Chapter 1

Book Chapter

Contribution of Indian Mathematicians

∗1
Kiran Meena  and Pankaja Ghai Kaushik †2
1
Department of Mathematics, Lady Shri Ram College For Women, University
of Delhi
2
Department of Sanskrit, Lady Shri Ram College For Women, University of
Delhi

Abstract
India is a country of rich and vast culture knowledge and valuable research finding. Since
long back, Indian thinkers and scholars have been exploring this universe and establishing
various theories and formulas which are universal and useful to entire humankind. Our
sages and scholars have presented huge corpus of knowledge and wisdom associated with all
sphere of life. Vedic civilization is known as golden period as far as education and research
are concerned. In Vedic age, development of scientific knowledge has touched a mentionable
height. As in ancient India Sanskrit had been medium of education, we find commendable
vast literature compiled in Sanskrit that furnishes knowledge of Mathematics and astronomy.
There are lot of books where we can see amazing inventions of our sages. These sages
have enormous contribution to their credit in mathematics and other branches of science.
Scientific heritage is kept recorded in Brahman texts and Sutra texts. In later period, this
tradition has been carried by Indian scholars and we find independent work on mathematics
and astronomy. In this chapter contribution of various ancient Indian mathematicians, right
from sutra period to post classical period, is presented.

∗ Email: [email protected]
† Email: [email protected] Corresponding Author

1
 1 Śulba Sutra Period
This period is also known as post-Vedic period. Śulba sutras are part of Kalpa one of
the six Vedaaga Śikś ā, Kalpa, Vyākaraṇa, Chhandas, Nirukta, Jyotisha) which consist
of constructional geometry, mathematics and astronomy of ancient India. The Rishis of
this era established mathematics, geometry, and trigonometry as independent subjects of
learning. Vedic rituals whether ‘Nitya’ a Kāmya, were performed on the altars. It was
required to construct fire altars with precise measurement, shape, size, etc. The exact
rules for the construction of fire altars were recorded in Śulba sutras, If we go with the
etymology of the term śulba sutra, Sanskrit root śulv means ‘to measure’ and the term
śulba means rope or chord which was used as an instrument to measure altars.
We find four śubla sutras sages, viz., Baudhayana, Apastamba, Mānava and Kātyāyana
at present. It has been estimated that these śulba sutras were compiled during 800 BC
but some recent research has suggested the much earlier date of śulba sutras (Bag, 1979;
Dutta, 2002). ��

1.1 Baudhayana
Baudhayana was a profound ancient Indian mathematician and author of Śulba Sūtra
and Śrauta Sūtra. He is known for establishing ancient Indian mathematical concepts of
geometry, trigonometry, etc. He is also known as the first mathematician who gave rules
of the theorem which has been popular as the “Pythagoras theorem” later. Baudhayana
was a sage who used to perform ‘Yajyas’. During his discourse of ‘Yajnyas’, he evolved
mathematical formulas, particularly in geometry. His major contribution to ancient Indian
mathematics was in the form of providing geometrical principles and methods of construct-
ing fire altars in various shapes which have the same area called ‘chitis’ in Śulba Sūtra for
‘Nitya rituals’ (to be performed daily) altars constructed on the area of one square called
‘vyāyāma’ (96 aṅgulas: 3-4 inches), and Kāmyarituals (to be performed occasionally) al-
tars to be constructed on the area of 7.5 square purusas (900 aṅgulas). We find specific
terms in Baudhayana Śulba Sūtra as follows. Gārhpatya - Circular, Āhvaṇiya - Square,
Dakṣiṇāgni - Semicircular, Prauga - Isosceles Triangles, Ubhayatah Prauga - Rhombus,
Mahāvedi - Isosceles Trapezium, Śyena - Falcon, Rathchakra - Wheel of chariot, Kurma -
Tortoise.

Geometrical constructions
Baudhayana provided rules for the following geometrical constructions:

(i) Construction of geometrical figures: square, rectangle, circle, triangle, rhombus,

isosceles trapezium, etc.

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 (ii) Construction of a line perpendicular to a given line.

(iii) Converting a square into a circle or a circle into a square.

(iv) Construction of the same figures with doubled, tripled, or multiple areas.

Value of π
Baudhayana has provided approximations for the value of π for constructing circular
shapes. Baudhayana’s rule for the construction of a circle whose area is equal to the given
square leads to the approximation for π as 8.088.

Baudhayana theorem
Baudhayana’s sutra states that “rope which is stretched across the diagonal of a rectangle
produces an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together.” This statement
can be elaborated as “The diagonal of rectangles produces by itself both the areas produced
separately by its two sides.” This sutra indeed, presents the geometrical formula which is
popularly known as the Pythagorean theorem. The formula of this theorem was established
by Baudhayana long before Pythagoras.

Operation of fractions
Apart from providing rules for geometrical shapes, Baudhayana also furnished arithmetic
applications. Many examples of fractions are mentioned in Baudhayana Śulba Sūtra. The
fractions like 83 , 27 , 34 etc. are used in Śulba Sūtras.

The square root of 2

Baudhayana provided a procedure for approximating the square root of 2. He perfectly
√
gave a close approximation 2 in arithmetical and geometrical methods which are accurate
up to 5 decimal places. According to him,
√ 1 1 1
2=1+ + − = 1.4142156.
3 3 × 4 3 × 4 × 34

1.2 Apastamba
Apastamba is an ancient Indian sutrakara who has written all Kalpa sutras: Dharma
sutra, Ghya sutra, Śulba sutra, and Śrauta sutra. Apastamba wrote his Śulba Sūtra
approximately around 1900 BC (as per the recent findings). Apastamba Śulba Sūtra covers
mathematical topics such as arithmetic, geometry, etc. Apastamba presented numerical
proof using number theory for the Pythagorean theorem. The measurement of maravedis,

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 isosceles, and trapezium provided by him are the same as Pythagorean triples. Apastamba
also divided a segment into seven equal parts to solve the problem of squaring the circles.
In Apastamba Śulba Sūtra, lots of examples of squaring and square rooting of fractions
are mentioned such as:

Squaring
( )2
3 9
=
2 4

Square rooting
√
9 3
=
4 2
Further, Apastamba also solved the general linear equation. Apastamba Śulba Sūtra
gives a rule to fix the problem of converting an isosceles trapezium into an equivalent
rectangle and creating a rhombus of a given area for combining two equal squares. “The
diagonal of the square produces double the area.”

