Dear Dominik, The alchemical use of vidh sometimes occurs in Buddhist texts; see e.g. Bodhicaryāvatāra 1.10 and its comm. : rasajātam atīva vedhanîyam. However, in the context I was concerned with, it is part of the technical vocabulary of Prajñāpāramitā and refers to intuitive penetration of the ultimate truth. This is much discussed in the Abhisamayālamkara and its comms. Perhaps there is a meta-level on which these uses are related as applying to « transformative « events.
best, Matthew Matthew T. Kapstein Professor emeritus Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris Associate The University of Chicago Divinity School Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/ https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1 https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1 https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949 Sent from [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) for iOS. -------- Original Message -------- On Thursday, 10/16/25 at 15:44 Dominik Wujastyk <[email protected]> wrote: > Not on the privative prefix, but on the meaning of vidh, see > > - https://cikitsa.blogspot.com/2014/07/sanskrit-vidh-on-alchemical.html > > abhinandatitara, > > Dominik > > -- > Dominik Wujastyk, Professor Emeritus, Classical Indian History > University of Alberta > > "The University of Alberta is committed to the pursuit of truth, > the advancement of learning, and the dissemination of knowledge > through teaching, research and other scholarly and creative activities and > service." > -- [Collective > Agreement](https://www.ualberta.ca/human-resources-health-safety-environment/media-library/my-employment/agreements/2020-2024-collective-agreement---working-version.pdf) > 3.01
_______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list [email protected] https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
