On Nouns with Numerical Vallue in Sanskrit

Author(s): Willem B Bollee
Publisher: ZZ_Anusandhan

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On Nouns with Numerical Value in Sanskrit
WILLEM BOLLÉE
There are many studies on so-called lucky or typical numbers in India, as, e.g., 16, 18 or 108 in place of which the latest one known to me, that of Lienhard," may be mentioned here. These deal with numbers expressed by numerals. Apparently, numerals cannot be used as nouns as, e.g. in English “the eleven” for a soccer team; in German “4711” for eau de Cologne, or in French “soixante-neuf" for a particular kind of sexual activity. In India, however, as with the Pythagoreans in Greece, there are many nouns with a numerical value because associated with a certain number as agni ‘fire' which can alsopertain to the number three for there are three fires. Others, as kāya, tanu or deha ‘body', do not stand for 25 though the body is twenty-fivefold nor does karņa ‘ear' or kumbha 'frontal globe on the forehead of an elephant denote the number two. In this paper the former category will be the subject on the basis of the references of the word 'number' in Monier-Williams.4
The first to draw the attention to this phenomenon was the astrologer Abu-al-Rayhān al Biruni (973-1048) who studied Sanskrit in India in 1017 C.E. Writing on the metrical handbooks on astronomy of the Hindus he says: „For each number they have quite a great quantity of words. Hence, if one word does not suit the metre, you may easily exchange it for a synonym which suits. Brahmagupta says: „If you want to write one, express it by everything which is unique, as the earth, the moon; two by everything which is double, as, e.g., black and white ...; twelve by the names of the sun.”
Both Filliozat and the polymath Kane put up a nonexhaustive list of synonyms up to 49 to be employed to indicate a certain number. The practice is especially used by astronomists such as the author of the Sūryasiddhānta’ and Varāhamihira (first