Hingula

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

What the texts say Hingula does

• Rasayana — rejuvenative
• Jwaraghna — used in fever
• Vrishya — aphrodisiac, supports reproductive vigour
• Krimighna — anthelmintic (against worms)

What the evidence says. Toxicological literature on cinnabar is substantial across Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. Efficacy of the classical preparations is not established.

Side effects and limits

This is mercury. Mercuric sulphide is the least soluble mercury compound, which reduces but does not remove the hazard, and prolonged use produces measurable mercury exposure.

Avoid or ask first: Pregnancy and breastfeeding.; Children.; Renal impairment.; and more below.

A traditional classification, not a recommendation. The full safety record is below.

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

Mercuric sulphide is very poorly soluble, which is the classical argument for its use; it is still a mercury compound and is used inside named yogas by qualified practitioners.

Reported from Sharangadhara Samhita and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Laisha states what the texts prescribe; it does not recommend. No quantity here is adjusted for a particular person — not for agni, koshtha, bala, age, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything already being taken.

Hingula is classed among the Sadharana rasa.

Rasa, guna, virya, vipaka and karma are recorded as the classical texts give them, with the text and section named so a student can open the book and check.

Vermilion pigment sold as sindoor is frequently lead tetroxide rather than mercuric sulphide, and lead poisoning from sindoor is documented. The two are different poisons under one colour.

Mercuric sulphide, HgS. The red mercury ore.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Hingula is the Sanskrit that became the Arabic zinjafr and the Latin cinnabaris. Vermilion is from vermiculus, a little worm — the kermes insect whose red it resembled.

Hingula is used in jwara and rasayana yogas, and is the classical source of the highest grade of parada.

Constituents. Mercuric sulphide, HgS. The red mercury ore.

• This is a study and clinical reference for practitioners and students. The matra and anupana it records are what the classical texts and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India PRESCRIBE — Laisha reports them, it does not recommend them. They are not a prescription for any particular person, and they are not adjusted for your age, agni, koshtha, bala, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything else you are already taking. Only a qualified practitioner who has examined you can do that.
• Traditional classification is recorded as what the classical texts say, with the text and the place in it named. It is not restated as a finding about a human body.
• Nothing here replaces a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner or a doctor.