2 Early classical period

The early classical period of Sanskrit texts was the era when mathematics, ayurveda, phi-
losophy, grammar, prosody, etc. became major subjects of education. Classical Sanskrit
grammar was written based on algebraic concepts. Many mathematical concepts of mod-
ern mathematical education can be observed in Sanskrit grammatical construction and
the same in the writings of poetry. Rules of prosody were constructed based on the math-
ematical system. Panini and Pingala are known as two brothers who have established the
whole Sanskrit and prosody respectively.

2.1 Pingala
Pingala is known as a writer of ‘Chhandas Shastra’ the text of rules regarding poetic
rhythm. The origin of poetic rhythm lies in the Vedic period. Pingala made this knowledge
an independent study. Poetic rhythm is also known as meter in Sanskrit poetry. Pingala
brought a mathematical system in meters. Pingala was the first who established the
relationship between the theory of poetic rhythm and combinatorics.

Binary numeral system

Sanskrit poetry is based on mantras which are syllabic time units, normally a piece of
poetry (mantra or verse) has four quarters (charana). These charanas consist of particular

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 syllabic time units. Pingala gives names as ‘Laghu’ for ‘1-time unit’ and ‘Guru’ for ‘2-time
unit’. To make a set of Laghu and Guru syllables, Pingala used the concept of a binary
numeral system.

Binomial theorem
Pingala introduced the concept that how many different combinations could be made with
3, 4, and 5 syllables. Here he establishes the basics of the binomial theorem. Using two
types of variables (Laghu and Guru) is similar to the binomial theorem.

Matrameru (Pascal’s triangle)

Pingala has designed a matrameru (mountain of syllables) based on a recursive algorithm.
This is very similar to Pascal’s triangle.

3 Classical period
During the classical period, Indian mathematics and astronomy reached to advanced stage.
Indian mathematicians and astronomers introduced many advanced methods. The famous
astronomical text ‘Suryasidhanta’ was compiled during this period. Many prominent In-
dian mathematicians are studied in this period.��

3.1 Aryabhatta-I
Aryabhatta is a famous Indian mathematician and astronomer (Rao, 1994). There are say-
ings that he had spent his life in Kusumpur near Patna, Bihar. Aryabhatta of the period
(476-540 AD) is popular as Aryabhatta-I. He was the founder of Indian scientific astronomy
and made various mathematical innovations. Popular text on astronomy “Āryabhatiyaṁ”
is written by Aryabhatta-I. Another book credited to his name is ‘Aryabhatta Siddhanta’,
which is also referred to in other texts but this book is not available. Āryabhatiyaṁ has
been translated extensively. We find commentaries written on Āryabhatiyaṁ by Parmesh-
wara (15th century) and Nilakantha (16th century). �� Aryabhatta-I has provided various
theories/formulas in mathematics, in particular: geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and
profoundly astronomy. The best contribution of Aryabhatta-I is in the field of astronomy
where he established the principle that “earth and all other planets are rotating and the
sun is stationary”. This theory has been credited to Copernicus (a Western scientist).
�� Aryabhatta-I furnished a heliocentric solar system and considered the motions of all
planets around the sun. He also explained in his book that the earth has gravitational
attraction. In trigonometry, Aryabhatta-I has given definitions of sine (Jya), cosine (Koti-
jya), versine (Utkramajya), and inverse-sine (Autkramajya). He also contributed various

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 trigonometric functions. �� In algebra, many linear equations are in his credit. His contri-
bution to calculus is in the form of ‘Tātkalikagati’, which is the concept of infinitesimals.
This concept has been established in the context of predicting the exact time of the lunar
eclipse.

3.2 Varahamihira
In 505 CE, Varahamihira was born in Kapitthaka, India in a sun-worshiping Brahmin
family. Varahamihira word is a combination of two words, Varaha (Vishnu) and Mihira
(Sun). In the childhood days, he studied at his birthplace. His father taught him Jyotisha.
Later on, he shifted to Ujjain which was known for mathematics. He died in 587 CE. Ut-
pala and Mahidhara write a commentary on Varahamihira. A Brihajjataka copied article
is available in the Library of Cambridge University. Varahamihira wrote many texts on
astronomy and astrology. He was a skilled poet. Among his texts, there are Panchsid-
dhantika on astronomy, Brhadjataka, Brhadvivahpatala and Barhadyatya on horoscopy,
and Brhatsamhita on astrology. Panchsiddhantika summarises five earlier astronomical
treatises (Surya, Romaka, Paulisa, Vasistha, and Paitamaha). �
In addition, he made some contributions to geology, metrology, and ecology, etc. He
observed the predictions about weather, clouds, and rainfall using astronomy. He wrote
that plants and termites detect underground water. Some of his contributions are formulas
in trigonometry, improvements in the sine tables of Aryabhatta-I, algebraic properties of
zero and negative numbers, a different form of Pascal’s triangle or binomial coefficients,
4 × 4 magic squares, the revelation of water on mars, methods for computing the positions
and diameters of the planets, estimations of eclipses, etc.

Trigonometric formulas:
He gave the following trigonometric formulas.

