ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Katapayadi system

The katapayadi system is a way of representing numbers in the Sanskrit language using consonants. It works by assigning each consonant a specific digit, and then using those consonants to create a word that represents a number.

For example, let's say we want to represent the number 42 using the katapayadi system. First, we look up the consonants that correspond to the digits 4 and 2. In this case, the consonants are "da" and "pa" respectively. We then combine those consonants to form a word, which in this case would be "dapa".

This word can then be used to represent the number 42. The system works up to the number 9999, after which a symbol (like a dot or dash) is used to represent the next digit.

So basically, the katapayadi system is a way of using consonants to represent numbers in Sanskrit, and it works by assigning each consonant a specific digit and then combining them to form a word that represents that number.