Bhaishajya Ratnavali

Author / compiler	Govind Das Sen
Composed	c. 1700–1750 CE

Significance for cosmetology

Bhaishajya Ratnavali (“Necklace of Medicines”) is an 18th-century Bengali compilation by Govind Das Sen. It is the direct source of many “Kumkumadi Tailam” recipes — the named formulation Kumkumadi Taila appears here in its mature form, having evolved from Sushruta Cikitsa 25.20 through medieval intermediates.

Other key cosmetic-relevant formulas first appearing in mature form in Bhaishajya Ratnavali:

• Mahanarayana Tailam (the most-elaborated Vata abhyanga recipe)
• Aragvadhadi Kashayam
• The Eladi Taila (oil-based version of Eladi-gana)

Extraction notes

⚠️ Not directly extracted in this formulary pass. Kumkumadi Tailam (the named formulation, as opposed to the Sushruta Cikitsa 25.20 precursor) is here represented by the Sushruta verbatim version with the saffron-prominent name. Bhaishajya Ratnavali’s exact ratios for Kumkumadi can be added in a future pass once the Kanjiv Lochan English translation is re-OCR’d or the Hindi commentary edition is processed.

Translations & editions

Translator	Year	Publisher	License
Kanjiv Lochan (English)	2006	Chaukhamba Sanskrit Sansthan	copyright

Recipes citing this source (1)

• Kumkumadi Tailam (classical oil version) · taila · face