Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/ptcc8pa
It is not uncommon to use Ferrous elements in Panchaloha murti. It is possible that the Meluhha gloss aduru signified on Indus Script inscriptions with the hieroglyph 'harrow' may relate to the description of कृष्ण kṛṣṇa -अयस्, 'black iron'. This colour of the alloy metallic ore is distinguished from syama ayas or lohita ayas to denote grey or brown coloured copper ores mixed with other red mineral ores, dhAtu.
Example of a Panchalohamurti."Panchaloha (Sanskrit Devanagari: पञ्चलोह; Tamil: பஞ்சலோகம், ஐம்பொன்(aimpon); IAST: pañcaloha;Tibetan: ལྕགས་རིགས་སྣ་ལྔ, Wylie: lcags rigs sna lnga) (also calledPanchaloham (malayalam: പഞ്ചലോഹം) , Panchdhatu - literally, "five metals") is a term for traditional five-metal alloysof sacred significance used for making Hindu temple idols (Murti)...In some traditions, particularly Tibetan, it was considered auspicious to use thokcha, meteorite iron; either as a component of the alloy in general, or for a specific object or purpose. The amount used could vary, depending upon the material's availability and suitability, among other considerations. A small, largely symbolic quantity of "sky-iron" might be added, or it might be included as a significant part of the alloy-recipe." 
| Widmanstätten pattern showing the two forms of nickel–iron minerals, kamacite and taenite |
I suggest that the compound expression कृष्ण kṛṣṇa -अयस्, 'black iron' signifies 'meteorite iron'. "Meteoric iron, sometimes meteoritic iron,is anative metal found in meteorites and made from the elements iron and nickel mainly in the form of the mineral phases kamacite and taenite...Meteoric iron was already used before the beginning of the iron age to make cultural objects, tools and weapons" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoric_iron Source: Waldbaum, J. C. and James D. Muhly; The first archaeological appearance of iron and the transition to the iron age chapter in The coming of the age of iron, Theodore A. Wertme. ed., Yale University Press, 1980,
(Monier-Williams)A compound expression is explained in Samskritam: अयस् ayas -काण्डः 1 an iron-arrow. -2 excellent iron. -3 a large quantity of iron. - कान्तः (अयस्कान्तः) 1 'beloved of iron', a magnet, load-stone; शम्भोर्यतध्वमाक्रष्टुमयस्कान्तेन लोहवत् Ku.2.59; स चकर्ष परस्मा- त्तदयस्कान्त इवायसम् R.17.63; U.4.21. अयस्कान्तमयः संक्रामति M. Bh. on P.III.1.7. -2 a precious stone; ˚मणिः a loadstone; अयस्कान्तमणिशलाकेव लोहधातुमन्तः- करणमाकृष्टवती Māl.1. (Samskritam. Apte)
कृष्ण kṛṣṇa -अयस्, n. -अयसम्, -आमिषम् iron, crude or black iron. -कृष्णायसस्येव च ते संहत्य हृदयं कृतम् Mb.5.135. 1; वाचारम्भणं विकारो नामधेयं कृष्णायसमित्येव सत्यम् Ch. Up. 6.1.6.
Thus, कृष्ण kṛṣṇa PLUS -अयस्, signifies 'black iron'. A Rigvedic synonym for soma is amśu. A cognate for the word amśu is recognised in Tocharian as ancu 'iron. George Pinault has found a cognate word in Tocharian, ancu which means 'iron'. I have argued in my book, Indian alchemy, soma in the Veda, that Soma was an allegory, 'electrum' (gold-silver compound). See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2011/10/itihasa-and-eagle-narratives.html for Pinault's views on ancu, amśu concordance.
See also: Gerd Carling, Georges-Jean Pinault, Werner Winter, 2008, Dictionary and thesaurus of Tocharian A,Volume 1, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. Georges-Jean Pinault, 2006, Further links between the Indo-Iranian substratum and the BMAC language in: Bertil Tikkanen & Heinrich Hettrich, eds., 2006, Themes and tasks in old and middle Indo-Aryan linguistics, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, pp. 167 to 196. "...we have Toch. A. *ancu 'iron', the basis of the derived adjective ancwaashi 'made of iron', to which corresponds Toch. B encuwo, with the parallel derived adjective encuwanne 'made of iron'...The two forms go back to CToch. oencuwoen- non.sg. *oencuwo, the final part of which is a regular product of IE *-on...This noun is deprived of any convincing IE etymology...The term Ved. ams'u-, Av . asu- goes back to a noun borrowed from some donor language of Central Asia, as confirmed by CToch. *oencuwoen-...the BMAC language would not belong to the Indo-European family; it does not seem to be related to Dravidian either...New identifications and reconstructions will certainly help to define more precisely the contours of the BMAC vocabulary in Indo-Iranian, as well as in Tocharian."(p.192)]
Pinault parallels amśu of Rigveda with añcu of Tocharian. In Tocharian it means 'iron'. Tocharin language as an Indo-European language has revealed a word anzu in Tocharian which meant 'iron'. It is likely that this is the word used for soma in Rigveda. I have posted about this in the context of identification (discussed in this blog) of Muztagh Ata of Kyrgystan as Mt. Mujavat (mentioned as a source of soma in Rigveda). It is notable that in Mesopotamian legend of Ninurta, god of war and agricultural fertility hunts on the mountains, Anzu which is the lion-headed Eagle with the power of the stolen Tablet of Destinies. The 'eagle' is identified as śyena in Rigveda and Avesta (saena meregh) as the falcon which brought the nectar, Soma. It is likely that soma as electrum (silver-gold ore) was bought from the traders who brought anzu from Mt. Mujavat.
Addenda: áyas -- : Md. da ʻ iron ʼ, dafat ʻ piece of iron ʼ.
Si. yakaḍa ʻ iron ʼ.
2. Pk. kaṇha -- , kiṇha -- m. ʻ Kr̥ṣṇa ʼ, S. kāno, P. kānh, B. kāna, Or. Mth. kānha, Bhoj. kānhā, Aw. lakh. kãdhaiyā, H. kānh, M. kānhū.kr̥ṣṇabhūma -- , kr̥ṣṇamallikā -- , kr̥ṣṇamr̥ga -- .Addenda: kr̥ṣṇá -- : S.kcch. kịnno ʻ dirty (of a child) ʼ.3452 kr̥ṣṇabhūma m. ʻ black soil ʼ Kāś. [kr̥ṣṇá -- , bhūˊmi -- ]
Pk. kaṇhabhūma -- , °bhōma -- m. ʻ black ground ʼ; G. kāhnam f. ʻ black soil, the land between Baroda and Broach ʼ.kṛṣṇa
kṛṣṇiman कृष्णिमन् m. Blackness.kṛṣṇīkaraṇam कृष्णीकरणम् Blackening, making black. (Samskritam. Apte)
