PREFACE

The second and concluding volume of the History of Hindu Chemistry is now presented to the public.

When the first volume was being prepared, it was feared that many valuable works on Hindu Chemistry referred to in the Rasárnava, Rasaratnasamuchchaya, and other texts had been lost forever. Pandit Navakānta Kavibhúshana was sent to Benares to conduct a thorough search, and his labor was rewarded by the discovery of several rare manuscripts, including one of the Rasahridaya. This last-named work is of surpassing interest given its comprehensive nature and great age. Two additional transcripts of it have also been obtained from the libraries of the India Office in London and the Darbár in Nepal. A copy of the Rasendrachúdámani, obtained from the Library of the Deccan College in Poona, has also been of significant help. A critical study of these new materials sheds a flood of light on the obscure corners of the history of Indian Chemistry. Because a halo of literary and scientific activity—including the pursuit of alchemy—surrounds the prominent figure of Nágárjuna, considerable space has been devoted to a discussion of his era in the Historical Introduction.