References to color blindness

[LUSTHAUS at macalstr.edu]

The "yellow eye" is also sometimes called "jaundiced eye" and refers to an eye
disease in which everything seems to be yellow, apparently a well-known symptom
in India, since it appears frequently in philosophical writings... The
Vedaantins probably borrowed it from the Buddhists, who seem to have used
those examples first (e.g., Vasubandhu, Dignaaga, etc.). In fact, the idea of
adhyaasa (superimposition) seems to have been borrowed by Vedaantins from the
Buddhists, who used it to explain vij~napti-maatra (what appears to be the case
is a mental projection).

Dan Lusthaus
Macalester College