History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c8.s7.13

v1.c8.s7.13

¹ The commentator Pṛthudakasvâmî takes ‘last’ (*antya*) to mean the figure or figures on the extreme left. The number to be cubed is divided into portions of which the cubes are found successively by the application of the process. (See illustration). Thus ‘succeeding’ would mean here the figure to the right of the ‘last.’ It does not, however, make any difference if we take ‘last’ to mean the figure in the units place. The words used by Brahmagupta are ‘*antya*,’ for last and ‘*uttara*’ for succeeding. The rule is: