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The So-Called “Dust Computations” in the Līlāvatī

2018; Springer Nature (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-319-73396-8_5

2211-8144

Takanori Kusuba,

Mathematics and Applications

The rules and examples in mathematical texts written in Sanskrit[lak]Sanskrit in medieval India are composed in verse form, so they are in a terse style. The texts are silent in terms of actually carrying out computationsComputation . In order to understand the rules, students solved problems given either by the author or the commentator. When students read the rules, they learned the procedure of calculationCalculation . When they read examples, they learned how to set down given numbers. The present chapter analyzes how those who read the Sanskrit mathematical works, in particular the Līlāvatī , performed computations.