[INDOLOGY] Query about Kālidāsa

[Madhav Deshpande]

Dear Ananya,

    I think the title "Loom of Time" is not there literally in any of
Kalidasa's works, but it is an appropriate description especially of the
ऋतुसंहार. The transitions of the seasons fit nicely in the title "Loom of
Time.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Sat, Sep 12, 2026 at 10:17 AM Nagaraj Paturi via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> तत्र च मया दृष्टे स्त्रियौ तन्त्रेऽधिरोप्य पटं वयन्त्यौ | तस्मिंश्च
> तन्त्रे कृष्णाः सिताश्च तन्तवः | किं तत् | आदिपर्व -पौष्यपर्व    ३-१६७ |
> ------------------------ ये ते स्त्रियौ धाता विधाता च | ये च ते कृष्णाः
> सिताश्च तन्तवस्ते रात्र्यहनी | आदिपर्व -पौष्यपर्व     ३- १७२ |
>
> https://sanskritdocuments.org/mirrors/mahabharata/unic/mbh01_sa.html
>
> On Sat, Sep 12, 2026 at 8:40 PM Ananya Vajpeyi via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> *Ananya Vajpeyi *
>>>> *Professor *
>>>> *Centre for the Study of Developing Societies*
>>>> *29 Rajpur Rd., Civil Lines
>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/29+Rajpur+Rd.,+Civil+Lines+New+Delhi+110054,+INDIA?entry=gmail&source=g>*
>>>> *New Delhi 110054, INDIA
>>>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/29+Rajpur+Rd.,+Civil+Lines+New+Delhi+110054,+INDIA?entry=gmail&source=g>*
>>>> *EMAIL: vajpeyi at csds.in <vajpeyi at csds.in>*
>>>> *CSDS BIO: **https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi*
>>>> <https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi>
>>>> *RESEARCH PROJECT: https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/
>>>> <https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/>*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> *Ananya Vajpeyi*
>> https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>
>
> --
> Nagaraj Paturi
> Hyderabad, Telangana-500044
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20260912/b0401f29/attachment.htm>