[INDOLOGY] unusual numeral?

[Matthew Kapstein]

Thanks Madhav,

That confirms what I suspected was happening here.

best,
Matthew

Matthew T. Kapstein
Professor emeritus
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris

Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies Emeritus
The University of Chicago Divinity School

Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein

https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1

https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949

Sent from [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) for iOS.

-------- Original Message --------
On Wednesday, 09/30/26 at 15:18 Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:

> Attestation or not, the word caṣaka is grammatically derived by adding the affix -ka to the base caṣa-. We have many other formations like this where the base by itself is not found in common use. For example, mūṣaka is common, but mūṣa by itself is not common.
>
> Madhav M. Deshpande
> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India
>
> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>
> On Wed, Sep 30, 2026 at 4:56 AM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>> With thanks to those who corresponded with me about my puzzle, I have found an alternative solution, though one that involves another, perhaps lesser puzzle.
>>
>> The syllable preceding ṣāstriṃśat in my text is ca, which I had taken to be a conjuction. But if we read caṣās triṃśat, "thirty caṣās," and take caṣa to be a contraction of caṣaka, then this would be mathematically appropriate in context (roughly, "thirty minutes in a half-hour"). However, I have not been able to find an attestation of caṣa for caṣaka. Has anyone seen this before?
>>
>> many thanks,
>> Matthew
>>
>> Matthew T. Kapstein
>> Professor emeritus
>> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>>
>> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies Emeritus
>> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>>
>> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>>
>> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>>
>> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>>
>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>>
>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>>
>> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>>
>> Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.
>>
>> On Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 at 11:04 AM, Matthew Kapstein <mattkapstein at proton.me> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear friends,
>>>
>>> An astrological text I am studying contains the word
>>> ṣāstriṃśat
>>> which has me stumped. Perhaps it is a very odd way of representing 36, ṣaṭtriṃśat
>>> but this strikes me as quite strange.
>>> The reading is confrimed, however, by all four manuscripts that I am consulting, although they often disagree about other matters.
>>>
>>> I would welcome your learned suggestions.
>>>
>>> thanks in advance,
>>> Matthew
>>>
>>> Matthew T. Kapstein
>>> Professor emeritus
>>> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris
>>>
>>> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies Emeritus
>>> The University of Chicago Divinity School
>>>
>>> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
>>>
>>> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein
>>>
>>> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/
>>>
>>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1
>>>
>>> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1
>>>
>>> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949
>>>
>>> Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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