The short answer
Swarna bhasma is gold turned into a fine ash by grinding and heating it again and again with other substances. The formulary gives two methods. The first grinds the gold with mercury and burns it with sulphur fourteen times. The second grinds it with white arsenic (arsenic oxide), adding more arsenic at each of ten heatings. The formulary lists it as a rasayana (rejuvenative), for memory and for many conditions, from anaemia to epilepsy.
So a swarna bhasma product may have been made with mercury or with arsenic. Check the label for the method, and ask the maker if it does not say. We have not yet reviewed trials of it. In one case report from Nepal, a woman with hepatitis who took swarnabhasma with a herbal powder developed kidney damage that her doctors thought possibly due to the gold. Tell your doctor before you take it.
What is in it
The official recipe is in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, formulation 18:20 (printed pages 246-247).[1]
| Ingredient | Botanical name | Part used | Proportion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purification: svarna (gold) | - | - | As needed |
| Purification: taila (sesame oil) | - | Oil | As needed, for quenching the heated gold |
| Purification: takra (buttermilk) | - | - | As needed, for quenching |
| Purification: kanjika (sour rice gruel) | - | - | As needed, for quenching |
| Purification: gomutra (cow's urine) | - | - | As needed, for quenching |
| Purification: kulattha kashaya (horse gram decoction) | Dolichos biflorus | Seed | As needed, for quenching |
| Method (a): svarna (gold), purified | - | - | 1 part |
| Method (a): suta (parada, mercury), purified | - | - | 1 part |
| Method (a): gandhaka (sulphur), purified | - | - | 3 parts |
| Method (b): svarna (gold), purified | - | - | 1 part |
| Method (b): shveta mallaka (malla, white arsenic) | - | - | 1 part |
| Method (b): kanchanara drava (kachnar bark liquid) | Bauhinia variegata | Stem bark | As needed, for grinding |
| Method (b): tulasi svarasa (tulsi juice) | Ocimum sanctum | Whole plant | As needed, for grinding |
From the 2003 printed edition. In method (a), 1 part of sulphur is added at each of 14 heatings. In method (b), a quarter part of arsenic is added from the second heating on, over 10 heatings. These are inputs to the process, not a test of what remains in the finished ash.[1]
Classical source
Method (a) comes from the Rasendrasarasangraha, chapter 1, verses 255-256: purified mercury and gold in equal parts are ground into a ball, then sulphur is placed above and below and the ball is heated, fourteen times.[1]
Method (b) comes from the Rasamrita, chapter 3, verses 16-18. Gold powder and an equal amount of white malla are ground in kachnar and tulsi juice, made into small cakes and heated. From the second heating, a quarter measure of malla is added. The formulary also cites the Rasatarangini (15.11) for which gold is acceptable and the Rasa Prakasha Sudhakara (chapter 4) for why gold needs no special purification.[1]
What it is used for
- The formulary says it is used as a rasayana (rejuvenative), vajikara (for virility), medhya (for the intellect) and smriti vardhaka (to improve memory).[1]
- For method (a), it lists grahani (a chronic bowel disorder), amlapitta (acidity), hikka (hiccups), pandu (anaemia), shvasa (breathlessness), jvara (fever), dhatu kshaya (wasting), rajayakshma (tuberculosis), apasmara (epilepsy), hridroga (heart disease), unmada (mania) and loss of memory, among others.[1]
- For method (b), it lists kushtha (skin disease), unmada (mania), rajayakshma (tuberculosis), jara (ageing) and visha (poisoning).[1]
What the evidence says
Case reportDoctors in Lalitpur, Nepal, reported three people harmed by Ayurvedic medicines. One, a 35-year-old woman with hepatitis, took an Ayurvedic powder and swarnabhasma. Her liver injury worsened, possibly from plant alkaloids in the powder, and she developed nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder that leaks protein into the urine, which they thought possibly due to the gold. It is one person taking two products, so it cannot show the gold caused it.[3]
Safety notes
- Arsenic: the formulary's second method, marana (b), grinds gold with an equal amount of white arsenic (arsenic oxide) and adds more at each heating. A product made this way has been processed with arsenic.[2]
- Mercury: the first method, marana (a), grinds gold with an equal amount of mercury, then heats it with sulphur. A product made this way has been processed with mercury.[2]
- Neither method tells you what is left in the finished ash, and we found no test of residual mercury or arsenic in swarna bhasma. Ask the maker which method was used and whether batches are tested for heavy metals.[1]
- Indian law requires medicines with ingredients such as mercury (parada) to carry the label caution "to be taken under medical supervision".[5]
- In a 2008 US study of Ayurvedic medicines bought online, 40.6% of rasa shastra products (made with metals or minerals) contained lead, mercury or arsenic, against 17.1% of other products. That is a general survey, not a test of swarna bhasma.[4]
- The US FDA lists Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala's Swarnabhasmam Capsules under Import Alert 66-41 (February 2023). That alert allows detention of products marketed as unapproved new drugs. It is a regulatory action, not a lab finding of metals.[6]
Who makes it
Sold in India by makers including Dabur, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. We list names so you can match your bottle to this page. We do not recommend or sell any brand.
Withheld until review
Questions people ask
Is swarna bhasma pure gold?
The formulary processes gold with mercury and sulphur, or with white arsenic. These inputs do not establish the purity of the finished ash. No source we reviewed measured its final composition.[1]
What are the side effects of swarna bhasma?
We have not yet reviewed studies that count side effects in people. The one human report we reviewed describes kidney damage in a woman who took swarnabhasma with a herbal powder, possibly due to the gold.[3]
Related
Saraswatarishta
A fermented brahmi tonic with gold leaf, listed for memory, speech, epilepsy and the mind. It contains alcohol from fermentation, plus sugar and honey.
FormulationTribhuvan Kirti Rasa
A fever tablet that contains mercury (as cinnabar), aconite and Datura juice. We have not found a study of it in people.
FormulationHridayarnava Rasa
A rasa medicine of mercury, sulphur and copper ash, listed for a classical type of heart disease. Take it only under medical supervision.
FormulationLaxmivilas Ras
A rasa tablet whose official recipe is one tenth mercury by weight, with sulphur, mica bhasma, camphor and Datura seed.
Sources
- Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I, 2nd revised English edition, 2003. Svarna Bhasma, 18:20, printed pages 246-247.
- Ayurvedic Formulary of India, Part I. List of single drugs of mineral origin: Malla and Shvetamalla, arsenic oxide (white arsenic); Parada, mercury; Gandhaka, sulphur.
- Paudyal B, Thapa A, Sigdel KR, Adhikari S, Basnyat B. Adverse events with ayurvedic medicines: possible adulteration and some inherent toxicities. Wellcome Open Res. 2019;4:23. PMID 31641694.
- Saper RB, Phillips RS, Sehgal A, et al. Lead, mercury, and arsenic in US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines sold via the Internet. JAMA. 2008;300(8):915-23. PMID 18728265.
- Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation. Drugs Rules, 1945 (compilation 2022), Rule 161(2) and Schedule E(1): label caution "to be taken under medical supervision".
- US Food and Drug Administration. Import Alert 66-41, entry for Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala, Swarnabhasmam Capsules, 16 February 2023.
Updated 4 November 2026
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