[INDOLOGY] Question

[Patrick Olivelle]

Dear All:

In Aśvaghoṣa’s Saundarananda, we have the following verse:

dahet suvarṇaṁ hi dhamann akāle jale kṣipan saṁśamayed akāle /
na cāpi samyak paripākam enaṁ nayed akāle samupekṣamāṇaḥ // 16.66 //

The problem verb is saṃśamayet. Covill translates: "make it cool down”; and Johnston: “bring it to maturity.” My feeling is that the term has a technical meaning within the metallurgic tradition. Someone suggested “make it brittle”, which is tempting, but I do not know that the Sanskrit term has this meaning. Any help from those of you better versed in ancient Indian metallurgy would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Patrick Olivelle