कृष्ण a. [कृष्-नक्] 1 Black, dark, dark-blue. -2 Wicked, evil; मनो गुणान्वै सृजते बलीयस्ततश्च कर्माणि विलक्षणानि । शुक्लानि कृष्णान्यथ लोहितानि तेभ्यः सवर्णाः सृतयो भवन्ति ॥ Bhāg. 11.23.44. -ष्णः 1 The black colour. -2 The black antelope; Bhāg.1.35.19.-3 A crow. -4 The (Indian) cuckoo. -5 The dark half of a lunar month (from full to new moon); Bg.8.25. -6 The Kali age. -7Viṣṇu in his eighth incarnation, born as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī. [Kṛiṣna is the most celebrated hero of Indian mythology and the most popular of all the deities. Though the real son of Vasu- deva and Devakī and thus a cousin of Kaṁsa, he was, for all practical purposes, the son of Nanda and Yaśodā, by whom he was brought up and in whose house he spent his childhood. It was here that his divine character began to be gradually discovered, when he easily crushed the most redoubtable demons, such as Baka, Pūtanā &c., that were sent to kill him by Kaṁsa, and performed many other feats of surpri- sing strength. The chief companions of his youth were the Gopis or wives of the cowherds of Gokula, among whom Rādhā was his special favourite (cf. Jayadeva's Gitagovinda). He killed Kaṁsa, Naraka, Keśin, Ariṣṭa and a host of other powerful demons. He was a particular friend of Arjuna, to whom he acted as charioteer in the great war, and his staunch support of the cause of the Pāṇḍavas was the main cause of the overthrow of the Kauravas. On several critical occasions, it was Kṛiṣṇa's assistance and inventive mind that stood the Pāṇḍavas in good stead. After the general destruction of the Yādavas at Prabhāsa, he was killed unintentionally by a hunter named Jaras who shot him with an arrow mistaking him at a distance for a deer. He had more than 16 wives, but Rukmiṇi and Satyabhāmā, (as also Rādhā) were his favourites. He is said to have been of dark-blue or cloud-like colour; cf. बहिरिव मलिनतरं तव कृष्ण मनो$पि भविष्यति नूनं Gīt.8. His son was Pradyumna]. -8 N. of Vyāsa, the reputed author of the Mahābhārata; कुतः सञ्चोदितः कृष्णः कृतवान्संहितां मुनिः Bhāg.1.4.3. -9 N. of Arjuna. -1 Aloe wood. -11 The Supreme spirit. -12Black pepper. -13 Iron. -14 A Śūdra; कृष्णस्तु केशवे व्यासे कोकिले$र्जुनकाकयोः । शूद्रे तामिस्रपक्षे$ग्निकलिनीलगुणेषु च ॥ Nm. -15The marking nut (भल्लातक); विरक्तं शोध्यते वस्त्रं न तु कृष्णोपसंहितम् Mb.12.291.1. -ष्णा 1 N. of Drau- padī, wife of the Pāṇḍavas; तेजो हृतं खलु मयाभिहतश्च मत्स्यः सज्जीकृतेन धनुषाधिगता च कृष्णा Bhāg.1.15.7; प्रविश्य कृष्णासदनं महीभुजा Ki.1.26. -2N. of a river in the Dec- can that joins the sea at Machhalipaṭṭaṇa. -3 A kind of poisonous insect. -4 N. of several plants. -5 A grape. -6 A kind of perfume. -7 An epithet of Durgā Bhāg.4.6.7. -8 One of the 7 tongues of fire. -9 N. of the river Yamunā; विलोक्य दूषितां कृष्णां कृष्णः कृष्णाहिना विभुः Bhāg.1.16.1. -ष्णी A dark night; रिणक्ति कृष्णीर- रुषाय पन्थाम् Rv.7.71.1. -ष्णम् 1Blackness, darkness (moral also); शुक्रा कृष्णादजनिष्ट श्वितीची Rv.1.123.9. -2 Iron. -3 Antimony. -4 The black part of the eye. -5Black pepper. -6 Lead. -7 An inauspicious act. -8 Money acquired by gambling. -Comp. -अगुरु n. a kind of sandal-wood. -अचलः an epithet of the moun- tain Raivataka. -अजिनम् the skin of the black ante- lope. -अध्वन्, -अर्चिस् m. an epithet of fire; cf. कृष्ण- वर्त्मन्. -अयस्, n. -अयसम्, -आमिषम् iron, crude or black iron. -कृष्णायसस्येव च ते संहत्य हृदयं कृतम् Mb.5.135. 