The Alchemical Laboratory: Chapter 3 of Somadeva’s Rasendracūḍāmaṇi

Using an unpublished critical edition of the twelfth- to thirteenth-century Rasendracūḍāmaṇi, this chapter examines an important alchemical space: the laboratory. It is here that the alchemist performs his operations and we see that these undertakings are done in spaces connected to various deities. In addition to describing the physical space, the Rasendracūḍāmaṇi also gives us insight into some of the tools used by alchemists: the mortars and pestles, stoves and ovens, sieves, and charcoals. Finally, the text describes some of the required characteristics of the alchemist, including his education, loyalty to the gods, and physical markings on the hand. Together with the depiction of the alchemical workspace in the Rasārṇava’s second chapter, this early description of the laboratory influenced alchemical works that followed, many of which reproduced the verses translated verbatim.