[INDOLOGY] Revolving wheel in ancient Indian literature

[Dominik Wujastyk]

The reference to 360 spokes is a sexagesimal number expressed in decimal.
This certainly points to the mathematical traditions of Mesopotamia.

--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk* <http://ualberta.Academia.edu/DominikWujastyk>
Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
Department of History and Classics <http://historyandclassics.ualberta.ca/>
University of Alberta, Canada

On 18 March 2016 at 08:52, George Thompson <gthomgt at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Madhav's passage is RV 1.164.11.  By chance, I've been looking at this
> hymn today.
>
> George Thompson
>
> On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 9:04 AM, Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> The idea of a rotating wheel of time goes all the way back to the
>> Rigveda: dvādaśāraṃ na hi taj jarāya vavarti cakram pari dyām ṛtasya (don't
>> have the textual ref at hand).  The idea of the spokes of the wheel going
>> up and down is referred to in Sanskrit lit in many places with expressions
>> like cakra-nemi-krama and cakrārapaṅkti.
>>
>> Madhav Deshpande
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 8:42 AM, Artur Karp <karp at uw.edu.pl> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear List,
>>>
>>> Mahabharata I, 29. 2-5 and Sumangalavilasini (Buddhaghosa's commentary
>>> to Mahaparinibbana-sutta)  VI, 26  contain images of a revolving wheel
>>> (with 360? spokes), guarded by figures with swords in hands, and by two
>>> serpents. Viśvakarma/Vissakamma is mentioned as the wheel's constructor.
>>>
>>> Is that - or similar - image present somewhere else in the ancient
>>> Indian literature?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for your comments -
>>>
>>> Artur Karp
>>>
>>> South Asian Studies Deptt (emeritus), University of Warsaw, Poland
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>> Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
>> Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
>> 202 South Thayer Street, Suite 6111
>> The University of Michigan
>> Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608, USA
>>
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>
>
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