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A remarkable discovery is the octoganal brick which is a yaṣṭi.in a fire-altar of Bijnor site on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati. Thi yaṣṭi attests to the continuum of the Vedic tradition of fire-altars venerating the yaṣṭi as a baton, skambha of divine authority which transforms mere stone and earth into metal ingots, a manifestation of the cosmic dance enacted in the furnace/smelter of a smith. Bhuteswar sculptural friezes provide evidence to reinforce this divine dispensation by describing the nature of the smelting process displaying a tree to signify kuTi rebus: kuThi 'smelter' with kharva 'dwarf' adorning the structure with a garland to signify kharva 'a nidhi or wealth' of Kubera. A Bhutesvar frieze also indicates the skambha with face signifying ekamukha linga rebus:
mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends;kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali).
Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻ gridiron ʼ; K. büṭh
The fire altar, with a yasti made of an octagonal brick. Bijnor (4MSR) near Anupgarh, Rajasthan. Photo:Subhash Chandel, ASI
"(Archaeologist) Pandey said fire altars had been found in Kalibangan and Rakhigarhi, and the yastis were octagonal or cylindrical bricks. There were “signatures” indicating that worship of some kind had taken place at the fire altar here." http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/heritage/harappan-surprise/article7053030.ece Amarendra Nath, archaeologist who excavated Rakhigarhi also noted: “Mature Period II is marked by a fortification wall and fire altars with yaSTi and yonipITha, with muSTikA offerings.”(Puratattgva: Bulletin of the Indian Archaeological Society 29 (1998-1999): 46-49).
Compare these 'shafts' in fire-altars with the pillars or cylindrical offering bases in Dholavira within an 8-shaped stone-wall enclosure:
Also comparable are the skambha pillar atop a smelter in Bhutesvar friezes:
मेंढा [ mēṇḍhā ] A crook or curved end rebus: meḍ 'iron, metal' (Ho. Munda)
Relief with Ekamukha linga. Mathura. 1st cent. CE (Fig. 6.2).This is the most emphatic representation of linga as a pillar of fire. The pillar is embedded within a brick-kiln with an angular roof and is ligatured to a tree. Hieroglyph: kuTi 'tree' rebus: kuThi 'smelter'. In this composition, the artists is depicting the smelter used for smelting to create mũh 'face' (Hindi) rebus: mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) of mēḍha 'stake' rebus: meḍ 'iron, metal' (Ho. Munda). मेड (p. 662) [ mēḍa ] f (Usually 
Relief with Ekamukha linga. Mathura. 1st cent. CE shows a gaNa, dwarf with tuft of hair in front, a unique tradition followed by Dikshitar in Chidambaram. The gaNa is next to the smelter kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter' which is identified by the ekamukha sivalinga. mũh 'face' (Hindi) rebus: mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends;kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali). kharva is a dwarf; kharva is a nidhi of Kubera. karba'iron' (Tulu) http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/09/indus-script-corpora-muha-metal-from.html
Worship of linga by Gandharva, Shunga period (ca. 2nd cent. BCE), ACCN 3625, Mathura Museum. Worship signified by dwarfs, Gaṇa (hence Gaṇeśa = Gaṇa + īśa).
A tree associated with smelter and linga from Bhuteshwar, Mathura Museum.
Architectural fragment with relief showing winged dwarfs (or gaNa) worshipping with flower garlands, Siva Linga. Bhuteshwar, ca. 2nd cent BCE. Lingam is on a platform with wall under a pipal tree encircled by railing. (Srivastava, AK, 1999, Catalogue of Saiva sculptures in Government Museum, Mathura: 47, GMM 52.3625) The tree is a phonetic determinant of the smelter indicated by the railing around the linga: kuṭa, °ṭi -- , °ṭha -- 3, °ṭhi -- m. ʻ tree ʼ Rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter'. kuṭa, °ṭi -- , °ṭha -- 3, °ṭhi -- m. ʻ tree ʼ lex., °ṭaka -- m. ʻ a kind of tree ʼ Kauś.Pk. kuḍa -- m. ʻ tree ʼ; Paš. lauṛ. kuṛāˊ ʻ tree ʼ, dar. kaṛék ʻ tree, oak ʼ ~ Par. kōṛ ʻ stick ʼ IIFL iii 3, 98. (CDIAL 3228).
In Atharva Veda stambha is a celestial scaffold, supporting the cosmos and material creation.
See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2014/12/skambha-sukta-atharva-veda-x-7-pair-of.html Full text of Atharva Veda ( X - 7,8) --- Stambha Suktam with translation (with variant pronunciation as skambha). See Annex A List of occurrences of gloss in Atharva Veda.
| avs.8.6 | [0800605] The black and hairy Asura, and Stambaja and Tundika, Arayas from this girl we drive, from bosom, waist, and parts below. |
Archaeological finds: cylindrical stele in Kalibangan, a pair of polished stone pillars in Dholavira, s'ivalinga in Harappa, Kalibangan
यष्टि 1 [p=840,3] f. (for 2. » [p= 848,3]) sacrificing Pa1n2. 3-3 , 110 Sch. (prob. w.r. for इष्टि).यष्टि 2 [p=848,3]n. (only L. )or f. (also यष्टी cf. g. बह्व्-ादि ; prob. fr. √ यछ् = यम् ; for 1. यष्टि » [p=840,3]) " any support " , a staff , stick , wand , rod , mace , club , cudgel; pole , pillar , perch S3Br. &c; a flag-staff (» ध्वज-य्°; a stalk , stem , branch , twig Hariv. Ka1v.
ஈட்டி īṭṭi, n. cf. yaṣṭi. [T. īṭe, K. īṭi, M. īṭṭi.] 1. Lance, spear, pike; குந்தம். செறியிலை யீட்டியும் (பரிபா. 5, 66). 2. Black wood. See தோதகத்தி. (
इष्टि 1 [p=169,1] f. impulse , acceleration , hurry; despatch RV.f. seeking , going after RV.f. sacrificing , sacrifice.
ఇటిక (p. 0134) [ iṭika ] or ఇటికె or ఇటుక iṭika. [Tel.] n. Brick.
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M. iṭāḷẽ n. (CDIAL 1600, 1601)
shrI-sUktam of Rigveda explains the purport of the yaSTi to signify a baton of divine authority:
ArdrAm yaHkariNIm yaShTim suvarNAm padmamAlinIm |
sUryAm hiraNmayIm lakSmIm jAtavedo ma Avaha || 14
sUryAm hiraNmayIm lakSmIm jAtavedo ma Avaha || 14
Trans. Oh, Ritual-fire, I pray you to invite shrI-devi to me, an alter-ego of everyone, who makes the environ holy let alone worship-environ, wielder of a baton symbolizing divine authority, brilliant in her hue, adorned with golden garlands, motivator of everybody to their respective duties like dawning sun, and who is manifestly self-resplendent in her mien.
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
December 14, 2015