101



That flame will spread a bright lightWithin that light you will behold an imageKeep your sight trained on that lightYou shall see the shape of the past and the future allIf you can behold it dailyYour body will never be destroyedএ িতন িতহর জান ধান খাছালপত ােন বেহ বায় বস িবশালঅনিদত তথা দ কিরবা যতেনএক গািছ দীপ তথা দিখবা নয়েনস দীেপর পসের উ ল হব জ ািতস জােতর মেধ ত য দিখবা মরিতস জােতর মেধ তিম দ িনেযািজবাভত ভিবষ ৎ প সকল দিখবাযিদ স কিরেত পার দরশন িনতশরীর তামার ংস নেহ কদাি ত38

In stark contrast to this image of a vital flame the image of life at the next ldquosta-tionrdquo ie malakuta mokām was that of a ldquovital breezerdquo The Joga Kalandara men-tioned that

Know that the malakuta station is at the navelKnow that at that place the aerial element flows particularlyIn yoga it is called by the name maṇipuraThere seasonal pre-winter [breeze] blows relentlesslyKnow that the Angel Israfil presidesKnow for sure that the nostrils are his portalKnow that the navel houses the blister ()Breaths collected daily stays endlesslyDay and night forty thousand breaths flowWithin the vessel the aerial element stays any wayAs long as there is air there is lifeWhen the air disappears death is inevitableমলকত মাকাম জান হএ নািভেদশস ােন বািব বেহ জািনবা িবেশষযােগত কহএ তাের মিণপর নাম

38 Sharif 1969 101



থাত হম ঋত বেহ অিব ামই ািফল িফির া জান তাত অিধকারনািসকা িন য় জান দয়ার তাহারনািভর খাটাল জান ফ ার য ধামিন াস স ের িনত রিহ অিব ামিদবা রাি চ শ হাজার াস বেহঘট মেধ রাখ বািব যন মেত রেহযাবত পবন আেছ তাবত জীবনপবন ঘিচেল হএ অবশ মরণ39

This contrasting image is not surprising since several Sufi authors tend to asso-ciate the particular ldquostationsrdquo with specific primary elements viz earth (khāka)water (āba) fire (ātaśa) and air (bāba) But what is significant is that the ldquoairrdquoor ldquobreezerdquo is said to be specific to the ldquostationrdquo ( স ােন বািব বেহ জািনবা িবেশষ)Moreover this particular ldquovital breezerdquo is capable of being counted with preci-sion The number of daily breaths is thus tabulated at 40000 It is this specificldquovital breezerdquo whose exhaustion leads to immediate death and whose preserva-tion leads to longevity It is on the basis of this last idea that the author then goeson to recommend particular actions to preserve the ldquovital breezerdquo

Training onersquos vision upon onersquos own nostrils with the head bowed so as toallow the chin to touch the throat the practitioner is advised to raise the rightfoot over the left thigh Thus seated she is to meditate upon the breath till alight green image becomes visible It is this image that is the image of the soul(ātmā) and it is at the sight of this image that the flow of breath or ldquovital breezerdquoceases

Train your sight upon the nostril and glimpse the airPlace your chin on your throat and follow the rulesLift the right leg upon the left thighStare at the nose with both eyes openThen the breath will not exit the vesselYou will see the color of yam leavesIn that you will glimpse an imageKnow that that is the body of the soulনািসকাত দ িদয়া পবন হিরবাকে ত িচবক িদয়া িনয়েম রিহবাবাম উ পের য দ ণ পদ ত ল

39 Sharif 1969 102



নাসােত হিরব জান যগ আিখ ম লতেব ঘট হে াস বািহর না হবযেহন কচর প বরণ দিখবতার মেধ মিত এক হব দরশনসই মিত আ মার জািনঅ বরণ

4 LIFE AND LONGEVITY IN HAJI MUHAMMADrsquoS NURJĀMĀL

In stark contrast to the Joga Kalandara Haji Muhammad introduced thelongevity practices in the very last chapter of his book Even more strikingly

he flipped the order of the spiritual ldquostationsrdquo Whereas the Joga Kalandara hadidentified the nāsuta mokām with the mūlādhāra (chakra) and the lāsut mokāmwith the anāhata (chakra) at the head of the spine Muhammad identified thelāhuta mokām with the mūlādhāra (chakra) The rest of the description howeverlooked remarkably familiar

Know the three furnaces are lāhuta stationAngel Azrael stands guard thereIn the room sits the Dark Lotus40

Every day the fire burns in that countryIn that seventh subterranean world the fire is establishedFire burns incessantly without extinctionAlways know the principle of the fire thereEvery day the fire burns without burning outThat fire is eternally there all the timeThe body is immortal from that fireStay careful so that it does not go outলা ত মাকােম জান এিতন িতহরিফির া আ াইল আেছ তাহাত হর আ ার কমল তথা ঘেরত বসএঅনিদন আনল লএ স দশএ

40 One of the reviewers of this paper hassuggested that this might be a scribal er-ror for the ldquobase lotusrdquo thus ādhāra kamalainstead of āndhāra kamala This is certainlya possibility but we should also be care-ful not to replace such possible scribal er-rors and smoothen the text Not only doscribal errors often take root and mutate the

text but they might also bear testimony toway scribes and practitioners made sense oftextual passages that had become obscurefor them In this particular case it is alsosignificant in my view that the epithet ānd-hāra kamala is in itself well established inVaiṣṇava circles and often refers to Krishnahimself See for instance Hawley 2014 108



সই স পাতােলত আনল াপনসদাএ আনল েল নািহক িনভনস আনল লেত িনভান নিহ যাএজািনবা আনল নীিত তথা সবথাএশরীর অমর হএ স আনল হােতসাবধেন থাক না িনেভ যন মেত41

Not only was the description of the vital flame and the guardian angel almostidentical but even the practices recommended for achieving longevity were

remarkably similar Even the slightly unusual image of loads being lifted ontothe back of an animal to describe how to raise the vital flame from the anus wasrepeated

As one pushes loads on to the animalSimilarly push up at the anusIf you can do this action dailyAll the diseases of the body will be annulledhellipKnow these three furnaces are the main homeAt the bile-place it goes and sits eternallyWhen you train your vision thereYou will then notice a flame thereThat lamprsquos wares become extremely brightWithin that lamp see an imageKeep your eyes on that imagePast and future all you will seeIf you can see it every dayYour body will never be destroyedপ এ লািদেল যন টপ িদয়া তােলতন মেত টপ িদয়া তােল মেলএই কম অনিদন কিরবাের পােরশরীেরর ব ািধ যথ খ ব তাহােরhellipএ িতন িতহর জান ধান খাটালপীত ােন িগয়া সই বেস সবকালঅনিদত তথা দ কিরবা যখনএক গািছ দীপ তথা দিখবা তখন

