Dear list members,

Hallo, I am new on the Indology list.
The book by Gonda is his Change and continuity in Indian religion, with an 
article ‘The number sixteen.’ As I remember well he also discusses other 
numbers.

Kind regards,
Dory Heilijgers

Sent from Mail for Windows

From: Jonathan Silk via INDOLOGY
Sent: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 11:10 PM
To: Jonathan Duquette
Cc: Indology List
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Auspicious numbers in Hinduism

I am surprised not yet to see reference to Otto Stein, 'The Numeral 18', (The 
Poona Orientalist 1, 1936, pp. 1-37; 2, 1937, pp. 164-165. it is reprinted in 
the Kleine Schriften. 

Freidrich Wilhelm said of the papers:  
In The Poona Orientalist I and II ( 1936 and 37) Stein published two articles 
on the numeral 18. They are valuable contributions to Indian number mysticism 
which is traceable since Vedic times. Even the reader who is aware of the 
specific meaningfulness of Indian numbers will be astounded how many references 
Stein was able to collect, and will feel inspired to look for more material on 
this and other numerals.

Stein was one of the all too many scholars brutally murdered by the Nazis, in 
his case along with his wife in Spring 1942 in Lodz. 

On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 10:11 PM Jonathan Duquette via INDOLOGY 
<[email protected]> wrote:
I like to think of 108 as mathematically auspicious:

108=(1^1)*(2^2)*(3^3)!

Jonathan 



On Wed, 9 Feb 2022 at 21:03, Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) via INDOLOGY 
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Harry, 

I do not know about the auspiciousness of 108. However, the 8 in 108 does have 
a special meaning as it does in 18 (books of the Mahābhārata). Following upon 
7, which makes a finite, closed list (seventh heaven, seven generations  in 
some inscriptions), 8 opens it again (with it the speaker/writer indicates that 
he could easily go on adding to the list). Thus, 8 rasas  ("On the Use of Rasa 
in Studies of Sanskrit Drama, IIJ 43 (2000), pp. 115-138) and in some Gupta 
inscriptions the kings are praised in 8 stanzas ("Some Literary Embellishments 
in the Gupta Inscriptions". ArOr 74/4 (2006), pp. 451-460.

I vaguely remember that Jan Gonda has written about numbers, but am unable to 
provide a reference.

Kind regards, Herman

Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127
website: hermantieken.com


Van: INDOLOGY <[email protected]> namens Jim Ryan via 
INDOLOGY <[email protected]>
Verzonden: woensdag 9 februari 2022 21:10
Aan: Harry Spier <[email protected]>
CC: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Onderwerp: Re: [INDOLOGY] Auspicious numbers in Hinduism 
 
Harry, 

Thomas McEvilley in his book, The Shape of Ancient Thought discusses a theory 
of how a number of the Indian auspicious numbers (including 108) might have 
been  derived from Sumerian “Processional arithmetic.” This is in Chapter 3, I 
think. Especially beginning on p. 293. 

Jim Ryan
Asian Philosophies and Cultures (Emeritus)
California Institute of Integral Studies


On Feb 9, 2022, at 11:09 AM, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY 
<[email protected]> wrote:

Dear list members, 
Can anyone point me to any studies on auspicious numbers in Hinduism
Thanks,

Harry Spier

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-- 
J. Silk
Leiden University
Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b
2311 BZ Leiden
The Netherlands

website: www.OpenPhilology.eu
copies of my publications may be found at
https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk

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