Keller A. Expounding the Mathematical Seed. Volume 1: The Translation. A Translation of Bhāskara I on the Mathematical Chapter of the Āryabhatīya

Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag. – 2006. – 223 p. (Science Networks. Historical Studies Founded by Erwin Hiebert and Hans Wubing: Volume 30) This book presents an English translation of a VIIth century Sanskrit commentary written by an astronomer called Bhāskara. He is often referred to as Bhāskara I or the elder Bhāskara to distinguish him from a XIIth century astronomer of the Indian subcontinent bearing the same name, Bhāskara II or the younger Bhāskara. In this commentary, Bhāskara I glosses a Vth century versified astronomical treatise, the . Āryabhatīya of Āryabhata. The Āryabhatīya has four chapters, the second concentrates on gan. ita or mathematics. This book is a translation of Bhāskara commentary on the mathematical chapter of the Āryabhatīya. It is based on the edition of the text made by K. S. Shukla for the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in
1976. This work is in two volumes. Volume I contains an Introduction and the literal translation. Because Bhāskara’s text alone is difficult to understand, I have added for each verse’s commentary a supplement which discusses the linguistic and mathematical matter exposed by the commentator. These supplements are gathered in volume II, which also contains glossaries and the bibliography. The two volumes should be read simultaneously. This Introduction aims at providing a general background for the translation. I would like to help the reader with some of the technical difficulties of the commentary, in appearance barren and rebutting. My ambition goes also beyond this point: I think reading Bhāskara can become a stimulating and pleasant experience altogether. The Introduction is divided into three sections. The first places Bhāskara’s text within its historic context, the second looks at its mathematical contents, the third analyzes the relations between the commentary and the treatise.On the Translation
The Translation
Chapter on Mathematics