# Asthi-rasāyana

> Asthi-rasāyana is a rasāyana regimen directed at asthi dhātu, bone tissue, built in this record around a guggulu formulation, mineral piṣṭis, and milk taken with two cūrṇas. The classical citation attached to it does not hold up on checking, so treat this page as a lead rather than a sourced protocol.

## Key facts

- **Sanskrit name:** Asthi-rasāyana

## What the record describes

The source record classifies this as a rasāyana of the dravya (substance-based) kind, marked vaidya-only, and directed at asthi dhātu, the bone tissue. It lists two components:

- Lākṣādi Guggulu together with Pravāḷa or Mukta-piṣṭi, described in the record as support for asthi
- Daily milk taken with Aśvagandhā and Nāgabalā cūrṇa

That is the entirety of what the record contains. It gives no quantity, no duration, no frequency, no season, no preparatory or follow-up stage, no adverse events and no red flags.

## The citation does not hold

The record cites Caraka Cikitsāsthāna 1.4 and Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya Cikitsāsthāna 21. Both were checked, and neither supports what the record describes.

Caraka Cikitsāsthāna 1 is the Rasāyana Adhyāya, divided into four pādas. The fourth, Āyurveda-samutthānīya Rasāyana Pāda, is the one cited. It deals with the origin and transmission of Ayurveda, with Indrokta rasāyana, droṇīpraveśika and kuṭīpraveśika rasāyana, and with ācāra rasāyana, conduct as rejuvenation. It is not a bone-specific chapter. Nāgabalā rasāyana, one of the two cūrṇas the record names, does appear in Caraka Cikitsāsthāna 1, but in the second pāda, Prāṇakāmīya Rasāyana Pāda, not the fourth.

Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya Cikitsāsthāna 21 is the Vātavyādhi Cikitsita Adhyāya, on the management of vāta disorders. It is not a chapter on an asthi rasāyana protocol.

The formulations themselves also postdate those texts. Lākṣādi Guggulu is a Bhaiṣajya Ratnāvalī formulation, placed in its bhagna cikitsā (fracture) section. Pravāḷa and muktā piṣṭi belong to the rasaśāstra literature, texts such as Rasaratna Samuccaya and Rasataraṅgiṇī, which are considerably later than the Caraka Saṃhitā. A protocol assembled from these cannot be sourced to Caraka Cikitsā 1.4.

## What is named

Lākṣādi Guggulu; Pravāḷa piṣṭi; Mukta piṣṭi; Aśvagandhā cūrṇa; Nāgabalā cūrṇa; milk as the vehicle. Aśvagandhā and Nāgabalā are both classical rasāyana dravyas and have their own monographs on this site; the guggulu formulation and the two piṣṭis are compounded preparations rather than single dravyas.

## Why it is marked vaidya-only

This is a regimen of compounded internal medicines, including mineral preparations, taken daily over a period the record does not specify. Nothing in the record establishes who it is for, who it is not for, how much, or for how long. Combined with a citation that fails verification, that is not enough to act on. Anyone considering a bone-directed rasāyana should be assessed by a qualified vaidya, and any underlying bone problem needs a conventional diagnosis first rather than a regimen chosen from a description.

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Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/practice/asthi-rasayana/

Published by Age Ayurveda in the Nighantu. Educational reference only, not medical advice.
Incorporates material from the Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database under CC BY 4.0.