Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c39.10

v2.c39.10

The Ś. Brā continues the theory of material evolution: ‘From water was created foam, from foam to clay; clay gave rise to sand, then subsequent steps evolved pebble, stone, metal ore, and gold’. (Ś. Brā, 6.1.3.1-5) The Kaṭha Upaniṣad conceived of the smallest state of existence of matter, namely an aṇu or a molecule, and proposed that consciousness or the self is greater than the greatest and yet subtler than the smallest: