Note 14 — Chapter II · HEROIC GODLINGS
Reading edition
Other deities connected in popular belief with cholera are the goddesses Visuchikā14 and Chandikā.15 Visuchikā is conciliated by burnt offerings: the recitation of the chandipāth wins the favour of Chandikā. There is also a giantess named Karkatā who is supposed to be responsible for cholera. She is said to have sprung from the sweat on the forehead of Brahmā and to reside in the chandra mandal (or lunar sphere).16