दध्नः सोम्य मथ्यमानस्य योऽणिमा स उर्ध्वः समुदीषति तत्सर्पिर्भवति ॥ ६.६.१ ॥
dadhnaḥ somya mathyamānasya yo’ṇimā sa urdhvaḥ samudīṣati tatsarpirbhavati || 6.6.1 ||
1. When curd is churned, the finest part of it rises to the surface. That becomes butter.
Word-for-word explanation:
Somya, O Somya; dadhnaḥ mathyamānasya, of curd when it is churned; yaḥ aṇimā, what is the finest part; sāḥ ūrdhvaḥ samudīṣati, that rises to the surface; tat sarpiḥ bhavati, that becomes butter.
Commentary:
Even now, in many homes in India, people make their own butter by churning curd. When you churn the curd, cream starts appearing on the surface. Gradually that cream turns into butter. It was already in the curd. In fact, it was the finest part of the curd. Only the churning was needed to make it rise to the top.