________________
S. Name of the book
No.
composing year
1. Yugapradhana Chatuspadi 1290
2. Ganita Sara
3. Västu sära
4. Jyotisa Sara
5. Ratnapariksä
6. Dravya Parikṣa
7. Dhätütpattiḥ
8. Bhagarbha Prakāsā.
. not available
Table 1. Books of Thakkur Pheru
subject
1315
1315
131)
1318
1318
Khartar Acaryas
Mathematics Architecture
Astronomy
Jain Education International
Gem examination.
metals and coins
preparation & properties of metals and compounds geology
form
Chaupai and Chhappaya 311 gathäs
A compendium of first seven books has been found containing sixty pages and handcopied during 1346-47 i. e. 20 years after they were written. This was accidentally found in a Jain Gyanbhandar in Calcutta in 1946. MD Desai has referred these books in his History of Jain Literature in Gujarat. Muni Kantisager and BL. Natha have also reported about these books in Viswavāņi (1960) and Visala Bharata (1961). This was published in original in 1961 by Rajasthan Oriental Academy, Jodhpur. But it seems it did not attract attention. Out of these seven books, books numbering 5, 6 and 7 are of interest to chemists. These were written by T. Pheru for the benefit of his brother and Hempal. They have now been separately published with translation. Nahta Bros. Calcutta published book number 4 in 1963 while books no 6-7 have recently been published by Vaisali Research Institute in 1976 in a single volume. This paper deals with book nos. 6 and 7 only.
242 gathas
132 gāthās
149 gathäs 57 gathas gāthās
Chemical Processes in Dravyaparikskā
This book consists of 149 gathas and describes production and purification of coinage metals and composition of various coins used during 13-14th. century AD in India. This has a large number of technical words used in those days in these chemical operations. These terms need proper clarification for their evalution. Some meanings, however, may be assigned to them with reference to the processes involved, Dhavadia, Kemmans powder, Chasni, Gahi, Ris etc. are such terms. Even this book gives Dhatu a meaning of current use while the metal itself has been called "mahādhātu".
For Private & Personal Use Only
Extraction of silver :-Silver occurs in soils. It is extracted with the help of ashes obtained by burning bones, trees and dried cowdung. The ashes are mixed with the silver ore and heated under a blowpipe flame on Dhavadia coals.
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