eighteen

[Peter Wyzlic]

Am 18.10.2010 um 22:57 schrieb Herman Tull:

> I apologize if this question is a terribly ignorant one, but I was wondering if there is any scholarly literature or any discussion of the significance of the Indic "18" (dominant in the Mahabharata--books, days of war, etc., etc., and then reiterated in the Puranas in the so-called "major" and "minor" books denotation).  This has long seemed to me to be some sort of convenient fiction used to tie up loose ends (not unlike the twelve disciples of Jesus recalling the twelve tribes of Israel).  However, as I sat in an introductory Buddhism lecture today, and was reminded about the famed 18 schools of the Mahasanghika(s), I started to think, there might be a bit more (or, perhaps no more at all).  Thanks.

There is an older article by Otto Stein:
Stein, Otto: The numeral 18, in: Poona Orientalist 1 (1936), p. 1-37 and a short sequel, Stein, Otto: Additional notes on the numeral 18, in: Poona Orientalist 2 (1937), p. 164-165 (both repr. in Otto Stein: Kleine Schriften / ed. by Friedrich Wilhelm. - Stuttgart : Steiner, 1985, pp. 515 seqq.).

Hope it helps
Peter Wyzlic

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