[INDOLOGY] Kalapattana, black men, and some medical terms

[Martin Gansten]

The /Hāyanasundara/, a seemingly fairly late astrological text (quoted 
by Balabhadra in the early 17th century) in simple, inelegant Sanskrit, 
contains some phrases that I am not quite sure about. First, in a 
description of the joint results of the sun and moon, there are the 
following stanzas:

varṣasvāmī yadā sūryas [...] yadi candramasā yutaḥ [...]
śvetakrayāṇakāl lābho viśeṣāt kalapattanā | (some MSS read kalapattanam)
śayanāśanavastrādi miṣṭānnasvādubhojanam ||
saudhotsaṅgasthito gītanṛtyalolupamānasaḥ |
strīvatsalaḥ sugandhāḍhyo rātrau sukhitacetasaḥ ||

I don't know what to make of kalapattana/-ā: is it the name of a place 
(reading -āt), as the second member suggests, and if so, where? Or does 
it refer to a type of merchandise, or to something else entirely?

Second, the description of the joint results of the sun and Venus lists 
a number of medical conditions. The underlined phrases are particularly 
problematic:

ravir atha sitadṛṣṭaḥ saṃyuto vā jvarārtir bhavati śirasi pīḍā _chardir_ 
apy eti _vāntim_ |
bhavati jaṭharaśūlaṃ _kāsapittātisārai_ ripubhayam atha cintā sthānato 
bhraṃśam eti ||
yadāgneyadiśo lābhaḥ _pittakāmaladadrutāḥ_ |
galaḥ śuṣyati śukreṇa ravir dṛṣṭo yuto yadi ||

What might the difference be between chardi and vānti, both of which 
seem generally to mean 'vomiting' but are apparently differentiated 
here? And how are the compounded names of medical conditions best 
understood?

Finally, the text refers repeatedly to 'black men' (asita-mānava, 
kṛṣṇa-manuja). I have never seen these or similar terms used of 
dark-skinned Indians. Does it seem reasonable to assume that they are 
used here to refer to people of African origin, and if so, what (if 
anything) does that tell us of the likely date and place of the text?

I should be grateful for any comments or suggestions.

Martin Gansten



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