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Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c4.s4.t8: Jyeṣṭhadeva (c. 1500 to 1600 A.D.)

Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c4.s4.t8

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Jyeṣṭhadeva (c. 1500 to 1600 A.D.)

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Jyeṣṭhadeva¹ is another South Indian scholar on mathematics and astronomy. His *Yuktibhāṣā*² is a Malayalam work on mathematics and astronomy. The work is divided into two parts, the first comprising arithmetic, geometry and algebra and the second exclusively devoted to astronomy and allied subjects and spherical trigonometry. The contribution of this unique work is that it gives the rational or derivation of all theorems and formulae then in use among astronomers. The work is mainly based on the *Tantrasaṃgraha* of Nīlakaṇṭha.

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¹ Vide Sarma, K.V. “Jyeṣṭhadeva and his identification as the author of *Yuktibhāṣā*”, *Adyar Library Bulletin*, 22, p. 35-40, 1958; Also see, 27, p. 156-58, 1963.

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² Ed. Ramvarma Maru Thampuran and Akhileswara Aiyer, Trichur, 1947.

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A Sanskrit work *Gaṇita Yuktibhāṣā* is available at present, which seems to agree closely with the Malayalam version of the *Yuktibhāṣā*. It is somewhat difficult to decide which is the earlier version and which is the translation.

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Jyeṣṭhadeva was a Nambūtiri Brāhman of Paṟaṅṅoṭṭu family in Ālatture village. He was one of the students of Dāmodara. Jyeṣṭhadeva was the teacher of Acyuta Piṣāraṭi of Tṟkkaṇṭiyūr who refers to him in his *Uparāgakriyākrama* (vide infra).

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On the date of *Yuktibhāṣa*, there remains some controversy.

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Whish³ and the editors of the published *Yuktibhāṣā* suggested on the basis of a verse available at the end of a manuscript that the author of the work was Brahmadatta and the date of the work was 1750 A.D. Sarma¹ has shown that the passage contains a word *alekhi* which does not mean 'composed' but 'transcribed' or 'copied' Hence Brahmadatta is a transcriber and the time of his doing so was 1750 A.D.

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³ *Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland*, 3, p. 509-23, 1835.

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¹ *Adyar Library Bulletin*, 22, p. 35-40, 1958.

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A manuscript (No. 755) named *Gaṇitayuktibhāṣā* of the Kerala University Mss. Library, Trivandrum contains a fragmentary passage dealing with precision of equinoxes (*ayanacalana*) where a verse (beginning on folio 34 b) refers Jyeṣṭhadeva as the author of *Yuktibhāṣā*² The mention of Jeṣṭhadeva is more explicitly mentioned in an old palm-leaf manuscript (No. 9886) of the Oriental Institute, Baroda. It is a Malayalam commentary on the *Sūryasiddhānta* which contains also a chronological list of Kerala astronomers. This list³ contains the following names:

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² *jukriyādike pāte svarṇam tatsādhane vidhau |* *ityuktā kṣepacalanasyānitis 'tantrasaṃgrahe'* *jyeṣṭhadevo'pi 'bhāṣāyām nādhikaṃ kiṃciduktavān |* The *Tantrasaṃgraha* referred to here is the well-known work of that name by Nīlakaṇṭha Somayājin and the *Bhāṣā* referred to in continuation is obviously the *Yuktibhāṣā*, for it is expressly stated in the beginning of the *Yuktibhāṣā* that it was composed as an exposition of the *Tantrasaṃgraha*.

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³ Vide also *Adyar Library Bulletin*, 22, p. 35-40, 1958.

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Parameśvara (1360-1455 A.D.)—son, Dāmodara—pupils, Nīlakaṇṭha Somasutvan (1443-1543 A.D.) and Jyeṣṭhadeva—pupil, Acyta Piṣāraṭi (1550-1621 A.D.)—pupil, Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭātiri (1587 A.D.).

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Furthermore, in a Malayalam commentary⁴, the date of completion of the *Yuktibhāṣā* in number chronogram of the *kaṭapayādi* system, is given as 1, 714, 262 corresponding to 1592 A.D. This shows that Jyeṣṭhadeva must have flourished during the later part of the sixteenth century.

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⁴ Ulloor S. Parameśvara Aiyer, *Kerala Sāhitya Caritram*, 2, p. 323.

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