Practical demonstration of Pottali

kalpana (Gandhaka druta)

By

Vd.Ramakrishna.V
Ayurved Vachaspati (Rasashastra)
Technical Supervisor Fourslab
 Iintroduction
 Aim:
 To create awareness towards rationality, utility and safety
of rasa¾¡stric medicines among Ayurveda community.
 To explore cost effective, productive methods for the
preparation of rasau½adhi with out loosing track the of
¾¡¾tra.
 Importance of Rasa¾¡stram
 ”rasam adh§k»tam ¾¡stram rasa¾¡stram”
Subject dealing with mercury ,allied substances and their
therapeutics is rasa¾¡stra.
alpam¡tropayogitv¡d aruchedaprasa±gata¦
k½ipram¡rogyad¡yitv¡d au½adhebyo adhiko rasa¦ |
na do½¡nam na rog¡n¡m samyageva pareek½aa³am
na de¾asysa kalasya k¡ryam rasa cikitsite ||
Rasa kalpas are popular during past and present because of lesser dosage
palatability and quickness in combating disease pathology. For advising
rasaou½adhas there is no need of examining in detail the do½as,dÀ½ya,
avasth¡,k¡la, de¾a,and vayah and just by assessing symptoms and by yukti
they can be advised.
 Pharmaceutics of rasa¾¡stra
 Pharmaceutics of rasa¾¡stra
 Pharmaceutics : Science of dosage form design.
 Defnition of Dosage:Physicial form of a dose of
medication is called dosage form.
 Samskarana of vijat§ya dravyas (Un assimable
Loh¡divarga) to sajat§ya (Assimable lohadivarga)
is au½adikara³a of rasa½¡stra.
 Sa¯sk¡ras of rasa½astra are ½odhana, MÀrchana,
M¡ra³a, Nirv¡pana, P¡cana, P¡tana etc
 Pharmaceutics of rasa¾¡stra
 Kharal§ya form
 Parpati form
 Kup§pakva form
 Pottal§ form

 Criteria for classification

 Properties of action ( Gurutva,Laghutva,Capacity of
penetration)
 Process (Exposure to heat)
 Target activity ( Ko½tagata,Sarva¾ar§ra)
 Discussion…

 All the processes of rasa½¡stra are basically

chemical reactions done at precisely controlled
temperatures. If we study the yantra prakarana of
Rashastra books various authors depicted various
yantras to control the reactions as per the
requirements for e.g. Damaru yantra, P¡tanayantra,
Kacchapayantra, I½tik¡ yantra and etc.
 Discussion…

 Yantra may be defined as a plan or a design or a

method or software with which a required task is
accomplished. So it’s not only physical equipments
but also the planning the yantra means. In other
words yantra is hardware and tantra is software
part of a program. So both of them are important
for a desired activity. .
 Pottali kalpana
Idea behind the conception of pottali:

 Vistaritasya vastuno alpibhavan¡m

pottam pottam lati g»hn¡ti iti pottali.
 Word pottali means to minimize, to
concise and to make compact.
 It can be defined as to collect
scattered materials in to compact
and comprehensive size. Otherwise
the kalpana or the processing which
give compactness to scattered
materials.
 Pottali kalpana
Specifications of pottali:

1. Ingredients – P¡rada,Ga¯dhaka,Loh¡divarga etc.

2. Binding agents - Kumar§ rasa,BabbÀla niry¡sa etc.
3. Shape – Puga phala ¡k¡ra, ¾ikhar¡k¡ra
4. Container- Aya¦ap¡tra, M»ttik¡p¡tra
5. Cloth – silk cloth in 1 – 4 layers
6. Quantity of sulphur for p¡ka
7. Nature of heat – Indirect heat by way of V¡luka or Lava³a
8. P¡ka lak½a³a – N§la½¡yamavar³a, Vyomavar³a, Metallic
sound & Burning of silk cloth.
9. Paka k¡la – 1 – 8 hours
10. Pasch¡t karma – Polishing of pottali.
 Pottali kalpana-Procedure
 Making of pottali: All the ingredients of
pottali are mixed well and triturated
with kum¡r§ rasa or babbÀla niry¡sa
and shaped as shikhar¡k¡ra or
pÀg¡k¡ra. Then they are dried in shade
avoiding cracks. These dried shapes
are wrapped in silk cloth and given the
shape of pottali.
 P¡ka of Pottali : Stainless steel vessel
is taken and arrangements are made
such that a rod can be kept on the walls
of the container to hang the pottali.
Pottali kalpana-Procedure
 The total pottali p¡tra is kept in sand
bath and a v¡luka yantra is made.
 Now to the container ¾uddha
Gandhaka is added and total v¡luk¡
yantra is heated.
 See that temperature should be
given to such an extent that only
sulphur starts melting. Note the
temperature of the molten sulphur
which should be 111O C – 120O C.
 Now immerse the pottali in to the
molten sulphur and tie the pottali
such that it is immersed in molten
sulphur with out touching the base
of the vessel.
 Pottali kalpana-Procedure
 The total pottali p¡tra is kept in sand
bath and a v¡luka yantra is made.
 Now to the container ¾uddha Gandhaka
is added and total v¡luk¡ yantra is
heated.
 See that temperature should be given
to such an extent that only sulphur
starts melting. Note the temperature of
the molten sulphur which should be
111O C– 120O C
 Now immerse the pottali in to the
molten sulphur and tie the pottali such
that it is immersed in molten sulphur
with out touching the base of the
vessel.
 Pottali kalpana-Procedure
 Pottali should be constantly
exposed to heat with a gradual
step rise ie 15O C for every 1 hour
till it rises to 210O C in 4 hours.
 Later the pottali is removed when
the molten sulphur temperature is
111O C and after cooling
(sv¡ngasheeta) the silk cloth is
removed carefully and excess
sulphur is scraped out with sharp
edge blade.
 The pottali attains metallic luster
and giving metallic sound when hit
with a metal object.
 Pottali kalpana
 Discuss......

 Thank you ... Vadya R¡mak»½³a