1; वाचारम्भणं विकारो नामधेयं कृष्णायसमित्येव सत्यम् Ch. Up. 6.1.6. -अर्जकः N. of a tree. -अष्टमी, -जन्माष्टमी the 8th day of the dark half of Śrāvaṇa when Kṛiṣṇa, was born; also called गोकुलाष्टमी. -आवासः the holy fig-tree. -उदरः a kind of snake. -कञ्चुकः a kind of gram. -कन्दम् a red lotus. -कर्मन् a. of black deeds, criminal, wicked, depraved, guilty, sinful. -काकः a raven. -कायः a buffalo. -काष्ठम् a kind of sandal-wood, agallochum. -कोहलः a gambler. -गङ्गा the river कृष्णावेणी. -गति fire; ववृधे स तदा गर्भः कक्षे कृष्णगतिर्यथा Mb.13.85.56; आयोघने कृष्णगतिं सहायम् R.6.42. -गर्भाः (f. pl.) 1 the pregnant wives of the demon Kṛiṣṇa; यः कृष्णगर्भा निरहन्नृजिश्वना Rv.1.11.1. -2 waters in the interiors of the clouds. -गोधा a kind of poisonous insect. -ग्रीवः N. of Śiva. -चञ्चुकः a kind of pea. -चन्द्रः N. of Vasudeva. -चर a. what formerly belonged to Kṛiṣṇa. -चूर्णम् rust of iron, iron-filings. -च्छविः f. 1 the skin of the black antelope. -2 a black cloud; कृष्णच्छविसमा कृष्णा Mb.4.6.9. -ताम्रम् a kind of sandal wood. -तारः 1 a species of antelope. -2 an antelope (in general) -तालु m. a kind of horse having black palate; cf. शालिहोत्र of भोज, 67. -त्रिवृता N. of a tree. -देहः a large black bee. -धनम् money got by foul means. -द्वादशी the twelfth day in the dark half of Āṣaḍha. -द्वैपायनः N. of Vyāsa; तमहमरागमकृष्णं कृष्णद्वैपायनं वन्दे Ve.1.4. -पक्षः 1 the dark half of a lunar month; रावणेन हृता सीता कृष्णपक्षे$- सिताष्टमी Mahān. -2 an epithet of Arjuna; -पदी a female with black feet, -पविः an epithet of Agni. -पाकः N. of a tree (Mar. करवंद). -पिङ्गल a. dark-brown. (-ला) N. of Durgā. -पिण्डीतकः (-पिण्डीरः) N. of a tree (Mar. काळा गेळा). -पुष्पी N. of a tree (Mar. काळा धोत्रा). -फलः (-ला) N. of a tree (Mar. काळें जिरें). -बीजम् a watermelon. -भस्मन् sulphate of mecury. -मृगःthe black antelope; शृङ्गे कृष्णमृगस्य वामनयनं कण्डूयमानां मृगीम् Ś.6.17. -मुखः, -वक्त्रः, -वदनः the black-faced monkey. -मृत्तिका 1 black earth. -2 the gunpowder. -यजुर्वेदः the Taittirīya or black Yajurveda. -यामः an epithet of Agni; वृश्चद्वनं कृष्णयामं रुशन्तम् Rv.6.6.1. -रक्तः dark-red colour. -रूप्य = ˚चर q. v. -लवणम् 1 a kind of black salt. -2 a factitious salt. -लोहः the loadstone. -वर्णः 1 black colour. -2 N. of Rāhu. -3 a Śūdra; विडूरुङ्घ्रिश्रितकृष्णवर्णः Bhāg.2.1.37. -वर्त्मन् m. 1 fire; श्रद्दधे त्रिदशगोपमात्रके दाहशक्तिमिव कृष्णवर्त्मनि R.11.42; Ms.2.94. -2 N. of Rāhu. -3 a low man, profligate, black-guard. -विषाणा Ved. the horns of the black antelope. -वेणी N. of a river. -शकुनिः a crow; Av.19.57.4. -शारः, -सारः, -सारङ्गः the spotted antelope; कृष्णसारे ददच्चक्षुस्त्वयि चाधिज्यकार्मुके Ś.1.6; V.4.31; पीयूषभानाविव कृष्णसारः Rām. Ch.1.3. -शृङ्गः a buffalo. -सखः, -सारथिः an epithet of Arjuna. (-खी) cummin seed (Mar. जिरें). -स्कन्धः N. of a tree (Mar. तमाल).
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
November 24, 2015