Alberuni
(973–ca.1050 C.E.) Anglicized version
of the name of Abu Rayhan Biruni, a
central Asian scholar-scientist who
was one of the greatest intellectual fig-
ures of his time. Alberuni was a mem-
ber of the court of King Mahmud of
Ghazni—by most accounts, quite
reluctantly—and was forced to accom-
pany Mahmud on some of his pillag-
ing raids in India. Alberuni used this
involuntary “fieldwork” as an opportu-
nity to study Hindu life, culture, and
sciences, and his work shows him to
be a perceptive, careful, and dispas-
sionate observer. In 1030 C.E. he pub-
lished his findings in his Tahqiq ma
li’l-Hind, which was translated in 1888
by Edward Sachau as Alberuni’s India.
An abridged edition edited by Ainslee
Embree was published in 1971.
Alchemy
Esoteric tradition that seeks to trans-
form, transmute, and perfect the
body through the use of various
chemicals, with the ultimate goal of
rendering the body immortal. Both
Hindus and Buddhists have alchemical
schools. The reported difference
between the Buddhist rasayanaschool
and the Hindu dhatuvada school is
that the latter is solely materially
based, whereas the former stresses
meditation to gain final enlighten-
ment. These two schools agree on
many basic points of alchemy.
Hindu alchemists view the world as
a series of bipolar opposites in tension
with one another, and they are con-
vinced that unifying these opposing
forces brings spiritual progress and
the end of reincarnation (samsara).
Hindu alchemy shares this model of
uniting or transcending opposing
forces with Hindu tantra, an esoteric,
ritually based system of religious prac-
tice, and with hatha yoga, which is
based on a series of physical exercises
that are also believed to affect the sub-
tle body. Although all three traditions
share a common assumption, they
prescribe different forms of practice to
effect the final goal: in tantra, ritual; in
hatha yoga, physical exercises; and in
alchemy, physical consumption of var-
ious substances.
In the alchemical tradition, the
governing metaphor for this combina-
tion of opposites is the union of sun
and moon. In Hindu tradition the sun
and moon are connected to other
opposing principles through an elabo-
rate series of associations. The sun is
identified with heat, drying power,
fire, Shakti, and menstrual blood; the
moon with coolness, healing power,
water, Shiva, and semen. In alchemi-
cal practice the two essential chemical
elements are mercuryand sulfur—the
former identified with Shiva’s semen
and the latter with Shakti’s uterine
blood. By properly mixing and con-
suming these elements, the aspirant’s
body is purified and refined, eventually
rendering it immortal. Modern descrip-
tions of this practice invariably warn
that it should only be carried out
under the direction of one’s guru(spir-
itual teacher), since otherwise these
combinations will be harmful. This
warning is not surprising since mer-
cury is a deadly poison. For further
information see Shashibhushan B.
Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults,
1962; and David Gordon White, The
Alchemical Body, 1996.Alidhasana
(“shooting posture”) Bodily posture
(asana) characteristic of certain
images in Hindu iconography. This
position is like that of an archer draw-
ing a bow, in which one knee is thrown
forward, the other leg pushed back,
and the trunk twisted in the direction
of the front leg. The god Shivain his
manifestation as Tripurari, “the
destroyer of the Triple City,” is often
shown in this posture. The god Ramais
also portrayed in his warrior pose.Alberuni