In an astrological text tentatively dated to 13th-century Gujarat I
came across this verse:
āye sute bhuvi śubho hy adhikāravān sa
madhyāni tāni tu laghūny adhikārahīnaḥ |
dagdho ’śubhekṣitayuto vidumālagāmī
nīco dadāti laghuvarṣapade ca māsān ||10||
'[Placed] in the eleventh, fifth, or fourth house, benefic and
possessing dignity, that [planet] gives its middling [years]; bereft
of dignity, its lesser ones; combust, aspected by or joined to
malefics, moving vidumāla, [or] fallen, months in the place
of its lesser years.'
From the context, it seems likely that vidumāla should mean
'retrograde', and indeed, some later text witnesses 'correct' the
phrase to kila vakragāmī; but I am fairly sure that the
lectio difficilior is correct here. However, I have been unable to
find vidumāla (or dumāla, supposing the vi- to
be a prefix) in any lexicon, and it does not seem to be an Arabic
term. This makes me wonder if it could be a borrowing from a North
Indian vernacular. All suggestions would be gratefully received.
Best wishes,
Martin Gansten