41 Sharif 1969 146



স দীেপর পসের উঝল হএ অিতস দীেপর মেধ এক দিখয়া মরিতস মিতত দ তেব িনেয়ািজ রািখবাভত ভিবষ ৎ যথ সকল দিখবাযিদ স কিরেত পর দরশন িনতশরীর তামার ংস নাই কদািচত42

Apart from the interchange of the names lāhuta and nāsuta the rest of the de-scription of life and longevity practices associated with the first ldquostationrdquo in theJoga Kalandara and the Nurjāmāl are remarkably similar This similarity continuesto the second ldquostationrdquo as well

Know the malakuta station is the navelKnow that a particular aerial element stays thereIn yoga it is called by the name of maṇipuraThere the air blows incessantlyThe Angel Israfil presides thereKnow for sure that the nostril is his portalDay and night twenty-four thousand breaths flowKeep the aerial element within the vessel as it staysAs long as there is air there is lifeIf air is diminished death is inevitableমলকত মাকাম জািনঅ নািভেদশসই ােন বািব রেহ জািনঅ িবেশষযােগত কহএ তাের মিণপর নামএথায় থািকয়া বায় বেহ অিব ামই ািফল িফির া তথায় অিধকারনািসকা িন এ জান দয়ার তাহাররাি িদেন চ শ হাজার াস বেহঘট মেধ রাখ বািব যন মেত রেহযাবত পবন আেছ তাবত জীবনপবন ঘা টেল হএ অবশ মরণ43

Apart from the change in the number of daily breaths from 40000 in the JogaKalandara to 24000 in Nurjāmālmdasha change that could well have arisen throughthe oversight of a copyistmdashthe rest of the description is once more remarkably

42 Sharif 1969 146 43 Sharif 1969 146 f



similar In this regard it is also worth noting that Haji Muhammad used theword vāyu alongside pavana and bābi as synonyms adding yet another layer ofmeaning to this already multivalent notion of a ldquovital breezerdquo The ritual andmeditative practices associated with the malakuta mokām however containedsome significant changes Whilst the basic posture described was almostidentical its objective was quite distinctive Instead of preventing the flow ofthe vital breeze out of the body in the Nurjāmāl the objective was to expel airout of the stomach through the anus

Train your eyes on the tip of the nose and see the airPut your chin on your throat and follow the rulesLift the right leg on the left thighRemove your vision to the tip of the nose with both your eyes openThen will the aerial element from the intestines be expelledYou will behold an image the color of yam leavesIn that you will notice an imageKnow that that is the image of the soulনািসকাত দ িদয়া পবন হিরবকে ত িচবক িদয়া িনয়েম রিহববাম ঊ পের দ ণ পদ ত লনািসকা হিরবা দ দই আিখ ম লতেব কা হাে বািব বািহর হবযেহন কচর প বরণ দিখবতার মেধ মিত এক হব দরশনস জিত আ ার জািনবা বরণ44

Despite these changes Haji Muhammadrsquos general conception of life associatedwith the first two ldquostationsrdquo is similar to the conceptions of the Joga KalandaraLife is essentially conceptualized either as a ldquovital flamerdquo or as a ldquovital breezerdquo

5 LIFE AND LONGEVITY IN KAJI SHEIKH MONSURrsquoS SIRNĀMĀ

In monsurrsquos sirnāmā both the structure and the content of the longevity prac-tices were radically transformed The text did not organize its spiritual pur-

suits according to the four ldquostationsrdquo though the ldquostationsrdquo are mentioned inthe text There is as a result no clear distinction between the practices associatedwith the nāsuta and malakuta mokāms Yet some of the material associated with

44 Sharif 1969 147



these stations in prior texts crops up in the Sirnāmā The following description isintroduced somewhat suddenly in midst of a section dealing with the relationbetween particular breaths and the conception of progeny

Pay attention one who does the work of the aerial elementMaking the navel touch the back while keeping the spine straightDrinking the aerial element in the upper pipes and later the earsClose all the portals and strengthen the police stationPutting your feet to the anus you will lift the airDeep push at the furnace touches the skyTrain your eyes on the tip of the noseDo these actions every dayAlong with the aerial element you will see the immaterial selfrsquos divine

lightWhatever paths whoever follows the aerial element must be presen-

tedIn that lamp will arise your own divine lightPast and future will all be disseminatedIf someone is attached () to the aerial elementThe world and the cosmos will both serve that personয কের বািবর কম ন মন িদয়াপে ত লাগাএ নািভ ম ি র হয়াঊ নােল পয়া বািব পােছ কেণ হানাসব াের তা ল িদয়া দড় কর থানামল াের পদ িদয়া ত লেবক বাইিতহরীেত ঘন টপ গগন ঠকাইনািসকা অে েত দ িদয়া িনেযািজবিতিদন এই মত কেমত রিহব

বািব সে আ মার দিখেব নরয য মেত যই বািব কিরব জরস দীেপ উতপন হব আপনার নরভত ভিবষ ৎ যথ হইব চারকহ যিদ বািব সে হল মছখরদীন দিনয়া তার হইল িক র45

45 Sharif 1969 185 f



While the description is still strongly reminiscent of the practices associated withthe first ldquostationrdquo in the previous texts its sense has been radically transformedIn fact the ldquovital flamerdquo has virtually disappeared The ritual actions are nowintended to raise the bāi or ldquoairrdquo from the mūlādhāra or tiharī In fact the chapterwent on to emphasize the powers of air upon longevity citing the example of theProphet Isā (Jesus) to the effect that ldquoProphet Isā practiced (sādhana) bābi andwent to the sky the moment (he) ate bāi he became immortalrdquo

The idea of the ldquovital flamerdquo is lost in Monsurrsquos text In its place the ritualsintended to nurture the flame are remade to raise the ldquoairrdquo The only competingimage of life and longevity not connected putatively to bābi is Monsurrsquos chapteron maṇi or the seedsperm In this latter chapter Monsur declared that ldquoevery-one knows that from the jewel [ie semen] life is prolongedrdquo (মিন হে আয় দীঘ জা-িনও সকল)46 It is possible that this replacement of the ldquovital flamerdquo by the ldquoseedrdquowas enabled by notion of ldquodivine illuminationrdquo or nur as a mediating principleFor Monsur wrote that ldquocapacity for eternal life comes from the jewel of divineilluminationrdquo (িচরআয কওত নর মিন হে হএ)47 Clearly he was equating the ldquoseedrdquowith the ldquodivine lightrdquo and this might have led him to replace the ldquovital flamerdquowith the ldquoseedrdquo However at this stage this replacement cannot be entirely ex-plained and a fuller examination of the topic would lead us too far away fromthe issues at hand

6 CONCEPTUALIZING LIFE

In order to get a sense of the true contours of the ways in which life andlongevity practices were conceptualized in these Bengali Sufi texts we

must begin by clarifying the relationship between physiological elements andthe primary elements they resemble Most Islamic thinkers accept the fourAristotelian elements viz earth water fire and air to be the fundamentalbuilding blocks of all physical realities in the sub-lunar world48 According toIbn Sina ie Avicenna these four primary elements are also the only entities inthe sub-lunar world that are life-less49 Yet in our texts the ldquostationsrdquo where lifeand death hang in balance are clearly identified with one or the other of theselife-less elements ie fire for the first station and air for the next

It is worth remembering however that Ibn Sinarsquos notion of life is quite dis-tinctive from our notion of life For him everything in the sub-lunar world isalive except the four fundamental elements As Seyyed Hossein Nasr points

46 Sharif 1969 18747 Sharif 1969 18748 Only the Ikhwan hold that the four ele-

ments are also constitutive of the sub-lunarworld See Nasr 1993 6249 Nasr 1993 252



out for Ibn Sina and most Islamic cosmologists all territorial events are ldquode-termined and orderedrdquo by the ldquoIntelligences and faculties of the World Soulrdquo50

The primary elements all remain inert or passive until the World Soul animatesthem to combine Such combinations gradually produce rocks plants animalsand eventually humans Rocks plants animals and humans all therefore arepossessed of specific faculties of the World Soul51

The Joga Kalandara conceptualized the relationship between the humansoul and the World Soul through the language of jīvātmā (Individual Soul) andparamātmā (Supreme Soul) It stated that the body belonged to the jīvātmā whowas the ldquohusbandrdquo (svāmī) or ldquohouseholderrdquo (gṛhasvāmī)52 At another pointthe jīvātmā was explicitly equated with the ruh hayawāni53 This latter entityis most likely identical to Ibn Sinarsquos al nafs al-hayawāniya the ldquoAnimal Soulrdquowhich is also responsible for the preservation of the integrity of the breath54

Later however it added that the paramātmā or Supreme Soul ldquois there withrdquo thejīvātmā55 Adding slightly later that

Jīvātmā paramātmā are two imagesArise there as radiances comingleজীবা মা পরা মা এই দই মরিতউদয় হইেছ তথা জােত িম ল জ ািত56

Finally the Joga Kalandara declared that

Water fire earth air are four thingsAlong with divine illumination five in the bodyKnow that these five things have forty symptomsMixing soul(s) with them makes it consciousআব আতস খাক বাত চাির িচজ হএনেরর সিহত প শরীর মধ এএই প িচজ জান চ শ ল ণআেরাহা িমশাই তাের কিরেত চতনa57

The Indic idea of ātmā and the Islamic ideas about ruh thus became braidedtogether but the overall thrust of Ibn Sinarsquos distinction between a basic WorldSoul and a specific Animal Soul seems to have been preserved As the identi-fication of ruh and ātmā became stronger however a unified notion of an all

50 Nasr 1993 28051 Nasr 1993 250 f52 Sharif 1969 10153 Sharif 1969 103

54 Nasr 1993 249 256 f55 Sharif 1969 10356 Sharif 1969 10357 Sharif 1969 106



pervasive World Soul became increasingly difficult to discern Thus in HajiMuhammadrsquos Nurjāmāl an entire chapter was entitled Ātmatattva (Essence ofĀtmā) The chapter commenced by declaring that

Soul has four names four typesSoul nāthakī sits in human bodiesAll the animals got Soul hāmiJirmi is the name of the soul bequeathed to the earthchaṅga is the soul given to stonesআ ার এ চাির নাম এ চাির কার

নাথক বেস মনষ শরীেরহািম পাইল যেথক জােনায়ার

িজিম নােম বকিশয়ােছ ধরা েরছ নােম িদয়ােছ পাথেরের58

Monsurrsquos Sirnāmā also offered a very similar formulation The chapter dealingwith this however was titled Ārohātattva rather than Ātmatattva The Arabicword Ārohā is the plural of the word ruh Yet in Bengali texts the word is oftenused to denote a singular entity Thus Monsur mentioned for instance thatārohā was simply the ldquoArabic name for prāṇardquo59 In any case Monsur wrote that

Soul(s) have four names these four typeshellipNāthakī soul(s) sit(s) in the human bodyWords are spoken and the spoken understoodChaṅga is the soul sitting in animals and birdsCannot speak words for sureAll the creatures that are contained in the family of animals and birdsInsects and flies etc in the worldJisimi souls sit in all the plants and treesGrasses creepers etc and fragrant good lookingSouls named nāsi sit in all stonesAll the gems pearls etc all the pieces and pebblesআেরাহর চাির নাম এ চাির কারhellipনাথিক আেরাহা বেস মিনষ তনএ

58 Sharif 1969 145 59 Sharif 1969 188



বচন কহএ যথ কিহেল বঝএছািম নােম প প আ মা বসএকিহেত না পাের িফির বচন িন এযত জীব ধের প প পিরবারকীট পত আিদ পিথি মাঝারিজিসিম আেরাহা বেস যথ ব ততণ লতা আিদ আর সগ সচা নািস নােম আেরাহা বেস যথ পাথরএ মিন ম া আিদ যথ দানা ক রএ60

The general Islamicate notion of a World Soul and animal vegetative and mineralsouls developed in a way in the Bengali texts that it became increasingly difficultto see them as manifestations of a single unified World Soul Instead by the timeMonsur wrote the World Soul had come to resemble animistic notions Thishappened particularly through the three-way equivalence that emerged betweenruh ātmā and eventually prāņa

This is particularly interesting since prāņa in the Indic context is often de-scribed as the ldquovital breathrdquo According to Kenneth Zysk ldquo(t)he cosmic windwas mankindrsquos vital breath (prāņa) the principal manifestation of a personrsquos im-mortal soulrdquo61 But rendering it as an equivalent to ruh and ātmā clearly expandedits meaning The term ātmā as Anthony Cerulli has recently pointed out usuallystands for the ldquonon-material selfrdquo and this is the sense in which the word appearsmost often in non-medical Sanskrit literature Though it is equally noteworthythat the word also connotes the gross physical body in certain contexts particu-larly in some classical ayurvedic texts62 By equating ātmā with prāņa thereforea notion of a non-material self began to resemble the ldquovital breathrdquo

It is safe to assume that this elaboration of meaning from ldquovital breathrdquoto non-material selfhood was enabled by the aforementioned association ofthe ldquoAnimal Soulrdquo (al nafs al-hayawāniya) with the ldquoIndividual Soulrdquo (jīvātmā)Since the former was held by classical authors such as Ibn Sina to be primarilyresponsible for the integrity of the breath it became easier to conflate the twoSince Ibn Sina was clear that all breaths originate in a single breath and thatwhat engenders that original breath is the al nafs al-hayawāniya it was possibleto gradually identify the cause and the effect

A similar elaboration also took place with regard to the words for breathair and the primary aerial element Bābi and vāyu not to mention other relatedwords such as bāi and pavana became so closely linked that they were almost

