An ( sa, असंख्येय) is a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
/
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
name for the number 10
140, or alternatively for the number
as it is described in the
Avatamsaka Sutra
The ' (IAST, sa, 𑀅𑀯𑀢𑀁𑀲𑀓 𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭) or ''Buddhāvataṃsaka-nāma-mahāvaipulya-sūtra (The Mahāvaipulya Sūtra named “Buddhāvataṃsaka”)'' is one of the most influential Mahāyāna sutras of East Asian B ...
.
The value of the number is different depending upon the translation. It is
in the translation of Buddhabhadra,
in that of Shikshananda and
in that of
Thomas Cleary
Thomas Cleary (24 April 1949 – 20 June 2021) was an American translator and writer of more than 80 books related to Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Muslim classics, and of '' The Art of War'', a treatise on management, military strategy, an ...
, who may have made an error in calculation. In these religious traditions, the word has the meaning of 'incalculable'.
Origin
Asaṃkhyeya is a Sanskrit word that appears often in the Buddhist texts. For example,
Shakyamuni Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
is said to have practiced for four great asaṃkhyeya
kalpa
Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena.
Team history
Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...
s before becoming a
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
.
The word "" in Sanskrit literally means "innumerable" in the sense of "infinite."
It is also a title of the Hindus deities Vishnu and Shiva.
The word appears in Stanza 27 of the
Vishnu Sahasranama, "Asankyeyo-aprameyaatmaa": one who has innumerable names and forms.
See also
*
History of large numbers
Different cultures used different traditional numeral systems for naming large numbers. The extent of large numbers used varied in each culture. Two interesting points in using large numbers are the confusion on the term billion and milliard in ma ...
References
Buddhism and science
Large integers
{{Num-stub