three asamkhya kalpas and a hundred major kalpas ［三祇百大劫］ ( sangi-hyakudai-kō): The period necessary for a bodhisattva to become a Buddha according to the Hinayana abhidharma works (doctrinal treatises and commentaries). For three asamkhya kalpas, a bodhisattva practices the six pāramitās. He serves seventy-five thousand Buddhas for one asamkhya kalpa, seventy-six thousand Buddhas for another asamkhya kalpa, and seventy-seven thousand Buddhas for a third asamkhya kalpa. The Sanskrit word asamkhya means innumerable, or according to one account, it represents 1059. After completing the six pāramitās for three asamkhya kalpas, he still continues to practice for a hundred major kalpas in order to obtain the thirty-two features of a Buddha. The period required for a bodhisattva to become a Buddha is variously described as “three asamkhya kalpas and a hundred major kalpas,” “three asamkhya kalpas,” “three great asamkhya kalpas,” and “three asamkhya kalpas and a hundred kalpas.”