Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Lapis lazuli (Lazurite), of the silicate mineral (feldspathoid; sodalite group) family. A massive, deep azure-blue rock flecked with brassy pyrite and white calcite; native range: contact-metamorphosed limestone, classically the mines of Badakhshan in the Hindu Kush, whence the stone travelled to India and the West. Globally recognized as rajavarta, rajapatta in Sanskrit, lajward, lajwart in Hindi/Urdu, and lapis lazuli, lazurite in English. The part used is the purified and incinerated stone (rajavarta bhasma), or its levigated preparation (pishti). Deep ultramarine blue, dense and opaque, spangled with gold-coloured pyrite and veined with white; cool and heavy in the hand.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
LAPIS LAZULI
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- lapis lazuli
- Scientific name
- Lazurite (the blue species of the lapis lazuli rock)
- Family
- silicate mineral (feldspathoid; sodalite group)
Form
- Part used
- the purified and incinerated stone (rajavarta bhasma), or its levigated preparation (pishti)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- rasayana (rejuvenative), chakshushya (good for the eyes), balya (strengthening), and vishaghna (counters poison)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- the unpurified or incompletely incinerated stone is never given internally
- Toxicity
- the raw rock carries pyrite and other accessory minerals; only a complete shodhana and marana render it fit for use
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