The T. M. S S. M. Library. Thanjavur has been rendering useful service for over twenty years in the preservation and propagation of ancient Indian culture by bringing out from the dark unfathomed caves of its literary ocean many a gem of purest ray serene. While the previous publication s of the Library may be called gems in It metaphorical sense here is a work literally on gems the RATNA PARIKSA.
Two of the works which are got up together in this small volume were originally published in the year L958 as serial articles in the T.M.S.S.M. Library Journal with text in Devanagari and a lucid translation into Tamil by Thiru K. S. Subramanya Sastri, who was a Sansnkrit Pandit in the Library and has edited many works especially on Mantra and Silpa Sastras for the Library. The booklets were first released as off-prints from the Journal; and now, they are placed before the public in book form. The book has been revised, enlarged and re-edited by Professor V. Gopala Iyengar, our Librarian a leading scholar in Sanskrit English and Tamil. The text has been improved in several cases with reference to the original manuscripts the translations have been modified wherever necessary and extracts from some other manuscripts on the same subject and an informative introduction in English have been added. Exhaustive tables of content both in Sanskrit and Tamil have been provided for the benefit of such among the readers who may like to have a taste by a sip of the contents before drinking deep.
As the subject is one of common interest. it is fervently hoped the publication will he welcomed not only by the scholars and specialists in Gemmology but also by the general public who are interested in the knowledge of our ancient lore about gems.
The word RATNA derived from Sanskrit root RAM denotes philologically an object of delight or a coveted object. In this sense, it occurs in the first stanza of Rigveda, the earliest available literary utterance There Agni the God of fire is invoked as RATNADHATAMA the greatest conferrer of all coveted objects. The word has been subsequently used to denote the best object in any species, in compound words Iike NARIRATNA, the best among ladies, SUKTIRATNA, the noblest among wise saying etc. In its most general connotation, the word denotes adjectively any precious object. As a common noun it signifies the precious stones, or gems characterized by brilliance and lustre and it is in this sense that the word finds its place in the title of this book.
Since gems, on account of their charming colour and brilliant lustre, have been used as articles of ornament and decoration from very ancient times the need for testing their purity and of correctly evaluating their worth has also engaged the attention of the wise men of the past and many works on this Subject have appeared at different ages from the distant past. The need for such treatises become more imperat ive as there existed and still exists a popular belief that certain categories of defect in the gems produce serious evil consequences and that the presence of certain kinds of merit is conducive to great auspiciousness and prosperity for the wearer his dependants, his home and even his environment. It is also believed that the different gems are associated with the several planets and that by wearing one or another of these gems, the beneficent effect is enhanced and the malefic effects mitigated of the respective planet, Gems have their role to play In Medical Science as well, since some gems are used as components of medicinal preparation's and all gems have their curative faculties in psychic therapy. Thus a study of the science of testing gems is a necessary and profitable pursuit for the jeweller with his commercial motive the physician with his pharmaceutical purpose and the connoisseur and the beauty culturist with his artistic taste.
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