Abstract

A REVIEW ARTICLE ON CONCEPT OF MARANA PROCESS AND IT`S RELEVANCE TO THE CONCEPT OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

Dr. Amit Kumar Manohar*, Dr. B. L. Saini and Dr. Shivraj Singh

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Abstract

Rasa shastra, an off shoot of ayurveda that dates back to the medieval period, mainly deals with the therapeutic use of metals and minerals called rasaushadhis (herbo-mineral-metallic compounds). Parada (mercury) is the main ingredient in this ancient science, while the other drugs are used as its subordinate. With the development of a pharmaceutical technique for converting metals and minerals into bhasmas, the internal administration of all metals and minerals became possible. Rasashastra is a traditional branch of pharmaceutics and therapies that deals with the use of metals and minerals for human health. Rasashastra used various techniques such as shodhana, marana, jarana, satvapatana (extraction), kupipakva rasayana, etc. to convert the metal into a nontoxic and bioassimilable form. The marana technique consists of five distinct steps: shodhana, bhavana (levigation with herbal juices), pelletization, sharava samputikarana (application of a specific heating pattern), and puta (application of a specific heating pattern). Puta is repeated until the desired characteristics of bhasma are achieved, such as varitartva (floating of bhasma on a calm surface of water), rekhpurnatva (occupying the inter ridge space on the finger pad skin), and niruttha (not to recover its original elemental metallic form). Marana is a term used to describe a complex chemical composition that converts an elemental, toxic, and non-bio-compatible metal and mineral into nano-sized organic complexes that are nontoxic and biocompatible. When a metal, mineral, or gem is converted into nano-sized structures or nanoparticles, its physicochemical properties change. In ayurveda, many concepts like the one given above are present, which were introduced thousands of years ago. This paper is about such concepts, and it focuses mainly on the synthesis of nanoparticles in ancient times and the properties of nanoparticles useful in medicine.

Keywords: Marana, Puta, Nanoparticles, Bhasma, Nanotechnology.