A shared history of Yoga and Indian Medicine (Ayurveda) | AyurYog Timeline

By JACQUELINE HARGREAVES


Today, we launched this significant piece of research, which is an output of the AyurYog Project:

AyurYog Timeline: The entangled histories of Yoga and Indian medicine (Ayurveda).

http://ayuryog.org/timeline

[Best viewed on a computer rather than a mobile phone.]

This interactive web-based resource is based on the latest philological and modern sociological research of the AyurYog Project.

Use it to learn about some of the key milestones and historically significant events that have shaped the entanglement of Yoga and Indian medicine (Ayurveda).

Curated by Jacqueline Hargreaves (www.TheLuminscent.org) and Dr Suzanne Newcombe.

With special thanks to Prof. Dagmar Wujastyk, Dr Jason Birch, Dr Christèle Barois, and Dr Patricia Sauthoff.

ALCHEMY RECONSTRUCTION | Preparing Ingredients

By DAGMAR WUJASTYK | A special guest from the AyurYog Project.

Copper sheet coated with salt and lemon and roasted over a fire.

Watch the pevious steps in the reconstruction of the medieval alchemy of the Rasahṛdayatantra.


The fifth procedure in the Rasahṛdayatantra calls for a copper paste (śulbapiṣṭi), which is then subjected to a sublimation process. The making of the copper paste is not described in any way. We can infer from the text that it has to contain mercury, presumably the mercury that has undergone the first four steps. And, given that it is called ‘copper paste’, copper would suggest itself as another ingredient.

Andrew Mason noted that he had been taught to always purify copper before applying it, so he suggested to do so for the fifth procedure, even though the text does not actually specify that the copper of the copper paste must be purified.

One of the innovations of Indian alchemy is the concept of processing materials to make them fit for purpose. The procedures we are showing in the documentaries focus on the refinement of mercury, but we should note that other materials are also subjected to various procedures before they are applied in the making of the mercurial elixir. The texts often state that an ingredient is purified (śuddha), which means it has been subjected to detoxifying and potentiating procedures. The term ‘purified’ may not quite evoke the right image: A purified material does not necessarily look more clean and it does not have to be more pure in chemical terms. Rather, its properties are supposed have changed for the better. The purification procedures are meant to make substances safe for human consumption, as well as ensure their efficacy as reagents. Mostly, this concerns metals and minerals, but also organic poisons.

There are different ways of purifying copper, and Andrew tried out different versions. We weren’t quite sure what the copper available to alchemists would have looked like. India has a very long history of metallurgy and it is likely that copper was available on the market in sheets or as a powder, though it may have been necessary for alchemists to procure copper from its natural source.

Copper is one of the few metals that can occur in nature in a directly usable metallic form.

Andrew started out by using sheets of copper.

Copper sheets.

Copper sheets are coated with salt and lemon juice and roasted.

Copper sheets boiling in urine and five salts.

Copper sheets after treatment.

But then the rasashastra practitioners from India told him they would use copper powder for the mercury-copper paste, so he decided to make copper powder.

Making copper powder: copper sheets are melted in a furnace.

Copper in the furnace.

The copper powder would then be subjected to a different purification procedure as well.

Copper powder is boiled in a 'swing-device' (dolāyantra).

The colour of the liquid changes as the copper is boiled.

Copper powder after procedure.

Washed copper powder.

The following films show: 1) a purification procedure applied to copper sheets, 2) a procedure for making copper powder, and 3) a purification procedure applied to copper powder. These represent a departure from the text of the Rasahṛdayatantra, but on the other hand, it seems likely that some purification procedure would have been carried out.

Purifying Copper Sheets

Making Copper Powder

Purifying Copper Powder

At present (mid-June, 2020), Andrew is still working on the fifth procedure, which consists of several steps with several different apparatuses. We hope to have a film ready in a couple of weeks.


Watch the pevious steps in the reconstruction of the medieval alchemy of the Rasahṛdayatantra.


RELATED ARTICLES

Untangling Traditions

What is the role of the teacher?

Medicine and Yoga in South and Inner Asia

MANUSCRIPTS | Yoga on Leaves

By JACQUELINE HARGREAVES

This film was shown as part of the Embodied Liberation II, a virtual exhibition at the Brunei Gallery SOAS University of London.


MANUSCRIPTS | Yoga on Leaves

This film offers the viewer a visceral experience of working with palm leaf Sanskrit manuscripts on Yoga. The philological fieldwork of the Hatha Yoga Project requires searching through hundreds of catalogues and unpublished manuscripts in order to locate, identify, transcribe, and collate a text before a critical edition and annotated translation into English are possible.

The fieldwork took place in many libraries, museums, and private collections across India between 2016 and 2019. This film provides the viewer with an intimate behind-the-scenes view at one of these locations.

Producer and Photographer: 
Jacqueline Hargreaves

Hatha Yoga Project Researchers: 
Dr Jason Birch, SOAS University of London and Dr SVBKV Gupta, École française d'Extrême-Orient.

Librarian:
Dr Tejasvini Jangda

Music:
"Not Much To Say-39688" by David Fesliyan on the album, Fesliyan Studios.
AdRev for a 3rd Party (on behalf of Fesliyan Studios (Fesliyan Studios)); AdRev Publishing.

Length: 11 minutes.

LONGEVITY | A Timeline of Ayurveda and Yoga

By JACQUELINE HARGREAVES

This is a visual tour of an exhibition by the AyurYog Project, which was postponed due to COVID19. 

LONGEVITY | A Timeline of Ayurveda and Yoga.

This timeline highlights some of the key milestones and historically significant evidence in the entangled histories of yoga and Ayurveda. It is a visual expression of the extensive philological research of the AyurYog Project.

The video contains small font and is best viewed at a high resolution, High Definition (1080p) format. Please select this option in the settings at the bottom of the Youtube player panel.

Producer: 

Jacqueline Hargreaves (www.TheLuminescent.org)

Project:

AyurYog Project (ayuryog.org), University of Vienna.

Sound: No Audio.

Length: 35 minutes.

LONGEVITY | A Timeline of Ayurveda and Yoga.

A visual expression of the extensive philological research of the AyurYog Project.

00:00  •  LONGEVITY | A Timeline of Yoga and Ayurveda

01:25  •  [400–200 BCE]  Early Buddhism: Pāli Canon and Mahāvastu

02:11  •  [100–500 CE]  Carakasaṃhitā

02:57  •  [300 CE]  Suśrutasaṃhitā

03:51  •  [400–500 CE]  Pātañjalayogaśātra

04:55  •  [700 CE]  Aṣṭāṅghṛdayasaṃhitā

06:00  •  [600–700 CE]  Dharmaputrikā

07:06  •  [1000–1100 CE]  Kālacakratantra and the Vimalaprabhā

09:52  •  [1100 CE]  Amṛtasiddhi

10:40  •  [1200 CE]  Amaraugha

12:41  •  [1200–1300 CE]  Vasiṣṭhasaṃhiitā

14:44  •  [1200–1300 CE]  Vivekamārtaṇḍa

16:59  •  [1300–1400 CE]  Yogayājñavalkya

20:59  •  [1300 CE]  Yogabīja

22:57  •  [1400 CE]  Yogatārāvalī

23:49  •  [1400 CE]  Gorakṣaśataka

24:41  •  [1400 CE]  Khecarīvidyā

26:52  •  [1450 CE]  Haṭhpradīpikā

28:03  •  [1500 CE]  Āyurvedasūtra

29:12  •  [1600 CE]  Yuktabhavadeva

30:22  •  [1737 CE]  Jogapradīpyakā

31:33  •  [1850 CE]  Haṭhasaṅketacandrikā

32:20  •  [1800 CE]  Satkarmasaṅgraha

UNTANGLING TRADITIONS

UNTANGLING TRADITIONS | Yoga, Ayurveda and Alchemy 

An online conference by the AyurYog Project.

Yoga, ayurveda and alchemy have historically been considered different disciplinary fields. However, evidence also demonstrates complex interactions and areas of significant overlap. The AyurYog project’s goal has been to reveal the historical entanglements of these fields of knowledge and practice, and to trace the trajectories of their evolution as components of today's global healthcare and personal development industries.

Drawing upon the primary historical sources of each respective discipline as well as on fieldwork data, the research team have explored their shared terminology, practical applications and discourses. The research reveals how past encounters and cross-fertilizations have informed and shaped these bodies of knowledge over time.

These presentations introduce some of the project results and outputs and showcase collaborations with other research projects, scholars and practitioners.

First up in the programme is an introductory interview with Prof. Dagmar Wujastyk, Principal Investigator of AyurYog project. We will be asking Prof. Wujastyk:

What does she consider the most important findings of the entangled histories of Yoga, Āyurveda, and Alchemy?

We'll be discussing:

Did yogins in the medieval period practise medicine?

Did they formulate their own ways of treating ailments?

Were the medicines of Rasaśāstra (alchemy) radically different to those of classical Āyurveda or did they depend upon ayurvedic principles?

We'll also touch on how she hopes to build upon the research completed and what will be the next stage of research in this field.

DAGMAR WUJASTYK: What is AyurYog?

SUZANNE NEWCOMBE: The institutionalisation of Yoga as medicine in modern India.

Next up in the programme is an interview with Dr Suzanne Newcombe, Post-doctoral Research Fellow on the AyurYog project. Dr Newcombe, author of Yoga in Britain, researches yoga and Indian medicine (Ayurveda) from a sociological and social-historical perspective.

We will discuss:

When did institutionalisation begin in India, and what factors brought it about?

Is institutionalisation responsible for the emphasis on therapy in the globalised forms of modern Yoga?

CHRISTÈLE BAROIS: Yoga and therapy (cikitsā) in the Dharmaputrikā.

The next interview is with Dr. Christèle Barois, Post-doctoral Research Fellow on the AyurYog project. Dr. Barois discusses the Yoga and medicine in the Dharmaputrikā, the "Little Daughter of Dharma." The Dharmaputrikā is an early Yoga manual that includes elaborate descriptions of methods for overcoming obstacles to success in Yoga as well as methods for curing diseases.






ANDREW MASON AND DAGMAR WUJASTYK: The Reconstruction of Indian Alchemy.

Next up in the programme, we are very excited to share the "embodied" philological work of Prof. Dagmar Wujastyk and Andrew Mason. Together, they have reconstructed the procedures of the 'Heart of Mercury' (Rasahṛdayatantra), the earliest of the Sanskrit alchemical works. Prof. Wujastyk has written up her account of this process here.






JASON BIRCH: Premodern Yoga and Alchemy: A Shared History.

Next up in the programme, Dr Jason Birch of the Hatha Yoga Project discusses his research on the topic of Yoga and Ayurveda (Indian medicine) which aims to determine their shared theory and terminology; compare the Indian medical body with the 'yogic' metaphysical body; and provide examples of historical Yogins who claimed to be doctors and healers.

♥ Donate via Paypal ♥

• ONE OFF DONATION •

FRIEND . PATRON . LOVER

♥  $1 / month

♥  $5 / month

♥ $10 / month

♥ $25 / month

♥ $50 / month