jaya = 108?

Alexander v. Rospatt gast.itb at UNIVIE.AC.AT
Tue Feb 25 14:31:07 UTC 2003


Dear Indologists,
without revealing his source Louis Frederic claims in his book "Borobudur" (p. 75 of the German version published by Hirmer Verlag, München in 1995; the French original is from 1994) that "jaya" stands for the number "108", because the Sanskrit letters "ja" and "ya" denote respectively "1" and "8", and the "zero inbetween can be ignored".
Is this explanation for "108" found elsewhere?
What is the source for this (to me new) equation of "ja" and "ya" with "1" and "8"?


With many thanks and regards, 
                                    Alexander v. Rospatt





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