8,246
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 22:
Line 22: − + + + + + − + − − Line 61:
Line 63: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
→स्वरूपम् ॥ Characteristics
ātaṅkapaṅkamagnānāṁ pāradānācca pāradaḥ| abhrādirasarājatvādrasarājaḥ smr̥tō budhaiḥ ||4|| </blockquote>That which uplifts beings enmeshed in the dirt called roga/illness it is called Pārada. As a king (superior by qualities) among Ambhraka etc great aushadhis it is called Rasaraja.<ref name=":1" />
ātaṅkapaṅkamagnānāṁ pāradānācca pāradaḥ| abhrādirasarājatvādrasarājaḥ smr̥tō budhaiḥ ||4|| </blockquote>That which uplifts beings enmeshed in the dirt called roga/illness it is called Pārada. As a king (superior by qualities) among Ambhraka etc great aushadhis it is called Rasaraja.<ref name=":1" />
== इतिहासः ॥ History ==
== ऊत्पत्ति इतिहासश्च ॥ Origin and History ==
Parada has been referred to as having divine origin, associated with the deity Shiva or Hara in ancient literature (Rasa Ratna Samucchaya 1.61-68).<ref name=":6">Shankarlal Harishankar, (2019) ed. ''[https://archive.org/details/rasa-ratna-samucchaya-of-vagbhatacharya-shankar-lal-hari-shankar/page/n79/mode/2up Rasaratna Sammuchhaya by Acharya Vagbhata]'' Bombay: Khemraj Srikrishnadas Prakashan</ref> On the mountains of Himalayas, Shiva and his consort Parvati, engaged in intense sensual activities with a desire to win over the other. Devatas desired that Shiva and Parvati produce a son who could kill Tarakasura, but those activities caused a great disturbance upsetting the three worlds. However, seeing the brilliance of the raja and virya (of Parvati and Shiva) that was very powerful, sent Agni to cause a disturbance in the divine sensual activity. Agni went into the caves in the form of a pigeon and seeing him Shiva with great shyness realized that it was not a bird but was Agni and stopped the activity. By then the semen ejaculated which Shiva flung upon Agni. Unable to bear the tejas of the virya, Agni entered the waters of the Ganga. Soon Ganga was unable to bear the divine tejas which heated up the waters, so she washed ashore both Agni and the virya of Shiva. Due to the blemishes of the virya, metals of various kinds materialized on the banks of Ganga. At five places, where the virya dropped from Agni's mouth, there sprung five deep wells each having one of the five kinds of Parada. <blockquote>रासो रसेन्द्रः सूतश्च पारदो मिश्रकस्तथा । rāsō rasēndraḥ sūtaśca pāradō miśrakastathā | (Rasa. Ratn. Samu. 1.68)<ref name=":6" /></blockquote>They are Rasa, Rasendra, Suta, Parada and Mishraka.
Parada has been referred to as having divine origin, associated with the deity Shiva or Hara in ancient literature (Rasa Ratna Samucchaya 1.61-68).<ref name=":6">Shankarlal Harishankar, (2019) ed. ''[https://archive.org/details/rasa-ratna-samucchaya-of-vagbhatacharya-shankar-lal-hari-shankar/page/n79/mode/2up Rasaratna Sammuchhaya by Acharya Vagbhata]'' Bombay: Khemraj Srikrishnadas Prakashan</ref> On the mountains of Himalayas, Shiva and his consort Parvati, engaged in intense sensual activities with a desire to win over the other. Devatas desired that Shiva and Parvati produce a son who could kill Tarakasura, but those activities caused a great disturbance upsetting the three worlds. However, seeing the brilliance of the raja and virya (of Parvati and Shiva) that was very powerful, sent Agni to cause a disturbance in the divine sensual activity. Agni went into the caves in the form of a pigeon and seeing him Shiva with great shyness realized that it was not a bird but was Agni and stopped the activity. By then the semen ejaculated which Shiva flung upon Agni. Unable to bear the tejas of the virya, Agni entered the waters of the Ganga. Soon Ganga was unable to bear the divine tejas which heated up the waters, so she washed ashore both Agni and the virya of Shiva. Due to the blemishes of the virya, metals of various kinds materialized on the banks of Ganga. At five places, where the virya dropped from Agni's mouth, there sprung five deep wells each having one of the five kinds of Parada. <blockquote>रासो रसेन्द्रः सूतश्च पारदो मिश्रकस्तथा । rāsō rasēndraḥ sūtaśca pāradō miśrakastathā | (Rasa. Ratn. Samu. 1.68)<ref name=":6" /></blockquote>They are Rasa, Rasendra, Suta, Parada and Mishraka.
The metal mercury was known to the Indians since ancient times. The Chinese and Egyptians considered it as a magic substance. Prof. J.A. Brown was the scientist who grouped this fluid metal among metals. The English name of this metal is based on the planet Mercury which is named after a swift messenger in Greek mythology.