(i) sin ϑ = cos( π2 − ϑ)

(ii) sin2 ϑ + cos2 ϑ = 1

(iii) 1 − cos 2ϑ = 2 sin2 ϑ

Magic square:
He was the first who constructed the following 4 × 4 magic square:

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 a11 a12 a13 a14 2 3 5 8
a21 a22 a23 a24 5 8 2 3
=
a31 a32 a33 a34 4 1 7 6
a41 a42 a43 a44 7 6 4 1

The above magic square has the following properties:

(i) Each row sum is 18, i.e.

a11 + a12 + a13 + a14 = 18
a21 + a22 + a23 + a24 = 18
a31 + a32 + a33 + a34 = 18
a41 + a42 + a43 + a44 = 18

(ii) Each column sum is 18, i.e.

a11 + a21 + a31 + a41 = 18

a12 + a22 + a32 + a42 = 18
a13 + a23 + a33 + a43 = 18
a14 + a24 + a34 + a44 = 18

(iii) Diagonal sum is 18, i.e.

a11 + a22 + a33 + a44 = 18

(iv) Reverse diagonal sum is 18, i.e.

a14 + a23 + a32 + a41 = 18

(v) Corner sum is 18, i.e.

a11 + a14 + a41 + a44 = 18

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 (vi) The following sub-squares sum is 18.

a11 + a12 + a21 + a22 = 18

a13 + a14 + a23 + a24 = 18
a31 + a32 + a41 + a42 = 18
a33 + a34 + a43 + a44 = 18
a21 + a22 + a31 + a32 = 18
a23 + a24 + a33 + a34 = 18
a22 + a23 + a32 + a33 = 18

(vii) The following 4-tuples sum is 18.

a12 + a13 + a42 + a43 = 18

a21 + a31 + a24 + a34 = 18

Binomial coefficients:
�The Jaina School of Mathematics computed the formula to obtain the values of binomial
coefficients. However, Varahamihira computed it using Pascal’s triangle table differently.
He wrote the numbers in a column from upward n to downward n = 1. Then he wrote the
numbers k in rows with k = 1 in the leftmost.
Starting at the bottom left side of the array which corresponds to the values n = 1,
( )
k = 1, the values of kn are found as the sum of the entry below the (n, k) position, and
entry immediately to the left of it. Further, for a detailed explanation we refer to (Gupta,
1992).

3.3 Bhaskara-I
In the history of ancient Indian mathematical traditions, Bhaskara-I (570-650 AD) is
known as a follower of Aryabhatta-I. He has three books in his credit, namely:

(i) ‘Mahābhaskariyaṁ’

(ii) ‘Aryabhatiya Bhashya’

(iii) ‘Laghubhāskariyaṁ’

In ‘Mahābhaskariyaṁ’, he has described longitudes of planets, conjunctions of the

planets and stars, eclipses, etc. His books were translated into Arabic. Bhaskara-I was
the first who gave a simple algebraic formula for approximating the trigonometric sine

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 function employing a rational fraction. He also gave many formulas to solve several prob-
lems in geometry. In Mahābhaskariyaṁ, we find solutions to problems related to modular
equations. Apart from this, Bhaskara-I also gave references to other less popular math-
ematicians such as Pandurañgaswamy, Lātadeva, Nishanka, Maskari, Purāna, Mudgala,
and Pūtana who have written several texts on mathematics and astronomy. ��

3.4 Brahmagupta
In 598 CE, he was born in Bhillamala (capital of Gurjaradesa) (now Bhinmal, Rajasthan,
India) in a Hindu religious family during the ruler Chavda of the Gurjara dynasty. This was
also famous for astronomy and arithmetic research (Sharma, 1966). He studied astronomy
at the most famous astronomy ‘Brahmapaksha’ school and worked there as an astronomer.
He studied the works of many astronomers and mathematicians there. At 30, i.e. in 628
BC, he revised ‘siddhanthas’ (Indian astronomy traditional) to Brahmasphutasiddhanta
containing 25 chapters. In chapters 12 and 18, he introduced two major branches of
mathematics, namely, pati-ganita (arithmetic) and bija-ganita (algebra). Later, he moved
to the best place to research in astronomy, Ujjain, and became the head of the foremost
mathematical center the ‘astronomical observatory’. At 67, he wrote a practical book
Khandakhadyaka. The other books written by him are ‘Algebra, with Arithmetic and
Mensuration’, ‘Brahmaguptaganitam’, and ‘ Classics of Indian Mathematics’. He died in
668 CE in Ujjain. Thoothoor village (in Kerala, India) gives Brahmagupta Award to one
who does something extraordinary in mathematics.
He was one of the most important mathematicians and astronomers of ancient India
who contributed to algebra, arithmetic, astronomy, trigonometry, geometry, etc. His work
had a significant impact on the study of mathematics and science not only in India but also
all over the globe. Some of his important contributions are: postulates for the operations,
concept of zero, fortune (positive) and debt (negative) numbers, formula to calculate area
of a cyclic quadrilateral (Brahmagupta formula), algorithm for computing square roots
(equivalent to the Newton-Raphson iterative formula), solution of generalized linear and
quadratic equations, Gomutrika method of multiplication using the place-value system
(almost same used today), sum of squares and cubes of first natural numbers without
proofs, computation of sines’ and cosines’ values using interpolation formula (sub-case
of Newton-Stirling interpolation formula), Brahmagupta-Fibonacci identity, value of π
√
( 10 = 3.162), length of the year (365 days 6 hours 5 minutes 19 seconds), earth is a
sphere of circumference 36000 km or 22500 miles, earth is closer to the moon than the
sun, methods to calculate positions of planets, computations of lunar and solar eclipses,
identification of gravity (he said ‘Bodies fall toward the earth as it is in the nature of the
earth to attract bodies, just as it is in the properties of water to attract bodies’) etc. ��

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 Brahmagupta postulates:
One of his postulates was that there are 20 operations. He also proved that the following
operations are inverse operations of each other.

• Addition and Subtraction

• Multiplication and Division

Zero as a number:
Brahmagupta considered zero as a number first time. He gave the following rules.
(i) When zero is added to any number, the result is the same number.

(ii) When zero is subtracted from any number, the result is the same number.

(iii) When zero is subtracted from zero, the result is zero.

(iv) When any number is multiplied by zero, the result is zero.

(v)� When zero is multiplied by zero, the result is zero.

Rules for fortune and debt numbers:

He introduced the concept of positive and negative numbers with the following rules.
(i) A debt subtracted from zero is a fortune.

(ii) A fortune subtracted from zero is a debt.

(iii) The product or quotient of two fortunes is one fortune.

(iv) The product or quotient of two debts is one fortune.

(v) The product or quotient of a debt and a fortune is a debt.

(vi)�� The product or quotient of a fortune and a debt is a debt.

Brahmagupta formula:
Brahmagupta gave a formula to calculate the area of the cyclic quadrilateral, which is
known as the Brahmagupta formula. This was his major contribution to the geometry.
We recall it as follows.
Let p, q, r and s be the length sides of cyclic quadrilateral. Then the area of the cyclic
quadrilateral is given by
√
A= (D − p)(D − q)(D − r )(D − s)

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 where D is the semi-parameter of the cyclic quadrilateral.

