Manava Dharmashastra 2.42

2.42

muñjastṛṇajātistadvikāro mauñjī | sā brāhmaṇasya mekhalā raśanā kartavyā madhyabandhanī | trivṛt triguṇā | samā na kvacitsūkṣmā na kvacitsūkṣmatarā kiṃ tarhi sarvata eva samā | ślakṣṇā tanutvaguṇayuktā parighṛṣṭā ca | kṣatriyasya punarjyā dhanurguṇaḥ | sā kadāciccarmamayī bhavati, kadācittṛṇamayī, bhaṅgomādirajjurvā | tadarthamāha maurvīti | tayā dhanuṣo'vatāritayā śroṇībandhaḥ kartavyaḥ | yadyapi trivṛttādirguṇo mekhalāmātrāśrito na mauñjyā eva, tathā'pi jyāyāḥ svarūpanāśaprasaṅgānna bhavati | śaṇatantuvikāraḥ śaṇatāntavī | chāndasatvāduttarapadavṛddhiḥ | athavā kevalāttantuśabdāttaddhite kṛte tadantasya śaṇaiḥ sambandhaḥ-śaṇānāṃ tāntavīti | prakṛtervikāraḥ prakṛtisambandhitayā vyapadiśyate | 'gavyaṃ ghṛtaṃ' 'devadattasya pautra' iti | 'tantuḥ' sūtraṃ śaṇamauñjīvatkartavyā | gṛhyakārairvaiśyamekhalāyāḥ trivṛttādidharmaḥ suspaṣṭa evoktaḥ |

For, the Brāhmaṇa the girdle should be threefold, of even thickness, soft and smooth, made of muñja grass; for the Kṣatriya it should be the bow-string made of murvā grass; and for the Vaiśya the cord made of hempen fibres.”—(42)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
The muñja is a particular kind of grass; the cord made of that grass is called ‘Mauñjī.’ This cord should form the ‘girdle,’ hraid, waist-band. ‘Threefold’—triple-corded;—‘of even thickness’—not such as is thin in one part and thinner in another; but such as is even throughout;—‘soft and smooth,’ of soft texture, well-rubbed.

‘For the Kṣatriya the bow-string’;—the string of the bow. The bow-string is made sometimes of leathern thong, sometimes of grass or of fibres of hemp or flax; hence the text specifies it as that ‘made of murvā grass’; this string should be taken down from the bow and made into the waist-band.

Even though the qualifications of triplicity and the rest apply literally to all kinds of ‘girdle,’ and not only to that of muñja grass, yet they cannot be applied to the ‘bow-string,’ as with such qualifications it would entirely lose its character of ‘bow-string.’

‘Made of hempen fibres’;—the lengthening of the vowel in the second number of the compound is an archaism. Or, we may take the term ‘tāntavī’ by itself formed with the nominal affix added to the term ‘tantu’ only, and then compound the term ‘tāntavī’ with the term ‘śaṇa’; since the ‘tāntavī,’ the fibre, is a product of the ‘śaṇa,’ hemp, it is naturally spoken of as related to its source (the hemp) [hence the compound śaṇānām tāntavī—‘śaṇatāntavī’; as we find in such expressions as ‘the cow’s butter,’ ‘Deva-datta’s grand son’ and so forth]. This hempen cord should be made like that of the Muñja cord; as the author of the Gṛhyasūtras have clearly laid down that the Vaiśya’s girdle should have the qualities of triplicity and the rest.—(42)