The Bhūtasaṃkhyā system is a method of recording numbers in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

using common nouns having connotations of numerical values. The method was introduced already in astronomical texts in antiquity, but it was expanded and developed during the medieval period. A kind of

rebus A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) ...

system, bhūtasaṃkhyā has also been called the "concrete number notation". For example, the number "two" was associated with the word "eye" as every human being has two eyes. Thus every Sanskrit word having the meaning "eye" was used to denote "two". All words synonymous with the meaning "earth" could be used to signify the number "one" as there is only one earth, etc. In the more expansive examples of application, concepts, ideas and objects from all parts of the Sanskrit lexicon were harvested to generate number-connoting words, resulting in a kind of

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English po ...

system for numbers. Thus, every Sanskrit word indicating an "arrow" has been used to denote "five" as

Kamadeva Kama ( sa, काम, ), also known as Kamadeva and Manmatha, is the Hindu god of love and desire, often portrayed alongside his consort, Rati. The Atharvaveda, Atharva Veda regards Kamadeva as the wielder of the creative power of the universe ...

, the Hindu deity of love, is traditionally depicted as a warrior carrying five arrows of flowers. The term ''

anuṣṭubh ( sa, अनुष्टुभ्, ) is a meter and a metrical unit, found in both Vedic and Classical Sanskrit poetry, but with significant differences. By origin, an anuṣṭubh stanza is a quatrain of four lines. Each line, called a ''pāda' ...

'' has been used to signify "eight" as it is the name of a meter with eight syllables in a foot. Any Sanskrit word for "tooth" could be used to denote 32 as a grown-up man has a full set of 32 teeth. Terms implying "the gods" were used to indicate 33, as there is a tradition of "thirty-three gods" ('' trāyastriṃśadeva'') in certain Hindu and Buddhist texts. A potential user of the system had a multitude of words to choose from for denoting the same number. The mapping from "words" to "numbers" is many-to-one. This has facilitated the embedding of numbers in verses in Indian treatises on mathematics and astronomy. This helped in memorising large tables of numbers required by astronomers and astrologers. Single words indicating smaller numbers were strung together to form phrases and sentences for representing arbitrary large numbers. This formation of large numbers was accomplished by incorporating the decimal place value system into the scheme, where digits are named in ascending order. As an example, in an 18th-century inscription from Kalna, a year is given as ''bāṇa-vyoma-dharādhar-indu-gaṇite śāke'' which means "In the Śāka year enumerated by arrow sky mountain and moon , that is, "Śāka 5-0-7-1" = Śāka 1705 = AD 1783. The earliest evidence of this system is found in

Yavanajataka The Yavanajātaka (Sanskrit: ''yavana'' 'Greek' + ''jātaka'' ' nativity' = 'nativity according to the Greeks'), written by Sphujidhvaja, is an ancient text in Indian astrology. According to David Pingree, it is a later versification of an earl ...

, a versification of a Greek astronomical text dated to the early centuries CE. Limited use of Bhutasamkhya is seen in some

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s, for example Bhagavata Mahatmya of Padma Purana (6.66) uses the word nagaaha'' to refer to "seven days", i.e. ''naga'' "mountain" is used as a synonym of "seven" (because of the "seven principal mountains" or ''kula-giri''), an usage already found in medieval recensions of the

Surya Siddhanta The ''Surya Siddhanta'' (; ) is a Sanskrit treatise in Indian astronomy dated to 505 CE,Menso Folkerts, Craig G. Fraser, Jeremy John Gray, John L. Berggren, Wilbur R. Knorr (2017)Mathematics Encyclopaedia Britannica, Quote: "(...) its Hindu inven ...

. It is found throughout the Indian Buddhist

Kalacakra Tantra ''Kālacakra'' () is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism that means "wheel of time" or "time cycles". "''Kālacakra''" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The ta ...

literature.

See also

References

Further reading