Editing Elixir of life (section)

=== India ===

[[File:Mohini with amrit.jpg|thumb|[[Mohini]], the female form of [[Vishnu]], holding the pot of amrita, which she distributes amongst all the [[deva (Hinduism)|devas]], leaving the [[asura]]s without it. [[Darasuram]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India|alt=A stone carving of a standing woman with a pot in her left hand and lotus in right]]

[[Amrita]], the elixir of life, has been described in [[Hindu scriptures]]. In the [[Puranas]], that due to the defeat of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]] at the hands of the [[asura]]s, both power-seeking races, the preserver deity [[Vishnu]] asked the devas to [[Samudra Manthana|churn the ocean of milk]], so that they may retrieve amrita to empower themselves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaturvedi |first=B. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8m441zg_KgC&dq=churning+of+the+ocean+purana&pg=PA25 |title=Vishnu Purana |date=2006 |publisher=Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7182-673-5 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref>

Mercury, which was so vital to alchemy everywhere, is first mentioned in the 4th- to 3rd-century BC [[Arthashastra]], about the same time it is encountered in China and in the West. Evidence of the idea of transmuting base metals to gold appears in 2nd- to 5th-century AD Buddhist texts, about the same time as in the West.

It is also possible that the alchemy of medicine and immortality came to China from India, or vice versa; in any case, for both cultures, gold-making appears to have been a minor concern, and medicine the major concern. But the elixir of immortality was of little importance in India (which had other avenues to immortality). The Indian elixirs were mineral remedies for specific diseases or, at the most, to promote long life.