Dear List members,
In a passage in a Jain text I came across a formation consisting of the preposition p(r)a and a cardinal number, in a context in which "over that number (of years)" would make sense (compareprapatha, "weiter Weg", pravīra, "grosser Held", and praṇapat, "Urenkel" in AiGr II, p. 257). The combination pra+number looks like an ad hoc, learned formation. Or, and this is my question, is it perhaps found in other texts I am not aware of, for instance, in treatises about mathematics or temple building?
With kind regards,
Herman
Herman Tieken
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2515 BP Den Haag
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The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus, New Delhi: Primus Books, 2023.