Swarna

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

Hindi name: Sona

What the texts say Swarna does

• Rasayana — rejuvenative
• Medhya — supports intellect and memory
• Vrishya — aphrodisiac, supports reproductive vigour
• Balya — strengthening
• Vishaghna — antidote (against poison)
• Ojovardhaka — increases ojas (vitality, immunity)

What the evidence says. Characterisation studies of swarna bhasma as gold nanoparticles exist. Clinical efficacy is not established.

Side effects and limits

Metallic gold is biologically inert, which is the argument for its use; a properly made bhasma should carry no soluble gold. The risks are what ELSE is in it — commercial swarna bhasma has been found on analysis to contain lead, mercury and arsenic.

Avoid or ask first: Material of uncertain provenance.; Renal impairment, as a precaution.

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

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

The smallest matra among the dhatu and the most expensive. Swarna prashana — a drop of gold with madhu and ghrita given to infants — is a separate classical practice with its own schedule.

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.

Swarna is classed among the Dhatu — the first of the shuddha loha.

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.

Gold-coloured brass and gilded material are sold as swarna bhasma. A bhasma that is genuinely gold is expensive by definition, and a cheap one is not gold.

Elemental gold, Au. Swarna bhasma is chiefly gold nanoparticles with trace sulphur from the kajjali used in its marana.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Swarna is su-varna, of good colour — the metal named for what it looks like. Aurum, which gives the symbol Au, is from the same Indo-European root as aurora, the dawn.

Swarna bhasma is the chief medhya and rasayana metal, and appears in a large number of named yogas including Makaradhwaja.

Constituents. Elemental gold, Au. Swarna bhasma is chiefly gold nanoparticles with trace sulphur from the kajjali used in its marana.

• 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.