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276 : Scientific Contents in Prākrta Canons
point of practical atom. Though the J. D. P. mentions 'trtirenu' (ūrdhvareņu of A. D. S.) as practical atom, the A. D. S. points it to be much smaller unit ( 8 -1 12+0) ). The real practical unit is an infinite multiple of this unit which has the same name in A. D. S. and B, but Table 2 shows that its name is different in T.P., R. V. and J. D. P. The same is the position of the second unit eight times larger. These two units should have the same names in current times. The cause of different names should also be looked into.
It is seen that there are 13 stages of smaller units upto U. A. in A. D. S. while there are 12 stages in other treatises including Bhagavati. These treatises have combined the third and fifth units into one. The how and when of this change requires further consideration. Is it the mistake of the copyist? Currently, A. D. S. UA is larger by 10' unit, say.
Besides the above two differences, B ( 100 B. C.) and R. V. (- 750 A. D. ) have same names of other ten units upto Angula. In contrast, there is similarity in names in T. P. and J. D. P. ( names of hair heads and yava or yavamadhya ). This difference should also be looked into and formalised for the current age.
It is clear from Table 2 that each of the 12 stages from Angula backwards is eighth part of the preceding unit. The first unit, thus, have a value of 1.6 X 10-10 A. If we multiply this value by its cm. equivalent of 1.70, the first unit seems to have a value of 2.72 x 10-10 cms. If one takes J. D. P. as little more practical, and the practical atom or trtirenu is taken as 64 times the first unit, the practical atom has a dimension of 1.75x 108 cm, which is the normal size of current atom. This suggests that J. D. P. concept of practical atom unit has the same atomic dimension as the current one. In contrast, the unit of length smaller than atomic one is that of atomic nucleus of 10-13 cm. This does not coincide with the canonical smallest unit of 10-10 cm. It is, therefore, reasonable to suggest that trtirenu
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