3.5 Mahavira
In the period (814-880 AD), Mahavira Acharya is known as the greatest Jain mathe-
matician. He is said to be a native of Manyakheta, Karnataka. He read the works of
Brahmagupta. His works are on pure mathematics which presents Indian mathematical
knowledge of 9th century. His popular Shastra is ‘Ganita-Sara-Sangraha’ which contains
9 chapters and 1100 verses. This treatise has formulas of arithmetic, algebra, geometry
mensuration, etc. Mahavira has listed the qualities, that a mathematician should process,
are as follows.

(i) Laghukarana: making shortest methods

(ii) Uha: having logical reasoning

(iii) Apoha: answers to doubts

(iv) Analasya: not being lazy (being hard working)

(v) Grahana: grasping ability

(vi) Dharana: concentration, focusing

(vii) Upayi: providing motivational solutions

(viii) Vyaktikarana: expressing and proving methods.

3.6 Aryabhatta-II
Aryabhatta-II (920-990 AD) is later Acharya of the classical period. Inspired by Aryabhatta-
I’s knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, Aryabhatta-II also authored a book ‘Ma-
hasidhanata’ which has eighteen chapters. Formulas and findings on astronomy arith-
metic, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry are written in this treatise. Aryabhatta-II’s
contribution to the Indian mathematical tradition is as follows.

(i) Solutions to indeterminate equations with specific rules.

(ii) Corrections of 16,00,000 revolutions of Saptarshi Mandal to 15,99,998.

(iii) Measured the circumstances of the earth as 6625 Yojans.

(iv) Methods for testing the corrections of a product of calculations.

(v) Formula for finding the length of the arc of a circle.

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 (vi) Methods for finding the areas of the triangle, rhombus, isosceles, square, rectangle,
etc.

3.7 Bhaskara-II
Bhaskara-II (1114-1185 AD) is also known as Bhāskarachārya. He is one of the most
popular and greatest Indian mathematicians and astronomers of the classical period. He
was born in Vijayapura in Karnataka. He had studied several Sanskrit treatises of various
traditions such as grammar, medicine, logic, mathematics, Veda, Bharat Shastra, etc. He
was well-versed in many branches of Indian knowledge traditions. He authored a well-
known treatise Sidhanta-Shiromani. He wrote a commentary on his book. Siddhanta-
Shiromani has four chapters named as Lilavati (arithmetic and geometry), Bijaganita
(algebra), Goladhyaya (spherical trigonometry) and Grahaganita (astronomical calcula-
tions). Bhaskara-II has given five methods of multiplications. His major contribution to
mathematics was the conclusion that any quantity divided by zero is an infinite quantity.
Bhaskara-II was the first Acharya who proved that a positive number has two square
roots. He also gave the formulas of ‘lowest common multiple’ (LCM) and ‘highest common
factor’ (HCF). Bhaskara-II provided much improved methods of finding the chord of a
circle and the arc of a circle. He has contributed in many other mathematical applications
and astronomical calculations. He has mentioned eight astronomical instruments.

4 Post-classical period
The post-classical period was when research in Indian mathematics and astronomy was
declining particularly in the northern part of India. Kerala in south India had emerged
as a major center of mathematical and astronomical studies. During this time prominent
mathematicians contributed valuable findings.

4.1 Narayana Pandita

Narayana Pandita is a great mathematician of the period (1325-1400 AD). He was from
Kerala and authored “Gaṇita Kaumudi” in 1356 AD. He also had authored “Bijagaṇitavataṁsa”,
which is an algebra book. He has provided various methods of arithmetic, algebra, ge-
ometry, and magic squares. He has contributed in the form of new methods of squaring,
the kapala-sandhi method of multiplication, quadratic and simultaneous equations, series
of figurative numbers, cyclic quadrilaterals, combinatorics, etc. He presents a figure of
numbers called Matsya-meru, magic squares, and magic figures (Padmavritta, Padma,
Shadasra, Vajra, Sarvavatobhadra, Mandapa, Dwadasa-Kara, Vajra Padma, etc.). ��

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 Quadratic and simultaneous equations:
Narayana Paṇdita has written about quadratic and simultaneous equations, he applied
Aryabhatta’s kuttaka method of first degree. He also gave solutions of indeterminate
equations of higher orders. Narayana Pandita has mentioned his method taking an ex-
ample N = 10. He gives three pairs of solutions for x and y as (6, 19), (228, 721) and
(8658, 27379) which gives the approximations as
√ 19
10 = = 3.16667
6

√ 721
10 = = 3.1622807
228
√ 27379
10 = = 3.162277662.
8658
This method of Narayana Pandita is amazingly accurate and equivalent to all other meth-
ods.

Cyclic quadrilaterals:
Narayana Pandita has worked on cyclic quadrilaterals. He was the first to discover the
following theorems on cyclic quadrilaterals.

(i) If the sides have been given, then only three diagonals are possible for a cyclic
quadrilateral.

(ii) Divide the sum of three diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral by four times the radius
or divide the three diagonals of a cyclic quadrilateral by twice the circum diameter
to find the area of a cyclic quadrilateral.

4.2 Sangamagramma Madhavan

He is also known as Madhava. He was an Indian mathematician and astronomer, born
at 1350 in Sangamagramma (Irinjalakuda), Thrissur, Kerala, India. He is known for his
significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the area of calculus.
He was also from the Kerala School of Mathematics. He died in 1425. Madhava’s math-
ematical achievements were largely transmitted through texts written in Malayalam and
Sanskrit. Unfortunately, many of these original manuscripts have been lost over time,
but some of his work has been preserved in later writings and commentaries. Madhava’s
contributions to mathematics were not widely recognized in his time, and it wasn’t until
much later that the significance of his work was fully appreciated. Today, he is celebrated

