One night, in a month of the spring season, a certain young lady was lovingly happy with her husband in a big mansion, white as the moon, set in a pleasure garden with trees bent down with flowers and fruits, and resonant with the sweet sounds of parrots, cuckoos and bees which were all intoxicated with honey of the flowers. then, on a love-quarrel arising between husband and wife, her pearl necklace was broken. one third of the pearls were collected by the maid-servant, one sixth fell on the bed- then half of what remained and half of what remained thereafter and again one half of what remained thereafter and so on, six times in all, fell scattered everywhere. 1161 pearls were still left on the string; how many pearls had there been in the necklace?
Mahavira, India