གཎ་ཌའ་དས་ཀྱ་མད intro.6

intro.6

In this eleventh-century Tibetan translation of The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī, the units of measurement for the shadow are given in “feet” (Skt. pada/pāda, Tib. rkang pa) and “fingerbreadths” (Skt. aṅgula, Tib. sor). Typically in ancient and medieval India, twelve or fourteen fingerbreadths were equal to one foot.⁷ In The Sūtra on the Timings for the Gaṇḍī it is uncertain how many “feet” correspond to one “man.” Since the Sanskrit term pāda can also mean “a quarter,” it is possible that here four feet correspond to one man. All of these measurements would be scaled down in ratio according to the size of the gnomon or “man” in use. Yijing states that the gnomons he witnessed in use in India were four fingerbreadths in height.