Indian Alchemy Sources and Contexts

Drawing on a selection of the most important Sanskrit alchemical works from the ninth to sixteenth centuries, Indian Alchemy: Sources and Contexts provides an introduction to South Asian alchemy, tracing and explaining alchemical thought as it developed on the Indian subcontinent. Carefully edited by Dagmar Wujastyk, the collected essays offer deep insight into the motivations and goals of Indian alchemists and illuminate the theories and methods they developed over time. The collection provides an overview of the genre of Sanskrit alchemical literature, examining how Indian alchemists portrayed and defined their discipline. Translations of excerpts from important Sanskrit alchemical works showcase the most common themes found in the literature--such as the framing of alchemy as a knowledge system originating from &Sacuteiva, a focus on mercury, and technical descriptions of making elixirs--and reveal the characteristic style of each work.

Indian Alchemy serves to expand readers' understanding of what it meant to practice alchemy on the Indian subcontinent. With its broad selection of examined themes, this collection offers a detailed and comprehensive investigation of the Indian alchemical idiom and the beliefs and practices of its practitioners.

Dagmar Wujastyk is Associate Professor of South Asian Studies in the Department of History, Classics, and Religion at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her research focuses on the history and literature of classical Indian medicine (Ayurveda), Indian iatrochemistry and alchemy, and yoga.

Acknowledgements
List of Contributors

Introduction: The Indian Alchemical Tradition
Dagmar Wujastyk

Chapter 1. The Culmination of Alchemical Practice: Chapter Nineteen of the Rasahrdayatantra
Dagmar Wujastyk

Chapter 2. The Practice of Alchemy and Its Practitioners: Chapters One and Two of the Rasarnava
David Gordon White

Chapter 3. Nagarjuna Siddha: The Kaksaputa of the Rasendramangala
Dominik Wujastyk

Chapter 4. The Alchemical Laboratory: Chapter Three of Somadeva's Rasendracudamani
Patricia Sauthoff

Chapter 5. Alchemical Pilgrimage: Chapter Eight of the Rasaratnakara's Rasayanakhanda
Keith Cantú

Chapter 6. Potency, Virility, Sexual Pleasure: Chapters Nine and Ten of the Rasamañjari
Patricia Sauthoff

Chapter 7. Medicine and Alchemy: Chapter Nineteen of the Rasaratnasamuccaya
Priyanka Chorge and Dagmar Wujastyk

Chapter 8. The Eighteen Alchemical Procedures: Chapter One of the Rasaprakasasudhakara
Dagmar Wujastyk

Chapter 9. Alchemical Instruments: Section One, Chapter One of the Rasakamadhenu
Patricia Sauthoff

Chapter 10. The Amrtasiddhi: Hathayoga's Flash in the Alchemical Pan
James Mallinson

Index