The Classical Doctrine of Indian Medicine: Its Origins and its Greek Parallels c7.s2.86

c7.s2.86

One could think of a rapprochement between the Avestan azivāka (varient azavaka, of Vid., XX, 12, 18 & 23) and Vedic ajakāvā (RV., VII, 50, 1). But even if the equation was phonetically speaking, incontestable, it will remain uncertain. The sense of azivāka is unknown; only that it is a disease is clear. The sense of ajakāvā identified by Bergaigne⁴ with ajakā, the name of an eye-disease in classical Sanskrit, is problematical. It has been proposed to translate it as ‘scorpion’, though without much reason.