60 Sharif 1969 18861 Zysk 1993 198 italics mine

62 Cerulli 2016 66



treated as being interchangeable words Yet these words originally had distinct-ive connotations Bābi strictly so called was in fact one of the four primary ele-ments of Islamic cosmologies Whereas by contrast vāyu could mean a range ofthings such as one of the Indic primary elements one of the three ayurvedichumoral substances (doṣa) a particular ayurvedic physiological principle andeven simply the wind To complicate matters further the word prāņa can oftendesignate either the ldquovital breathrdquo itself or a particular sub-type of bodily wind

My point behind drawing attention to these confusing equivalences is toargue that multiple equivalences that were posited in the Bengali Sufi worksgenerated a certain degree of definitional flexibility that confounds a rigorouslyetymological or philological approach Recently Bruno Latour has revived theEgyptologist Jan Assmannrsquos discussion of ldquomoderate relativismrdquo in the ancientpolytheistic empires Latour following Assmann points out that these poly-cultural and polyreligious polities allowed diverse groups to cohabit ldquowithoutcutting each otherrsquos throatsrdquo by constantly positing rough equivalences ldquoWhatyou a Roman call Jupiter I a Greek call Zeusrdquo63 Such equivalences and theldquomoderate relativismrdquo it engendered would be unsustainable if more rigorousor scrupulous translations were sought I would argue something similar wasat play in these Bengali texts viz a practically oriented ldquomoderate relativismrdquowhere conceptual flexibility was valued more than precision in translation

The conception of life that emerges within this context of ldquomoderate relativ-ismrdquo is expectedly then a somewhat plastic rather than precise concept It re-cognized a gradation of types or modes of life through the increasing dismem-berment of the unified idea of the World Soul into the idea of distinct types ofsouls It also tended to connect life to heat light and air Of these the latter es-pecially in its many and myriad forms as breath breeze wind bodily air andnon-material self gradually grew in importance Yet it never emerged as the soleor discrete figure of life

7 MATERIAL METAPHORS

We have noticed above that despite the conceptual plasticity of ldquoliferdquo the ac-tual longevity practices that were recommended did to some extent per-

sist for a century or more I will argue that what allowed and even sustained thepersistence of these practices was not the underlying conceptual coherence butrather the practical legibility of the images and figures through which longevitypractices were imagined

63 Latour 2017 404



My argument is that images such as not letting a furnace go cold or a lampburn out or indeed keeping a room well-aired were all images sixteenth- andseventeenth-century Bengalis well understood The doctrinal or lexical minutiaewere perhaps not as important as the consistency of the images and their gen-eral legibility By drawing attention to the historico-material culture in whichmetaphors became meaningful I do not wish to claim that the metaphors werein themselves new or novel Throughout the world and in the many differenttraditions to which our authors had access no doubt images of forges lampsdivers and so forth would be legion We do for instance find the metaphorof the forge in some Vedic texts just as the metaphor of the lamp appears insome South Indian inscriptions What I want to emphasize is that people choosemetaphors and do so because certain figures or metaphors make more sense tothem and their audiences than others They prefer some that are legible to themand ignore others This choice is shaped by the lived experience of the authorsand their audiences In Bengali oral traditions for instance there are frequentreferences to the ldquolife-breath-bumblebeerdquo (prāṇa-bhramara) as well as to the ldquolife-breath-birdrdquo (prāṇa-pakśī) Yet none of our authors used these metaphors Thepoint I am trying to argue is that there is always more than one image or meta-phor to choose from and the choice authors make reflects what they and theiraudiences find more familiar Therefore even though the figures of a forge alamp or a diver may not be utterly novel their appeal for our authors must berelated to aspects of their lived experience of historico-material culture

This in my view should also encourage us to take a closer look at the basisof these images Why were these images chosen and why were they so easilylegible This is where a history of material culture can illuminate our path Inthe Joga Kalandara which as I have already mentioned is widely believed to bethe oldest of the texts we find for instance a fascinating reference to a smithyin connection to the furnaces that is absent in the later texts Referring to thefurnaces at the nāsuta mokām the text stated that

As the fire lit in the smithyকামার শােলত যন অনল ালন64

I would argue that this reference to a smithy was not accidental Metal-workingwas a widespread and serious industry in Chittagong and it was this widespreadmaterial culture of metal-working that rendered the image of multiple almostperpetually burning furnaces legible to the readers of these texts

64 Sharif 1969 101



A component of this metal-working was connected to silver coinage JohnDeyell has argued that the sixteenth century witnessed a great expansion inmetal coinage in Bengal This was engendered by the expansion of the Sultanatestate and the growing maturity of the state system itself It was eventually the sil-ver coinage of the Bengal Sultanate that was adopted across South Asia65 Evenmore importantly the Chittagong region where all our authors and texts arebased was the entry point for Burmese and Yunnanese silver into South Asiaproper Even small kingdoms around the region such as Kamta and Tripuraissued silver coinage and the kingdom of Roshang itself issued coins mainlyfrom external trade from Chittagong itself66 Moreover the silver actually circu-lated in Burma Thailand Laos etc as ingots known as ldquoShan Shell Moneyrdquo67 Itwas only molten down and worked into coins upon entering Chittagong and itsneighboring regions Metal-working and state systems thus went hand in handin the region

But coinage was far from being the only use to which molten silver was putSilver inscription plates dating from the middle of the sixteenth century for in-stance have been found in Chittagong68 Metal images have also long been pro-duced in the region Particularly well-known are the large number of Bronzeimages of the Buddha found at Jhewari in Chittagong These images long pred-ate our authors and testify to the depth of the local metal-working tradition69

These metal images are particularly redolent with the comments made in theJoga Kalandara that

Golden doll looks like () body of fireSilver doll looks like () the shadow in a mirrorসানার পতল মন আ েনর কায়াপার পতল মন দপেণর ছায়া70

If metal-working was connected to the political economy of Roshang lightinglamps and keeping them burning was one of the most conspicuous acts of Islamicpiety performed at shrines The nineteenth-century observer and ethnographerJames Wise mentioned the practice of lighting lamps at the Dargah of Pir Badrthat stood at the center of Chittagong town ldquoOn the walls of the cenotaphrdquo Wisewrote

are ten niches for ten oil lamps which are lighted every evening andburn all night Pilgrims from all parts of Bengal visit the Dargah

65 Deyell 201166 Deyell 201167 Deyell 1994

68 Kānunago 1988 183 187 f69 Huntington 1984 190ndash9270 Sharif 1969 106



Figure 1 rdquoAn Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pumprdquo By Joseph Wright of Derby National GalleryLondon Public Domain

in fulfillment of vows or to obtain the favor and intercession of thesaint while Hindu fishermen regard him with as much awe as theMuhammadans71

Though the mosque lacks an inscription that would help date it firmly on thebasis of local traditions and its links to neighboring buildings the edifice is usu-ally dated to the fifteenth century72

