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