Uploaded January 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Dr Dagmar Wujastyk (Principal Investigator of the AyurYog Project):
"Rasāyana in Sanskrit medical and alchemical literature"
AyurYog Workshop: Rejuvenation, Longevity and Immortality
Perspectives on Rasāyana, Kāyakalpa and Bcud Len Practices
21 - 22 October 2016
University of Vienna, an ERC-funded Project.
Abstract:
In Sanskrit medical literature, the term “rasāyana” is used to describe a sub-discipline of medicine; the therapies that together constitute this sub-discipline; and finally, the medical formulations used in these therapies. Broadly speaking, rasāyana therapies and medicines are meant to prolong life, restore youthfulness and promote physical health and mental acuity, and the formulations could therefore perhaps be generally termed “tonics”. However, some rasāyana formulations are presented as medicines for specific diseases rather than as general tonics, while other formulations serve as good luck charms or are described as producing supernatural results such as the ability to fly.
Matters are complicated further by the usage of the term "rasāyana" to describe the Indian alchemical tradition. In Sanskrit alchemical literature, the term appears in different contexts: First, it is used to describe substances and formulations that are similar to those found in medical works. Second, it describes the key practices of Indian alchemy, namely the processes of preparing mercurial elixirs of immortality and the methods of their intake by the alchemical practitioner. However, even in the latter context, we find echoes of the older medical methods and applications.
In my presentation, I will attempt to shed some light on the multi-layered history of rasāyana as a branch of Indian medicine and as a part of Indian alchemy. I will explore what rasāyana was used for and for whom it was used, highlighting central recurring themes and the most striking divergences.
Dr Dagmar Wujastyk (Principal Investigator of the AyurYog Project):
"Rasāyana in Sanskrit medical and alchemical literature"
AyurYog Workshop: Rejuvenation, Longevity and Immortality
Perspectives on Rasāyana, Kāyakalpa and Bcud Len Practices
21 - 22 October 2016
University of Vienna, an ERC-funded Project.
Abstract:
In Sanskrit medical literature, the term “rasāyana” is used to describe a sub-discipline of medicine; the therapies that together constitute this sub-discipline; and finally, the medical formulations used in these therapies. Broadly speaking, rasāyana therapies and medicines are meant to prolong life, restore youthfulness and promote physical health and mental acuity, and the formulations could therefore perhaps be generally termed “tonics”. However, some rasāyana formulations are presented as medicines for specific diseases rather than as general tonics, while other formulations serve as good luck charms or are described as producing supernatural results such as the ability to fly.
Matters are complicated further by the usage of the term "rasāyana" to describe the Indian alchemical tradition. In Sanskrit alchemical literature, the term appears in different contexts: First, it is used to describe substances and formulations that are similar to those found in medical works. Second, it describes the key practices of Indian alchemy, namely the processes of preparing mercurial elixirs of immortality and the methods of their intake by the alchemical practitioner. However, even in the latter context, we find echoes of the older medical methods and applications.
In my presentation, I will attempt to shed some light on the multi-layered history of rasāyana as a branch of Indian medicine and as a part of Indian alchemy. I will explore what rasāyana was used for and for whom it was used, highlighting central recurring themes and the most striking divergences.
