"yogāñjana" could mean "magic ointment" (magic<-yogic), or "an ointment consisting of a medicinal compound."
The samāsa may refer deictically to poisons or corrosive substances (denotation), but that's not what the samāsa means lexically (i.e., semantically).
Arka, Purple
Calotropis, is a milkweed with a corrosive, poisonous sap.
Snuhī, a
spurge, similarly has white, corrosive sap. Etc.
Best,
Dominik
> blinding with acid is the technique recommended in AŚ 4,10.13
Is “acid” the meaning of yogāñjana?
Meyer translates „Giftsalbe“ (p. 352).
Kangle translates „poisonous collyrium“ (p. 282)
Olivelle translates „toxic collyrium“ (p. 422)
For
the meaning of yogāñjana
in AŚ 4,10.13, Kangle and Olivelle both refer to AŚ 14,1.15, where
“andhīkaraṇam añjanam” occurs. The preparation of this substance with
the power of blinding is defined there as:
“Dung of Myrna bird,
pigeon, Baka-heron, Balākā-flamingo, made into a paste with the milk of
the plants Arka, Akṣi, Pīluka, and Snuhi, produces a collyrium that
causes blindness and poisons water” (Olivelle 2013: 422).
It is
well known that bird droppings consist of uric acid. Their mixture with
plant sap could indeed have resulted in a substance, which might be seen
as a premodern precursor of acid used in today’s attacks going by that
name. Our colleagues focussing on Indian alchemy and medicine will be
able to judge it better.
--
Professor
Dominik Wujastyk,
Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
,
University of Alberta, Canada
.