Indian Epigraphy c15.t2: 2. Numbers expressed by Words
Indian Epigraphy c15.t2
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2. Numbers expressed by Words
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The Indian students of astronomy, mathematics and many other subjects generally composed their works in verse. The nature of the works in some of these subjects necessitated the repeated mention of numbers, e.g., in the setting and solution of the problems of an arithmetical sum. There was, however, generally only one word in Sanskrit to indicate a particular number. Since the repeated mention of a word in the same sense was regarded as a bad style of composition, and such a word would often not fit in the metre of a stanza, the authors required a large number of words for indicating the same number. A convention therefore gradually developed, according to which ordinary words that can somehow be associated with particular numbers were used to imply those numbers. Thus all the Sanskrit words meaning ‘the hand’ came to be used to indicate 2, since man has only two hands. Similarly words meaning ‘the arrow’ were employed in the sense of 5 because Kāma, the Indian god of love, is represented in tradition as armed with five arrows of flowers. When there were more than one tradition regarding the number associated with a particular object, only one of them was adopted. Thus, even though traditionally the Vedas are regarded either as three or as four and the seas either as four or as seven in number, the early Indian astronomers and mathematicians used the words indicating both the Vedas and the sea to indicate 4 only. But uncritical authors of the medieval age are sometimes found to have violated this old convention and introduced an amount of confusion in the system. Thus, in some cases, we notice the use of a word for ‘the sea’ to imply both the numbers 4 and 7.¹ The name of a metre was often used to indicate a number according to the number of syllables in a foot of a stanza in that metre. Thus the word anuṣṭubh, the name of a metre with eight syllables in a foot, implied 8. But there was want of complete uniformity since in some cases the number of syllables in all the four feet of a stanza was counted; e.g., Jagatī, a metre with 12 syllables in a foot, was used by late authors in the sense of both 12 and 48. When such a word-numeral was a compound of two words, often either the first or the second member of the compounds was used to indicate the number in question.
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¹ The polygraphic (multiscriptal) inscription of king Jaya-Pratāpamalla of Nepal is dated in *Nepāl-ābde yug-ābdhau muni-gaṇa-sahite* given in figures as Saṃva (Saṃvat) 774, thus equating *abdhi* (sea) to 7. The exact date of the record is quoted as Friday, Māgha-sudi 1 (13th January 1654 A.D.). See *Journ. As.*, Tome CCXLV, 1957, p. 338 and Plate. Cf. Śaka 1748=Bengal San 1233, the date of the composition of Jagaddurlabha’s *Uddhavacamatkāra* given in the colophon of the work (*Bhāratavarṣa*, Bengali, Śrāvaṇa, 1365 B.S., p. 173) respectively as *aṣṭa-sāgara-payonidhi-candra* and *netra-Rāma-yuga-candra*. The word *netra* = 3 according to the Bengali convention and *yuga* = 2 (not 4 as usual). Indeed it would have been difficult to determine the date of the composition of the work, in spite of the years in both the eras being quoted, unless it was separately stated that the work was completed on the 12th Caitra, 1233 B. S. (24th March 1827 A.D.). The Bengal San has been referred to as *yāvanika* and *ādhunika*. See below, pp. 230 ff.
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In the early astronomical and arithmetical works, single such words are generally used to indicate particular number. Piṅgala, Varāhamihira and later authors use such words with numerical meanings as grouped in Dvandva compounds. But, while Piṅgala’s *ved-artu-samudrāḥ* means ‘4 or 6 or 4’, Varāhamihira’s *kha-kh-aṣṭi-yamāḥ* would mean ‘0 and 0 and 16 and 2’ to be read actually from right to left as 21600.¹ This principle of *aṅkānāṁ vāmato gatiḥ*, ‘the movement of the numerals from right to left’, is generally followed in the dates expressed in inscriptions in word-numerals although there are a few exceptions especially in late records.² Such numerical words are sometimes found also in the ordinary enumeration of a number in words; cf. *Śaka* 1172 indicated by *dvisaptaty-adhika-Śiva-śata*,³ in which *Śiva* means ‘eleven.’
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¹ Cf. Bühler, op. cit., p. 86.
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² See, e.g., Bhandarkar’s List, No. 620.
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³ A.R. Ep., May 1890, p. 2.
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We give below an indication as to the words that were used to express particular numbers.⁴
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⁴ See Bühler, op. cit., pp. 84 ff.; Ojha, op. cit., p. 120; Filliozat, op. cit., pp. 708-09; Sewell, Eclipses of the Moon in India, pp. 7-8. A few words have been added from other sources, especially epigraphic.
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0 = *śūnya*, ‘the empty space of the sky’ (*kha, gagana, ambara, abhra, viyat, nabhas, antarikṣa, Viṣṇupada, ākāśa, ananta, vyoman, dyu, etc.*), *pūrṇa, vindu*, etc. The word *randhra*, which generally means 9, is used to imply 0 (cypher) in a few cases by late authors.
