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their object the securing of long life and health are known as "áyushyáni"—a term which later on gave place to rasayana, the Sanskrit equivalent of alchemy (see p. 80). We shall quote two under the latter heading as invocations to pearl and its shell and gold respectively. "Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought on from the river (Sindhu), this shell, born of gold, is our life-prolonging amulet."
"The bone of the gods turned into pearl; that, animated, dwells in waters. That do I fasten upon thee unto life, lustre, strength, longevity, unto a life lasting a hundred autumns. May the (amulet) of pearl protect thee!"
"The gold which is born from fire,[1] the immortal, they bestowed upon the mortals. He who knows this deserves it: of old age dies he who wears it."
"The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful colour, which the men of yore, rich in descendants, did desire, may it gleaming
- ↑ Among the five kinds of gold referred to in the "Rasaratna-samuchchaya" (p. 10 5 वह्निसम्भूतं (born from fire) is one.
