# Brahma-rasāyana > Brahma-rasāyana is a classical rasāyana preparation set out in Caraka's Cikitsā-sthāna 1.1, verses 41 to 57, where two forms of it are given. Caraka's own dosing rule is the amount that does not disturb digestion, followed by śāṣṭika rice with milk. The record marks it vaidya-only. ## Key facts - **Sanskrit name:** Brahma-rasāyana ## What it is Brahma-rasāyana is a compound rasāyana preparation, not a procedure done to the body. The source record files it under the rasāyana category with the subcategory dravya, meaning the substance itself is the therapy, and glosses it as a medhya protocol. It is taken as a course rather than as a single dose. ## Where it comes from in the classical literature Caraka Cikitsā-sthāna 1.1, the Abhaya-āmalakīya rasāyana pāda, verses 41 to 57. This checks out: the Caraka Samhita Online edition places the Brahma Rasayana formulation and its closing phalaśruti at exactly 1.1.41-57. Caraka gives two preparations under the name in this pāda. The same pāda also contains other well-known rasāyana formulations, including Cyavanaprāśa, which is why the two are sometimes confused. A striking detail of the second preparation: translations record that scholars versed in the Atharvaveda perform rites over it during a fortnight-long burial of the preparation. ## What the classical text says about taking it Caraka's instruction is that the preparation should be used at the proper time and in the proper dose, and he defines proper dose functionally rather than numerically. Verse 52: the proper dose is that which does not disturb the digestion of the food. Verse 53: when the drug is digested, the patient should take śāṣṭika rice with milk. One published translation of the second preparation gives a starting quantity of about 6 g, increased gradually day by day, with śāṣṭika rice, milk and ghee taken after it has digested. The source record instead states "5-10 g with milk, morning empty stomach; reduce intake during illness". That does not match the classical passage, which ties the dose to digestion rather than to a fixed range, and which describes food taken after digestion rather than an empty-stomach rule. The record's figures are reproduced here as the database's claim, not as a dose to follow. ## Why it is vaidya-only The record marks it vaidya-only, and Caraka's own framing supports that. The dose in the text is not a number but a judgement about a particular person's digestion at a particular time, which is a clinician's call. The record adds that intake is reduced during illness, and gives no course length, season or frequency at all. Nothing here amounts to a self-administration protocol. --- Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/practice/brahma-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.