Dear Harsha,

I don’t know if a direct link can be demonstrated , but it is notable that, in their cosmological speculations, Adhidharma texts and Mahāyāna sūtras seem also to have become fascinated with large multiples of 10, such as the famous Trisahasra-mahāsahasra, 1000 cubed. The mathematical discovery of how much could be made out of nothing perhaps played a role here. 

Matthew 

Matthew Kapstein 

EPHE, Paris