Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c5.6

v2.c5.6

Araṇī is the designation, in the Ṛigveda¹ and later,² of the two pieces of wood used in producing the sacrificial fire by friction. The upper (*uttarā*) and the lower (*adharā*) are distinguished.³ The upper, in the form of a drill, is made of the hard wood of the Aśvattha,⁴ the lower, in the form of a slab, of the soft wood of the Śamī.⁵ The drill is twirled forcibly (*sahasā*)⁶ backwards and forwards with the arms (*bāhu-bhyām*)⁷ by means of cords (*raśanābhiḥ*).⁸ The action doubtless resembled that by which butter is separated from milk in India at the present day, the same verb (*math*, ‘twirl,’ ‘churn’)⁹ being used for both processes. This method of producing the sacrificial fire still survives in India. Specimens of the modern apparatus may be seen in the Indian Institute and in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford.