Catechu

[Periannan Chandrasekaran]

--- "N. Ganesan" <naga_ganesan at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Dear Sanskritists,
>
>..
>
> (1) KiNwa is explained as "drug or seed used to produce
> fermentation in the manufacture of spirits from sugar,
> bassia &c." Colebroke quotes from "SaGkara: "The faculty
> of thought results from a modification of the aggregate
> elements in like manner as sugar with a ferement
> and other ingredients becomes an inebrieating liquor;
> and as betel, areca, lime and extract of catechu
> chewed together have an exhilarating property
> not found in those substances severally." "
>
>...
>
> Also, I need help with the "SaGkara's quotation: Where from?
> What is "catechu"? Is it different from areca?
> What is the Sanskrit word that Sankara uses for
> "extract of catechu"? If possible, please give me the tamil
> equivalent too.

DEDR entry# 1432:
Ta. kAcu, kAcu-kkaTTi, kAyccu-kkaTTi
a compound of catcechu formed with the juice of young coconuts, areca-nuts, and
other spices.
Ma. kAccu, kAttu, kARRu dried areca juice, catechu.
Ka. kAcu catechu or cutch, the inspissated juice of the Acacia catechu
Tu. kAcu, kAci catechu Acaia Catechu; the sediment of boiled areca-nut.
Te. kAcu catechu
[Cf. Skt. (Wilson)] kAzukAra- the areca tree.

>
> Thanks a bunch.
>
> Regards,
> N. Ganesan
>
> PS: I am working on a commentary of a 11th century tamil
> lokAyata text. It is written by Kavichakravarti JayamkoNTAr
> who was the court poet of Kulottunga Chozhan I. Last
> quarter of the 11th century. The patron of this
> rare text was AdinAthan of the Kaaraa.nai vizupparaiya_n
> lineage. The text is rare and very beautiful.
> This is one of the original lokayata texts in all of India.
> Oftentimes, what we have is portrayal of lokaayatikas as told
> by their traditional enemies.
>
> The buddhist epic, MaNimEkalai and this kArANai vizupparaiya_n
> maTal compare the production of life/intelligence ("uNarvu") from the
> proper mixing of 4 basic elements (earth, water, fire, air)
> with the inebriation produced in fermentaion process.
> and they do not accept aakaasham as a basic element.
> Both maNimEkalai and K. maTal compare these four elements with
> 1) mountain ebony ('tAtaki/Atti') 2) jaggery ('vellam')
> 3) days-old cooked rice ('Odanam') and 4) water (rice-water 'kazinIr'
> used in cleaning).
>
>
The Cologne OnLine Tamil lexicon returns 15 entries with catechu that seem
to refer to other tree names that occur in cagkam texts such as mArOTam:

ciRumArOTam  red catechu


mArOTam red catechu


mOrOTam

otl mOrOTam mOrOTam red catechu


OTam

otl OTam OTam 02 red catechu


kAcu

otl kAcu kAcu 02 catechu compound


kOTam

otl kOTam kOTam 01 red catechu


tuvarkkaTTi

otl tuvarkkaTTi tuvarkkaTTi a compound of catechu and other spices


amirAkitam

otl amirAkitam amirAkitam red catechu (TLS)


cegkarugkAli

otl cegkarugkAli cegkarugkAli red catechu, m. tr., acaria catechu-sundra


kamuku

otl kamuku kamuku areca-plam, areca catechu


kUntaRkamuku

otl kUntaRkamuku kUntaRkamuku 1. areca palm, m. tr., areca catechu ; 2. ralipot
palm


kAcukkaTTi

otl kAcukkaTTi kAcukkaTTi 02 downy foliaged cauch, m. tr., acacia catechu
typica


mUcAmparam

otl mUcAmparam mUcAmparam 1. scarlet flowered aloe; 2. resinous inspissated
juice of aloe; 3. a compound of catechu


kAcukkaTTi

otl kAcukkaTTi kAcukkaTTi 01 a compound of catechu formed with the juice of
young cocounts, areca-nuts, and other spices


pUkam

otl pUkam pUkam 01 1. areca-palm, m. tr., areca catechu ; 2. a caste assembly;
3. collection; multitude; heap; 4. jaggery-palm; 5.
nature

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/