Bhasma

Bhasma in Ayurveda has been defined as a substance obtained by calcination.

Bhasma (residue after incineration – calcined preparation) and pishti (powdered gem or metal) are used with herbs for the treatment of critical ailments as a medicinal preparation in Ayurveda and to some extent Unani (both Indian branches of medical science using natural curative methods). The procedures for preparing these medicines are time-consuming and complicated.

Bhasma is a calcined preparation in which the gem or metal is converted into ash. Gems or metals are purified to remove impurities and treated by triturating and macerating in herbal extracts. The dough so obtained is calcinated to obtain the ashes.^

In certain circumstances Bhasma, 'Vibhuti' (Sanskrit) and 'Thiruneeru' (Tamil) are synonymous.

Bhasmikaran is a process by which a substance which is otherwise bioincompatible is made biocompatible by certain samskaras or processes (Puranik and Dhamankar, 1964e). The objectives of samskara are:

Various steps involved in the preparation of bhasma(or bhasmikaran) are:

Selection of these steps depends on the specific metal. Sometimes there is an overlapping of the steps, e.g., maran is achieved by puttan. Since the present thesis work is on bhasma, Bhasmikaran process is elaborated in details in the following paragraphs.

1. Shodhan: The principal objective of shodhan is to remove unwanted part from the raw material and separate out impurities( Vaiday and Dole 1996b). Metals obtained from ores may contain several impurities, which are removed by subjecting them to Shodhan process. In context of bhasma, shodhan means purifying and making the product suitable for the next step, i.e., Maran. Ayurveda classifies shodhan into a) General process and b) Specific process.

General process for shodhan:

b. Specific process for shodhan For some metals a specific process is described for shodhan e.g. for purification of Jasad, the molten mass is poured in cow's milk 21 times (Shastri K, 1979b).

2. Maran: Maran literally means killing. As the name suggests in maran process, a change is brought about in the chemical form or state of the metal. This makes it to lose its metallic characteristics and physical nature. In short, after maran, metal can be converted into powder or other form suitable for administration. To convert various metals into a form appropriate for human consumption, several techniques have been employed which ultimately gave birth to concept: "Bhasma prepared by using Rasa i.e. mercury is the best, whereas the one prepared using herbs are of better quality and those prepared using Gandhak (sulfur) are of inferior quality. Thus there are 3 methods given for maran. It is carried out by heating the metal in presence of 1) mercury 2) plants and 3 ) sulfur.

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