Brahmagupta, Balabhadra, Pṛthūdaka and Al-Bīrūnī

Brahmagupta, Balabhadra, Pṛthūdaka and Al-Bīrūnī

David Pingree

1983

Journal Article

David Pingree

Journal Article

10.2307/601457

0003-0279

It is demonstrated in this paper that Pṛthūdakasvāmin in the 860s, Utpala in the 960s, and al-Bīrūnī in the 1030s all used a now lost commentary on Brahmagupta's Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta that was composed by Balabhadra in the eighth century, probably at Kānyakubja under Yaśovarman. Balabhadra's commentary was important for two reasons: its attention to physical arguments in support of astronomical theory, and its citations from the lost siddhāntas of Lāṭadeva and Viṣṇucandra as well as from Āryabhaṭa's Āryabhaṭīya and Varāhamihira's Pañcasiddhāntikā. It is further shown that al-Bīrūnī has distorted Balabhadra's physical arguments by interpreting them according to Peripatetic notions. The surviving verses quoted from Balabhadra's commentary by Utpala and by Pṛthūdaka are edited in the footnotes.

2019-02-17 09:14:08

1983

2

JSTOR

353-360

Journal of the American Oriental Society

Brahmagupta, Balabhadra, Pṛthūdaka and Al-Bīrūnī

https://www.jstor.org/stable/601457

103