Editor's note:
The article is intended to cover everyone whether a beginner or an enthusiast. If you want to read those counting words {if any of these sound familiar: One एकम् (ekam), Two द्वे (dve), Three त्रीणि (treeni), Four चत्वारि (chatvaari), Five पञ्च (pancha), Six षट् (shat), Seven सप्त (sapta), Eight अष्ट (ashta), Nine नव (nava), Ten दश (dasha)}, please skip the first section.
Enjoy!
To teach the Sanskrit number system, it would be helpful to draw inspiration from the big sister who sang ‘ek chidiya’ on Doordarshan years ago, back in the 70s. Of course, we want to learn more than just ‘ek’ and ‘anek’ here. So let me bring the sister and her little brother back to life and see where it goes.
Table of content:
- Sanskrit Numbers Introduction.
- Do Sanskrit numbers have genders?
- Sanskrit Number Counting from 1 to 10.
- Sanskrit Number Counting from 11 to 20.
- Sanskrit Number Counting from 21 to 30.
- Sanskrit Number Counting from 31 to 40.
- Sanskrit Number Counting from 41 to 50.
- Sanskrit Number Counting from 51 to 100.
A little back story build-up for the Sanskrit number system to do it’s magic on you.
In an idyllic Indian village lived a young girl. One day, she was sitting under the tree and singing एकखग: (one bird) अनेकखगा: (many birds) एकचिक्रोड: (one squirrel) अनेकचिक्रोडा: (many squirrels).
…. when her little brother who was playing nearby came running to her and said, “what is this एक and अनेक? “Affectionately, stroking her brother’s hair, she said, “एक means one and अनेक means not one”. Of course, it’s to be understood that the little boy knows some basic counting in English.
Unlike the boy of the 70’s, this fella had a follow up question and thus begins the…
Sanskrit numbers…
He asked, “But ‘not one’ can mean anything. Can you teach me 2,3,4 etc.?“ She rolled her eyes and thought to herself,’ how on earth do I explain that the first four numbers change as per the gender of the word it qualifies to this little fella? ‘
So, she took a stick and drew on the ground.
She stopped drawing and asked the boy, “what do you see?”. Thus the big question was answered…
Do Sanskrit numbers have genders?
The boy looked at the pictures and said,” I can see how the numbers are said differently in पुल्लिङ्ग (masculine), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine) and नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter) forms but why have you stopped at 4?
She goes onto explain that after the number 4, the Sanskrit numbers are not differentiated as per gender.
Which is such a relief!! While she is teaching her little brother, I thought that I could list them down for you. Of course, for the sake of ease of counting, the neuter forms of the first four numbers have been listed in the tables below.
Check this post to know fruits name in Sanskrit.
Here goes the list of numbers from 1 to 100…
Sanskrit Number Counting from 1 to 10
