Swarna Makshika

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

Hindi name: Sona makkhi

What the texts say Swarna Makshika does

• Rasayana — rejuvenative
• Chakshushya — good for the eyes
• Medhya — supports intellect and memory
• Balya — strengthening

What the evidence says. Characterisation studies exist. Clinical efficacy is not established.

Side effects and limits

A copper-bearing mineral: copper accumulation is the theoretical risk, and Wilson's disease is an absolute contraindication.

Avoid or ask first: Wilson's disease and any copper-handling disorder.; Poorly made bhasma.

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

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

Used chiefly in netra roga and in kshaya, and in rasayana yogas.

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 Makshika is classed among the Maharasa.

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.

Mistaken for gold by eye — that is what the name says. Raupya makshika (silvery) is a different variety and is not interchangeable.

Copper iron sulphide, CuFeS2. Brass-yellow with an iridescent tarnish.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Swarna-makshika is gold-fly, for the brassy metallic flecks. Chalcopyrite is chalkos plus pyrites, copper fire-stone. Its other English name, fool's gold, records the same resemblance the Sanskrit does.

One of the maharasa, used in netra roga, kshaya and rasayana.

Constituents. Copper iron sulphide, CuFeS2. Brass-yellow with an iridescent tarnish.

• 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.