Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.24.17

tato 'dhastād vitale haro bhagavān hātakeśvarah sva-pārshada-bhūta-ganāvritah prajāpati-sargopabrimhanāya bhavo bhavānyā saha mithunī-bhūta āste yatah pravrittā sarit-pravarā hātakī nāma bhavayor vīryena yatra citrabhānur mātariśvanā samidhyamāna ojasā pibati tan nishthyūtam hātakākhyam suvarnam bhūshanenāsurendrāvarodheshu purushāh saha purushībhir dhārayanti

SYNONYMS

tatah — the planet Atala; adhastāt — beneath; vitale — on the planet; harah — Lord Śiva; bhagavān — the most powerful personality; hātakeśvarah — the master of gold; sva-pārshada — by his own associates; bhūta-gana — who are ghostly living beings; āvritah — surrounded; prajāpati-sarga — of the creation of Lord Brahmā; upabrimhanāya — to increase the population; bhavah — Lord Śiva; bhavānyā saha — with his wife, Bhavānī; mithunī-bhūtah — being united in sex; āste — remains; yatah — from that planet (Vitala); pravrittā — being emanated; sarit-pravarā — the great river; hātakī — Hātakī; nāma — named; bhavayoh vīryena — due to the semina and ovum of Lord Śiva and Bhavānī; yatra — where; citra-bhānuh — the fire-god; mātariśvanā — by the wind; samidhyamānah — being brightly inflamed; ojasā — with great strength; pibati — drinks; tat — that; nishthyūtam — spit out with a hissing sound; hātaka-ākhyam — named Hātaka; suvarnam — gold; bhūshanena — by different types of ornaments; asura-indra — of the great asuras; avarodheshu — in the homes; purushāh — the males; saha — with; purushībhih — their wives and women; dhārayanti — wear.

TRANSLATION

The next planet below Atala is Vitala, wherein Lord Śiva, who is known as the master of gold mines, lives with his personal associates, the ghosts and similar living entities. Lord Śiva, as the progenitor, engages in sex with Bhavānī, the progenitress, to produce living entities, and from the mixture of their vital fluid the river named Hātakī is generated. When fire, being made to blaze by the wind, drinks of this river and then sizzles and spits it out, it produces gold called Hātaka. The demons who live on that planet with their wives decorate themselves with various ornaments made from that gold, and thus they live there very happily.

PURPORT

It appears that when Bhava and Bhavānī, Lord Śiva and his wife, unite sexually, the emulsification of their secretions creates a chemical which when heated by fire can produce gold. It is said that the alchemists of the medieval age tried to prepare gold from base metal, and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī also states that when bell metal is treated with mercury, it can produce gold. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī mentions this in regard to the initiation of low-class men to turn them into brāhmanas. Sanātana Gosvāmī said:

yathā kāñcanatām yāti

kāmsyam rasa-vidhānatah

tathā dīkshā-vidhānena

dvijatvam jāyate nrinām

"As one can transform kamsa, or bell metal, into gold by treating it with mercury, one can also turn a lowborn man into a brāhmana by initiating him properly into Vaishnava activities." The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is trying to turn mlecchas and yavanas into real brāhmanas by properly initiating them and stopping them from engaging in meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling. One who stops these four principles of sinful activity and chants the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra can certainly become a pure brāhmana through the process of bona fide initiation, as suggested by Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.

Apart from this, if one takes a hint from this verse and learns how to mix mercury with bell metal by properly heating and melting them, one can get gold very cheaply. The alchemists of the medieval age tried to manufacture gold, but they were unsuccessful, perhaps because they did not follow the right instructions.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness