कांस्य
Bronze - an alloy of copper and tin, classically about four parts copper to one of tin. Like Pittala it is a mishra loha, a made metal.
Parthiva · mineral origin · Mishra Loha
SHODHANA — NO MINERAL DRAVYA IS USED RAW
Melted and poured into taila, takra, kanji, gomutra and kulattha kwatha in turn by the nirvapa method, seven times in each. Marana follows by repeated puta with the prescribed media until the bhasma passes the classical tests. As with Pittala, the copper content makes complete marana essential.
TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS
Hindi name: Kansa
What the texts say Kansya does
What the evidence says. Traditional use is documented in the Rasashastra texts. Modern evidence about this dravya is largely toxicological rather than therapeutic.
Side effects and limits
Bronze is copper and tin. Copper accumulation where the marana is incomplete is the main hazard, and leaded casting alloys sold as bronze are the other. Tin itself is comparatively benign. Anyone pregnant, on medication or managing a diagnosed condition should speak to a doctor or a qualified practitioner first.
Avoid or ask first: Not used in the raw, unprocessed state.; Not used where there is a known disorder of copper metabolism.
A traditional classification, not a recommendation. The full safety record is below.
AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE
| Bhasma | 30–125 mg |
| Anupana | Madhu · Ghrita |
| Kala | Adhobhakta |
As bhasma, within a yoga. Never the raw metal.
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.
| Rasa | KatuKashayaTikta |
| Guna | LaghuRukshaTikshna |
| Virya | Ushna |
| Vipaka | Katu |
| Prabhava | Named in the texts for krimi and for netra roga. Kansya is also the metal of the bowl used in kansya vataki, the foot massage, which is a use of the metal rather than of the bhasma and should not be confused with it. |
| Doshakarma | Kaphapittahara. |
Katu, kashaya and tikta with ushna virya and katu vipaka.
These are the actions the classical texts record. They are statements about what the tradition holds, and this library does not restate them as findings about a human body.
| Upayukta anga | Kansya bhasma |
| Why it matters | The processed article, never the raw mineral. A lot received raw is a different material from the one the formula names. |
Ghosha means that which sounds - bell metal, for the alloy that rings. The name is the recognition character.
| English | Bronze |
| Hindi | Kansa |
| Kannada | Kanchu |
| Tamil | Kansa |
| Telugu | Kansa |
| Malayalam | Kansa |
| Marathi | Kansa |
| Gujarati | Kansa |
| Bengali | Kansa |
| Odia | Kansa |
| Urdu | Kansa |
| Kansya Bhasma | The processed article itself. |
| Kansya Vataki | A use of the metal bowl itself in external therapy, not of the bhasma. |
What is sold as bronze in the Indian market is frequently brass, and the two are distinguished by whether the second metal is tin or zinc - which no visual test settles. Scrap bell metal and idol metal may also carry lead, which was added to improve casting.
Bronze - an alloy of copper and tin, classically about four parts copper to one of tin. Like Pittala it is a mishra loha, a made metal.
A WAY TO REMEMBER IT
Kansya gives the Hindi kansa and the English cash through a long trade route. Ghosha, the sounding one, is the better name: bronze is the alloy that rings, which is why temple bells are made of it and why bell metal is its other English name.
Kansya is among the mishra loha of the Rasa Ratna Samuccaya, named there for krimi and netra roga. That is what the tradition records and where.
Constituents. Bronze - an alloy of copper and tin, classically about four parts copper to one of tin. Like Pittala it is a mishra loha, a made metal.
| Status | Traditional use is documented in the Rasashastra texts. Modern evidence about this dravya is largely toxicological rather than therapeutic. |
| Suggested | The dravya has a defined place and a defined shodhana in the classical Rasashastra literature, and the processed form has a pharmacopoeial standing in India. That is a standard for the material, not evidence of an effect in a body. |
| Not established | There is not enough good clinical evidence to establish an effect on any named health condition. Long traditional use is not a substitute for that evidence, and this library does not present it as one. |
| The honest gap | Published analyses of preparations containing this dravya rarely record whether shodhana was performed or how, so a result cannot be attributed to the processed article rather than the raw mineral. |
Bronze is copper and tin. Copper accumulation where the marana is incomplete is the main hazard, and leaded casting alloys sold as bronze are the other. Tin itself is comparatively benign. Anyone pregnant, on medication or managing a diagnosed condition should speak to a doctor or a qualified practitioner first.
| Contraindications | Not used in the raw, unprocessed state. Not used where there is a known disorder of copper metabolism. |
| Interactions | No specific drug interaction is documented for this dravya. That is the honest state of the evidence, not a statement that none exists - the mineral dravya have almost never been studied for interaction with modern medicines. |
| Pregnancy and breastfeeding | Safety in pregnancy has not been established, and the possibility of lead in a casting alloy makes it a particular concern in pregnancy. |