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 as one of the pioneering figures in the history of calculus and mathematical analysis. For
his pioneering work in calculus and analysis, he is also known as the ‘father of analysis’
(Parameśwaran, 1997).
He made important advancements in areas such as trigonometry, algebra, and analysis.
He developed methods to calculate the values of sine and cosine functions and derived
series expansions for these functions. One of Madhava’s most notable contributions was
the discovery of an early form of what we now call the Taylor series, which is a way to
represent functions as an infinite sum of terms derived from their derivatives. This work
laid the groundwork for later developments in calculus. Some of his contributions are
sine, cosine, and arctan series expansions, calculation of π (3.14159265359), polynomial
expansion methods, the convergence of infinite series, solving transcendental equations,
and approximation of transcendental numbers, etc. ��

Value of π:
He made significant contributions to the development of infinite series and calculus in the
14th century. One of his notable contributions is the Madhava-Leibniz series for π, which
is given by:
∑∞
π 1 1 1 1 1 (−1)n
=1− + − + − + ... = .
4 3 5 7 9 11 n=0
2n + 1

This series provides an approximation of the value of π, where the more terms you include
in the series, the more accurate the approximation becomes. Madhava obtained the correct
value of π as 3.14159265359 up to 11 decimal places by taking 21 terms. ��

Infinite series expansion:

He is credited with discovering a variety of infinite series. These series were foundational
in the development of calculus in India and had a profound influence on the subsequent
development of mathematics in the region and beyond. We list some of the notable series
attributed to Madhava here.

(i) Madhava-Gregory series:

ϑ3 ϑ5 ϑ7
tan−1 (ϑ) = ϑ − + − + ... for |ϑ| ≤ 1.
3 5 7

(ii) Madhava-Leibniz series (also known as the Gregory-Leibniz series):

π 1 1 1 1 1
=1− + − + − + ....
4 3 5 7 9 11

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 (iii) Madhava-Newton power series for arctan:

ϑ3 ϑ5 ϑ7
tan−1 (ϑ) = ϑ − + − + ... for |ϑ| < 1.
3 5 7

(iv) Madhava sine series:

ϑ3 ϑ5 ϑ7
sin(ϑ) = ϑ − + − + ... for all ϑ.
3! 5! 7!

(v) Madhava cosine series:

ϑ2 ϑ4 ϑ6
cos(ϑ) = 1 − + − + ... for all ϑ.
2! 4! 6!

��

Madhava’s remainder:
He provided three different forms of remainders in his mathematical works. These are
often referred to as the “Madhava Remainders” and are associated with his work on infinite
series. Madhava’s work on remainders and error bounds was a significant contribution to
the development of calculus, and it demonstrates his deep understanding of mathematical
analysis and approximation methods. These concepts are fundamental in modern calculus
and numerical analysis. We list them as follows. ��

(i) Truncated series remainder: He introduced the concept of the remainder in a trun-
cated series. If a series converges to a certain value, the remainder represents the
difference between the actual value and the value obtained by truncating the series
after a certain number of terms. ���

(ii) Infinite series remainder: He worked with infinite series and provided formulas for
calculating the remainders of certain series. These formulas allow for the estimation
of how much error is introduced when an infinite series is approximated by a finite
number of terms. ���

(iii) Error bounds in approximations: He developed methods to determine upper and

lower bounds on the error in approximations using series. This allowed him to
quantify the accuracy of his mathematical approximations.

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4.3 Parmeshwaran
Vatasseri Parameshvara was born around 1380 CE in a Hindu family of Bhrgu Gotra
in Tirur, Kerala, India. His family followed the Ashvalayana sutra of the Rigveda. His
grandfather Govinda Bhattathiri was a legend in astrology. He is known as an astrologer,
astronomer, and mathematician. He was also from the famous institute, Kerala School
of Astronomy and Mathematics. In addition, his son Damodara was a member of the
Kerala school. He was studied by Rudra, Narayana, and Madhava. He was also a teacher
of Nilakantha Somayaji. He died in 1460 CE.
He made a series of eclipse observations to verify the accuracy of the computational
methods and proposed many corrections to the astronomical formulas that have been in
use since Aryabhatta. This work is famous as the Drig system or Dragganita. In addition,
he has many contributions, e.g. Goladipika, Grahanamandana, etc. We list some of his
contributions here as the mean value formula for the inverse interpolation of the sine, the
formula for the radius of the circle circumscribing a cyclic quadrilateral, methods for the
derivation of several astronomical tables, spherical geometry, and astronomy, the theory
of eclipses, etc. �

Formula for the radius of the circle circumscribing a cyclic quadrilateral:

�The formula for the radius of the circle circumscribing a cyclic quadrilateral was given
first of all by Gupta’s (1979). According to him, let p, q, r , and s be the length sides of
the cyclic quadrilateral. Then the radius of the circumscribed circle is given by
√
(pq + r s)(pr + qs)(ps + qr )
R= .
(−p + q + r + s)(p − q + r + s)(p + q − r + s)(p + q + r − s)

4.4 Nilakantha Somayaji

On 14 June 1444, he was born in Trikkantiyur, Kerala, India in a Brahmin family and
Nambudiri caste of rich ancient Vedic religion. In his childhood days, he lived in his
house Kelallur (now, Etamana) with his father and family following a collection of Vedic
hymns (Ashvalayana sutra). His family was eligible to worship of deity Soma (a master
of plants) and the name Somayaji indicates this. He taught astronomy and Vedanta
by teachers Ravi and Paramesvara’s (famous Indian astronomer) son Damodra. He was a
good expert in mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, and grammar. He wrote several books
and ten treatises on mathematical astronomy, e.g. Tantrasamgraha, Golasara, Siddhanta
Darpana, Chandracchayaganita, Grahanirnaya and Aryabhatiyabhasya (commentary on
Aryabhat’s work), etc. He wrote 432 verses in Sanskrit. He died in 1544. The planetary
model developed by him was accepted by most of the astronomers of the Kerala school.

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 We list some of his achievements here.

1. Tantrasamgraha: a treatise that covers many aspects of Indian astronomy and spher-
ical geometry. He used triangles whose points were sun, north pole, and zenith in
the proofs of his statements. ���

2. Golasara: a collection of 56 versus and mathematical computations used to calculate

astronomical data (spherical astronomy) ���

3. Siddhanta Darpana: a collection of 32 verses and a planetary model (laws of astron-

omy). ���

4. Chandracchayaganita: a collection of 31 verses and computational methods used to

calculate the moon’s zenith�distance.

