[INDOLOGY] Query about Kālidāsa

[Ananya Vajpeyi]

Thanks, yes, I had seen that --

"Thus at the roaring loom of Time I ply,
And weave for God the garment thou seest Him by."

But this volume has Ṛtusaṃhāram, Abhijñānaśākuntalam and Meghadūtam. Might
there be a "loom of time" hiding in one of the three works?!

Best,

AV.



On Sat, Sep 12, 2026 at 7:35 PM victor davella <vbd203 at googlemail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Ananya,
>
> I have no idea, to be honest, and I did not see anything during a quick
> skim of the introduction, nor does it remind me of anything from the
> Śākuntala itself, but it does ring a bell with Goethe's Faust, Teil I:
>
> In Lebensfluthen, im Thatensturm
> Wall’ ich auf und ab,
> Webe hin und her!
> Geburt und Grab,
>
> 505
> Ein ewiges Meer,
>
> Ein wechselnd Weben,
> Ein glühend Leben,
>
> *So schaff’ ich am sausenden Webstuhl der Zeit,Und wirke der Gottheit
> lebendiges Kleid.*
>
>
> Webstuhl der Zeit is often translated as "the loom of time".
>
> All the Best,
> Victor
>
> On Sat, 12 Sept 2026, 16:01 Ananya Vajpeyi via INDOLOGY, <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Dear List,
>>
>> Someone asked me where this phrase "loom of time" comes from --
>>
>> Kalidasa, Abhijnanasakuntalam, trans. Chandra Rajan, in Kalidasa: The
>> Loom of Time, (Penguin Classics, 1989, reprint 2000)
>>
>> Although I could think of a discussion about warp and weft / fabric /
>> weaving etc. when Gārgī and Yājñavalkya are talking in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka, I
>> wasn't sure if Kālidāsa himself uses this metaphor anywhere.
>>
>> Does anyone know?
>>
>> All best,
>>
>> Ananya.
>> --
>>
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-- 
*Ananya Vajpeyi*
https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi
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