[INDOLOGY] Sunya

[Hock, Hans Henrich]

Thanks very much, Lubomir. This shows, once again, what a great resource the Indology list is.

All the best

Hans Henrich



> On 25 Jul2022, at 11:07, Lubomír Ondračka <ondracka at ff.cuni.cz> wrote:
> 
> Staal's paper.
> L.
> 
> On Mon, 25 Jul 2022 15:54:24 +0000
> "Hock, Hans Henrich via INDOLOGY" <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
>> On the origin of zero, there is also an interesting article by Frits Staal (see reference below), which unfortunately is available to me only in snippets. Staal discusses various proposed accounts, including origin from Chinese mathematics (through Southeast Asia), śūnya, and also the Pāṇinian grammatical tradition, referring to lopa and three “zero” elements in Pāṇini’s grammar – luk, lup, and ślu – together with the notion that knowledge of Pāṇinian grammar was foundational for all of the Sanskrit-language literature. According to one publication, whose reference is not available to me right now, Staal concluded  "[between 1000 and 600 BCE a linguistic term] 'lopa' [was used] to refer to omissions, disappearances and things that are lost. It is here that the origins of the mathematical concept of zero seem to lie. It is a long period and with smudgy edges but there it is …"
>> 
>> The interpretation of luk, lup, ślu as zero elements may require some further thought. In Pāṇini’s grammar (1.1.60-63) there is a general “zeroing” process called lopa, in addition to the three specific “zero” elements luk, lup, ślu. The two differ from each other as follows: lopa does not delete the grammatical features associated with the zeroed element; luk, lup, and ślu do. This may raise the question as to which is the “real” zero element. Although luk, lup, ślu are named elements, they actually designate just absence or complete deletion. Lopa, by contrast, can be understood as introducing an element that has zero content but has grammatical properties like other, full elements in Pāṇini’s grammar. From this perspective, then, lopa might be considered to come closer to zero in numbers theory, where questions such as what is 0 x 1 or 1 : 0, questions that are addressed in some of the later mathematical treatises. Perhaps some Pāṇiniyan scholar can through more light on this matter?
>> 
>> I’m not sure whether this adds to the discussion or leads to more confusion.
>> 
>> All the best,
>> 
>> Hans Henrich
>> 
>> The reference: Staal, Frits. 2010. On the origins of zero. Studies in the history of Indian mathematics, ed. by C. S. Seshadri, 38-53. New Delhi: Hindustan Book Agency.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 25 Jul2022, at 07:26, Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu<mailto:hr at ivs.edu>> wrote:
>> 
>> Might one say that sunyata may arise where sunya is well understood?
>> 
>> On Jul 25, 2022, at 4:08 AM, Harsha Dehejia via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
>> 
>> Friends:
>> 
>> Thank you for the many useful responses.
>> 
>> While it is clear that no definite scientific evidence is forthcoming to suggest that the mathematical concept of sunya arose from the Mahayana concept of sunyata, it is difficult to dismiss that the similarity of the two words is accidental.
>> 
>> Sunya can only rise in an ethos where the concept of sunyata is well understood.
>> 
>> Kind regards,
>> 
>> Harsha
>> Prof. Harsha V. Dehejia
>> 
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> <STAAL (2010) On the Origins of Zero.pdf>