Cardinal Numbers (saṅkhyā-padhāna)

Cardinal Numbers (saṅkhyā-padhāna)¶

Cardinal Numbers are very common in the Tipiṭaka. The Buddha’s teachings very often consist of numerical lists, so numbers are extensively used.

If you want to study numbers, just open the Aṅguttara Nikāya.


eko dhammo	one thing
dve api jātiyo	just two lives
tayo pāsāde	three mansions
cattāri ariyasaccāni	four noble truths
pañca-kāma-guṇāni	five strings of sense pleasure
cha ādīnavā	six disadvantages or dangers
satta bojjhaṅgā	seven enlightenment factors
ariyo aṭṭha-aṅgiko maggo	noble eight-part path
nava pañhā	nine questions
dasa-kamma-patha	ten courses of action
ekādasahi aṅgehi	with eleven factors
dvādasa aṇḍāni	twelve eggs

“Good news” : Almost each number has its own unique declensions and attributes,

so let’s have a closer look at them individually.

three genders; singular; agrees in gender and case

declined in the plural, “eka” functions as pronoun meaning “some”

eke samaṇa-brāhmaṇā evaṃvādino evaṃdiṭṭhino DN9.6

some holy men and priests speak like this and have this view.

declension is the same as ye

no gender; plural; agrees in case only

three genders; plural; agrees in gender and case

three genders; plural; agrees in gender and case

no gender; plural; agrees in case only

same as pañca - no gender; plural; agrees in case only


6	cha
7	satta
8	aṭṭha
9	nava
10	dasa
11	ekādasa
12	dvādasa
13	terasa
14	catuddasa cuddasa
15	pañcadasa paṇṇarasa pannarasa
16	soḷasa
17	sattarasa
18	aṭṭhārasa

feminine; singular; agrees in case only

I see twenty men vīsatiṃ purise

with twenty feelings vīsatiyā vedanāhi

in twenty minds vīsatiyaṃ cittesu

neuter; singular and plural; agrees in case and number

feminine; singular, sometimes plural; agrees in case only

These are the only numbers encountered in the Tipiṭaka that have been actually covered by DPD so far.


1	eka
2	dvi dve duve
3	ti (tayo tīni tisso)
4	catu (caturo cattāro catasso cattāri)
5	pañca
6	cha
7	satta
8	aṭṭha
9	nava
10	dasa
11	ekādasa
12	dvādasa
13	terasa
14	catuddasa cuddasa
15	pannarasa paṇṇarasa
16	soḷasa
1/16	soḷasī
18	aṭṭhārasa
20	vīsaṃ vīsati
21	ekavīsati
30	tiṃsā tiṃsaṃ
32	dvattiṃsati
36	chattiṃsā chattiṃsati
40	cattārīsa cattālīsā
50	paṇṇāsā paññāsā
60	saṭṭhi
64	catusaṭṭhi
74	catusattati
80	asīti
84	caturāsīti
90	navuti
91	ekanavuti
92	dvenavuti
100	sata
700	sattasata
1 000	sahassa
10 000	dasasahassa
100 000	satasahassa
10 000 000	koṭi

In summary learn declensions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 20, 100

That, of course, excludes all the “amazing” numbers which you’ll come across in some parts of the Tipiṭaka