Dear Yong Peng;

Thanks for the explanation.
The expression of the number in the Pali
did seem rather confusing.

But you show us that it just follows the standard in Pali
for verbalizing and writing out numbers like people
do on checks at the bank.

36,000,000 human years also matches the
lifespan for devas in the Taavati.msa heaven
according to Steven Collins table of
Buddhist Cosmology (Nirvana and
other Buddhist Felicities, page 298).

Although the table says "maximum length of life" at the
top which raises the question of whether Sakka's lifespan as
well as that of the other devas is always fixed?

Also there is more than one cosmological text in
Theravadan Buddhist cosmology. I wonder if this hierarchy
with its lifespans is universal across all cosmologies?

[Note: In old Burmese texts too, numbers are verbalized, not written
with digits. People still use lakh for large amounts in Burma
like the value of houses. Perhaps "koti" also (koti = kuti in Burmese).]

With metta,
Jon Fernquest

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Ong Yong Peng" <pali.smith@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Jo and Jon,
>
> Jo:
>
> ko.ti (or crore): In India, a crore equals 10 million in English
> see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crore
>
> sa.t.thi ca vassa-sata-sahassaani tisso ca vassa-ko.tiyo
> sixty / and / year-hundred-thousands / three / and / year-crores
>
> [1]
> sa.t.thi vassa-sata-sahassaani = sixty hundred thousands of vassa
> i.e. 6,000,000 (6M) years
>
> [2]
> tisso vassa-ko.tiyo = three crores of vassa
> i.e. 30,000,000 (30M) years
>
> [1+2]
> 6M + 30M = 36M
> Hence, 36 million years.
>
> metta,
> Yong Peng.
>
>
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, dhamma_joti wrote:
>
> So if there is anyone from this group who would be willing to have a
> look at the Pali words/sentences and verify whether or not the English
> translation about Sakka's lifespan(36.000.000 years) is correct, and
> if possible with explanation on the Pali--how it can be 36.000.000
> years--.
>
> > > sakko sa.t.thi ca vassasatasahassaani tisso ca vassako.tiyo aayu.m
> > > khepetvaa cavi, a~n~no sakko nibbati.
>