Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c8.4

c8.4

WEAVING—Reference to cotton cloth is absent in Ṛigveda although wool was much in vogue, e. g. Śamulya (probably the same as samūr) and Dūrśa (class. Sans. Dūshya, Hi. dhussā). The art of weaving was Vayana, the loom Tantra, the warp Tata, the shuttle Tasara. The imagery of the loom is applied to Time weaving the cosmic texture with the twin yarns of Night and Day. In a passage the mother is said to be weaving the garment for her son (RV. V. 47.6, *Vastrā putrāya mātaro vayanti*). Yarn or thread was known as *Sūtra* and *Tantu*.