Thread by @MumukshuSavitri

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Ravana was the villain of Ramayana, but he was an extremely learned Brahmana. Did you know he was considered a foremost expert on chemistry in ancient India? In Rasa Jala Nidhi, renowned Ayurvedic doctor, Bhudeb Mokkerjee elaborates on Ravana’s achievements in chemistry.

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Ravana was the only one who could prepare an extremely rare formula for a famous aphrodisiac & tonic known as “Madanananda Modaka”. This concoction for enhancing fertility & stamina, contained over 50 rarest of the rare herbs combined with mercury, sulphur, and mica.

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Ravana also invented medicines named “Pratapa Lankesvara,” “Lankesvara Rasa”, & “Lanka- dhipesvara Rasa”. These contained incinerated mercury, an extremely difficult ingredient to process, with mica, sulphur, orpiment etc., as an excellent remedy for leprosy & skin diseases

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Ravana was the author of the renowned text “Arka-prakasha”. The Arka-Prakasha contained references to the treatment of syphillis which is called “Phiranga” disease. Some modern scholars discredited the Arka-Prakasha to be of modern origin because of this reference.

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The word Phiranaga supposedly refers to the French foreigners (“Pheringees” - contraction of “French”) But clearly this assumption is false—the French were not the first Europeans to come to India. The word “Phirangaroga” is actually a corruption of “Priyanga roga”

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“Priyanga” means the limb which is dear. “Priyanga-roga” therefore, means the disease pertaining to the dear limb, i.e., syphilis. Another name for this disease was Upadangsha—a name used in Charaka Samhita & other ancient treatises.

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The epithet Pheringee (or Priyangi) was coined because the “Priyanga” disease was more prevalent amongst the promiscuous Europeans who came to India. An elaborate treatment of this disease is found in many Ayurvedic treatises composed long before the arrival of the Europeans.

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The sheer scope of his knowledge in chemistry made Ravana or Lankeshvara one of the most famous scientists of ancient India. It is a testament to the scholarly integrity of ancient Hindus that Ravana was given his due fame & respect, despite his infamy as a villain.

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In an earlier thread, I had also elaborated on Bhudeb Mukerjee's description of the achievements of Shree Ramachandra of Ayodhya or Dandakanatha who also wrote many books demonstrating his superlative knowledge in the field of chemical sciences.