Rasayana

A revised, shorter version of this article was published as "Krankheitsprävention im Ayurveda: Pragmatisches Recycling und historische Brüche" in polylog 42: Gesundheit und Heilung (2020): pp. 7–20. (http://www.polylog.net/?id=284)
Cf. https://www.academia.edu/43176982/

This article discusses the changes and continuities that characterize the role of disease prevention in Ayurveda from its origins until today. Over the times, Ayurveda repeatedly came under pressure through various external factors. Among these, the impact of western culture and medicine in the wake of colonialism was of utmost significance.
As the present article shows, prevention played a role in Ayurveda from the beginning, however, its importance and the modes of its application changed over the centuries. Therapies like Rasāyana, that have been out of fashion for some time, were revived and adapted to modern needs in the 20th century. In spite of this ability to change and adjust to new circumstances, representatives of modern Ayurveda often prefer to emphasize and even exaggerate the old age and originality of their science.

Around the eleventh century CE, Sanskrit medical texts began to record profound changes in the methods used for drug manufacture. New substances, especially metallic and non-metallic minerals, were added to the ayurvedic pharmacopoeia or were given new prominence. More significantly, however, new ways of processing raw materials were introduced that were thought to make them fit for medical use. Most of the new, but also many of the traditional substances were now put through a series of complicated, multistage processes before they were used as components of compound medicines. In this article, I will use the example of recipes for iron-based medicines, which describe the processing of iron and other substances to trace the evolution of these changes and to query whether the changes in drug production flow from earlier developments, or whether they represent a more fundamental shift in the theory and practice of medicine. I also consider whether the introduction of new substances and the new methods of drug production can be related to notions concerning the potency of substances and formulations.
Acknowledgements

This article was made possible through funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No.639363

This is a bibliography on "Indo-European Alchemy" (subsequently changed to "World Alchemical Traditions"), compiled for a field exam with David Gordon White. Due to alchemy's interdisciplinary and comparative nature the exam also includes several sources that point to historical connections with Jewish,  Egyptian, Syriac, Islamic, Tibetan, Chinese, and other forms of alchemy. The bibliography is uploaded here with the intent to assist other researchers or general readers who are interested in exploring the field or one of its various branches.

This article considers the narrative and context around a particularly well-publicized incident of rejuvenation therapy, advertised as kāyakalpa (body transformation or rejuvenation), from 1938. In this year, the prominent Congress Activist and co-founder of Banaras Hindu University, Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861–1946), underwent an extreme – and very public – rejuvenation treatment under the care of a sadhu using the name of Shriman Tapasviji (c.1770?-1955). The article will explore the presentation of Malaviya’s treatment and how it inspired a focus on rejuvenation therapy within Indian medicine in the years immediately following. Exploring this mid-twentieth century incident highlight some of the themes and concerns of the historical period, just out of living memory, but in many ways similar to our own.

In Sanskrit medical literature, rasāyana is defined as one of eight subject areas of medicine. The proclaimed aim of rasāyana therapies is to preserve or promote health and well-being, but also to prolong life, to halt degeneration caused by aging, to rejuvenate and to improve cognitive function. The term “rasāyana” describes the therapies that together constitute this branch of medicine; the methodology and regimen of treatment; and the medicinal substances and formulations used in these therapies.

In Indian alchemical literature, the Sanskrit term “rasāyana” is predominantly used to describe the final stages of alchemical operations, i.e.  all that is involved in the taking of elixirs for attaining a state of spiritual liberation in a living body. Rasāyana in this sense describes a series of related processes, including the preparation of the elixir; the preparation of the practitioner; the intake of the elixir and finally, the process of transformation the practitioner undergoes after intake of the elixir.

In my paper, I present examples of rasāyana sections from a selection of medical and alchemical treatises to explore their connections and divergences. I also discuss how the connections between medical and alchemical rasāyana sections reflect the development of iatrochemistry in alchemical literature.

“Rasāyana and Rasaśāstra in the Persian Medical Culture of South Asia”, History of Science in South Asia, 7, 2019, pp. 1-41. Available at: https://doi.org/10.18732/hssa.v7i0.40.

In this article, I suggest that looking at the entangled issues of the creation of a new field of knowledge and the interaction with Others’ learning allows for a more accurate understanding of how Persian medical studies have developed and adapted to different natural and cultural settings during late medieval and early modern periods. This article studies the translation and reception of materials drawn from alchemy (rasaśāstra) and rejuvenating therapy (rasāyana) in the Persianate medical culture of South Asia. Chapters dealing with processed mercury and metals become a standard subject of Persian medical works written by Muslim and Hindu physicians in South Asia. Many of these works are in fact composite writings which combine Ayurvedic and Greco-Arabic materials. However, rasāyana is a branch of knowledge for which there is not a precise equivalent domain in the target culture. How does translation deal and negotiate with this asymmetry? In this study, I assume that cross-cultural translation implies a cognitive shift in the way different groups of readers may understand and classify a certain form of knowledge. I look at the Persian translation of materials drawn from rasāyana chiefly from the reader perspective which focuses on the hermeneutical and accommodation process through which translated materials are integrated into the target culture.

