Re: [INDOLOGY] kaṣāya

[Madhav Deshpande]

Dear Dominik,

     This kind of double meaning of the word kaṣāya is also seen in the
Buddhist usage of the word kasāva/kāsāva.  For example, in the Pali verse
(Dhammapada 1.9) "anikkasāvo kāsāvaṃ yo vattham paridahessati / apeto
damasaccena na so kāsāvam arahati //" (One not free from defilements, who
dons a yellow robe, that one devoid of control and truth, is not worthy of
a yellow robe."  Here, there is a pun on the words kasāva/kāsāva, and it
shows the use of the word in the sense of a color of defilements as well as
the color of the Buddhist robe.

Madhav

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 10:30 PM, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Dominik,
>
> I believe there is a Jain connection here.  In Jain texts, "kaṣāya" refers
> to passions/attachments which attract karmic matter to the jīva.  But each
> kaṣāya is also connected with a specific "leśya"–the colors which the jīva
> takes on due to the presence of the kaṣāya-s.  Perhaps the meaning of
> kaṣāya as a color has been conflated with the leśya concept?  This is just
> an initial guess, and not based on any in-depth investigation of specific
> occurrences of these terms in Jaina sources.
>
> Hopefully a helpful start,
> Jeff
>
> Dr. Jeffery D. Long
> Professor of Religion and Asian Studies
> Elizabethtown College
> Elizabethtown, PA
>
> https://etown.academia.edu/JefferyLong
>
> Series Editor, *Explorations in Indic Traditions: Theological, Ethical,
> and Philosophical*
> Lexington Books
>
> "One who makes a habit of prayer and meditation will easily overcome all
> difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of
> life."  (Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
>
> "We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself." (Carl Sagan)
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, April 12, 2017 9:51 PM, Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>
> Has anyone wrestled with the divergent meanings of "kaṣāya"?  Obviously
> there are core meanings like "red/yellow," "a sort of tea-like infusion,"
> and "astringent taste."  But there are several outlier meanings, including
> Wilson's "attachment to worldly objects."  Wilson is often very apt, and I
> think he got his meaning from the Pandits around him.   The Buddhist
> "decay, etc." seems to carry over the ChUp's "impurity, sin."
>  Vedāntasāra's "stupidity" is another outlier.  Is this really a conflation
> of homonyms, or what?
>
> Dominik Wujastyk
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