I’m sure you know that the Inuit have many words for snow or ice:
Well, the ancient Indians had, according to the lexicographer Amarasingha, a dozen words for gold. It seems that gold, mainly sourced from the Himalayas, was one of the main sources of wealth for the ancient Indian kingdoms such as Videha.
It turns out, whether by coincidence or not, that we also find twelve words for gold in early Pali. Many of these occur in very few contexts and are poorly understood. Translators will typically render of all them simply with “gold”. This is perfectly correct, and to some degree unavoidable. But it does seem rather a shame to lose so much nuance. So here I’ll go through the Pali words and see if we can clarify them.
There a couple sources I found useful for this, so I’ll put them at the top here.
The Arthasastra describes the kinds of gold and their working in detail:
Manu gives details on measures; on this page a commentator has listed the measures as found in various texts:
I’ve modified the entries on hirañña and suvaṇṇa following Ven Brahmali’s feedback from the Vinaya context (see comments).
hirañña
- Sanskrit: hiraṇya
- from hari, “yellow”
This is the standard word for gold in the Rig Veda, used over 150 times there.
In the Suttas and the Vinaya, it is often used alongside suvaṇṇa, indicating that it has a different meaning. In those instances where it stands alone, it seems to normally mean a “gold coin”; for example it is countable.
These two are regularly paired in the pre-Buddhist texts as well, where they are typically seen as offerings to Brahmin priests, in stark contrast with the Vinaya, where such gifts are unacceptable. I’m not really sure what the difference is in that context. Both are countable (SB 13.4.1.6: catvāri ca suvarṇāni śatamānāni hiraṇyāni) and in that context the translators usually render suvarṇa as plates of gold, and hirañña as grains of gold.
Rarely, as in the name of the Hiraññavatī river, hirañña has the more general sense of “gold”.
- “gold coin”
suvaṇṇa
- Sanskrit suvarṇa
- su + vaṇṇa = “good looking”, “beautiful”
This is one of the three standard words for gold in Pali. It seems to not be of very old usage. In the Rig Veda it is found once of cows that are beautiful. In the Artharvaveda it occurs a few times, mostly in similar adjectival senses; in 19.26.2a it describes hiraṇya. It does occur a couple of times as the metal, however. Book 15 describes how Prajapati created gold after seeing it in himself, while 19.226 describes a gold amulet. It occurs more often in the Brāmaṇa and Upanishads.
In the Pali it retains a strongly adjectival sense.
Later literature (Manu) knows of the suvarna as a unit of coinage, but this seems to be mostly or entirely absent in the Suttas, the “gold coin” being the hirañña.
- as an adjective, “golden” (skin)
- “gold” the metal
jātarūpa
While the terms jāta and rūpa are familiar, the exact sense is not clear. DPD analyzes it as “genuine matter”, which seems to me unlikely.
In the Rig Veda, rūpa is used very widely of the “form” or “manifestation” that the gods take on. Agni is famous for this, manifesting as the sun, the lightning, the fire, even as the gleam in the water. Jāta means “born”, and hence can be a term for all that is part of the natural world, those things that are “born”.
The similarly tricky term jātaveda was used from the Vedic times as a term for Agni in his manifestation as fire. I think it means “knowledge for mortals”, i.e. it praises Agni’s role as the Indian Prometheus, bringing “knowledge”, i.e. the fire of Vedic sacrifice, down from the sun in the lightning. And I think jātarūpa has a similar sense, and maybe was even coined from it.
Thus I suggest jātarūpa is the manifestation of the divine form (of the sun) in nature.
It seems to first occur in a birthing ceremony. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 6.4.25 describes how a the father whispers “speech” in the baby’s ear, thus placing Vedic speech in him, then feeds him mixed curd, honey, and ghee with a speck of jātarūpa. Thus the father introduces the divine, beautiful, immortal manifestation of the gods to his child as soon as he is born.