| 1 | १ | एकम् | ekam |
| 2 | २ | द्वे | Dwe |
| 3 | ३ | त्रीणि | Trini |
| 4 | ४ | चत्वारि | Chatwari |
| 5 | ५ | पञ्च | Pancha |
| 6 | ६ | षट् | Shat |
| 7 | ७ | सप्त | Sapta |
| 8 | ८ | अष्ट/ अष्टौ | ashta/ashtau |
| 9 | ९ | नव | nava |
| 10 | १० | दश | dasha |
Sanskrit Number Counting from 11 to 20
| 11 | ११ | एकादश | ekaadasha |
| 12 | १२ | द्वादश | dhwaadasha |
| 13 | १३ | त्रयोदश | trayodasha |
| 14 | १४ | चतुर्दश | chaturdasha |
| 15 | १५ | पञ्चदश | panchadasha |
| 16 | १६ | षोडश | shodasha |
| 17 | १७ | सप्तदश | saptadasha |
| 18 | १७ | अष्टादश | ashtadasa |
| 19 | १९ | नवदश/ एकोनविंशतिः | navadasha/ekonavinshatih |
| 20 | २० | विंशतिः | vinshatih |
Sanskrit Number Counting from 21 to 30
| 21 | २१ | एकविंशतिः | ekavinshatih |
| 22 | २२ | द्वाविंशतिः | dwaavinshatih |
| 23 | २३ | त्रयोविंशतिः | trayovinshatih |
| 24 | २४ | चतुर्विंशतिः | chaturvinshatih |
| 25 | २५ | पञ्चविंशतिः | panchavinshatih |
| 26 | २६ | षड्विंशतिः | shadvinshatih |
| 27 | २७ | सप्तविंशतिः | saptavinshatih |
| 28 | २८ | अष्टाविंशतिः | ashtaavinshatih |
| 29 | २९ | नवविंशतिः/ एकोनत्रिंशत् | navavinshatih/ekontrinshat |
| 30 | ३० | त्रिंशत् | trinshat |
Sanskrit Number Counting from 31 to 40
| 31 | ३१ | एकत्रिंशत् | ekatrinshat |
| 32 | ३२ | द्वात्रिंशत् | dwaatrinshat |
| 33 | ३३ | त्रयस्त्रिंशत् | trayastrinshat |
| 34 | ३४ | चतुस्त्रिंशत् | chatustrinshat |
| 35 | ३५ | पञ्चत्रिंशत् | panchatrinshat |
| 36 | ३६ | षट्त्रिंशत् | shattrinshat |
| 37 | ३७ | सप्तत्रिंशत् | saptatrinshat |
| 38 | ३८ | अष्टात्रिंशत् | ashtaatrinshat |
| 39 | ३९ | नवत्रिंशत्/ एकोनचत्वारिंशत् | navatrinshat/ekonchatvaarinshat |
| 40 | ४० | चत्वारिंशत् | chatvaarinshat |
Check this post to know about Sanskrit Alphabets.
Sanskrit Number Counting from 41 to 50
| 41 | ४१ | एकचत्वारिंशत् | ekachatvaarinshat |
| 42 | ४२ | द्विचत्वारिंशत् | dwichatvaarinshat |
| 43 | ४३ | त्रिचत्वारिंशत् | trichatvaarinshat |
| 44 | ४४ | चतुश्चत्वारिंशत् | chatushchatvaarinshat |
| 45 | ४५ | पञ्चचत्वारिंशत् | panchachatvaarinshat |
| 46 | ४६ | षट्चत्वारिंशत् | shatchatvaarinshat |
| 47 | ४७ | सप्तचत्वारिंशत् | saptachatvaarinshat |
| 48 | ४८ | अष्टचत्वारिंशत् | ashtachatvaarinshat |
| 49 | ४९ | नवचत्वारिंशत्/ एकोनपञ्चाशत् | navachatvaarinshat/ekonpanchaashat |
| 50 | ५० | पञ्चाशत् | panchaashat |
Sanskrit Number Counting from 51 to 100
| 51 | ५१ | एकपञ्चाशत् | ekpanchaashat |
| 52 | ५२ | द्विपञ्चाशत् | dwipanchaashat |
| 53 | ५३ | त्रिपञ्चाशत् | tripanchaashat |
| 54 | ५४ | चतुष्पञ्चाशत् | chatushpanchaashat |
| 55 | ५५ | पञ्चपञ्चाशत् | panchapanchaashat |
| 56 | ५६ | षट्पञ्चाशत् | shatpanchaashat |
| 57 | ५७ | सप्तपञ्चाशत् | saptapanchaashat |
| 58 | ५८ | अष्टपञ्चाशत् | ashtapanchaashat |
| 59 | ५९ | नवपञ्चाशत्/ एकोनषष्टिः | navapanchaashat/ekonshashtih |
| 60 | ६० | षष्टिः | shashtih |
| 61 | ६१ | एकषष्टिः | ekshashtih |
| 62 | ६२ | द्विषष्टिः | dwishashtih |
| 63 | ६३ | त्रिषष्टिः | trishashtih |
| 64 | ६४ | चतुःषष्टिः | chatuhshashtih |
| 65 | ६५ | पञ्चषष्टिः | panchashashtih |
| 66 | ६६ | षट्षष्टिः | shatshashtih |
| 67 | ६७ | सप्तषष्टिः | saptshashtih |
| 68 | ६८ | अष्टषष्टिः | ashtashashtih |
| 69 | ६९ | नवषष्टिः/ एकोनसप्ततिः | navashashtih/ekonsaptatih |
| 70 | ७० | सप्ततिः | saptatih |
| 71 | ७१ | एकसप्ततिः | ekasaptatih |
| 72 | ७२ | द्विसप्ततिः | dwisaptatih |
| 73 | ७३ | त्रिसप्ततिः | trisaptatih |
| 74 | ७४ | चतुस्सप्ततिः | chatussaptatih |
| 75 | ७५ | पञ्चसप्ततिः | panchasaptatih |
| 76 | ७६ | षट्सप्ततिः | shatsaptatih |
| 77 | ७७ | सप्तसप्ततिः | saptasaptatih |
| 78 | ७८ | अष्टसप्ततिः | ashtasaptatih |
| 79 | ७९ | नवसप्ततिः/ एकोनाशीतिः | navasaptatih/ekonaashitih |
| 80 | ८० | अशीतिः | ashitih |
| 81 | ८१ | एकाशीतिः | ekaashitih |
| 82 | ८२ | द्वयशीतिः | dwaishitih |
| 83 | ८३ | त्र्यशीतिः | traishitih |
| 84 | ८४ | चतुरशीतिः | chaturshitih |
| 85 | ८५ | पञ्चाशीतिः | panchaashitih |
| 86 | ८६ | षडशीतिः | shadshitih |
| 87 | ८७ | सप्ताशीतिः | saptaashitih |
| 88 | ८८ | अष्टाशीतिः | ashtaashitih |
| 89 | ८९ | नवाशीतिः/एकोननवतिः | navaashitih/ekonanavatih |
| 90 | ९० | नवतिः | navatih |
| 91 | ९१ | एकनवतिः | ekanavatih |
| 92 | ९२ | द्विनवतिः | dwinavatih |
| 93 | ९३ | त्रिनवतिः | trinavatih |
| 94 | ९४ | चतुर्नवतिः | chaturnavatih |
| 95 | ९५ | पञ्चनवतिः | panchanavatih |
| 96 | ९६ | षण्णवतिः | shannavatih |
| 97 | ९७ | सप्तनवतिः | saptanavatih |
| 98 | ९८ | अष्टनवतिः | ashtanavatih |
| 99 | ९९ | नवनवतिः/ एकोनशतम् | navanavatih/ekonshatam |
| 100 | १०० | शतम् | shatam |
0So, while she goes on to tell him the story of how the clever birds with their strength of unity defeated the hunter’s plan to capture them, I thought that I could give you some additional information.
Interesting information about Sanskrit number system
- The number zero is called शून्यम्. The root form is शून्य.
- The numbers 19,29,39, etc have some additional name forms. E.g., 19 is also known as ऊनविंशतिः or एकान्नविंशतिः where ऊन means minus one. Similarly, ऊनत्रिंशत् or एकान्नत्रिंशत् for 29 and so on.
- The root forms of numbers or प्रातिपदिकम् from 1 to 10 are as follows
| १ | एक | ६ | षष् |
| २ | द्वि | ७ | सप्तन् |
| ३ | त्रि | ८ | अष्टन् |
| ४ | चतुर् | ९ | नवन् |
| ५ | पञ्चन् | १० | दशन् |
- From 11 till 19 it will be एकादशन् and so on.
- Observe the pattern and extrapolate the root forms for the rest of the numbers.
| ११ | एकादशन् | ६१ | एकषष्टि |
| २१ | एकविंशति | ७१ | एकसप्तति |
| ३१ | एकत्रिंशत् | ८१ | एकाशीति |
| ४१ | एकचत्वारिंशत् | ९१ | एकनवति |
| ५१ | एकपञ्चाशत् | १०० | शत |
Now that we have sufficient knowledge of numbers to keep us going, we can ponder over the final message the girl gives her brother. Of course, I am translating it into Sanskrit –
पुष्पाणि अनेकानि किन्तु माला एका भवति।
You make one beautiful garland with so many individual flowers, don’t you?
The Universe is a mathematical garland.
-End-
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