Re: [INDOLOGY] Aṅgula

Thu Jan 14 19:10:04 UTC 2021

Wow, thanks to everybody for the overwhelming response to my query on- 
and offlist!

I now feel on much better footing when evaluating the use of aṅgula in 
the text I'm currently reading.

Best wishes to all,

Jacob

Artur Karp via INDOLOGY skrev den 2021-01-14 19:42:
> Aṅgulimāla
> 
> A murderous robber "wearing a necklace of [human] fingers", known from
> Buddhist sources.
> 
> Question: Apart from Angulimala, is there any mention in ancient
> Indian texts of someone wearing a finger necklace?
> 
> Is there - perhaps - any mention of someone wearing a measuring tape
> around their neck?
> 
> With New Year's Greetings,
> 
> Artur Karp
> 
> University of Warsaw
> Retired Senior Lecturer
> 
>  		 [1]
>  		Wolny od wirusów. www.avast.com [1]
> 
> czw., 14 sty 2021 o 19:06 jmdelire via INDOLOGY
> <indology at list.indology.info> napisał(a):
> 
>> Hi, Everybody,
>> 
>> First of all, I wish all the colleagues on the Indology list a very
>> happy year 2021.
>> The fact that aṅgula is defined in the BaudhŚulb. as 14 aṇu
>> (I,3-4
>> Thibaut numbering) or 34 tila (I,5) is not to be taken too
>> seriously.
>> The last one has something to do with the approximate value given by
>> 
>> BaudhŚulb. I,62 to the dvikaraṇii (square root of 2, in a modern
>> view)
>> as 1 + 1/3 + 1/12 - 1/(12.34) and the first one with MānŚulb
>> 10.1.2.6-7
>> (Van Gelder), that implies an approximate value of 7/5. I developped
>> all
>> this in my book "Les mathématiques de l'autel védique" (Droz,
>> 2016) and
>> in a previous article : « Quadratures, circulature and the
>> approximation
>> of square root of 2 in the Indian Śulba-sūtras », Centaurus
>> (International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science and
>> Technology), vol.47 (2005), pp.60-71.
>> 
>> All the best,
>> 
>> Jean Michel Delire,
>> Lecturer on Science and civilization in India - Sanskrit texts, IHEB
>> 
>> (University of Brussels)
>> 
>> Le 14.01.2021 18:15, Michaels, Axel via INDOLOGY a écrit :
>>> Dear Patrick,Jacob and all,
>>> 
>>> If _aṅgula_ would be ca. 2 cm, the length of a man (_puruṣa_)
>>> would be acc. to BaudhŚulvS I,19 together with I,16 and 1,7
>> approx.
>>> 190 cm, which might be too much. If you calculate
>> anthropometrically
>>> in a realistic way, assuming that the average length of the male
>> was
>>> between 160 and 175 cm, _aṅgula_ would be approx. 1,6 cm. This
>>> implies that _aṅgula_ might not be the breadth of a thumb but of
>> the
>>> middle fingertip, see also MānŚS VIII,13,7 (_aṅgulaparvan_).
>>> 
>>> Another calculation could be based on palaeobotanic grounds: In
>> the
>>> Śulvasūtras and other texts, 1 _aṅgula_ is often equal to 34
>>> _tila_ (Sesamum indicum) or 14 _aṇu_ (Panicum miliaceum) or 6
>> resp.
>>> 8 _yava_ (prob. Hordeum hexastichon). Whether this leads to a
>> better
>>> result, depends on whether it is measured broadside or longside,
>>> whether the seeds are shucked or not, and whether the present
>> seeds
>>> are genetically manipulated or not. No easy task.
>>> 
>>> More on this in my _ Beweisverfahren in der vedischen
>> Sakralgeometrie_
>>> (Wiesbaden 1978), pp. 156-7.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> Axel Michaels
>>> 
>>> FROM: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
>>> "indology at list.indology.info" <indology at list.indology.info>
>>> REPLY TO: "jacob at fabularasa.dk" <jacob at fabularasa.dk>
>>> DATE: Thursday, 14. January 2021 at 17:03
>>> TO: "indology at list.indology.info" <indology at list.indology.info>
>>> SUBJECT: [INDOLOGY] Aṅgula
>>> 
>>> Dear list,
>>> 
>>> Is there any consensus on what an aṅgula corresponds to in the
>>> metric
>>> 
>>> system? Or should we not consider it an absolute standard, but
>> rather
>>> 
>>> take it literally as the breadth of a finger (with all the
>>> uncertainties
>>> 
>>> that follow)? There are a lot of suggestions floating around on
>> the
>>> 
>>> internet, but I would be interested in any scholarly references.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> 
>>> Jacob
>>> 
>>> Jacob Schmidt-Madsen
>>> 
>>> Postdoctoral Researcher in Indology
>>> 
>>> Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies
>>> 
>>> University of Copenhagen
>>> 
>>> Denmark
>>> 
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