[INDOLOGY] Auspicious numbers in Hinduism

[Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman)]

Dear Harry,

I do not know about the auspiciousness of 108. However, the 8 in 108 does have a special meaning as it does in 18 (books of the Mahābhārata). Following upon 7, which makes a finite, closed list (seventh heaven, seven generations  in some inscriptions), 8 opens it again (with it the speaker/writer indicates that he could easily go on adding to the list). Thus, 8 rasas  ("On the Use of Rasa in Studies of Sanskrit Drama, IIJ 43 (2000), pp. 115-138) and in some Gupta inscriptions the kings are praised in 8 stanzas ("Some Literary Embellishments in the Gupta Inscriptions". ArOr 74/4 (2006), pp. 451-460.

I vaguely remember that Jan Gonda has written about numbers, but am unable to provide a reference.

Kind regards, Herman

Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127
website: hermantieken.com<http://hermantieken.com/>

________________________________
Van: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> namens Jim Ryan via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Verzonden: woensdag 9 februari 2022 21:10
Aan: Harry Spier <vasishtha.spier at gmail.com>
CC: indology at list.indology.info <indology at list.indology.info>
Onderwerp: Re: [INDOLOGY] Auspicious numbers in Hinduism

Harry,

Thomas McEvilley in his book, The Shape of Ancient Thought discusses a theory of how a number of the Indian auspicious numbers (including 108) might have been  derived from Sumerian “Processional arithmetic.” This is in Chapter 3, I think. Especially beginning on p. 293.

Jim Ryan
Asian Philosophies and Cultures (Emeritus)
California Institute of Integral Studies

On Feb 9, 2022, at 11:09 AM, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:

Dear list members,
Can anyone point me to any studies on auspicious numbers in Hinduism
Thanks,
Harry Spier

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