[INDOLOGY] Question about Skt pra- before a cardinal number

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

Dear List members,

In a passage in a Jain text I came across a formation consisting of the preposition p(r)a and a cardinal number, in a context in which "over that number (of years)" would make sense (compare prapatha, "weiter Weg", pravīra, "grosser Held", and praṇapat, "Urenkel" in AiGr II, p. 257). The combination pra+number looks like an ad hoc, learned formation. Or, and this is my question, is it perhaps found in other texts I am not aware of, for instance, in treatises about mathematics or temple building?

With kind regards,
Herman


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

The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2023.
https://primusbooks.com/ancient/the-asoka-inscriptions-analysing-a-corpus-by-herman-tieken/


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