The Triggers of Transformation

This article studies the comprehensive medico-alchemical Tamil text Six Hundred Verses by Siddhar Yākōpu. Through an analysis of selected sections of this text, the article explores the discourse on the preparation called cavukkāram. Cavukkāram seems to be crucial for the medico-alchemical system exposited in the book, where it is portrayed as a potent catalyst that enables both alchemical operations on inanimate matter and remarkable transformations of human beings. The article explores the recipes, powers, and further processing for cavukkāram, drawing out ambiguities and inconsistencies in the discourse on the substance and the equivocalness of the text. It concludes that Six Hundred Verses describes, among other things, several different methods of preparing a substance called cavukkāram; the vocabulary in the recipes is highly ambiguous, and certain ingredients are presented as rare and difficult to attain – all of which adds to the obscurity of the discourse.