Suvarna Raupya Siddhi Shastra

Author(s): J C Sikdar
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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2. Author's indebtedness to earlier authors and the relative position of the work - Suvarņa-Raupya-Siddhi-śāstra in the allied
branches of literature, Jinadattasūri, the author of the Suvarna-Raupya-Siddhi-Šāstra declares his indebtedness to the previous Ācāryas like Nagarjuna,? Padaliptasari, 2 Carpața,3 Nātha, Sekham Ali5 and Others6 for a knowledge of certain processes of alchemy as is found in the case of other Indian works on alchemy.
It appears clearly that the Suvarna-Raupya-Siddhi-Šāstra is a composition based on some standard works on alchemy, medicine and occultism and the contribution of the adepts, The peculiaritry of the work is this that it is based upon the Indian Ayurveda texts on the one hand and the Indian Tantric chemical treatises on the other. It appears from a comparative study of the contents of this work that it is more or less compilation based upon many other Indian alchemical works of the Tantric period on the same problem or there might have been a common Indian scurce from which all the Indian schools of alchemy might have drawn their respective alchemical information.
A Summary of the Contentes (Chapterwise) of the '
Suvarna-Raupya-Siddhi-Šāstra The Suvarna-Raupya-Siddhi-sastra contains fourteen chapters dealing with alchemy - chemistry and metallurgy, medicines and occultism.
The first chapter consisting of 61 verses treats of the accomplishment of the process of metallurgy of gold, silver, etc., the processes of killing mercury, gold, Napalese copper and gold-making? in the 1st verse, purification of orpiment and mercury, making of gold from the base metals-copper, iron and leade, fixation of orpiment and mercury, purification of copper in the 2nd verse, invocation to Mahāviralo in the 3rd verse, mercury, mineral calamine, realgar and sulphur, orpiment and gold 11 in the 4th verse and the necessary materials for chemistry and metallurgy 12 in the 5th verse. 1. Suvarņa-Raupya-Siddhi-Sastra, ch. 1. 60 2. Ibid., ch. II. 4. 3. Ibid., ch. I. 8, 14, 17, 36, 39 4, Ibid., ch. I. 19
3, Ibid., ch. I. 60 MS. B .6, Ibid., ch. I. II (Gandu)
Suvarna-Raupya-Siddhi-Sāstra ch. 1. 1. 8, SRSS. ch. 1. 2. 9, Ibid., ch. 1. 2..
11, Ibid., ch. 1. 4.
12, Ibid., ch. 1. 5. Jain Education International