19-08-2014, 02:56 PM
Brhatsamhita of Varaha-Mihira (5-6th century AD) describes the materials and methods of perfumes in chapter Gandhayukti. This chapter explains GandhÃâÃÂrnava (perfume ocean), wherein it provides a matrix of 4ÃÆââ¬â4, i.e. total 16 ingredients, choosing any 4 of them along any row, column or diagonal and permuted variously at will and that in one, 2, 3 or 4 parts provide 1,820 different compositions of perfumes.
Brhatsamhita of Varaha-Mihira (5-6th century AD) describes the materials and methods of perfumes in chapter Gandhayukti. This chapter explains GandhÃâÃÂrnava (perfume ocean), wherein it provides a matrix of 4×4, i.e. total 16 ingredients, choosing any 4 of them along any row, column or diagonal and permuted variously at will and that in one, 2, 3 or 4 parts provide 1,820 different compositions of perfumes. Though the chapter gives the details of raw materials, but it has not given the process of preparation and purification. In the study, an attempt was made to prepare perfumes using 8 of 16 ingredients with different permutations. Paper presents a primary study to explore the possibility and feasibility of perfume preparation as described in Brhatsamhita.
Keywords: Ancient technology, Brhatsamhita, Varaha-Mihira, Perfume