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An expression प्रचषालम् pracaṣālam used in the Mahabharata is explained as a particular ornament on a yupa in the context of a related expression describing the yupa as: चषालं प्रचषालं च यस्य यूपे हिरण्मये Mb.7.61.6. The association of yupa with hiraṇmaya हिरण्मय indicates the possibility that some sort of metal processing was indicated by a Soma Yaga. The full context of the Rigveda references to a description of the Yupa and caṣālḥ चषालः in RV 1.162.5 and 6 justifies this inference reinforcing that Soma -- as a commodity -- was NOT a herbal but a mineral.
చషాలము [ caṣālamu ] chashālamu. [Skt.] n. A chalice, or cup used in sacrifice. A ring attached to the sacrificial post in a horse sacrifice.
hiraṇyavḥ हिरण्यवः 1 A divine treasure. -2 Golden ornament. hiraṇyakḥहिरण्यकः Eagerness for gold.hiraṇmaya हिरण्मय a. (-यी f.) Made of gold, golden; हिरण्मयी सीतायाः प्रतिकृतिः U.2; R.15.61. -यः The god Brahman. -यम् One of the nine divisions of the world.हिरण्यम् [हिरणमेव स्वार्थे यत्] 1 Gold; Ms.2.246. -2 Any vessel of gold; मन्त्रवत् प्राशनं चास्य हिरण्यमधुसर्पिषाम् Ms.2.29 (some take in the first sense). -3 Silver; (ददौ) हिरण्यस्य सुवर्णस्य मुक्तानां विद्रुमस्य च Rām.1.74.5; Mb. 13.57.34. -4 Any precious metal. -5 Wealth, property; अपदेश्यैश्च संन्यस्य हिरण्यं तस्य तत्त्वतः Ms.8.182. -6 Semen virile. -7 A cowrie. -8 particular measure. -9 A substance. -1 The thorn-apple (धत्तूर). -ण्या One of the seven tongues of fire. -Comp. -अक्षः N. of a celebrated demon, twin brother of Hiraṇyakaśipu; अंशे हिरण्याक्षरिपोः स जाते हिरण्यनाभे तनवे नयज्ञः R.18.25. [On the strength of a boon from Brahman, he became insolent and oppressive, seized upon the earth, and carried it with him into the depths of the ocean. Viṣṇu therefore became incarnate as a boar, killed the demon and lifted up the earth.] -कक्ष a. wearing a golden girdle. -कर्तृ m. goldsmith; यथा हिरण्यकर्ता वै रूप्यमग्नौ विशोधयेत् Mb.12.28.11. -कवच a. having golden armour (said of Śiva). -कशिपुः N. of a cele- brated king of demons. [He was a son of Kaśyapa and Diti, and by virtue of a boon from Brahman, he became so powerful that he usurped the sovereignty of Indra and oppressed the three worlds. He freely blasphemed the great god and subjected his son Pra- hrāda to untold cruelties for acknowledging Viṣṇu as the Supreme deity. But he was eventually torn to pieces by Viṣṇu in the form of Narasimha; see प्रह्लाद]. -कारः a goldsmith. -केशी a branch (शाखा) of Yajur- veda. -कोशःgold and silver (whether wrought or unwrought). -गर्भः 1 N. of Brahman (as born from a golden-egg). -2 N. of Viṣṇu. -3 the soul invested by the subtile body or सूक्ष्मशरीर q. v. -द a. giving or granting gold; भूमिदो भूमिमाप्नोति दीर्घमायुर्हिरण्यदः Ms.4.23. (-दः) the ocean. (-दा) the earth. -नाभः 1 the mountain Maināka. -2 N. of Viṣṇu. (-भम्) a building having three halls (towards east, west and south). -बाहुः 1 an epithet of Śiva. -2 the river Śoṇa. -बिन्दुः fire. -रेतस् m. 1 fire; द्विषामसह्यः सुतरां तरूणां हिरण्यरेता इव सानिलो$भूत् R.18.25. -2 the sun. -3 N. of Śiva. -4 the Chitraka or Arka plant. -वर्चस् a. shining with golden lustre. -वर्णा a river. -वाहः 1 the river Śoṇa. -2 N. of Śiva.
RV 1.162.5 The invoker of the gods, the minister of the rite, the offerer of the oblation, the kindler of the fire, the bruiser of the Soma, the director of the ceremony, the saage (superintendent of the whole); do you replenish the rivers by this well-ordered, well-conducted, sacrifice. [The invoker of the gods: designations applied to eight of the sixteen priests employed at a solemn rite: the two first are: hota_ and adhvaryu; avaya_j = pratiprastha_ta_, who brings and places the offering; agnimindha = agni_dh, the kindler of the fire; gra_vagra_bha = the praiser of the stones that bruise the Soma,or he who applies the stones to that purpose; s'am.sta_ = pras'a_sta_; suvipra = Brahma_ (brahmaiko ja_te ja_te vidya_m vadatibrahma_ sarvavidyah sarva veditumarhati: Nirukta 1.8); replenish the rivers: vaks.an.a_ apr.n.adhvam, nadi_h pu_rayata, fill the rivers; the consequence of sacrifice being rain and fertility; or, it may mean, offer rivers of butter, milk, curds, and the like].
RV1.162.06 Whether they be those who cut the (sacrificial) post, or those who bear the post, or those who fasten the rings on the top of the post, to which the horse (is bound); or those who prepare the vessels in which the food of the horse is dressed; let the exertions of them all fulfil our expectation. [The post: twenty-one posts, of different kinds of wood, each twenty-one cubits long, are to be set up, to which the different animals are to be fastened, amounting to three hundred and forty-nine, besides two hundred and sixty wild animals, making a total of six hundred and nine (Ka_tya_yana); the text seems to refer to a single post: cas.a_lam ye as'vayu_pa_ya taks.ati: cas.a_la = a wooden ring, or bracelet, on the top of the sacrificial post; or, it was perhaps a metal ring at the foot of the post].
This elucidation is presented in continuation of the following posts related to caṣālḥचषालः as a vajra and as annam (godhUma गोधूम 'wheat chaff' in processes of carburization and pyrolysis): http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/casala-on-yupa-indus-script-hieroglyph_6.html
चषालः caṣāla on Yupa, an Indus Script hieroglyph like a crucible to carburize ores into steel/hard alloys
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/vajapeya-soma-samstha-as-rendered-in.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/wheat-earth-smoke-of-casala-of-yupa.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/indus-script-hieroglyphs-yupa-bhui-to.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/mlecchita-vikalpa-indus-script.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/shapes-of-casala-and-vajra-thunderbolt.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/and-hurling-casala-thunderbolt-from.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2016/01/archaeological-evidence-for-vajrabaho.html
The key evidence is the octagonal yupa found in an agni-kunda in Binjor (near Anupgarh) on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/12/binjor-indus-script-seal-mulavarman.html
Binjor Indus Script Seal & Mulavarman yupa inscription, relate to yajna for बहुसुवर्णक, bahusuvarṇaka, 'to possess many gold pieces'
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/12/functions-of-19-yupas-from-ca-100-ce.html![]()
Octagonal yupa brick found in the fire-altar, Binjor. Discovered together with an Indus Script seal which signified metalwork. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/12/binjor-fire-altar-with-octagonal-yasti.html
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
January 26, 2016
