Rasratna Samucchay

Author(s): Manikyadevsuri
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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Literature big or small is to be judged by its value to humanity. Its value is determined by the principles to what extent does it contribute to the progress of mankind by enabling him to live with more happiness, more intensity, more profoundness, more wisdom and more freedom in the mandane world. Next comes up the question of technique used in the work for proper criticism which distinguishes its subject matter, guiding one to a finer appreciation of composition and making him realize more clearly and completely what the author has meant there. Literature carries the message of knowledge and cultural heritage of a people or a country from the distant past upto the present and preserves the literature of to-day for the future generation through the successive stages of the social evolution. From this angle of vision on the literature the Rasaratna Samuccaya testifies sufficiently to the lignistic and literary development of its age and to its value to mankind by conveying the alchemical and medical knowledge to some extent.
It deals with Mahārasas (superior minerals), uparasas (inferior minerals), Sadhārañarasas (common minerals), Ratnas (gems), and Lohas (metals) with their chemical processes, apparatus (yantras), various chemical processes, medical recipes for various types of disease and elixir vital.
Besides these literary contributions, the Rasaratna Samuccaya throws light upon some previous Ayurvedic works like Rasarahasya Mahodadhi, etc as also indicated by the names of medicines, such as Mahābhairava rasa etc. In regard to the language, metre and style as discussed above, they represent an age different from the present, in which the Jaina teachers of alchemy-cum-medicine used to impart alchemical and medical teachings to their followers in particular to make them intelligible in both poetic and prosaic languages. The total effect of the texture and spirit of the language of the Rasaratna Samuccaya enriched with alchemical and medical thoughts and ideas inspired one to dive deep into its subject-matters with more energy to collect the hidden treasure of alchemical and medical knowledge preserved in this short treatise.