﻿OF THE PEOPLE OF CEYLON. 405 



astronomer, Mons. De Cassini, has not thought 

 unworthy of employing his time in calculating. It 

 is worthy of remark, that the asankt is denominated 

 by sixty-four cyphers. For if this number be used 

 to divide a mahnkalpe 60G ll *i!00000, the quotient is 

 <H08()0000, which last number can be equally divided 

 by 64, by 4, by 80, by 32, all remarkable numbers 

 in the mj^sterious calcidations of the Boiidhists. If 

 the numbers of antakulpes, 80, be multiplied by the 

 number of Boudhous, 5, it will give 400; and if 

 {)4, the number of cyphers in an asanke, be multiplied 

 by 5, it Mall give 3120 ; these two numbers, added 

 together, make the quotient of 43C000, by 600, a 

 period famous among the Chaldeans as well as the 

 Indians, 43^000 representing the Kali of the Bra- 

 ?nins. It is certainly not enough that this number 

 should be produced by means of certain divisors and 

 multiplicators ; but it must be proved that these 

 numbers are particularly marked in their religion. 

 The number 5 stands for the five Boudhous, of 

 whom one is yet to come. The number 4 represents 

 the four Boudhous that have already appeared, and 

 also the four asankes of transmigrations of Gau- 

 TEME, the fourth BouDHOu ; 80 is the number of 

 years of the last life of the same Boudhou, for, ac- 

 cording to the most authentic works, he was, 

 Kumareia (Prince) during- • • • 16 years. 



King, during 13 do. 



Pilgrim, during 6 do. 



Boudhou, during , ... .45 do. 



Total.... 80 

 Thirty-two represents the number of his great 

 qualities, as well as of his middling ones, which, 

 added together, amount to 64, the number of 

 cyphers of the asanke. — In fine, to be short, we shall 

 only observe that four asankes, 100,000 maliakalpcs, 

 and 32 great qualities of Boudhou, compose mysti- 



D D 3 cally, 



