Hindu Medicine c7.296

c7.296

In the beginning, the god-creator married his twenty-seven daughters to King Moon. All of them are asterisms on the moon’s path, the so-called “lunar mansions” forming the lunar zodiac. The Moon, however, became so completely enamoured of one among them, that he utterly neglected his conjugal duty toward the remaining twenty-six. Having complained to their lord in vain about the frustration of their married life, the neglected wives reported the matter to their father. In vain, too, the father rebuked his son-in-law repeatedly for his inexcusable monogamous habits. Eventually, the father-in-law lost his temper and breathed forth his wrath. The breath flaming from his mouth turned into the figure of a fierce, devouring demon; figures of this kind, demons or fierce animals, embodying the fury and aggression of some superhuman being, are frequently encountered in Hindu myths. This demon, incorporating the destructive force of consumption, assailed King Moon and caused him to wane away. Since King Moon was the first being to suffer from the disease, it was called, on this account, “King’s Consumption.”