5. Aryabhatiyabhasya: in this commentary, he made modifications in various formulas

and statements with simpler proofs.

6. The expansion of trigonometric functions by taking the limit of an approximate

expression for an arc of a circle.

Value of π:
He gave the value of π which is correct up to 9 decimal places. According to him, π =
104348
33215 = 3.14159265392. He stated that circumference and diameter can’t be measured
by a single unit. Hence in particular, if we choose a circle, we conclude that expressing π
into the ratio of two integers is not possible. Equivalently, it is an irrational number.

Trigonometric functions:
In the Tantrasamgraha treatise, he considered a triangle whose points were the sun, north
pole, and zenith. As a consequence, suppose we denote p, q, r the sides and P, Q, R the
angles. Then he proved many formulas, some of which are as follows.

(i) cos p = cos q cos r + sin q sin r cos P

sin p sin q sin r
(ii) sin P = sin Q = sin R

Infinite trigonometric series:

He derived the expansion of the following trigonometric infinite series

1 3 1
sin ϑ = ϑ − ϑ + ϑ5 − · · · ,
3! 5!

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 1 2 1
cos ϑ = 1 − ϑ + ϑ4 − · · · ,
2! 4!
1 1
tan−1 ϑ = ϑ − ϑ3 + ϑ5 − · · · ,
3 5
by taking the limit of an approximate expression for an arc of a circle. If we assume ϑ = 1,
the above third series becomes for π4 as follows.

π 1 1
= 1 − + − ··· .
4 3 5

Infinite geometric series:

He gave the sum of the following series.

1 1 1 1
= + + ··· + + ···
3 4 4 4
( ) { ( ) ( )2 ( )k } ( )k ( )
1 1 1 1 1 1
− + + ··· + = .
3 4 4 4 4 3

Other formulas:
We recall some formulas proved by him in his treatise Aryabhatiyabhasya.

∑
r
r (r + 1)
(i ) =
2
i=1

∑
r
r (r + 1)(2r + 1)
(i )2 =
6
i=1

∑
r
r 2 (r + 1)2
(i )3 =
4
i=1

4.5 Jyesthadeva
In 1500, he was born in Kerala, India in a Parangngottu family and Nambudiri caste. He
was taught by Damodara. Also, he was a younger contemporary of Nilakantha Somayaji.
According to his student Achyuta Pisharati, he was a kind and gentle teacher.�He was also
a member of the Kerala School of Mathematics. He died in 1575 in Kerala. He wrote one
of the important astronomical and mathematical treatises ”Yuktibhasa” which covers the
survey of the work performed at the Kerala School of Mathematics in the local language
‘Malayalam’. This text describes many proofs and derivations of the statements given by

Vedic Mathematics: A Practical Guide 18

Editors: Prabhat Mittal
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 Madahva, Nilakantha, Parmeshwara, etc. He worked on the proofs mostly. Now we list
some of his proven work as Madhava’s series, integer solutions of systems of first-degree
equations, rules of finding the sines and cosines of the sum and difference of two angles,
expansion of the sine, cosine, and arc-tangent functions, geometric derivations of series,
Taylor series for some functions, the value of π in two ways, planetary motion, spheres of
the earth, visibility of planets, etc.

Description of Madhava’s series:

He described the series given by Madhava as the first term is the product of the given
sine and radius of the desired arc divided by the cosine of the arc. The succeeding terms
are obtained by a process of iteration when the first term is repeatedly multiplied by
the square of the sine and divided by the square of the cosine. All the terms are then
divided by the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, . . . . The arc is obtained by adding and subtracting
respectively the terms of odd rank and those of even rank. It is laid down that the sine
of the arc or that of its complement whichever is the smaller should be taken here as the
given sine. Otherwise, the terms obtained by this above iteration will not tend to the
vanishing magnitude.

4.6 Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha

Venkataraman Shastri was born on 14 March 1884 in Tirunelveli, Madras Presidency,
British�India, in a Hindu religious Brahmin family.�His father P. Narasimha Shastri was a
tehsildar at Tirunelveli following the Deputy Collector of Madras presidency. His grand-
father Justice CV Runganatha Sastri was a judge in�the Madras High Court. For early
education, he was admitted to the National College in Trichinopoly, the Church Missionary
Society, and the Hindu Colleges in Tirunelveli.
In 1899, he completed his metric from Madras University with first division. At 16,
in July 1899, he was conferred the title “Saraswati” by the�Madras Sanskrit association
due to his knowledge of the language Sanskrit. His interest was in mathematics, sciences,
humanities, Sanskrit, history, sociology, philosophy, and politics. In 1902, he completed
his B.A. and then went to the American College of�Sciences, Rochester, New York for the
M.A.
In 1905, he supported the national education movement and Sounth-African Indian
problems under the leadership of Gopal Krishna Gokhale. On the other hand, he was
studying Adhyatma-Vidya and joined the Sankaracarya, Swami Satchidananda Sivabhi-
nava Nrisimha Bharati in Sringeri Matha, Mysore due to his attraction towards Hindu
spirituals. After some days, he was pressured to head the newly started national college,
Rajamahedry by nationalist leaders, where he worked for almost three years, followed

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 return to Sringeri math again at 1911 for eight years. During these days, he studied
Advaita Vedanta and Sastra (scripture) and performed the practices of yoga, meditation,
and Brahma-sadhana in the forests. In addition, he taught Sanskrit and philosophy in
schools, ashrams, and institutes at many places.
In 1919, receiving the name “Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha”, he was taken to san-
nyasa, in the Tirtha sub-order of the Dashanami Sampradaya, in Varanasi by Swami
Trivikrama Tirtha (Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Dwarka Sharada Peetham, Dwarka).
These days, Swami Madhusudhana Tirtha (Sankaracarya of Govardhana Matha in Puri
(Odisha)) was impressed by him and lost his health also. In 1925, Bharati Krishna suc-
ceeds Madhusudana on his repeated requests. He chaired as Shankaracharya of Govard-
hana Matha for thirty-five years. During the chair, he wrote several books and treatises
on religion, science, mathematics, world peace, and social issues. He led the foundation
of Sri Vishwa Punarnirmana Sangha (World Reconstruction Association) at Nagpur in
1953, in which many distinguished personalities worked, e.g. Justice B. P. Sinha (Chief
Justice of India) as its President, Dr. C. D. Deshmukh (ex-FM of India and ex-Chairman
of UGC) as Vice-President.
In addition, he toured many different countries including Britain and the United States
attended several conferences to promote yoga, dharma, Vedanta, and Indian cultures. He
died in 1960 being served there. After his death, in 1965 his devotee A. N. Mafatlal
founded a chair of Vedic studies at Banaras Hindu University.�He is also known as the
’father of Vedic mathematics’ for his exampled contribution to Vedic mathematics.
Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha wrote a book on Vedic mathematics (Tirtha, 1992).
This book includes sixteen Vedic sutras for the calculations. We list his contributions
as rediscovering the ancient methods of mathematics (Vedic mathematics), sixteen Vedic
sutras, thirteen Vedic sub-sutras, simple mathematical formulas, etc. ��

Sixteen sutras:
We list the sutras given by Bharati Krishna as follows.

(i) Ekadhiken Purvena

(ii) Nikhilam Navatascaramap Dasatah

(iii) Urdhavatriyagbhyam

(iv) Paravartya Yojayet

(v) Sunyam Samyasamuccaye

(vi) Anurupye Sunyamanyat

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 (vii) Sankalanavyakalanabhyam

(viii) Puranapuranabhyam

(ix) Calanakalanabhyam

(x) Yavadunam

(xi) Vyastisamastih

(xii) Sesanyankena Caramena

(xiii) Sopantyadvayamantyam

(xiv) Ekanyunena Purvena

(xv) Gunitasamuccayah

(xvi) Gunakasamuccayah

Thirteen sub-sutras:
�We list the sub-sutras given by Bharati Krishna as follows.

(i) Anurupyena

(ii) Sisyate Sesasamjnah

(iii) Adyamadyenantya-mantye-na

(iv) Kevalaih Saptakam Gunyit

(v) Vestanam

(vi) Yavadunam Tavadunam

(vii) Yavadunam Tavadunikrtya Varganca Yojayet

(viii) Antyayordasakepi

(ix) Antyayoreva

(x) Samuccayagunitah

(xi) Lopanasthapanabhyam

(xii) Vilokanam

(xiii) Gunitasmuccayah Samuccayagunitah

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4.7 Srinivasa Ramanujan
An Indian mathematician who was born on 22 December 1887, Eurode, Tamil Nadu,
India in a quiet poor family. At an early age, he was very shy and suffered several
disease (Rankin, 2001). He won many competitions and exams in mathematics during
his schooling days. At 12, he solved each exercise of Loney’s plane trigonometry book
which contains the topics from the calculus (Loney, 1893). At 15, he borrowed Carr’s
book Carr’s (1880–1886) from the college library, containing 4417 theorems without brief
proofs. Based on his own developed results, he was successfully selected for a scholarship.
A year later, he lost his scholarship because he failed to clear the papers in the program
except mathematics. Being a married person with Janaki, he needs some employment. He
joined the mathematician Ramachandra Rao on a monthly stipend. However, since he was
uncomfortable, he joined a clerk in the Madras Port Trust office whose chief accountant was
one of the best mathematicians Narayana Aiyer. According to Janaki, Ramanujan would
work in the office during the day, and in the evening he and Aiyar would do mathematics
until the early morning. Thus, his first paper was published in the Journal of the Indian
Mathematical Society in 1911.
Narayana Aiyar suggested him write letters to English mathematicians containing some
of his results. He wrote letters to three mathematicians but received only one reply from M.
J. M. Hill, University of London with little appreciation (Berndt & Rankin, 1995). Again in
1913, he wrote to the famous Cambridge mathematician G. H. Hardy who took the letter
seriously. In reply, Hardy invited Ramanujan to come to England. The communication led
to a special scholarship from the University of Madras and a grant from Trinity College,
Cambridge. Finally, overcoming his religious objections, he departed for England on 17
March 1914. �� In England, Ramanujan had been diagnosed with an unknown incurable
disease, tuberculosis, and a vitamin deficiency caused by a strict vegetarian diet. He stayed
in at least five different sanitaria and nursing homes. Ramanujan returned to India on 27
February 1919. Due to continuous health deterioration, he died at Kumbakonam, Tamil
Nadu on 26 April 1920. After his death, in 1994, Young’s (1994) analyzed all the reports
and descriptions and concluded that Ramanujan was infected with hepatic amoebiasis
disease (a parasitic infection of the liver). In the just 32 years journey, Ramanujan left
three fascinating notebooks and a sheaf of pages (namely “lost notebook”) containing
many unpublished and unproved results that many mathematicians continued to verify
long after his death (Ramanujan, 1957; Ramanujan & Raghavan, 1988).
Ramanujan received a graduate degree from Cambridge on 16 March 1916. Thereafter,
he was elected to the London Mathematical Society and Royal Society of London in
1917 and 1918 respectively. He was also the first Indian to be elected as a fellow of
Trinity College.�In the next three years, he gave many beautiful results independently and
some of them were co-authored with Hardy and others. He worked in number theory,

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 mathematical analysis algebra of inequalities, etc. The theories invented by Ramanujan
have not just been influenced for a century within India, but also globally by a large number
of mathematicians. His results were published in many reputed international journals. He
discovered his own more than three thousand results independently Ramanujan_2000;
Rankin, 1982. Although, a small number of his theorems on the theory of prime numbers
were wrong. In short, a few of his topics were Ramanujan’s conjecture on the tau-function
τ (n), the normal number of prime factors of an integer, Roger-Ramanujan’s identities
in the partition of numbers, the Hardy-Ramanujan-Littlewood circle method, theory of
divergent series, Riemann series, hypergeometric series, the elliptic functions and integrals,
the functional equations of the zeta function, continued fractions, method for the formation
of magic squares and rectangles, etc.

Ramanujan number:
�Ramanujan had an intimate familiarity with the numbers. During his stay in England,
once Hardly visited him in a hospital. Hardly remarked his taxi number 1729 seemed to be
rather a dull one, then Ramanujan immediately responded that it was quite remarkable.
He presented various properties of this number. Now, we list some of these interesting
properties:

(i) It is the smallest number which can be presented in two ways by the sum of two
cubes (13 + 123 and 93 + 103 ).

