The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.8.3

v1.c10.8.3

cares consume me, Śatakratu, although thy worshipper, as a rat (gnaws a weaver’s) threads”,¹¹ and the scholiast finds in this, not altogether [ 79 ] without reason, a reference to the practice well known in the time of Manu (VIII. 397) of sizing threads with rice water, for the purose of weaving, and which made them palatable to rats. The whole passage, however, admits of a different interpretation. In a hymn to Indra, praises and hymns are compared to “elegant wellmade garments” (*vastreva bhadra sukṛta*), as being fit to be received as a respectful present”¹² (*Upasaṁhāravad grāhyāṇi*). Commenting on this passage, Wilson says, “If the rendering be correct this shows the custom of presenting honorary dresses to be of Indian origin, and of considerable antiquity”. Among largesses given to priests by Divodāsa, the idea of a *Khilat* again recurs: thus the priest says, “I have received from Divodāsa ten horses, ten purses, ten clothes (*Khilats* of ten parchas ?), and ample food”. Aśvattha gave to Payu “ten lumps of gold, ten well-appointed chariots, a hundred head of cattle”.¹³ Gifts of “elegantly adorned and well-dressed female slaves” are recited in a subsequent book. The *Yajus* and the *Sāma Vedas*, likewise, contain many references of the same kind to clothing, and in one place in the former “gold cloth”, or brocade, for a counterpane is distinctly mentioned¹⁴;