kalaaya (was: question)

[bpj at netg.se]

At 11:40 14.3.1997 +0000, Dominik Wujastyk wrote:
>
>Tripu.ta is sometimes also thought to be the same legume as kalaaya.
>Nadkarni, however, says that kalaaya is Pisum Arvense, the field pea.  I
>think this is not correct, at least in pre-modern texts, because of the
>etiology of diseases associated with kalaaya/tripu.ta. Kalaaya is
>mentioned in even earlier texts than the BP as a legume that aggravates
>'wind', which often involves symptoms of paralysis (e.g.., ardita, and
>other palsies, cramps, and convulsions), and is grouped with or even
>equated with tripu.ta.  It is mentioned in Caraka and Su"sruta.  However I
>cannot yet see an *early* passage actually saying that kalaaya causes
>lameness.
>

Most interesting? Was cerebral palsy known/and or described in Indic
medicine? (I take for granted there were some of us everywhere at all
times, but did the physicians recognize the diagnosis? After all it wasn't
until a hundred years ago in the west.)

Regards

Philip <bpj at netg.se> :-)=@ (Still rolling!)