For whatever its worth … I’m tempted to provide some information from the Tamil paripāṭal (பரிபாடல் : 3) where I see a mathematical counting starting from ’sūnya’ / ‘zero’.

This poem, paripāṭal (பரிபாடல் : 3), is dedicated to tirumāl (திருமால், Vishnu).

Here, the numbers are counted as: pāḻ (பாழ், meaning ’nothing solid/concrete/meaningful…’), kāl (கால், one quarter, 1/4), pāku (பாகு, one half, 1/2), oṉṟu (ஒன்று, one), iraṇṭu (இரண்டு, two), mūṉṟu (மூன்று, three), nāṉku (நான்கு, four), aiṉtu (ஐந்து, five), āṟu (ஆறு, six), ēḻu (ஏழு, seven), eṭṭu (எட்டு, eight), toṇṭu (தொண்டு, nine).

பாழ் என, கால் என, பாகு என, ஒன்று என,

இரண்டு என, மூன்று என, நான்கு என, ஐந்து என,

ஆறு என, ஏழு என, எட்டு என, தொண்டு என,

நால்வகை ஊழி எண் நவிற்றும் சிறப்பினை …

Now, I request our dear colleague Jean-Luc Chevillard for a translation from Gros for this part of the Paripadal poem.

Thanks and regards,

rajam

On Jul 25, 2022, at 9:19 AM, alakendu das via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

Dr.Dahejia,
With due regards, I mention the following points on the issue of "Sunnya"

1) "Sunnyata" of Mahayana Buddhism is a purely philosophical concept developed by Asanga and his brother BasuBandhu, embodying the principal of "ChatushKotiBinirmuktwa"..

2) In the world of Mathematics,probably ,an ancient Indian text dating back to 5th CE B.C, named as "Lokabibhaga" displayed use of decimal system ( including aero) .I would be grateful if any further reference on this text can be furnished.

3) AryaBhatta's name is associated with the concept of zero" with respect,although there is a view that Maya civilization of Central America introduced the concept of zero.

Would like to be enlightened more on this.

Regards

Alakendu Das.

Sent from RediffmailNG on Android

From: Harsha Dehejia via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info>
Sent: Sun, 24 Jul 2022 16:20:43 GMT+0530
To: Indology List <indology@list.indology.info>
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Sunya

Friends:

Is there any evidence that the sunya of mathematics arose out of the sunyata of Mahayana Buddhism?

Kind regards,

Hrtsha

Harsha V. Dehejia

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