[INDOLOGY] unusual numeral?

[Martin Gansten]

For what it's worth, the NWS does give one hit for caṣa:

> caṣa
>
>  *
>     <Ved, unsp>Caland 1928, p. 120.équivalent de ŚB /jhaṣa/ ?<Renou
>     1934: 283>
>
https://nws.uzi.uni-halle.de/search?lang=en&utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=ca%E1%B9%A3a

Best wishes,
Martin


Den 2026-09-30 kl. 15:25, skrev Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY:
> 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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