The black gram is the conceit that says 'I'. The quern is the question who am I. The pan is silence, and the fire under it is knowing. Every instrument in the picture is a step of the practice, in the order the song gives them.The black gram which is the grain that is the conceit called 'I' … having broken and powdered it in the grinding-stone of the enquiry of knowledge that asks who am I. — Appaḷappāṭṭu 1
