Abstract

AN OVER-VIEW OF CONTROVERSIAL DRUGS IN RASA SHASTRA

Sudhanya V. S.* and Prabhat Kumar Dwivedi

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Abstract

Introduction: Alchemy is the subject matter of Rasa Shastra, a branch of science concerned with its study. This Science included a variety of formulations which are made out of different minerals, metals, and herbo-mineral combinations. Maharasa, Uparasa, Sadharana rasa, Ratnas, Uparatnas etc are the different class of Rasa Dravya‟s. It is important to emphasize that the formulations mentioned in this Science are capable of proving their effectiveness in very short period of time, along with a good result. As far as the identification of drugs concerned, Rasa Shastra presents a number of controversial drugs. A „controversy‟ is a combination of „confusion „and „unauthenticated‟, „unjustified‟ or doubtful version of subjects. Objectives: An in-depth review of the topic “Controversial drugs in Rasa Shastra”. Materials and Methods: Vaikrant, Chapala from Maharasa group; Rasanjana, Puspanjana and Kankustha from Uparasa group and Girisindura from Sadharana rasa are included in controversial drugs list. Conclusion: It is still not possible to properly utilize certain drugs because of their unavailability, scarcity, misinterpretation of drugs with different synonyms listed in various Rasa granthas, and lack of research in drug establishments, allowing these drugs to be grouped under the controversial category. There will always be a question about the legitimacy of science as long as Controversy persists. In this paper different controversial drugs in Rasa Shastra have been discussed.

Keywords: Ayurveda, Rasa Shastra, Controversial drugs.