(ii) It can be written as the difference of the squares of two consecutive numbers (865
and 864).

(iii) It is the product of two numbers which are obtained by interchanging their digits
(19 and 91).

(iv) It is divisible by three alternate consecutive prime numbers with difference 6 (7, 13
and 19) etc.

Nowadays, this number is known as Ramanujan number. ��

Ramanujan 4 × 4 magic square:

�
a11 a12 a13 a14
a21 a22 a23 a24
a31 a32 a33 a34
a41 a42 a43 a44

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 which has the following properties:

(i) Each row sum is 139, i.e.

a11 + a12 + a13 + a14 = 139

a21 + a22 + a23 + a24 = 139
a31 + a32 + a33 + a34 = 139
a41 + a42 + a43 + a44 = 139

(ii) Each column sum is 139, i.e.

a11 + a21 + a31 + a41 = 139

a12 + a22 + a32 + a42 = 139
a13 + a23 + a33 + a43 = 139
a14 + a24 + a34 + a44 = 139

(iii) Diagonal sum is 139, i.e.

a11 + a22 + a33 + a44 = 139

(iv) Reverse diagonal sum is 139, i.e.

a14 + a23 + a32 + a41 = 139

(v) Corner sum is 139, i.e.

a11 + a14 + a41 + a44 = 139

(vi) The following sub-squares sum is 139:

a11 + a12 + a21 + a22 = 139

a13 + a14 + a23 + a24 = 139
a31 + a32 + a41 + a42 = 139
a33 + a34 + a43 + a44 = 139
a21 + a22 + a31 + a32 = 139
a23 + a24 + a33 + a34 = 139
a22 + a23 + a32 + a33 = 139

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 (vii) The following 4-tuples sum is 139:

a12 + a13 + a42 + a43 = 139

a21 + a31 + a24 + a34 = 139

Nowadays, such a square is called Ramanujan magic square which is as follows:

22 12 18 87
88 17 9 25
10 24 89 16
19 86 23 11

Notice that the first row of the magic square forms the date of birth of Ramanujan,
i.e. 22 December 1887.

Ramanujan summations:
The Ramanujan summations are a sum of divergent series which have been taken from
his notebooks Berndt, 1939. We note that these sums are not usual. In other words, the
partial sums do not converge to these values. Here we list three of these summations:
∑
∞
(i) (−1)i+1 = 12 .
i=1

∑
∞
(ii) i = − 12
1
.
i=1

∑
∞
(iii) (i )2j = 0.
i=1

The former prime minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh declared Srinivasa Ra-
manujan’s birth anniversary (22 December) as ‘National Mathematics Day’ to honor the
contribution of this great mathematician. Kanigel illustrated his biography in (Kanigel,
1991). In addition, the film ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ depicts his journey to becoming
a great mathematician.

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 Exercises
1. Write a note on ancient Indian mathematical tradition.

2. Write any two contributions of Varahamihira in mathematics.

3. Write the statement of Brahmagupta’s theorem.

4. Write any five contributions of Brahmagupta in mathematics.

5. Describe Madhava’s remainder briefly.

6. Write any three contributions of Parmeshwaran.

7. Write the expansion of three trigonometric functions given by Nilakantha.

8. Write the planetary model given by Nilakantha.

9. Write any five contributions of Jyesthadeva.

10. When and why do Indians celebrate National Mathematics Day?

11. Write the Ramanujan magic square.

12. Write any five contributions of Ramanujan in mathematics.

13. Write any three properties of the Ramanujan number.

14. Write any three Ramanujan summations of the divergent series.

15. Write any ten sutras given by Swamiji.

16. Write any seven sub-sutras given by Swamiji.

17. How Baudhayana has contributed to Indian mathematics?

18. Write a brief note on Pingala.

19. Write a short note on the contributions of Apastamba.

References
Bag, A. K. (1979). Mathematics in ancient and medieval india. Chaukhambha Orientalia.
Berndt, B. C. (1939). Ramanujan’s notebooks. In Springer-Verlag (Ed.), Ramanujan’s
theory of divergent series (pp. 133–149).
Berndt, B. C., & Rankin, R. A. (1995). Ramanujan: Letters and commentary. American
Mathematical Society; London Mathematical Society.

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Editors: Prabhat Mittal
DOI:10.48001/978-93-5980-686-0-1 | ISBN: 978-93-5980-686-0 | Copyright ©2024 QTanalytics®
 Carr, G. S. (1880–1886). A synopsis of elementary results in pure mathematics (Vol. 2)
[Reprinted by Chelsea, New York, 1970, under the title, Formulas and Theorems
in Pure Mathematics]. C. F. Hodgson & Son.
Dutta, A. K. (2002). Mathematics in ancient india: An overview. Resonance, 270–283.
Gupta, R. C. (1979). A mean-value-type formula for inverse interpolation of the sine.
Ganita, 30(1–2), 78–82.
( )
Gupta, R. C. (1992). Varahamihira’s calculation of nr and the discovery of pascal’s tri-
angle. Ganita Bharati, 14(1–4), 45–49.
Kanigel, R. (1991). The man who knew infinity: A life of the genius ramanujan. Washington
Square Press.
Loney, S. L. (1893). Plane trigonometry, parts i, ii. Cambridge University Press.
Parameśwaran, S. (1997). Mādhavan, the father of analysis. The Mathematical Gazette,
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Ramanujan, S. (1957). Notebooks (Vol. 2). Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Ramanujan, S., & Raghavan, S. (1988). The lost notebook and other unpublished papers.
Springer-Verlag.
Rankin, R. A. (1982). Ramanujan’s manuscripts and notebooks. Bull. London Math. Soc.,
14, 81–97.
Rankin, R. A. (2001). The ramanujan family record. In B. C. Berndt & R. A. Rankin
(Eds.), Ramanujan: Essays and surveys (pp. 29–38). American Mathematical So-
ciety.
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Editors: Prabhat Mittal
DOI:10.48001/978-93-5980-686-0-1 | ISBN: 978-93-5980-686-0 | Copyright ©2024 QTanalytics®