विमल
An iron and copper sulphide mineral of the pyrite group, closely related to Makshika. The classical texts distinguish it by a brighter, more silvery lustre and a lighter weight.
Parthiva · mineral origin · Maharasa
SHODHANA — NO MINERAL DRAVYA IS USED RAW
Swedana in nimbu swarasa or kanji by the dola yantra for three hours, or heated and quenched in triphala kwatha, repeatedly, until the lustre is gone. Marana follows with gandhaka.
TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS
What the texts say Vimala 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
An iron-copper sulphide. The concern with the sulphide minerals is the copper load and the completeness of the shodhana rather than acute toxicity, and a poorly processed bhasma is a different material from a properly processed one. 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, on the reasoning that this is a copper-bearing mineral.
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 mineral.
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 | TiktaKashaya |
| Guna | LaghuRuksha |
| Virya | Sheeta |
| Vipaka | Katu |
| Prabhava | The texts name Vimala particularly for netra roga and pair it with Makshika throughout the maharasa chapter. |
| Doshakarma | Kaphapittahara. |
Tikta and kashaya with sheeta 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 | Vimala 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. |
Rupyamakshika, silver makshika, is the name that places it beside Swarna Makshika and is the commonest source of confusion between the two.
| English | Pale pyrite |
| Hindi | Vimal |
| Kannada | Vimala |
| Tamil | Vimal |
| Telugu | Vimal |
| Malayalam | Vimal |
| Marathi | Vimal |
| Gujarati | Vimal |
| Bengali | Vimal |
| Odia | Vimal |
| Urdu | Vimal |
| Vimala Bhasma | The processed article itself. |
| Netra Rasayana yogas | An ingredient in the classical eye preparations. |
Vimala and Swarna Makshika are routinely interchanged, and both are sulphide minerals of similar appearance - the distinction the texts draw is lustre and weight, which is not a test anybody can apply to a powder. Ordinary iron pyrite is also sold as either. Since both are legitimate dravya the substitution is quieter than most and correspondingly harder to detect.
An iron and copper sulphide mineral of the pyrite group, closely related to Makshika. The classical texts distinguish it by a brighter, more silvery lustre and a lighter weight.
A WAY TO REMEMBER IT
Vimala means spotless or without stain, for the bright lustre the fresh mineral shows. The name is also the classical test: a dull sample is not Vimala.
Vimala is one of the eight maharasa of the Rasa Ratna Samuccaya, described there beside Makshika. That is what the tradition records.
Constituents. An iron and copper sulphide mineral of the pyrite group, closely related to Makshika. The classical texts distinguish it by a brighter, more silvery lustre and a lighter weight.
| 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. |
An iron-copper sulphide. The concern with the sulphide minerals is the copper load and the completeness of the shodhana rather than acute toxicity, and a poorly processed bhasma is a different material from a properly processed one. 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, on the reasoning that this is a copper-bearing mineral. |
| 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 no mineral bhasma should be taken in pregnancy except on the decision of a qualified practitioner who has examined the person. |