Tamra

TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS

Hindi name: Tamba

What the texts say Tamra does

• Lekhana — scraping, reduces excess tissue and fat
• Yakriduttejaka — stimulates the liver
• Krimighna — anthelmintic (against worms)
• Medohara — reduces fat

What the evidence says. Copper's physiology and toxicology are established. The classical preparation has not been shown safe or effective by modern study.

Side effects and limits

Copper in excess causes vomiting, liver injury and haemolysis, and free copper is precisely what an incomplete marana leaves. Wilson's disease is an absolute contraindication.

Avoid or ask first: Wilson's disease and any copper-handling disorder.; Improperly prepared bhasma, absolutely.; Hepatic impairment.

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

AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE

The smallest matra of the common dhatu after swarna, and deliberately so. The texts name eight doshas of ashuddha tamra including vomiting, burning and loss of consciousness.

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.

Tamra is classed among the Dhatu.

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.

Brass and bronze are sold as tamra. More seriously, an incompletely marana'd tamra bhasma retains free copper and is the classical example of a bhasma that harms.

Elemental copper, Cu. Tamra bhasma is chiefly copper oxides and sulphide.

A WAY TO REMEMBER IT

Tamra means dark red or coppery — the metal named for its colour, and the same root gives tamarind its Sanskrit name through the colour of the pulp. Cuprum, from Cyprus, gives the symbol Cu.

Tamra bhasma is used in yakrit vikara, in medoroga and in krimi, and Arogyavardhini vati is its best-known yoga.

Constituents. Elemental copper, Cu. Tamra bhasma is chiefly copper oxides and sulphide.

• 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.