Parada has been mentioned in Atharvaveda
== Types of Parada ==
== Types of Parada ==
In Rasaratna samucchaya,<ref name=":6" /> we find the following synonymous terms described as the five kinds of Parada.<blockquote>रासो रसेन्द्रः सूतश्च पारदो मिश्रकस्तथा । इति पञ्चविधो जातः क्षेत्रभेदेन शम्भुजः॥ (Rasa. Ratn. Samu. 1.68)<ref name=":6" />
In Rasaratna samucchaya,<ref name=":6" /> we find the following synonymous terms Rasa, Rasendra, Suta, Parada and Mishraka described as the five kinds of Parada.<blockquote>रासो रसेन्द्रः सूतश्च पारदो मिश्रकस्तथा । इति पञ्चविधो जातः क्षेत्रभेदेन शम्भुजः॥ (Rasa. Ratn. Samu. 1.68)<ref name=":6" /> rāsō rasēndraḥ sūtaśca pāradō miśrakastathā | iti pañcavidhō jātaḥ kṣētrabhēdēna śambhujaḥ|| </blockquote>Their qualities are also well described in the above text (Rasa. Ratn. Samu. 1.69-75)<ref name=":6" />
rāsō rasēndraḥ sūtaśca pāradō miśrakastathā | iti pañcavidhō jātaḥ kṣētrabhēdēna śambhujaḥ|| </blockquote>Their qualities are also well described in the above text (Rasa. Ratn. Samu. 1.69-75)<ref name=":6" />
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Five types of Mercury are mentioned along with their qualities <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />
|+Five types of Mercury are mentioned along with their qualities <ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />
|Contains impurities, needs 18 samskaras
|Contains impurities, needs 18 samskaras
|}
|}
Acharya Saranagadhara mentions synonyms classified based on their name, form, action, metallic state, etc. Synonyms related to
# '''Dehavada''' include Amritam, Dehada, Rasayanasreshta, Parada, Mrityunashana, Jaitra etc.
# '''Dhatuvada''' include Divyarasa, Rasa, Rasendra, Rasaraja, Suta, Sutaraja, Siddhadhatu, Rasadhatu etc.
# '''Darshanikata''' include Jiva, Divya, Achinta etc.
# '''Gunas''' include Ananta, Amara, Kalikanta, Sukshma, and Soubhagya
# '''Svarupa''' include Chanchala, Mahateja, Chamara etc.
# '''Daivatva''' include Trinetra, Harabeejam, Shiva, Shivaveerya, Skanda, Harateja, Rudraja, Deva etc.
== स्वरूपम् ॥ Characteristics ==
== स्वरूपम् ॥ Characteristics ==
== Pharmacological Actions ==
== Pharmacological Actions ==
== Mercury Poisoning ==
In the early 1950’s fishermen and their families around Minamata Bay in Japan were stricken with a mysterious neurological illness. The disease produced progressive weakness of the muscles, loss of vision due to visual cortex lesions, impairment of cerebral functions especially cerebellar ataxia, eventual paralysis and in some cases coma and death. It was soon observed that Minamata seabirds and household cats, which like the fisherfolk subsist mainly on fish, showed signs of the same disease. This led to the discovery of high concentrations of mercury compounds in fish and shell-fish taken from the bay, and the source of mercury was traced to the effluent from a factory.
Since then there have been several other alarming incidents in other parts of the world: Iraq, Pakistan, Guatemala, Sweden, North America and Canada. Mankind has become acutely fearful of mercury in the environment. The alarm is understandable; mercury or quicksilver has always been regarded as being magical, in part because of its unique property as the only metal that is a liquid at ordinary temperature. The uncompounded element in liquid form is not a poison; a person could swallow upto a pound or more of quicksilver with no significant adverse effects. Certain compounds of mercury have been used safely for thousands of years. There is evidence that cinnabar or mercuric sulphide (HgS) was mined in China, Asia Minor, the Cyclades and Peru at least two or three millennia ago. Hippocrates is believed to have prescribed mercury sulphide as a medication.
By the Middle Ages, when alchemists had synthesized chlorides, oxides, and various other inorganic compounds and mixtures of mercury, its use in medications began to spread. Calomel (mercurous chloride, HgCl) came into wide use as a cathartic, and in the 16th Century mercury compounds were introduced as a treatment for syphilis.
In agriculture, corrosive sublimate (HgCl2) is used to disinfect seeds and to control many diseases of the tubers, corns and bulbs (including potatoes), and also to protect a number of vegetable crops. Corrosive sublimate is toxic, causing corrosion of the gastrointestinal tract leading to bloody diarrhoea, injury to the kidneys, ultimately leading to death from renal failure.
What causes concern to environmentalists at present is the alkyl compounds—methyl and ethyl mercurials. The alkyl mercury compounds can cause congenital mental retardation, cerebral palsy and chromosomal abnormalities. The chemical basis for these effects is mercury’s strong affinity for sulphur, particularly for the sulphydryl (S-H) groups in proteins (for which arsenic and lead have a similar affinity). Bound to proteins in a cell membrane, the mercury may interfere with a number of enzymes systems essential to cellular metabolism and alter the distribution of ions, change electrical potentials and thus interfere with the movements of fluid across the membrane. There are also indications that binding of mercury to protein disturbs the normal operation of structures, such as mitochondria and lysosomes within the cell.<ref>Lele, R. D. (2012) ''History of Medicine in India''. New Delhi: National Centre of Indian Medical Heritage, Ministry of AYUSH, GOI</ref>
== References ==
== References ==