Gandhaka, Gamdhaka, Gandha-ka: 24 definitions

Introduction
In Hinduism
1. Ayurveda
2. General definition
Biology
Languages
1. Marathi
2. Sanskrit
3. Hindi
4. Kannada
5. Nepali
See also
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Introduction:

Gandhaka means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Buddhism, Pali, Marathi, Hindi, biology. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Hinduism

Ayurveda (science of life)

Rasashastra (Alchemy and Herbo-Mineral preparations)

Source: Wisdom Library: Rasa-艣膩stra

1) Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�) is a Sanskrit technical term corresponding to 鈥淪ulphur鈥�, which is a naturally occurring non-metallic chemical element (symbol S). It is commonly used in 搁补蝉补艣腻蝉迟谤补 literature (Medicinal Alchemy) such as the 搁补蝉补辫谤补办腻艣补蝉耻诲丑腻办补谤补 or the Rasaratna-samuccaya. Gandhaka is an ingredient often used in various Ayurvedic recipes and Alchemical preparations.

2) Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�, 鈥渟ulphur鈥�):鈥擮ne of the eight uparasa (鈥榮econdary minerals鈥�), a group of eight minerals, according to the 搁补蝉补辫谤补办腻艣补蝉耻诲丑腻办补谤补: a 13th century Sanskrit book on Indian alchemy, or, 搁补蝉补艣腻蝉迟谤补.

There are two varieties of Sulphur (gandhaka)

艢惫别迟补驳补苍诲丑补办补 (鈥榳hite sulphur鈥�),
笔墨迟补驳补苍诲丑补办补 (鈥榶ellow sulphur鈥�),
Raktagandhaka (鈥榬ed sulphur鈥�),
碍峁涐梗峁嘺驳补苍诲丑补办补 (鈥檅lack sulphur鈥�)

3) Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�) or Gandhakarasa is the name of an Ayurvedic recipe defined in the fourth volume of the Rasajalanidhi (chapter 3, 驳谤补丑补峁嚹�: chronic diarrhoea). These remedies are classified as Iatrochemistry and form part of the ancient Indian science known as 搁补蝉补艣腻蝉迟谤补 (medical alchemy). However, since it is an ayurveda treatment it should be taken with caution and in accordance with rules laid down in the texts.

Accordingly, when using such recipes (e.g., gandhaka-rasa): 鈥渢he minerals (uparasa), poisons (惫颈峁), and other drugs (except herbs), referred to as ingredients of medicines, are to be duly purified and incinerated, as the case may be, in accordance with the processes laid out in the texts.鈥� (see introduction to Iatro chemical medicines)

: Google Books: Alchemical Traditions

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�, 鈥榮ulfur鈥�, lit.: 鈥渢hat which is aromatic鈥�):鈥擜ccording to the Ras膩r峁嘺va and Rasaratnasamucchaya, sulfur (gandhaka) is the menstrual emission of the great Goddess, which flowed into the Ocean of Milk while she was bathing there. When the Gods and Asuras later churned that ocean, her blood rose to the surface, together with the 补尘峁泃补 (鈥渘ectar of immortality鈥�).

: archive.org: Rasa-Jala-Nidhi: Or Ocean of indian chemistry and alchemy

Gandhaka refers to 鈥淪ulphur鈥�. (see Bhudeb Mookerji and his Rasajalanidhi)

: Indian Journal of History of Science: Rasaprak膩艣a-sudh膩kara, chapter 6

Gandhaka (sulphur).鈥擣our varieties of Gandhaka have been told by the ancient S奴r墨 (scholars):

艢veta (white),
P墨ta (yellow),
Rakta (red),
K峁涐梗峁嘺 (black).

The Vip膩ka of sulphur is madhura, its Karmas are 谤补蝉腻测补苍补, 诲墨辫补苍补, 惫颈峁h膩, 谤补蝉补艣辞峁峁嘺, 蝉奴迟补惫墨谤测补-辫谤补诲补 (potentiates mercury-powers/effects), destroys 办峁沵颈谤辞驳补 (worms), cures visarpa, 办补峁囜笉耻 and 办耻峁ａ弓丑补谤辞驳补蝉, and 腻尘腻箩墨谤峁嘺 (indigestion due to 腻尘腻诲辞峁), if it is mixed with mercury definitely converts it into 尘奴谤肠肠丑颈迟补 state (compound suitable for destroying diseases), its origin is similar to the menstrual flow of Goddess P膩rvat墨. As this very charming Sulphur is taken internally by the king Bali for acquiring more strength hence it is also called Balivas膩.

It stimulates 办腻尘补 (sexual desire), destroys 办峁测补, 辫腻峁囜笉耻, du峁ａ弓a-驳谤补丑补峁嚹�, 艣奴濒补谤辞驳补, 艣惫腻蝉补 and 办腻蝉补-谤辞驳补, cures 补尘腻箩墨谤峁嘺 (indigestion due to 腻尘补诲辞峁) and induces laghutva (lightness) in the body and what more except lord 艢a峁卥ara none else could describe the properties of sulphur.

: Ancient Science of Life: Critical Review of Rasaratna Samuccaya

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�) refers to 鈥渟ulphur鈥�, and mentioned in the Rasaratnasamuccaya: a 13th century C.E. alchemical treatise, authored by V膩gbha峁璦, is a useful compilation related to preparation and properties of drugs of mineral and metallic origin.

Kalpa (Formulas, Drug prescriptions and other Medicinal preparations)

: archive.org: Science And Technology In Medievel India (kalpa)

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�) or Gandhakakalpa refers to Kalpa (medicinal preparation) described in the 础耻峁诲丑颈办补濒辫补, as mentioned in A. Rahman鈥檚 Science and Technology in Medievel India: A bibliography of source materials in Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian.鈥擜ncient and medieval India produced a wide range of scientific manuscripts and major contributions lie in the field of medicine, astronomy and mathematics, besides covering encyclopedic glossaries and technical dictionaries.鈥擳he 础耻峁诲丑颈办补濒辫补 is a medical work of the type of Materia Medica giving twenty-six medical preparations [e.g., Gandhaka-kalpa] to be used as patent medicines against various diseases.

Unclassified Ayurveda definitions

: Ancient Science of Life: Vaidyavallabha: An Authoritative Work on Ayurveda Therapeutics

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�) refers to 鈥渟ulphur鈥� and is mentioned as an ingredient of metallic drugs for the treatment of P膩ma and Dadru, as mentioned in the 17th-century Vaidyavallabha (chapter 3 and 8) written by Hastiruci.鈥擳he Vaidyavallabha is a work which deals with the treatment and useful for all 8 branches of Ayurveda. The text Vaidyavallabha (mentioning gandhaka) has been designed based on the need of the period of the author, availability of drugs during that time, disease manifesting in that era, socio-economical-cultural-familial-spiritual-aspects of that period Vaidyavallabha.

: gurumukhi.ru: Ayurveda glossary of terms

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�):鈥擺gandhaka峁僝 Element sulphur with chemical symbol S with At. no 16

context information

膧yurveda (啶嗋く啷佮ぐ啷嵿さ啷囙う, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of 膧yurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.

General definition (in Hinduism)

: WikiPedia: Hinduism

In the 谤补蝉补艣腻蝉迟谤补 tradition, sulfur is called gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�, literally 鈥渢he smelly鈥�). Indian alchemists, practitioners of 鈥渢he science of mercury鈥� (sanskrit 谤补蝉补艣腻蝉迟谤补, 啶班じ啶多ぞ啶膏啶む啶�), wrote extensively about the use of sulfur in alchemical operations with mercury (rasa), from the eighth century AD onwards.

Biology (plants and animals)

: Google Books: CRC World Dictionary (Regional names)

Gandhaka in India is the name of a plant defined with Moringa ovalifolia in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Moringa moringa Small (among others).

Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):

· Synopseos Plantarum (Persoon) (1805)
· Prodr. (DC.) (1825)
· Neue und wenig bekannte Pflanzen Deutsch-S眉dwestAfrikas (1914)
· De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum (1791)
· Bulletin de la Soci茅t茅 Botanique de France (1963)
· Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (1984)

If you are looking for specific details regarding Gandhaka, for example side effects, health benefits, diet and recipes, pregnancy safety, chemical composition, extract dosage, have a look at these references.

context information

This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.

Languages of India and abroad

Marathi-English dictionary

: DDSA: The Molesworth Marathi and English Dictionary

gandhaka (啶椸啶о).鈥攎 (S) Sulphur. 2 A certain medicinal compound.

: DDSA: The Aryabhusan school dictionary, Marathi-English

gandhaka (啶椸啶о).鈥�m Sulphur.

context information

Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.

Sanskrit dictionary

: DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�).鈥擲ulphur.

Derivable forms: 驳补苍诲丑补办补岣� (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶曕).

: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�).鈥攎.

(-办补岣�) 1. Sulphur. 2. The morunga tree, (M. hyperanthera, &c.) see 艣辞产丑腻帽箩补苍补. E. kan added to the preceding.

: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�).鈥擺feminine] 颈办腻 smelling of (鈥斅�).

: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1) Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�):鈥擺from gandha] mf(颈办腻)n. ifc. 鈥榟aving the smell of, scenting鈥� See aja-, avi-

2) [v.s. ...] m. ([gana] 蝉迟丑奴濒腻诲颈, [Ga峁嘺ratna-mahodadhi 182]) 鈥榩erfumes鈥� See -pe峁＞卑炷�

3) [v.s. ...] sulphur

4) [v.s. ...] Hyperanthera Moringa, [cf. Lexicographers, esp. such as amarasi峁僪a, hal膩yudha, hemacandra, etc.]

: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�):鈥�(办补岣�) 1. m. Sulphur; Morunga.

[Sanskrit to German]

context information

Sanskrit, also spelled 啶膏啶膏啶曕啶むぎ啷� (蝉补峁僺办峁泃补尘), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.

Hindi dictionary

: DDSA: A practical Hindi-English dictionary

Ga峁僤haka (啶椸啶о) [Also spelled gandhak]:鈥�(nm) sulphur; ~[ka k膩 tej膩ba/~k膩mla] sulphuric acid; ~[办墨] sulphury, sulphurous.

context information

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Kannada-English dictionary

: Alar: Kannada-English corpus

Ga峁僤haka (嗖椸矀嗖о矔):鈥擺noun] a pale-yellow, non-metallic chemical element found in crystalline or amorphous form, which burns with a blue flame and a stifling odour and is used in vulcanizing rubber and in making matches, paper, gunpowder, insecticides, sulphuric acid, etc. (symbol, S; at. wt., 32.064; at. no., 16; sp. gr. 2.07); sulphur; brimstone.

context information

Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.

Nepali dictionary

: unoes: Nepali-English Dictionary

Gandhaka (啶椸え啷嵿ぇ啶�):鈥攏. Geol. sulphur; brim-stone;

context information

Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.

Relevant text

Search found 26 books and stories containing Gandhaka, Gamdhaka, Ga峁僤haka, Gandha-ka; (plurals include: Gandhakas, Gamdhakas, Ga峁僤hakas, kas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Gandhka jarana's role in samguna and sadaguna rasa sindura prep. < [Volume 14 (issue 1-2), Jul-Dec 1994]

Pharmaceutical study of Yashadabhasma < [Volume 31 (issue 3), Jan-Mar 2012]

An experimental study on makaradhwaja < [Volume 16 (issue 4), Apr-Jun 1997]

+ 22 more chapters / show preview

A review article on gandhaka kalpas in rasasastra < [2019, Issue 6, June]

Ntroduction and pharmaceutical study of gandhaka (sulphur) < [2016, Issue VII July]

Pharmaceutical standarization of yogaamruto rasa < [2016, Issue VIII August]

+ 184 more chapters / show preview

A review of an important mineral gandhaka < [2021: Volume 10, September issue 11]

Critical review of gandhaka vati < [2023: Volume 12, February issue 3]

Review paper on gandhaka < [2020: Volume 9, October special issue 13]

+ 255 more chapters