More intriguing than these images of furnaces and lamps are the images ofldquoliferdquo being extinguished or suffocated within a vessel through the exhaustionof air breath within It is an image that almost calls to mind Joseph Wrightrsquosfamous 1794 painting ldquoAn Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pumprdquo (Fig 1)73 Itis easy to assume that the link between breath and life is so ubiquitous as tobe ldquonaturalrdquo or ahistorical I would however argue that this seemingly self-evident image too was connected to a material culture within which it appeared

71 Wise 1883 14 f72 Hasan 2007 109 f While the presenceof this imposing structure and its institu-tion of lighting lamps right in the heart ofsixteenth-century Chittagong is useful sup-porting evidence for my argument it is not

absolutely essential Even if this particu-lar mosque does not date from our periodthe practice of lighting lamps at shrines inthe evening would have been fairly widelyknown73 On this painting see Raymo 2007



obvious Once again the clues to such a reading I will argue are given in theJoga Kalandara itself

The four lines just preceding the lines about the golden and silver dolls wentthus

Clear crystal shines withinNecklace of pearls that looks brightPieces of gems shine within the crystalThat is the ultimate knowledge known to sages

ফ টেকর মেধ কের ঝলমলমকতার হার িজিন দিখেত উঝল

ফ টেকর মেধ মািণেক র কণাসই য পরম ত ভদ মিন জনা74

I would argue that these references to crystals gems and pearls are not at allaccidental glosses Rather they are the material basis that sustains and explainsthe images of breathing breath-control and the exhaustion of breath Europeantravellers to Roshang such as the Dutchman Walter van Schouten and the Por-tuguese Sebastian Manrique are awash with lavish descriptions of resplendentpearls and luscious gems at the Arakanese court While unfortunately little in-formation exists about the local pearl fishery of the ArakanChittagong regionwe do know that a couple of small pearl fisheries still existed in the region bythe end of the nineteenth century75 Also in existence was a much more robustand related industry of conch fishing76 Chittagong remained a major arena forthe production of conch jewelry This jewelry was in particularly high demandamongst the Buddhist population of Arakan Interestingly Muslim craftsmen ofChittagong monopolized the production of this jewelry77 The pearl and conchindustries were connected since both involved diving deep into the sea to re-cover their objects This would naturally also mean having to hold onersquos breathfor a fixed amount of time In fact once again the Joga Kalandara made a directreference to diving when it stated that

Diving into that pool all the timeKeep your mind focused on meditationসই সেরাবের ডব িদয়া সব ণধয়ােন ধয়াই রহ িনেযািজয়া মন78

74 Sharif 1969 10675 OrsquoMalley 1908 11976 Milburn 1813 1 357

77 Hornell 1914 7778 Sharif 1969 103



These references to diving and meditating in the water of finding pearls andgems etc were not merely accidental references They reflected the materialcontext of the times and rendered the images legible and meaningful It is there-fore not at all surprising that the images of pearls and gems found embedded incrystals were strung together to explain meditative practices that involved breathcontrol Arakan and its neighboring regions had long been known for its rubysapphire and jade mines The threat of suffocation and the need to be able tohold onersquos breath in a mine or under water would be very similar and wouldmake the image of life as something sustained by a fixed amount of air in a ves-sel immediately meaningful Statements such as the following I would argueresonate on at least two levels

Upon arising from the depths you will receive the lightপাতােলথ উিঠ জাত িম লব তখন79

While the statement undoubtedly refers to the process of raising the biocosmicfire or energy vertically up the bodyrsquos multiple stations it cannot but also reson-ate with the experience of miners and divers coming up to the light and air fromtheir respective downward journeys

8 CONCLUSION

Unlike the texts studied by Speziale and Langermann our Bengali Muslimtexts do not focus much upon the materia medica for extending life Their

focus is closer to the ldquopersonal meditative practices passed on from teacherto disciple that employ breathing techniques and visualisations of various lifechannels in the body in combination with mantras and deity practices all ofwhich are meant to enhance the life-forcesrdquo which Barbara Gerke found amongstcontemporary Tibetans in Darjeeling80

The conceptual underpinnings of these meditative practices drew howeverupon multiple different traditions vocabularies and agendas I have argued thatthese multiple sources were connected to each other with an eye to flexibility andaccommodation rather than strict translation and precision

What allowed the ldquomoderate relativismrdquo engendered in this flexibility tofunction however was the clarity consistency and legibility of the imagesemployed These images in turn relied on the material culture of the polityand society in which our authors were based The main industries and acts ofpiety were therefore material resources from which illustrative metaphors werecrafted It was the backdrop of the shared material culture upon which themetaphors relied that made stabilized them

79 Sharif 1969 107 80 Gerke 2012 9



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dagmar Wujastyk for her help encouragement and pa-tience Without her this piece would certainly not have had any ldquoliferdquo leave

alone a ldquolong liferdquo Manjita Mukharjirsquos help was also crucial Whatever inad-equacies remain are of course mine and mine alone

REFERENCES

Bhattacharya France (2003) ldquoUn texte du Bengale meacutedieacuteval le yoga du kalandarYoga-Kalandar)rdquo In Bulletin de lEcole franccedilaise dExtrecircme-Orient 901 pp 69ndash99 doi 103406befeo20033608

Bouy Christian (1994) Les Natha-yogin et les Upanisads eacutetude drsquohistoire de la lit-teacuterature hindoue Publications de lrsquoInstitut de civilisation indienne Collegravege deFrance Seacuterie in-8o 62 Paris Boccard isbn 2868030629

Cerulli Anthony (2016) ldquoBody Self and Embodiment in Sanskrit Classics ofAyurvedardquo In Refiguring the Body Embodiment in South Asian Religions Edby Barbara A Holdrege and Karen Pechilis Albany NY SUNY Press isbn978-1-4384-6315-5

Charney Michael W (2005) ldquoArakan Min Yazagyi and the Portuguese The Re-lationship between the Growth of Arakanese Imperial Power and the Por-tuguese Mercenaries on the Fringe of Mainland South East Asia 1517ndash1617rdquoIn SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research 32 pp 974ndash1145 url httpswwwsoasacuksbbreditionsfile64407pdf (on 13 Feb 2018) MA Thesis as submit-ted in 1993

Cohen Lawrence (1998) No Aging in India Alzheimerrsquos the Bad Family andOther Modern Things Oakland CA University of California Press isbn9780585068800

DrsquoHubert Thibaut (2014) ldquoPirates Poets and Merchants Bengali Language andLiterature in Seventeenth Century Mrauk-Urdquo In Culture and Circulation Lit-eratures in Motion in Early Modern India Ed by Thomas de Bruijn and AllisonBusch Brillrsquos Indological Library Leiden Brill Academic Pub pp 47ndash74isbn 9789004264472

