INTRODUCTION TO ‘RASASHAASTRA’- THE IATROCHEMISTRY OF AYURVEDA

Authors

  • S S Savrikar
  • B Ravishankar

Keywords:

Rasashaastra, Rasa dravyaas, Traditional systems of medicine, Mineral and metal based formulations Ayurvedic formulations, Iatrochemistry of Ayurveda

Abstract

The word Rasashaastra literally means the “Science of Mercury”. It is a specialized branch of Ayurveda dealing mainly with materials which are known as ‘Rasa dravyaas’. The products dealt under this discipline are an important component of Ayurvedic therapeutics. Considering the importance of this discipline in Ayurvedic therapeutics and the fact that there is dearth of comprehensive review on the subject an attempt has been made in this review to provide a brief but all encompassing coverage of different aspects related to it. The subjects covered in the review are : historical background of the evolvement of Rasashaastra as a specialized branch during different time periods; different aspects of classification ‘Rasa dravyaas’; processing of metal and mineral products with a note on the methods used during different time periods; information about methods of pre and post preparation procedures for different kinds of ‘Rasa dravyaas’; importance of mercury in Ayurveda, its processing methods and different preparations along with therapeutic indications. In addition attempt has been made to provide basic information on the metal and mineral based preparations mentioned in Ayurvedic Formulary of India; recent development in the field of Rasashaastra and future requirements for the proper development of the discipline. The main focus is to familiarize the readers, from non-ayurvedic background, on different aspects of this specialized discipline.

Author Biographies

S S Savrikar

Department of Rasashastra, RA Podar Ayurvedic Medical College, Worli Mumbai, India

B Ravishankar

SDM centre for Research in Ayurveda and Allied Sciences; Udupi- 574 118. Karnataka- India

Downloads

Published

2011-04-20

How to Cite

Savrikar, S. S., & Ravishankar, B. (2011). INTRODUCTION TO ‘RASASHAASTRA’- THE IATROCHEMISTRY OF AYURVEDA. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 8(5S), 66–82. Retrieved from https://athmsi.org/journals/index.php/ajtcam/article/view/1318

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 5S (2011)

Section

Education

License

Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution CC.

This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. View License Deed | View Legal Code Authors can also self-archive their manuscripts immediately and enable public access from their institution's repository. This is the version that has been accepted for publication and which typically includes author-incorporated changes suggested during submission, peer review and in editor-author communications.