Wild and diverse outcomes are associated with transmutational practices: the prolongation of life, the recovery of youth, the cure of diseases, invincibility, immortality, enlightenment, liberation from the cycle of rebirths, and unending bliss. This range of outcomes is linked to specific practices taught in separate traditions and lineages in medical, alchemical, yogic and tantric milieus across South and Inner Asia. These practices can be individual or collective, esoteric or secular, and occur in different places from hospital to village to monastery; they involve transmutations of substances as well as transmutations of the body. Every expression by a particular lineage has a distinguishing articulation. Yet there are also very clear commonalities and interconnections between the traditions’ aims, methods and expected results. In this special issue of HSSA, we examine transmutational practices and their underlying concepts in this wider context of South and Inner Asian culture....

This article explores the chapter on vitalisation therapy (rasāyana) in the Kalyāṇakāraka, a Sanskrit medical treatise from the ninth century that was composed by the Digambara Jain monk Ugrāditya. It compares Ugrāditya's account of rasāyana therapies with those of the classical ayurvedic works, and provides a translation into English of the section on vitalisation therapy.

Background: Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is most prevalent form of anemia affecting around 2 billion people worldwide. Ayurveda, an Indian system of medicine, describes pomegranate (Punica granatum) fruits as a Rasayana and a dietary supplement for managing a condition called Pandu, which is akin to IDA. Rasayanas are methods to maintain homeostasis by improving digestion, metabolism and absorption of nutrients and elimination of waste. Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been a well-accepted model organism to study iron metabolism. Materials & Methods: In the current study we developed 'anemic yeast' by culturing yeast cells in iron-free medium with bathophenanthroline disulfonate (BPS). The effect of pomegranate juice (PJ) on reversing the 'IDA like' condition in yeast was studied. Results: Culturing iron deficient (ID) cells in the presence of 10% PJ supplemented medium (IDP), improved iron status by at least 7 fold (p<0.0001) and reversed mitochondrial degeneration induced by iron deficiency. Percentage of healthy reticulate mitochondria in IDP cells was >30% higher (p<0.0001) than that in the ID cells grown in iron deficient medium (IDD) and at least 14% more than that in ID cells grown in 10% PJ-equivalent iron substituted media. Interestingly, PJ substitution improved the functional ferrous (Fe 2+) form as well as the bio-assimilated heme form of iron, but not the ferric (Fe 3+) storage form in ID cells. Conclusion: Yeast model can be useful as a quick screen to identify potential nutritional supplements. Pomegranate's potential role as a nutritional supplement in IDA management and as a hematinic is worthy of further research.

Miʿrāj al-duʿāʾ wa-mirʾāt al-dawāʾ (“The Ascent of Prayer and the Mirror of Medication”) by Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Qazwīnī, a Shiʿite presumably working in eastern Iraq in the eighteenth century, gathers information on methods for rejuvenation and longevity from different traditions: traditional Islamic (mainly Shiʿite), Greek, and Indian. The last of these are a set of recipes for rasayanas, herbal and chemical recipes drawn from Indian sources. Though some rasayanas are mentioned in earlier Arabic treatises, the collection displayed in Miʿrāj al-duʿāʾ is by far the most extensive. Hardly any are mentioned in earlier Arabic texts. Miʿrāj al-duʿāʾ, then, contributes an important chapter to the ongoing interchange between India and the eastern Islamic world. Unlike the majority of treatises which deal with India, it is written in Arabic rather than Persian, though not a few loan words are employed. I present here an edition, translation, and analysis of the relevant chapter.

Introduction: The superoxide radical (O 2-), hydroxyl radical (OH) are generated in physiochemical pathways. All biological systems have innate antioxidant defence mechanisms but these mechanisms can be inefficient due to poor diet intake, pollution, stress and chemicals etc. Therefore, it is imperative to consume antioxidants to shield cells from destruction by free radicals. Shilajatu is such a drugs of prime importance that has been advocated in the management of various ailments ranging from Diabetes to Immunomodulation and Antioxidant. Materials and Methods: The antioxidant potential of Shuddha Shilajatu along with impact of geography and processing media on it, was determined by using DPPH i.e. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl Free Radical Scavenging Assay. Test was performed at the wavelength of 517 nm using 1 cm optical path cuvette at room temperature. The ultraviolet spectrum of Shuddha Shilajatu and Ascorbic acid was performed by UV-Vis spectrophotometer at different concentrations. The experiment was carried out in triplicate. The result was compared with ascorbic acid as it was taken as standard control under the same conditions. The sample concentration at which initial absorbance of DPPH solution get lowered by 50% has been considered as the endpoint for evaluating the antioxidant potential. Results: It has been found that Shilajatu samples processed in Triphala kwatha have shown better antioxidant profile than water processed samples. Moreover, sample procured from Amritsar showed much better antioxidant activity in comparison to Shilajatu sample procured from Nepal. Conclusion: Processing media and geography significantly modulate the effect and activities of Shilajatu.

This is the shortened, revised published version of this draft: https://www.academia.edu/43177003/

This article discusses the changes and continuities that characterize the role of disease prevention in Ayurveda from its origins until today. Over the times, Ayurveda repeatedly came under pressure through various external factors. Among these, the impact of western culture and medicine in the wake of colonialism was of utmost significance.
As the present article shows, prevention played a role in Ayurveda from the beginning, however, its importance and the modes of its application changed over the centuries. Therapies like Rasāyana, that have been out of fashion for some time, were revived and adapted to modern needs in the 20th century. In spite of this ability to change and adjust to new circumstances, representatives of modern Ayurveda often prefer to emphasize and even exaggerate the old age and originality of their science.