Deyell John (1994) ldquoThe China Connection Problems of Silver Supply in Me-dieval Bengalrdquo In Money and the Market in India 1100-1700 Ed by SanjaySubrahmanyam Oxford in India Readings Themes in Indian History DelhiOxford University Press pp 112ndash36 isbn 0195633032

mdash (2011) ldquoMonetary and Financial Webs The Regional and International Influ-ence of Pre-Modern Bengali Coinagerdquo In Pelagic Passageways The NorthernBay of Bengal Before Colonialism Ed by Rila Mukherjee New Delhi PrimusBooks pp 279ndash316 isbn 978-93-80607-20-7



Ernst Carl W (2005) ldquoSituating Sufism and Yogardquo In Journal of the Royal AsiaticSociety 1501 pp 15ndash43 doi 101017s1356186304004675

Galen Stephan Egbert Arie van (2008) ldquoArakan and Bengal The Rise and De-cline of the Mrauk U Kingdom (burma) from the Fifteenth to the SeventeethCentury ADrdquo PhD thesis Leiden University url httphdlhandlenet188712637 (on 18 Mar 2018)

Gerke Barbara (2012) Long Lives and Untimely Deaths Life-span Concepts andLongevity Practices among Tibetans in the Darjeeling Hills India Leiden BostonBrill isbn 9789004217034 doi 1011639789004217485

Hasan Perween (2007) Sultans and Mosques The Early Muslim Architecture ofBangladesh London I B Tauris amp Co isbn 9781845113810

Hatley Shaman (2007) ldquoMapping the Esoteric Body in the Islamic Yoga ofBengalrdquo In History of Religions 464 pp 351ndash68 doi 101086518813

Hawley John Stratton (2014) Krishna The Butter Thief (Princeton Legacy Library)Princeton Princeton University Press isbn 978-0691613413

Hornell James (1914) The Sacred Chank of India A Monograph of the IndianConch (Turbinella Pyrum) Madras Fisheries Bureau Bulletin 7 MadrasSuperintendent Goverment Press url https archive org details sacredchankofind00horn (on 17 Mar 2018)

Huntington Susan L (1984) The Pala-Sena Schools of Sculpture) Studies in SouthAsian Culture 10 Leiden Brill isbn 9789004068568

Huq Muhammad Enamul (1993) Muhammad Enamul Huq Rachanabali DhakaBangla Academy

Irani Ayesha A (2016) ldquoThe Prophetic Principle of Light and LoveNūr Muḥam-madin Early Modern Bengali Literaturerdquo In History of Religions 554 pp 391ndash428 doi 101086685571

Kānunago Sunīti Bhūshaṇa (1988) A History of Chittagong Vol 1 ChittagongChittagong The Author


Latour Bruno (2017) Facing Gaia Eight Lectures on the New Climatic Regime NewYork Polity Press isbn 978-0745684345

Leider Jacques P and Kyaw Minn Htin (2015) ldquoKing Maṅḥ Co Mvanrsquos Exilein Bengal Legend History and Contextrdquo In Journal of Burma Studies 192pp 371ndash405 doi 101353jbs20150016

Lorenzen David and Adrian Munoz (2011) Yogi Heroes and Poets Histories andLegends of the Naths Albany SUNY Press isbn 978-1-4384-3891-7



Mallik Kalyani (1986) Nāth Sampradayer Itihas Darśan O Sadhan-pranali CalcuttaCalcutta University url httpsarchiveorgdetailsinernetdli2015300865 (on 18 Mar 2018)

Mallinson James and Mark Singleton (2017) The Roots of Yoga Penguin ClassicsLondon etc Penguin isbn 9780241253045

Milburn William (1813) Oriental Commerce Containing a Geographical Descrip-tion of the Principal POlaces in The East Indies China and Japan 2 volsLondon Black Parry amp Co url https archive org details orientalcommerce01milb (on 17 Mar 2018) V 2 at https archive orgdetailsinernetdli201561192

Nasr Seyyed Hossein (1993) An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines Al-bany SUNY Press isbn 9780791415160 url https goo gl 9rfjvw (on18 Mar 2018) First edition 1964 The url refers to the 1978 revised edition(London Thames and Hudson)

OrsquoMalley Lewis Sydney Steward (1908) Chittagong Eastern Bengal District Gaz-etteers 9 Calcutta The Bengal Secr Book Depocirct url httpsarchiveorgdetailsinernetdli2015228204 (on 18 Mar 2018)

Raymo Chet (May 13 2007) A Light in the Darkness Science Musings Blog urlhttpwwwsciencemusingscom200705light-in-darknesshtml (on 24Jan 2018)

Roy Asim (1970) ldquoIslam in the Environment of Medieval Bengal (With SpecialReference to the Bengali Sourcesrdquo PhD thesis Australian National Universityurl httphdlhandlenet188511231 (on 18 Mar 2018)

Samuel Geoffrey (2012) ldquoAmitayus and the Development of Tantric Practicesfor Longevity and Health in Tibetrdquo In Transformations and Transfer of Tantrain Asia and Beyond Ed by Istevan Keul Berlin Walter de Gruyter pp 263ndash86isbn 9783110258103 url httphdlhandlenet1076593891 (on 18 Mar2018)

Sena Rāmakamala (1834) A Dictionary in English and Bengalee Translated fromToddrsquos Edition of Johnsonrsquos English Dictionary Vol 1 2 vols Serampore TheSerampore Press url httpsarchiveorgdetailsbub_gb_tXsxAQAAMAAJ(on 18 Mar 2018)

Sharif Ahmad ed (1969) Banglar Sufi Sahitya Alochana O Noykhani Grantha San-balita Dhaka Dhaka Samay Prakashan

Speziale Fabrizio (2006) ldquoDe zeven vrienden Een Indo-Perzische verhandelingover alchemierdquo In Bronnen van kennis Wetenschap kunst en cultuur in de col-lectives van de Leidse Universiteitsbibliotheek Ed by Paul Hoftijzer Kasper vanOmmen Geert Warnar and Jan Just Witkam Leiden pp 23ndash31 url httpshalshsarchives-ouvertesfrhalshs-00584966



Stewart Tony K (2001) ldquoIn Search of Equivalence Conceiving Muslim-HinduEncounter through Translation Theoryrdquo In History of Religions 403 pp 260ndash87 doi 101086463635

Subrahmanyam Sanjay (1993) ldquoQuisling or Cross-cultural Broker ndash Notes onthe Life and Worlds of Dom Martinho De Alematildeo Prince of Arakanrdquo InMare Liberum 5 pp 77ndash89 url httpwwwcidehusdigitaluevoraptmare_liberumvolume- 5quisling- or- cross- cultural- broker- notes- on- the-life- and- worlds- of- dom- martinho- de- alemao- prince- of- arakan (on 18Mar 2018)

mdash (1997) ldquoSlaves and Tyrants Dutch Tribulations in Seventeenth-CenturyMrauk-Urdquo In Journal of Early Modern History 13 pp 201ndash53 doi 101163157006597x00028

