bhasmas

[Guest guest]

On Mar 9, 2005, at 8:41 AM, ayurveda wrote:

 

> But in Ayurveda it is purified and used for the good of the mankind.

> If it were like eating lead or mercury, a country called India would

> not have

> survived.

> India's medical research started at least 4000 years ago.

 

here is an excerpt from a post i made on another list:

 

 

despite the paucity of supporting data, the claim is often made by

ayurvedic supporters that bhasmas are safe, and various arguments are

used to support this contention

 

the most common argument is an appeal to the antiquity of Ayurveda,

that these preparations have been used for thousands of years without

harm - some even claim that the Rg veda is an alchemical text, which is

an interesting if not difficult thesis to support

 

from the existing data, it appears that the prominent use of bhasmas

is relatively recent in Ayurveda and India, discussed in detail only in

medieval and relatively modern texts such as the Sharangadhara samhita

and Rasatarangini, interestingly enough, after Arabs like Ibn Sina

began experimenting with metals durng the 9th and 10th centuries

 

i have heard the claims that the use of bhasmas is much earlier, but

where is this to be found?

 

i have not done an exhaustive survey, but i don't believe any bhasmas

prepared with toxic minerals are mentioned by Charaka, Sushruta or

Vagbhata - in fact these texts (with perhaps the exception of Sushruta)

seem to place a greater emphasis on traditional herbal and dietary

therapies - it is not until Nagarjuna, born in the 10th century, that

toxic metals like mercury are given any prominence in medicine, and

even then, their use was confined to a small group of social elites

that could afford to pay for them

 

even the much vaunted antiquity of bhasmas in the Siddha tradition

appears to be relatively recent, according to "A History of the Tamil

Siddha Cult" (1990) by R. Venkatraman; in this text Venkatraman

suggests with much certainty that alchemy was incorporated into during

the 12th by the nathasiddhas of present day Madhya Pradesh

 

all of this supports the contention that:

(1) bhasma use in India is not as venerable as is claimed, and

(2) that its use was originally not as widespread as claimed

this disputes the argument that bhasmas are safe because they have a

long and widespread usage

 

current statistics on the overal mortality of the people of India

cannot reliably be used either for or against this contention

it is also debatable whether or not a medieval Ayurvedic physician

would have had the clinical skill to differentiate conditions such as

heavy metal-induced neurotoxicity from psychosis (unmada, apasmara)

 

i am not categorically stating that bhasmas weren't used prior to the

medieval period - cultures often cross pollinate, and its possible that

the Arabs were influenced by now lost Indian texts on Alchemy, although

the data suggests that their origins are Egyptian, not Indian

 

it IS my contention however that bhasmas are now given undue emphasis

in modern Ayurvedic protocols, and that this is not relfective of the

venerable tradition of the acharyas of old - personally, i think the

use of bhasmas is reflective of a trend that became dominant just

before the medieval period (i.e. the emergence of the kali yuga as per

Yukteswar), in which medicine and healing became increasingly isolated

from the people, preparing complex compounds with rare ingredients that

cannot be easily obtained by just anybody, all to support a class of

professional "ministers" of health, that unfortunately is hanging on in

modern medicine

 

given their problematic qualities in the west, i would suggest that

western Ayurvedic practitioners focus on using high quality, organic

herbs, herbal formulas, non-toxic mineral preps, and products from

clean and organic animal sources - unfortunately or not, the toxic

metals are too much of a hot button issue - if you plan on practicing

in or exporting to the West, esp. in the the very litigious USofA

Caldecott

todd

www.toddcaldecott.com

 

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public

relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."

-Richard P. Feynman

[Guest guest]

In pure Ayurveda, mainly plant extracts and not Bhasma is used.But these

medcinal plants are not available in Northern parts of India. But in Kerala

State where all Ayurveda herbs are available they use no Bhasma.

Caldecott <todd wrote:

quoted message long, can be read by clicking on:

http://health.ayurveda/message/3374