Ancient India
The Ayurvedic system of medicine has great antiquity, dating back to about 5000 years B.C.
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In due course of time, herbo mineral and metallic preparations came to occupy a significant seat in Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia and have routinely been used in practice in different parts of India for many centuries.
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The Ayurvedic system of medicine has stood the test of time for four millennia or more. The ancient seers found that drugs of different origin (herbal, metal or animal) in addition to codes of conduct and dietary regulations are suitable tools to maintain health in healthy and eradicating diseases in diseased. Use of metallic preparations in healthcare is a unique feature in this system. Processed metals including Mercury, Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper etc. were used very frequently by seers of the Indian tradition in different disease conditions with great authority. It is generally claimed, that these metals are detoxified during the highly complex manufacturing processes described in Ayurvedic, especially Rasashastra texts. Charaka Samhita, one of the scheduled books of Ayurveda also holds ample of references regarding the use of metals for different purposes.
Rasashastra, an integral part of Ayurveda, deals with the drugs of mineral origin, and details their varieties, characteristics, processing techniques, properties, therapeutic uses, possibilities of developing adverse effects and their management etc. in a comprehensive way. Although the roots of this science (Rasa Shastra) exist in the ancient texts of Indian civilization, its development as an independent system of therapy started around the 8th century A.D.. Ayurvedic classics written before that time, like Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita etc. contain descriptions of metals and minerals, their processing techniques and their utilization in therapeutics etc.
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The vajra is the most important ritual implement of Vajrayana Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the word vajra is defined as something hard or mighty, as in a diamond. It symbolizes an impenetrable, immovable and indestructible state of knowledge and enlightenment.
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It first appears in ancient India where it was the primary weapon of the Vedic sky-god Indra, the king of the Devas. According the Hindu Puranas, the evil Asuras, Namuchi and Vritra removed all of the light and moisture from the earth. It made the land inhospitable to living beings. Indra battled the demon gods unsuccessfully and as a last resort called upon their supreme god Vishnu for help.
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Vishnu informed him that only a weapon that was neither solid nor liquid could kill Namuchi and Vritra. Vishnu had the divine carpenter Tvashta fashion Indra a marvelous weapon he could use to vanquish the dreadful Asuras. This new weapon, the vajra, emitted thunderbolts. With it, Indra annihilated Namuchi and Vritra and returned the much needed light and moisture back to the earth. The Rigveda describes this conflict.
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