Sultana Razia (2017) Nurnama Ed by Sirajul Islam Sajahan Miah et al urlhttpenbanglapediaorgindexphptitle=Nurnama (on 24 Nov 2017)


Wise James (1883) Notes on the Races Castes and Trades of Eastern Bengal LondonHarrison amp Sons url httpsbooksgooglecabooksaboutNotes_on_the_Races_Castes_and_Trades_ofhtml (on 18 Mar 2018)



Zysk Kenneth G (1993) ldquoThe Science of Respiration and the Doctrine of theBodily Winds in Ancient Indiardquo In Journal of the American Oriental Society1132 pp 198ndash213 doi 102307603025



Acknowledgements

Rasāyana in Sanskrit Medical Literature

Rasāyana in Alchemical Literature

Rasāyana in the Rasahṛdayatantra

Cleansing

Preparing the Body (kṣetrīkaraṇa)

The Conclusion of the Rasāyana Process

Conclusion

Definition of vayas in Carakasasaṃhitā Vimānasthāna 8122

Definition of vayas in Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 3529ndash31

Definition of vayas in the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā Śārīrasthāna 3105

Definition of vayas in Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha Śārīrasthāna 825ndash34

Vayas in Terms of Diagnosis and Medical Prescription

Maintaining the Age (vayaḥsthāpana)

Vācaspatimiśras Tattvavaiśāradī on rasāyana

Bhojas Rājamārtaṇḍa on rasāyana

Śaṅkaras Pātantildejalayogaśāstravivaraṇa on Rasāyana

The Mansions of the Asuras

Conclusion

Pandit Malaviyas Health Cure32

Kāyakalpa Yogis and Ayurveda

What Malaviyas Treatment Inspired pantildecakarman rasāyana and Yogic health Cure

Sources

Recipes for rejuvenation longevity and immortality

Analogies

Conclusion

Introduction

The Bonpo Mendrup Ritual Practice

The Bonpo Mendrup Ritual in Bonpo Historical Sources

Conclusions

Index of Manuscripts

Introduction

A Text for Imbibing the Essence Juice

Medicinal Accomplishment (sman sgrub) as rasāyana

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Meeting magic pills

ldquoEfficacy comes in many formsrdquo

Precious pills as rejuvenating tonics online

Translating Chuumllen as ldquoRejuvenationrdquo

What makes a medicine a rinchen rilbu

Chuumllen in precious pill formulas

Administering precious pills to the healthy

Conclusion

The Three Texts

The World of Roshang

Life and longevity in the Joga Kalandara

Life and longevity in Haji Muhammads Nurjāmāl

Life and longevity in Kaji Sheikh Monsurs Sirnāmā

Conceptualizing Life

Material Metaphors

Conclusion


ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board








Introduction






ii introduction















iv introduction














vi introduction
















viii introduction












x introduction














xii introduction













20 Speziale 2017


xiv introduction









1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS




REFERENCES








xvi introduction






























ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board









Literature













dagmar wujastyk 3



















dagmar wujastyk 5





















dagmar wujastyk 7
















dagmar wujastyk 9















dagmar wujastyk 11














dagmar wujastyk 13















dagmar wujastyk 15





















dagmar wujastyk 17


















dagmar wujastyk 19














dagmar wujastyk 21




















dagmar wujastyk 23
















dagmar wujastyk 25











dagmar wujastyk 27










3 CONCLUSION





dagmar wujastyk 29








ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



APPENDIX









dagmar wujastyk 31


none











TEXT EDITIONS







dagmar wujastyk 33



























dagmar wujastyk 35



























ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board


































































































































Young(predom

inanceof

śleṣman)

Middle

(predominance

ofpitta)

Old

(predominance

ofvāta)

CaV

i8122(bālam

adhyajīrṇa)U

pto

16years

(generalimm

aturity)U

pto

30years

(continuationofthe

developmentofthe


unsteadinessofm

ind)

From30

to60

yearsFrom

60to

100years


adhyavṛddha)U

pto

16years

-upto


1to2


2to

16years(annāda)

From16

to70

years-from

16to

20years(vṛddhi)

-from20

upto

30years

(yauvana)-from

30up

to40

years(saṃ

pūrṇatā)-from

40up

to70

years(hāni)

From70

yearsonw

ards

AhŚā3105

(bālamadhyapara)

Up

to16

yearsFrom

16to

70years

From70

yearsonw

ards

AsŚā825ndash34


Up

to16

yearsdivided

intothree


ithoutanym

entionofduration

From16

to60

years-from

16up

to30

years(yauvana)-from

30up

to40

years(saṃ

pūrṇatva)-from

40up

to60

years(aparihāni)

From60

yearsonw

ards

Table1C

omparative

tableofthe


accordingto

CaSuA

handA

s






































































ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



ABBREVIATIONS






TEXT EDITIONS



















































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










INTRODUCTION







philipp a maas 67
















philipp a maas 69





















philipp a maas 71


















philipp a maas 73


















philipp a maas 75
















philipp a maas 77


















philipp a maas 79














5 CONCLUSION






philipp a maas 81




REFERENCES











philipp a maas 83
































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board























suzanne newcombe 87
















suzanne newcombe 89

















suzanne newcombe 91















suzanne newcombe 93


















suzanne newcombe 95





44 Lal 193845 Mooss 1938 24 f














suzanne newcombe 97





52 Mooss 1938 26












suzanne newcombe 99


































































94 Anon 1938h








97 Anon 1938f98 Anon 1938d

























107 Anon 1974 108 Newcombe 2012














CONCLUSION








ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



REFERENCES





















of India


































































































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board



















1 SOURCES


















































































































3 ANALOGIES













4 CONCLUSION




TEXT EDITIONS






























































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 INTRODUCTION













anna sehnalova 145
















anna sehnalova 147



















anna sehnalova 149













anna sehnalova 151









anna sehnalova 153













anna sehnalova 155















anna sehnalova 157















anna sehnalova 159
















anna sehnalova 161













anna sehnalova 163










anna sehnalova 165















anna sehnalova 167



















anna sehnalova 169
















anna sehnalova 171





4 CONCLUSIONS













anna sehnalova 173






ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS








PRIMARY SOURCES





174

anna sehnalova 175


















SECONDARY SOURCES












anna sehnalova 177































anna sehnalova 179







































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 INTRODUCTION














cathy cantwell 183
















cathy cantwell 185














cathy cantwell 187















cathy cantwell 189















cathy cantwell 191













cathy cantwell 193








cathy cantwell 195
















cathy cantwell 197










4 CONCLUSION



5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS






cathy cantwell 199



REFERENCES



















cathy cantwell 201


























cathy cantwell 203













ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board
















barbara gerke 205















barbara gerke 207

















barbara gerke 209

















barbara gerke 211




































barbara gerke 213



















barbara gerke 215
















barbara gerke 217
















barbara gerke 219


















barbara gerke 221


















barbara gerke 223

















barbara gerke 225



8 CONCLUSION











close the channels


barbara gerke 227







ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


ABBREVIATIONS







barbara gerke 229

REFERENCES






























barbara gerke 231































barbara gerke 233






















ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board






























1 THE THREE TEXTS











17 Irani 201618 Sharif 1969 119







19 Roy 1970 193 20 Hatley 2007































33 Hatley 2007 35234 Hatley 2007 352



















37 Sharif 1969 101






38 Sharif 1969 101







39 Sharif 1969 102

















41 Sharif 1969 146







42 Sharif 1969 146 43 Sharif 1969 146 f









44 Sharif 1969 147








45 Sharif 1969 185 f































58 Sharif 1969 145 59 Sharif 1969 188









62 Cerulli 2016 66









63 Latour 2017 404







64 Sharif 1969 101





























77 Hornell 1914 7778 Sharif 1969 103






8 CONCLUSION





79 Sharif 1969 107 80 Gerke 2012 9



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



REFERENCES




















































Acknowledgements




Cleansing



Conclusion











Conclusion




Sources


Analogies

Conclusion

Introduction



Conclusions


Introduction



Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Meeting magic pills







Conclusion

The Three Texts






Material Metaphors

Conclusion

Introduction






ii introduction















iv introduction














vi introduction
















viii introduction












x introduction














xii introduction













20 Speziale 2017


xiv introduction









1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS




REFERENCES








xvi introduction






























ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board









Literature













dagmar wujastyk 3



















dagmar wujastyk 5





















dagmar wujastyk 7
















dagmar wujastyk 9















dagmar wujastyk 11














dagmar wujastyk 13















dagmar wujastyk 15





















dagmar wujastyk 17


















dagmar wujastyk 19














dagmar wujastyk 21




















dagmar wujastyk 23
















dagmar wujastyk 25











dagmar wujastyk 27










3 CONCLUSION





dagmar wujastyk 29








ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



APPENDIX









dagmar wujastyk 31


none











TEXT EDITIONS







dagmar wujastyk 33



























dagmar wujastyk 35



























ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board


































































































































Young(predom

inanceof

śleṣman)

Middle

(predominance

ofpitta)

Old

(predominance

ofvāta)

CaV

i8122(bālam

adhyajīrṇa)U

pto

16years

(generalimm

aturity)U

pto

30years

(continuationofthe

developmentofthe


unsteadinessofm

ind)

From30

to60

yearsFrom

60to

100years


adhyavṛddha)U

pto

16years

-upto


1to2


2to

16years(annāda)

From16

to70

years-from

16to

20years(vṛddhi)

-from20

upto

30years

(yauvana)-from

30up

to40

years(saṃ

pūrṇatā)-from

40up

to70

years(hāni)

From70

yearsonw

ards

AhŚā3105

(bālamadhyapara)

Up

to16

yearsFrom

16to

70years

From70

yearsonw

ards

AsŚā825ndash34


Up

to16

yearsdivided

intothree


ithoutanym

entionofduration

From16

to60

years-from

16up

to30

years(yauvana)-from

30up

to40

years(saṃ

pūrṇatva)-from

40up

to60

years(aparihāni)

From60

yearsonw

ards

Table1C

omparative

tableofthe


accordingto

CaSuA

handA

s






































































ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



ABBREVIATIONS






TEXT EDITIONS



















































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










INTRODUCTION







philipp a maas 67
















philipp a maas 69





















philipp a maas 71


















philipp a maas 73


















philipp a maas 75
















philipp a maas 77


















philipp a maas 79














5 CONCLUSION






philipp a maas 81




REFERENCES











philipp a maas 83
































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board























suzanne newcombe 87
















suzanne newcombe 89

















suzanne newcombe 91















suzanne newcombe 93


















suzanne newcombe 95





44 Lal 193845 Mooss 1938 24 f














suzanne newcombe 97





52 Mooss 1938 26












suzanne newcombe 99


































































94 Anon 1938h








97 Anon 1938f98 Anon 1938d

























107 Anon 1974 108 Newcombe 2012














CONCLUSION








ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



REFERENCES





















of India


































































































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board



















1 SOURCES


















































































































3 ANALOGIES













4 CONCLUSION




TEXT EDITIONS






























































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 INTRODUCTION













anna sehnalova 145
















anna sehnalova 147



















anna sehnalova 149













anna sehnalova 151









anna sehnalova 153













anna sehnalova 155















anna sehnalova 157















anna sehnalova 159
















anna sehnalova 161













anna sehnalova 163










anna sehnalova 165















anna sehnalova 167



















anna sehnalova 169
















anna sehnalova 171





4 CONCLUSIONS













anna sehnalova 173






ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS








PRIMARY SOURCES





174

anna sehnalova 175


















SECONDARY SOURCES












anna sehnalova 177































anna sehnalova 179







































ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board










1 INTRODUCTION














cathy cantwell 183
















cathy cantwell 185














cathy cantwell 187















cathy cantwell 189















cathy cantwell 191













cathy cantwell 193








cathy cantwell 195
















cathy cantwell 197










4 CONCLUSION



5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS






cathy cantwell 199



REFERENCES



















cathy cantwell 201


























cathy cantwell 203













ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board
















barbara gerke 205















barbara gerke 207

















barbara gerke 209

















barbara gerke 211




































barbara gerke 213



















barbara gerke 215
















barbara gerke 217
















barbara gerke 219


















barbara gerke 221


















barbara gerke 223

















barbara gerke 225



8 CONCLUSION











close the channels


barbara gerke 227







ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


ABBREVIATIONS







barbara gerke 229

REFERENCES






























barbara gerke 231































barbara gerke 233






















ISSN 2369-775X

Editorial Board






























1 THE THREE TEXTS











17 Irani 201618 Sharif 1969 119







19 Roy 1970 193 20 Hatley 2007































33 Hatley 2007 35234 Hatley 2007 352



















37 Sharif 1969 101






38 Sharif 1969 101







39 Sharif 1969 102

















41 Sharif 1969 146







42 Sharif 1969 146 43 Sharif 1969 146 f









44 Sharif 1969 147








45 Sharif 1969 185 f































58 Sharif 1969 145 59 Sharif 1969 188









62 Cerulli 2016 66









63 Latour 2017 404







64 Sharif 1969 101





























77 Hornell 1914 7778 Sharif 1969 103






8 CONCLUSION





79 Sharif 1969 107 80 Gerke 2012 9



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



REFERENCES




















































Acknowledgements




Cleansing



Conclusion











Conclusion




Sources


Analogies

Conclusion

Introduction



Conclusions


Introduction



Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Meeting magic pills







Conclusion

The Three Texts






Material Metaphors

Conclusion

History of Science in South Asia - University of Alberta

Documents

Transcript of History of Science in South Asia - University of Alberta