History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.775.1

v6.c82.775.1

When and how these huge numbers of years for the yugas were suggested remains somewhat enigmatic. It appears that as early as the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa people had become familiar with huge figures The Śatapatha¹⁰⁸⁴ says that there are 10800 muhūrtas in a year (in one ahorātra 30 × 360), that Prajāpati arranged the Ṛgveda in such a way that the number of syllables it contains is equal to 12000 Bṛhatīs (each Bṛhatī having 36 syllables) i e. 432000 syllables and it is further stated that the Ṛgveda also contains 10800 paṅktis (each paṅkti having 40 syllables i e the syllables are 10800 × 40 = 432000. Prajāpati is said to have arranged the other two Vedas also and the three Vedas amounted to ten thousand eight hundred eighties (that is 80 × 10800 = 864000 syllables), that muhūrta by muhūrta he gained eighty syllables (as there are 10800 muhūrtas in a sacrificial year of 360 days). Dr. Jean Filliozat, Professor at the College de France, Paris, puts forward the theory in a recent article (in the Bulletin of L'Ecole Francaise D'Extreme-Orient, Tome XLIV, Fas. 2, pp.