Rasa Sastra

            by Sheela Rani Chunkath

Recently I had the good fortune to listen to a lecture on Rasa Sastra or the science of metals in therapy by an eighty-eight years old expert on Rasa sastra, Dr. Hari Shankar Sharma. He clearly explained to the audiences of students and lecturers in Ayurveda that metals which have been purified as per the ayurvedic texts were not harmful and in fact were miraculous in the efficiency.

We have had in the recent past many people die of unexplained fever in the national capital of Delhi. In various news report people dying of various viral and other fever have been reported with increasing regularity. Rasa Sastra is part of the syllabus of the Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery course, a study of five and half years duration.

The medicines to be prescribed have been vetted by experts and taught to the students. One such medication is Tribhuvana Kirti Rasa. It is used in the treatment of acute and chronic fever. It is used in the treatment of diseases relating to the liver and spleen. It also helps to improve digestive power.

I have had discussions with many stalwarts in the field of herbo–mineral preparations and all of them state that purified mercury especially in combination with sulphur is not toxic. However these medicines are generally not prescribed for very young children or pregnant women.

Tribhuvana Kirti Rasa contains 1 part of purified cinnabar, 1 part of purified Aconite, 1 part of dried ginger, 1 part of long pepper, 1 part of purified Borax, 1 part of long pepper roots, 1 part of black pepper, sufficient quantities of Tulasi Juice, Ginger juice and Datura leaf juice. The drugs are ground in the juice given above for three days and then made into pellets. The process of trituration is well defined and is carried out for about eight hours per day. In earlier times the grinding was done in what is called a Kalva Yantra a flat pestle made of granite. The grinding was done manually. Today the grinding is done mechanically in an electrically operated Kalva Yantra which imitates the manual strokes.

Tribhuvana Kirti Rasa is prescribed by Ayurveda vaidiyars for a wide range of conditions from PCOD to sinus to chronic fever. The manner of prescription depends on the yukti of the physician and his assessment of the Prakriti of the Patient and the disease. Normally physicians do not give Rasa preparations for long periods of time. Tribhuvana Kirti Rasa is given for patients with vata and Kapha vitiation. Patients should not self-medicate and must consult an ayurvedic Vaidyar when taking such medications.

The controversy regarding presence of heavy metals in ayurvdic medications needs to be set at rest. In India classical preparations with heavy metals are permitted and are legal. In some other countries medications are exported as food supplements and the levels of metals including mercury have been prescribed. These levels will definitely be exceeded in herbo-mineral preparations. Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical companies should not export such herbo-mineral drugs as these could exceed the mineral/metal content permitted for food supplements.

For us in India purified metals especially purified mercury with sulphur is considered pretty safe. So consulting a good qualified Ayurvedic physician and taking herbo-mineral preparations is safe and effective. The government of India should sponsor more high quality research into the nature of absorption of these drugs to set peoples mind at rest. The advantage with herbo-mineral drugs are that they can be very cost effective. Minerals are available plentifully and drugs can be made without affecting the environment adversely. In case of purely plant-based drugsm many of our forest resources are being exploited indiscriminately and many herbs and getting decimated in the wild.

Proper documentation and research into our rasa drugs poses a threat to many pharmaceutical companies as our rasa drugs are superbly effective in treating serious health conditions and that too at a fraction of the cost.

Herbo-mineral drugs are very effective in treating cancers with very little side effects. Of course, herbo-mineral drugs cannot cure all cancers. Ayurdeva has classified some cancers as asatya or incurable. Those that are curable or satyam can be cured with a much better quality of life and less side effects. It still surprises me, however, that though allopathic drugs (especially for cancer) cause violent reactions and are not always effective, patients and relatives are quite accepting of the mortality and poor quality of life during treatment. Suggest an Ayurveda or siddha drug and the first question often is, "does it contain heavy metals?" We have been brainwashed into a western way of thinking where Western medicine with their limited knowledge of purification of metals consider them toxic. Experienced Ayurvedic physician can put your mind at rest and show you from their long years of practice how effective these rasa drugs are. The government should better document and disseminate such information.

Even with governments sympathetic to indigenous medicines, our systems of medicine receive a step-motherly treatment. How do we know this? Very easily seen if we analyse the drug budgets given by governments to Allopathy, Siddha, Unani and Ayurveda drugs. Without strong governmental support, our very effective ayurvedic drugs will be used only by a small minority of the population while the large uneducated majority continue to use allopathic medications for all ailments indiscriminately.

--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/