Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c40.s4.4

v2.c40.s4.4

It was realised in ancient India that preparation of material such as somajuice, surā, gold, copper, etc. often involved separation from impurities or purification. The first two alphabets in ‘pure’, namely pu meant ‘to purify’. The link between the European word and the Sanskritic origin is so obvious. Pūta meant ‘cleaned or purified’ (Pāṇ. 6.2.187), and pāva stood for ‘purifying, clarifying or cleaning’ (Pāṇ., 3.3.28 and 49). The words derived from pāva strongly suggest how a particular kind of purification may take place. Niṣpāva, for example, stands for winnowing as well as a step of purification which involves (ni or) downward movement. We have explained that winnowing does involve differential downward movements of particles of different sizes and densities.