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1 = *ādi*, ‘the moon’ (*śaśin, indu, vidhu, candra, śītāṁśu, śītaraśmi, soma, śaśāṅka, sudhāṁśu, kṣapeśvara, Atrinayanaja, mṛgāṅka, candramas, etc.*), ‘the earth’ (*bhū, bhūmi, kṣiti, dharā, urvarā, go, vasundharā, pṛthvī, kṣmā, dharaṇī vasudhā, ilā, ku, mahī, dhātrī, jagatī kṣoṇi, kṣauṇī, avanī, etc.*), *ajba, raśmi, rūpa, Pitāmaha* (but cf. *Brahman* meaning 9), *nāyaka, tanu, jana, Airāvata* (sometimes wrongly *hastin*, etc., which really mean 8), *Uccaiśravas* (sometimes wrongly *aśva*, etc., which really mean 7), ‘the single eye of Śukra’ (*Śukra-netra*, etc.), *Dhruva, ātman, Parabrahman, Mūlaprakṛti*, etc. *Jagatī* is sometimes used to mean 12 and 48 and *go* 9.
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2 = *yama, yamala, yugala, dvaya, yugma, dvandva, Aśvin* (sometimes also *Aśvina*), *Nāsatya, Dasra*, ‘the eye’ (*locana, netra, akṣi, dṛṣṭi, cakṣus, nayana, īkṣaṇa, ambaka, etc.*), the words meaning other limbs which are in pairs such as bāhu, kara, karṇa, kuca, oṣṭha, gulpha, jānu, etc., pakṣa, kuṭumba, ravi-candra, grahaṇa, nadī-kūla, Rāma-nandana, viṣuvat, ayana, etc. In the Bengal region, the word netra, ‘the eye’, is generally taken to stand for ‘Śiva’s eyes’ and therefore in the sense of 3. Sometimes yuga=2 instead of 4, and pakṣa=15.
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3=Rāma, guṇa, tri-guṇa, ‘the world’ (loka, jagat, tri-jagat, bhuvana, etc., some of which are sometimes also used for 14), ‘the fire’ (agni, vahni, pāvaka, vaiśvānara, dahana, tapana, udarcis, hutāśana, jvalana, śikhin, kṛśānu, hotṛ, anala, etc.), kāla, tri-kāla, tri-gata, ‘Śiva’s eyes’ (trinetra, Hara-nayana Śaṅkar-ākṣi, Īśa-dṛś, etc.), sahodara, doṣa, nāḍī, śūla, gaṅgā-mārga, viṣṭapa, mūrti, vacana, ‘Daśaratha’s wives’, etc. For śakti=3, see Ep. Ind., Vol. XIX, p. 166, and guṇa=6 below. Veda rarely indicates 3, though it really stands for 4. Tapana in the sense of ‘the sun’ would mean ‘twelve’.
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4=‘the Veda’ (veda, śruti, etc.), ‘the sea’ (sāgara, arṇava, amburāśi, abdhi, jaladhi, jalanidhi, ambhonidhi, vārinidhi, ambudhi, jalāśaya, sindhu, vāridhi, etc., later used also in the sense of 7), kendra, varṇa, āśrama, yuga (rarely 2), turya, kṛta, aya, āya, bandhu, koṣṭha, ‘Brahman’s faces’ (Brahm-āsya, Caturānana-vadana, etc.), ‘Viṣṇu’s arms’ (Hari-bāhu, etc.), vyūha, sen-āṅga, khaṭvā-pāda, go-stana, puruṣ-ārtha, etc. For gati in the sense of 4, cf. Ep. Ind., Vol. XXV, p. 336. The words diś, diśā, etc., meaning 10, are sometimes found in the sense of 4. Jala (for jaladhi), dadhi (for udadhi) and vanadhi (mistake for vāridhi ?) are also counted in the same sense.
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5=‘the arrow’ (bāṇa, śara, sāyaka, iṣu, viśikha, kalamba, mārgaṇa, etc.), bhūta, mahābhūta, parvan, prāṇa, ‘Pāṇḍu’s sons’ (Pāṇḍava, etc.), artha, viṣaya, indriya, ratna (also 9 or 14), ‘Śiva’s faces’ (Rudr-āsya, Tryakṣa-mukha, etc.), ‘the sins’ (pātaka, mahāpāpa, etc.), Purāṇa-lakṣaṇa, pallava, gavya, tanmātra, kṣāra, lavaṇa, ‘the sacrifices’ (mahāyajña, etc.), tattva (generally used to indicate 25), etc. Words meaning ‘a son’ (suta, putra, etc., probably meaning Pāṇḍu’s sons) and tata (for tattva ?) are also counted in the same sense.
