Sharp iron ash (tikshna lauha bhasma)

An ash of sharp iron made by sixteen heatings with salt and sour pastes and quenching in khadira and triphala, taken with ghee and sugar. It is said to remove kushtha, spleen disease, piles and pandu and to give strength, youthfulness and comfort; verse 122 says that one who uses one tula of it on a diet free of salt and sour things lives a hundred years free of disease, which the commentary calls a rasayana.

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Names and synonyms

Sanskrit: तीक्ष्ण लोह भस्म
Hindi: तीक्ष्ण लोह भस्म
English: Sharp iron ash (tikshna lauha bhasma)

Ingredients and preparation

Calcined ash (bhasma)Taken by mouthChapter 11 · p. 180 · v. 119-122

Ingredients

Ingredient	As written in the text	Quantity as written
Iron (loha)लोहा (लोह)	ती़णस्य लोहस्य तनूनि पात्राणि / ती़ण लोह के पतले पतरे	तुलामेतत् / एक तुला (5 सेर) · one tula in all (5 ser in the commentary), in verse 122
Panchalavana (five salts)पंच लवण	पंचलवण (सैंधानमक, कालानमक व सामुद्रनमक विडनमक अैद्धिद नमक)	Not stated
Khadira (cutch tree)खैर (खदिर)	सारतरु / खैर की छाल, खेर की लकडी	Not stated
Triphala (three fruits)त्रिफला	त्रिाफलारस / त्रिफला के काढे	Not stated
Cow dung (gomaya)गोबर (गोमय)	सुगोमयाग्नि / कणडे के अग्नि	Not stated
Ghee (ghrita)घी (घृत)	आजय / घी	Not stated
Sugar (sharkara, sita)शक्कर (शर्करा, सिता)	शर्करा / शक्कर	Not stated

Preparation as described

Thin sheets of sharp iron are smeared with pastes of the five salts and sour substances, closed in a crucible and heated on a cow-dung fire; they are then quenched in khadira and triphala liquid (the commentary says ground or smeared with their decoction) and heated again, sixteen times in all, then heated once more on a khadira-wood fire; when cool, the iron is powdered fine and sieved through cloth, which the commentary says yields iron bhasma.

इन के काढे से घोटकर वा लेपन कर पुन: सम्पुट बंद करके पुट देना चाहिए। इस प्रकार सोलह बार

How it is used

The bhasma is mixed with ghee and sugar and taken continually after judging bodily and digestive strength.

शक्कर के साथ मिलाकर, उसे कपडे से छान लेवें। शरीरबल, अग्निबल आदि देखकर सतत् सेवन

Indicated for, as the text says

Kushtha (chronic skin diseases)(कुष्ट / कुष्ठ)
Splenic enlargement (plihodara)(प्लीह / प्लीहा)
Haemorrhoids (arsha)(अर्श)
Anaemia (pandu)(पाणडुरोग / पाणडु)

Quantities are reported exactly as the source states them. They are historical measures, not dosage advice.

दग्धवा पुटेनैव सुगोमयाग्नै। निर्वाप्य सारतरुसत्रिाफलारसेन॥ 119॥Source wording as converted, Chapter 11 · p. 180 · v. 119-122.

Safety

Needs a trained practitioner. This procedure or preparation is of a kind that should only be carried out under qualified supervision.
Caution in the text: While it is used, food is to be free of salt and sour things, judged by the strength of the disease.

Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, older adults, kidney or liver disease and other medicines all call for professional advice before any traditional remedy is used.

Ingredients7