Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.346

v2.c4.346

Peśas denotes in the Rigveda¹ and later² an embroidered garment such as a female dancer would wear.³ The fondness of the Indians for such raiment is noted by Megasthenes⁴ and by Arrian,⁵ who refer to their *ἐσθής κατάστικτος*. So in one passage⁶ a garment (*vastra*) is called *peśana*, with which Roth⁷ happily compares the Roman *vestis coloribus intexta*. The making of such garments was a regular occupation of women, as is indicated by the *Peśas-kārī*, the ‘female embroiderer,’ figuring in the list of victims at the Puruṣamedha (‘human sacrifice’) in the Yajurveda,⁸ though the commentator on the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa interprets the word as ‘wife of a maker of gold.’⁹ Pischel,¹⁰ however, thinks that Peśas never means anything but colour or form.