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6=rasa, aṅga, kāya, darśana (meaning the 6 darśanas and not dṛṣṭi, ‘the eye’, meaning 2), rāga, ‘the enemy’ (ari, ripu, etc.), śastra, mala, tarka, kāraka, ṛtu, māsārdha (cf. māsa=12; but pakṣa=2), ‘Karttikeya’s faces’ (Kumār-āsya, etc.), etc. In late medieval records, the word guṇa is sometimes used to indicate 6 instead of 3. Cf. A. R. Ep., 1957-58, No. B 68.
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7 = ‘the hill or mountain’ (naga, aga, bhūbhṛt, parvata, śaila, adri, giri, bhūdhara, mahīdhara, etc.), ṛṣi, muni, Atri, vāra, svara, dhātu, ‘a horse’ (aśva, turaga, turaṅgama, vājin, etc.), chandas, dhī, kalatra, dvīpa, etc. Loka, pātāla, sāgara and Sagara are also counted in the same sense.
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8 = Vasu, ‘an elephant’ confused with ‘a snake’ (ahi, nāga, gaja, dantin, diggaja, hastin, mātaṅga, kuñjara, dvīpa, sarpa, etc.), takṣan, siddhi, bhūti, Anuṣṭubh, maṅgala, Dikpāla, tanu, yāma, etc. Naga (really 7), mūrti (cf. rūpa=1) and tanu (really 1) are soemtimes also counted in the same sense. Naga is used in the sense of ‘eight’ in Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXV, p. 140.
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9 = aṅka, Nanda, nidhi, nidhāna, randhra, chidra, dvāra, ‘the planet’ (graha, etc.), go (also 1), pavana, Bṛhatī, varṣa, khaṇḍa, ‘the god Brahman’ (Aja, Abjagarbha, etc.), ratna (also 5 or 14), etc.
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10 = ‘the quarters’ (diś, diśā, āśā, kakubh, etc.), aṅguli (also used to indicate 20), paṅkti, ‘Rāvaṇa’s heads’ (Rāvaṇa-śiras, etc.) avatāra, karman, la-kāra, etc.
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11 = ‘the god Rudra’ (Rudra, Śiva, Īśvara, Hara, Īśa, Bhava, Bharga, Śūlin, Mahādeva, etc.), akṣauhiṇī, lābha, Triṣṭubh, etc.
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12 = ‘the sun’ (ravi, sūrya, sahasrāṃśu, arka, mārtaṇḍa, dyu-maṇi, bhānu, āditya, divākara, etc.), māsa, rāśi, vyaya, saṅkrānti, Jagatī (sometimes used also in the senses of 1 and 48), ‘the eyes or arms of Kārttikeya’ (Senānī-netra, Ṣaṇ-mukha-bāhu, etc.), etc.
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13 = Viśvedevāḥ (sometimes contracted to Viśva), Kāma, Manmatha, Atijagatī, aghoṣa, etc.
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14 = Manu, vidyā, ‘the god Indra’ (Indra, Śakra, etc.), loka (sometimes also used to indicate 3), etc. Pūrva [of the Jains] and ratna (also 5 or 9) are sometimes counted in the list of words of the same sense.
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15 = tithi, ghasra, dina, ahan, pakṣa (sometimes also used to imply 2), etc.
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16 = ‘a king’ (*nṛpa*, *bhūpa*, etc.), *Aṣṭi*, *kalā*, etc. 17 = *Atyaṣṭi*. 18 = *Dhṛti*. 19 = *Atidhṛti*. 20 = *nakha*, *aṅguli* (also used to indicate 10), *Kṛti*, ‘Rāvaṇa’s arms’ (*Rāvaṇa-bhuja*, etc.), etc. 21 = *Prakṛti*, *svarga*, *Utkṛti* (generally used in the sense of 26). 22 = *Akṛti*, *jāti*, *Kṛtin*. 23 = *Vikṛti*. 24 = *Gāyatrī*, *Jina*, *Arhat*, *Siddha*, etc. 25 = *tattva* (rarely used to indicate 5). 26 = *Utkṛti* (rarely used to indicate 21). 27 = ‘the stars’ (*nakṣatra*, *uda*, *bha*, etc.). 32 = ‘the teeth’ (*danta*, *rada*, etc.). 33 = ‘the gods’ (*amara*, *deva*, *sura*, *tridaśa*, etc.). 34 = *tāna* (generally used in the sense of 49). 40 = *naraka*. 48 = *Jagatī* (sometimes used to indicate 1 and 12). 49 = *tāna* (cf. its use in the sense of 34), *vāyu*. 100 = *Dhārtarāṣṭra*, *puruṣ-āyus*, *abja-dala*, *Śakra-yajña*, etc. 1000 = ‘the mouths of the Ganges’ (*Jāhnavī-vaktra*, etc.) ‘Śeṣa’s heads’ (*Śeṣa-śīrṣa*, etc.), ‘the Sun’s rays’ (*Ravi-bāṇa*, etc.), ‘Arjuna’s arms’ (*Arjuna-kara*, etc.), ‘Indra’s eyes’ (*Indra-dṛṣṭi*, etc.), etc.