User:Wilkn/sandbox

It is sometimes alleged that the concept of infinity first originated in the Indian civilization as one of the mantras of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and Ishavasya Upanishad popularly known as Shanti Mantra, around 700 BCE. The mantra is given in Devanagri script below.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते | पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ||

which means. [If] That is complete (infinite), this is complete (infinite), [then] from completeness comes completeness (infinite = infinite). Complete (infinite) minus complete (infinite), infinite remains. (infinite - infinite = infinite). The debate arises because of translation difficulties between English and other languages. Simply put, the base word 'poorna' means complete. A question arises: are the words complete and infinity synonyms. An indirect way to answer the question is to look at the concept of infinity rather than the meaning of the word poorna. Infinity - Infinity = Infinity. The second line of the sholok says exactly that. On the other hand Complete - complete = zero. Another interpretation of the word is full. However, again since full - full = zero, the meaning full also does not satisfy the second line. The only constant that can satisfy the identity quoted in the second line is infinty. The debate however is not conclusive because satisfaction of the identity does not imply that the writer of the sholok was expressing infinity indeed. An interesting discussion on the meaning of the word is given in the link