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@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

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