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
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@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?