Iron in Ancient India c4.25

c4.25

धमन्ति नदत्" । In Rig. VI. 3, 4 we have "इवि: न द्रावयति" meaning as a melter causes to melt.' commentaries I have formed the opinion that the passage refers to the following six metals, viz. silver (hiranya), gold (ayas), iron (shyām), copper (loha), lead (sisa) and tin (trapu). The word ‘hiranya’ ordinarily means gold, but as the commentator Mahidhar points out that it means ‘silver’ also, I have preferred this meaning in order to make sense. Sāyana in many passages has taken ‘ayas’ for gold, and I have adopted his interpretation here. The word ‘shyām’ meaning ‘black’ evidently means iron, and the word ‘loha’ or ‘lohitāyas’ means, as has been pointed out, copper.