Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c39.s1.4

v2.c39.s1.4

The word for charcoal namely *aṅgāra* appears in the *B.Up.*, 3.9.18 in connection with the instrument tong or *aṅgāra-abakṣayanam* which was used to handle hot pieces of charcoal in a furnace. The word *bhastrā* meant leather-bag in *Ś.Brā* (1.1.2.7, 1.6.3.16), and eventually it also meant the leather bellow used to blow air into a furnace. *Dhmātri* meant bellow, blow pipe, and the smelter — *prathamā vibhakti dhmātā* in *RV*, 5.9.5. *Dhmātri* has also been used in *saptamī vibhakti* meaning ‘in the furnace of smelting’. The act of smelting or melting is mentioned in the Vedic literature (*RV*, 4.2.17, *Ś.Brā*, 6.1.3.5).