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alchemy that this work is more or less a compilation based on some other Indian works of the latro-Chemical periods on the same problems or there might have been a common Indian source on alchemy and medicine from which all the Indian scholars of alchemy might have drawn their respective alchemical informations.
Alchemy as found in the Ms. “Rasaratna Samuccaya” has dealt with the mineral kingdom - Mahārasas (superior minerals), Uparasas (inferior minerals), Ratnas (gems), Lohas (metals), etc. This work discusses mineral preparations and it also devoted itself to the short processes of killing metals and minerals.
Besides, some distilling apparatus (Yantras) have been mentioned in this work, e.g. Bbūdharayantra, Dolikāyantra, etc.
In short it has treated of mercury, minerals and metals, the construction of apparatus, the extraction of essence, liquefaction and incineration of metals, etc. The virtue of mercury are commended in this work that the people are freed from a multitude of diseases by partaking of medicines prepared with mercury.
The Ayurvedic method of treatment has been described in the Rasaratna Samuccaya and some portions of this work have particularly been devoted to mineral preparations, but it seems that they have been borrowed chiefly from some Indian works.
The Rasaratna Samuccaya has dealt with the preparation of medicinal tinctures and prescribed mercury, treated with some other minerals as the remedies for many diseases.
The period of Māņikyadeva Sūri (16th Cen. A.D.) constitutes the most flourishing and fruitful age of mediaval India relating to the accumulation of knowledge in chemical science, which was closely associated with medicine. The abstract theories relate to the physical, chemical and biological theories embracing the process of the entire cosmic evolution and the methodology of science.
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