History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c8.s12.t1.41

v1.c8.s12.t1.41

³ The figures are written in compartments in order to facilitate the writing of fractions and also to denote the side which contains more terms after transposition of fruits. Sometimes, the compartment corresponding to an absent term is left vacant as we find in a copy of Munîśvara’s *Pâṭîsâra* (in the Government Sanskrit Library at Benares). When the terms are written in compartments, the symbol 0 to denote the unknown or absence of a term is unnecessary. In some commentaries on the *Lîlâvatî* (Asiatic Society of Bengal manuscripts) we find the numbers written without compartments, but in such cases the symbol 0 is used to denote the absence of a term. After transposition, the side on which 0 occurs contains a smaller number of terms than the other.