Dear Artur,

on the number 84 000 in Buddhist (and Jaina) sources, see this very interesting study:
Ruth Satinsky, "What can the lifespans of Ṛṣabha, Bharata, Śreyāṃsa, and Ara tell us about the History of the concept of Mount Meru?", International Journal of Jaina Studies 11.1 (2015) 1-24.

It is available on-line:
https://www.soas.ac.uk/research/publications/journals/ijjs/file100251.pdf

Lubomir


On Sat, 18 Jun 2016 14:12:55 +0200
Artur Karp <karp@uw.edu.pl> wrote:

> Dear List,
>
> *84 000*.
>
> The number appears in Buddhist texts, most intensively in the
> *Sudassana-sutta*, where it serves to contain in itself the final, perfect,
> model shape of reality - in its various perceivable aspects .
>
> In the Buddhaghosa's *Sumangala-vilasini* Asoka plans to divide the relics
> of the Buddha into 84 000 portions, to be placed in 84 000 stupas - planned
> to be built throughout his kingdom.
>
> Is there somewhere in the Buddhist tradition a mention of the idea of *human
> body* numbering 84 000 elements?

>
> Why 84 000? And not, for example - 100 000?
>
> Thanking you in advance,
>
> Artur Karp (ret.)
> Chair of South Asian Studies
> University of Warsaw
> Poland