Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s10.124

v2.c4.s10.124

Hiraṇya in the Rigveda¹ and later² denotes ‘gold.’ It is hardly possible to exaggerate the value attached to gold by the Vedic Indians. The metal was, it is clear, won from the bed of rivers. Hence the Indus is called ‘golden’³ and ‘of golden stream.’⁴ Apparently the extraction of gold from the earth was known,⁵ and washing for gold is also recorded.⁶