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

[Dagmar Wujastyk]

Dear Martin,

Regarding *vānti* and *chardi*:* vānti* seems to only be used in later
medical texts, Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā (13th/14th century) onwards, and is also
found in iatrochemical (alchemical) texts. In the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā, it
occurs in the context of a metallic preparation, which, if prepared
according to rule, will not produce* vānti*. So, here the difference is
between vomiting as a reaction to poisoning and vomiting as a disease
category (chardi is used in the latter sense in the Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā). My
impression (this was a very quick look) is that* vānti *and* chardi*
otherwise are interchangeable.

Re kāsapittātisāra: it should divide into kāsa (cough - there are different
kinds of kāsa, it's a category of disease) and pittātisāra, flux caused by
pitta (one of three humoral substances, or doṣas). Pittātisāra already
occurs in the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā.
Then, it should be pittakāmalā, kāmalā (something like jaundice) caused by
pitta.

Very best,
Dagmar



On 11 October 2016 at 16:14, Martin Gansten <martin.gansten at pbhome.se>
wrote:

> 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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