ब्राह्मस्फुटसिद्धान्त (ब्रह्मगुप्त - शून्य, कुट्टक, बीजगणित एवं सम्पूर्ण २१ अध्याय सान्वय सटीक)

CHAPTER II Personal References of Brahmagupta Sudhākara Dvivedī in his Gaṇaka Taraṅgiṇī, a small book on biographical skethes of astronomers and astrologers of this country gives a brief account of Brahmagupta thus : Brahmagupta was born in 520 Śaka (655 Vikramī or 589 A.D.) in the reign of King Vyāghramukha, belonging to the Cāpa family ; his father was Jiṣṇugupta ; and at the age of 30, he wrote in 550 Śaka (628 A. D.) his well known treatise on Astronomy known as the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, which is corroborated by the statement in the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa, (Chapter on the Brahma-siddhānta), His other treatise, entitled the Khaṇḍa- Khādyaka, which is a karaṇa book, was completed in 587 Śaka (665 A. D.). According to some authorities, Brahmagupta was the grandson of Viṣṇugupta, and the family suffix (Gupta) indicated that he belonged to the Vaiśya family, and he was in the service of the King of Rewah, known as Vyāghrabhaṭa. Brahmagupta was a great critic ; he did not spare any of his predecessors like Āryabhaṭa, Varāhamihira, Śrīṣeṇa, Viṣṇucandra and others. Later on, his influence on the writing of the succeeding generations has been immense. Bhāskarācārya II in his Bījagaṇita has acknowledged him as a great authority on algebra and has given him as the first place amongst the galaxy consisting of Brahmagupta, Śrīdhara, Padmanābha etc. The Eighteenth Chap- ter of the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, known as Kuṭṭaka Chapter (on Pulveriser) has been translated by H. T. Colebrooke in English in 1817. The English translation of the Twelfth Chapter on Gaṇita or Calculations from the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta is also available in English. (See Colebrook's Algebra with Arithmetic and Mensuration from the Sanskrit of Brahmagupta and Bhās- kara, London, 1817). The Vāsanā Commentary on the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta by Pṛthudakasvāmī (860 A. D.) is also available though with diffi- culty (as indicated by Sudhākara Dvivedi) ; its incorrect manus-