[INDOLOGY] texts

[Herman Tull]

A few weeks ago I initiated a discussion of the number of Sanskrit mss, and
I appreciate the answers I received to this question.

I have a related question--something I have been asked, and simply have not
been able to find any sort of answer. Is there a rough figure for the
number of works written in Sanskrit?  In other words, if we were to visit a
Sanskrit Library wherein one copy of every work written in Sanskrit had
been deposited, how many books would be on the shelves?

The parameters of this are a bit rough, since we would need to think beyond
the "usual suspects," and include Buddhist texts, assorted commentaries,
works written outside India (Southeast Asia?).  I also realize that what we
think of as a "book" in the West is not quite the same in India (where
texts often have their origins in collections based on multi-authored
works).

But, given all this, might we say there are tens of thousands, or hundreds
of thousands...or more, discrete works composed in Sanskrit?

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

-- 
Herman Tull
Princeton, NJ


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