Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s5.13

v1.c3.s5.13

Ūrṇā, ‘wool,’ is very frequently mentioned from the Rigveda¹ onwards. The Paruṣṇī country was famous for its wool,² like Gandhāra³ for its sheep. The term for the separate tufts was parvan⁴ or parus.⁵ ‘Soft as wool’ (ūrṇa-mradas)⁶ is not a rare epithet. The sheep is called ‘woolly’ (ūrṇāvati).⁷ ‘Woollen thread’ (ūrṇā-sūtra) is repeatedly referred to in the later Saṃhitās⁸ and the Brāhmaṇas.⁹ The word ūrṇā was not restricted to the sense of sheep’s wool,¹⁰ but might denote goat’s hair also.¹¹