Thanks to those who replied already, on and off the list. I can see
I should have been clearer: I was primarily interested in knowing
whether क्षुत kṣuta really exists in the sense 'awkward'
(or similar) in Hindi or other NIA languages. Thanks to Dick Plukker
for answering this in the negative (still a result).
Several people have pointed out that sneezing is commonly seen as an
omen. Even if it were always a bad omen, though, this sense wouldn't
quite work here: in the Tājika texts where I have found the word,
kṣut or kṣuta (both forms occur) is used as a technical term in the
specific context of planetary aspects (kṣuddṛṣṭi, kṣutadṛṣṭi). A not
infrequent Sanskrit synonym is krūradṛṣṭi. It did occur to me to
wonder whether kṣut(a) might be of Persian derivation (it doesn't
seem to be related to any Arabic term that I have found), but
wondering is as far as I've got. Early sources gloss it in a way
that might suggest that it would seem foreign to Indian readers (tisro
’ridṛśaḥ kṣutākhyāḥ syuḥ, etc).
Lubomír Ondračka helpfully suggested a look at the Vācaspatyam. The
entry
there deals mostly with sneezing as an omen but does go on to
mention the Tājika meaning briefly:
tājakoktāyām 2 aridṛṣṭau ariśabde 355 pṛ°
vivṛtiḥ “kṣutākhyadṛṣṭyā na śubhaṃ tadāpi” | “kṣutadṛṣṭyā ripor
bhayam” nīlaka° |
(The reference is to the Tājikanīlakaṇṭhī.) This is the sense I'm
after, but of course the Vācaspatyam doesn't discuss etymology. If
the sense is restricted to Tājika texts, though, that increases the
likelihood of a comparatively recent foreign origin.
Any further leads on this would be greatly appreciated!
Martin G.