Following from this, jātarūpa is the preferred term for “native gold”, which is the technical term for gold as found in nature. It is the gold that is smelted and purified by a smith (MN 140:20.2) or is found in the ocean (Ud 5.5:16.1).
It’s also one of the two items in the standard list of currency, literally “gold and silver”, but explained in the Vinaya as currency of any kind (NP 18:2.8).
- where suggested by context, translate as “native gold”
- in monastic precepts, jātarūparajata is “gold and currency”
- otherwise just “gold”
siṅgīsuvaṇṇa
- From siṅgī = (mountain) peak
Siṅgīsuvaṇṇa is a form of gold from the mountains. Kauṭilya mentions a form of gold that is śṛṅgaśūktija, “occurring on mount Śūkti” (Arthaśāstra 2.13.3). The commentary to that passage says it had the color of red arsenic, so it was a rose gold.
It occurs as a variety of gold at AN 3.70:38.3, and as the color of the robes given to the Buddha in his last days (siṅgīvaṇṇa DN 16:4.35.2).
At SN 17.13-20:1.5 we find the difficult term siṅgīnikkha.
Now, the nikkha was a gold coin, which invariably is listed as the largest of the gold coins, which according to different authorities was four or fourteen times as large as a suvaṇṇa. I translate it therefore as “ingot”.
The current passage has an escalating scale of the payments for which a corruptible person would tell a lie. It starts with the regular “gold ingot”, then a hundred “gold ingots”. Then it goes up to a single siṅgīnikkha. Obviously, since it is much larger than a hundred standard coins, it can’t be a coin. After a hundred siṅgīnikkhas we have the entire world made of gold.
In a similar context at SN 4.20:3.2, we find, with different terms, the idea of a “mountain of gold” (pabbatassa suvaṇṇassa).
Since siṅgī means “(mountain) peak”, I propose siṅgīnikkha has the same sense, i.e. “(mountain) peak that is a (gold) ingot”, i.e. a gold mountain. This makes good sense in the context.
- “mountain gold”
- siṅgīnikkha = “mountain of gold”
jambonada
- Sanskrit jāmbūnada
- “of the Black Plum River”
As is well known, ancient India was called the Jambudīpa, often translated as the “Rose Apple Land”. It seems, however, that the Jambu is not the rose apple ( Syzygium samarangense etc.) but Syzygium cumini, the black plum.
Legend has it that on the slopes of Mount Meru grows the vast Jambu tree that gives the continent of India her name, “the land of the black plum tree”. The fruits of that tree are as big as elephants, and when they fall, their juice flows forth as a river named Jambu. The dried mud of that river yields gold nuggets whose unparalleled lustre is highly sought-after among the gods. (Śiva Purāṇa 17.16–19).
Fascinatingly, then, the main aspects of the Jambu mytheme are all found in Pali
- the black plum is said to be the best of all trees (SN 48.67, also at Skanda Purāṇa 252.26)
- the Black Plum Tree Land
- gold from the Black Plum river
I’ve not been able to trace the legend in any early texts, so it may be that the Pali is the earliest attestation of this. But clearly the elements of the legend are present, and the Pali is referring to a pre-existing set of ideas.
The other famous mention of the Jambu is when the Bodhisattva was meditating in jhana under a Jambu tree. Of course, this is a suitable tree for meditation, given its dense shade. But it seems we should consider this in light of the Jambu mytheme as well.
In the suttas it appears in one stock line of verse describing a beautiful pendant (eg. Dhp 230, AN 3.63).
- “Black Plum River gold”
kañcana
- from √kañc “to shine”
- Sanskrit kāñcana
Arthaśāstra 2.13.3 tells us that kañcana is of high purity which may be alloyed for making jewellery.
- “lustrous gold”
tapanīya
- Sanskrit is the same
- “smeltable” (?) or “glittering”
- from tapas, “heat”
Arthaśastra 2.13.51 describes how to alloy the tapanīya (“glittering gold”) that is ready to be worked. Thus it seems to be a pure gold used as a base by smiths.
