the koti

[Asko Parpola]

An early but excellent paper on the high numbers is
Weber, Albrecht, 1861. Vedische Angaben über Zeittheilung und hohe  
Zahlen. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 15:  
132-139.

Best regards, Asko Parpola


Quoting mkapstei at UCHICAGO.EDU:

> Dear Alf (and Randy),
>
> In her _Mathematics in India_ (PUP), Kim Plofker (p. 14)
> cites Yajurveda 7.2.20 that gives a decimal progression
> running up to 10 to the 12th (a billion). Here, the
> term for ten million is not ko.ti, but arbuda, so pace
> M-W, ko.ti was not the highest in the old series, whatever
> that means. Unfortunately, Plofker's book does not seem to
> deal with number names in a systematic way, and I find
> no reference to the ko.ti in it. (Of course, Plofker's
> book is most useful and excellent on many other matters.)
>
> The designations for numbers in India are usefully tabulated
> in Georges Ifrah, Histoire universelle des Chiffres (there
> is an English trans. available, but I have only the
> original French), vol. 1, ch. 24 ("La civilisation indienne: berceau  
> de la numérisation moderne"), pp. 940ff. ("Une culture atteinte par  
> la 'folie' des grands nombres"). Ko.ti
> occurs here in many lists, and always, so far as I can
> see, meaning a "crore," 10 to the 7th.
>
> Matthew T. Kapstein
> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies
> The University of Chicago Divinity School
> Directeur d'études
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris
>
>