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
On Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 at 11:04 AM, Matthew Kapstein <mattkapstein@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