It’s found once in Pali (Thig 14.1:9.1), where a predator tries to seduce Subhā, saying her body was like “glittering gold”.
- “glittering gold”
hāṭaka
- from √haṭ = “shine”
- Pali reads both haṭaka and hāṭaka
- Sanskirt hāṭaka
The commentary, deriving haṭaka from “take”, says this is gold extracted by ants. This echoes a fable well-known in the West from Herodotus; it seems the commentaries were listening to the same tales. Perhaps the fable originated with the Himalayan marmot, whose leavings are in fact sifted for gold by locals.
Alas, we must set aside this charming fable, as Kautilya also mentions hāṭaka as a form of gold (Arthaśāstra 2.13.3), and the root is rather Sanskrit haṭ, “shine”.
AN 3.70:38.4 mentions haṭaka as a variety of “native gold”, which agrees with Kautilya, who lists it as a place of extraction. It apparently has a pinkish hue.
Hāṭaka is another term of seduction used by the rouge to seduce Subhā (Thig 14.1:17.2). Say what you will, he was erudite!
Subhā’s face was said to be “flawless” (vimala). So in homage to our long-time SuttaCentral friend and contributor, Venerable @vimala, who loves both Star Wars and easter eggs, we can use a special word for this rare term.
- “coruscant gold”
kanaka
- from the same Proto-Indo European root as English “honey”
Another rare poetic term found at Thig 16.1:35.3 and DN 30:1.30.8. It later became famous as the name of a past Buddha, Kanakamuni.
- “honey-yellow gold”
harita
- from hari, “yellow”, originally the “sun”
Probably originally a term for the sun-god, Atharvaveda 11.2.12a uses harita for a deadly golden bow wielded by Rudra. As the “roaring” god of the hurricane, Rudra’s arrows (lightning) are deadly and unpredictable. Perhaps the gold was thought to have been created by the lightning, smelted by god from earth as men learned to smelt in a furnace.
It’s found in an extremely difficult passage describing a Vedic sacrificial post made of gold (Thag 2.22). We also find the abbreviated form hari at Thig 13.4:22.2 of the Buddha’s appearance.
- “sun gold”
hema
- Sanskrit heman
- from hima “snow”, i.e. “product of the snowy land”
Mostly occurs in a stock phrase for “golden netting”. Also at Thig 13.4:22.2 and DN 16:4.38.10 of the Buddha’s skin. In the Thig verse, it is used in contrast with hari, “sun gold” vs. “snow gold”.
The connection between gold and mountains, which is apparent from several items above, seems to be twofold. On the one hand, the streams of the mountains were a fruitful source for finding gold in its raw form. But also, the snowy peaks, when wreathed in the light of dawn, glow a golden color. It is no great leap of imagination to suppose that the gods reserve special blessings for such magnificent places, and the golden light of a dawn mountain leaves its traces in the nuggets found in streams.
The Jains, for example, had a tradition of gold-colored mountains. See also Brahmanda Purana 15.15:
Himavān is practically covered with snow. Hemakūṭa is full of Heman (gold).
This might explain why it is mostly used for the “gold netting” that covers a luxurious couch or is draped over a fine chariot, which, hanging in peaks, would shine and sparkle like the golden mountains of the dawn.
- “snow gold”
satthuvaṇṇa
I think that’s all from the suttas. But as a special bonus for y’all, the Vinaya says that jātarūpa is that which is satthuvaṇṇa, “the color of the Teacher”. One wonders why, with all the synonyms available, a new one must be coined. But it is a testimony to the creativity of Buddhist scripture, and the depth to which the idea of gold reaches in the Buddhist imagination.
Gold is the color of consciousnesses, the bright light of the sun, the immortal truth. It has always been the Buddhist color par excellence, whose lustre illuminates the glory of the Dhamma.
