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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.36.19

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 36: Story of Gaṅgā & Umā: Kārttikeya’s birth and six nurses. Gaṅgā releases Agni’s unbearable embryo onto the mountain, its radiance produces minerals and six Kṛttikās nurse the child who becomes the Devas’ commander

In the sequence: copper and iron arise from its fierce heat, while its dross becomes tin and lead → the deposit gives rise to the minerals

1.36.19

tāmraṃ kārṣṇāyasaṃ caiva taikṣṇyād evābhijāyata
malaṃ tasyābhavat tatra trapusīsakam eva ca

Copper and black iron too came into being from its fierce heat; and its dross there became tin and lead.

Words: tāmraṃ — copper; kārṣṇāyasaṃ — black iron; caiva — and also; taikṣṇyād — from the fierce heat/sharpness; evābhijāyata — indeed came into being; malaṃ — the dross, impurity; tasyābhavat — of it became; tatra — there; trapusīsakam — tin and lead; eva — indeed; ca — and

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.