Kalaapa

[Dominik Wujastyk]

This topic has thrown light on a long-standing question I have had.  In
manuscripts of the unpublished Rasendramangala by pseudo-Nagarjuna (see
Ambix 31 (1984), David White, _The Alchemical Body_ (1996), passim) there
is an expression "challapalla" as in

        kiM challapallair varavaidyaraaja.h
        sa raajate bhuupatim \dag agratas ya\dag }
                \note{agratastha P.}
        na vetti yo vai rasaraajave"sanaM
        kaaru.nyakiirtti sa kathaM hi lebhe

and

        sarvo.sadhaanaaM kriyayopayogata.h
        sa challapallair varayogaratnai.h
        naayaati tulyaM varayogibhuutale
        rasendrayogaac chatako.tir aM"sata.h

[unedited MS transcripts]

There is an expression like "challapalla" in Hindi, but I now see that
after entry 1096 (kalaapam: confusion, quarrel) DED (1 ed) has:

        1101 Ta. kalipali, kalipili uproar, disturbance, quarrel, wrangle.

with similar words in Kannada (galabali, galabili, galibili), Tulu
(galibili galabu), Telugu (galibili, galaba).

It seems that this is a cluster of related words, perhaps from an
onomatapoeic origin.  I think my "challapalla" and Gansten's "kalaapa" may
me part of the same general family.  Perhaps we could call these "rhubarb"
words.


--
Dr Dominik Wujastyk,              FAX:       +44 171 611 8545
Wellcome Institute for            URL:       http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/
  the History of Medicine,        Email:     d.wujastyk at ucl.ac.uk
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