History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c39.s4.7

c39.s4.7

First there is fire or the light-and-heat emitted by the burning log of wood or lamp. Now it is important to note that the flame of a burning log of wood or of an oil lamp is not pure *tejas*, a pure mass of light-and-heat-corpuscles. There is chemical union with earth-particles (particles of the hard *penta-tanmatric* substance) acted on by Energy; and then the *tejas* corpuscles, light-and-heat-particles which are latent (absorbed) therein, come forth as flame. Then there is the light of the sun and the stars, which are flaming masses of molten viscous matters or of molten earthy matters There is also the lightning, which liberates a kind of *tejas* latent in the aqueous particles and vapours, under the action of Energy, in the same way as an ordinary fire liberates the *tejas* latent in the wood or other fuel. Next, there are the stores of animal heat derived from the break-up of the nutritive material. Lastly there comes the peculiar form of the *tejas* Energy (radiant Energy), stored up in the metalliferous ores and igneous rocks, which have been formed in the subterranean heat. Here earthy matters are mixed up, but the radiant energy predominates in the composition of the metals. Aniruddha, a late Samkhya commentator, notes in reference to igneous bodies that the greater part of their mass is derived from the *earth-bhuta*, though the *tejas* particles determine the peculiar chemical combination, which produces them; and this must also be his view of the composition of the metals.