History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c8.s9.5

v1.c8.s9.5

As has been explained by all the commentators, the units place is *ghana*, the tens place is first *aghana*, the hundreds place is second *aghana*, the thousands place is *ghana*, the ten-thousands place is first *aghana* and so on. After marking the places as *ghana*, first *aghana* and second *aghana*, the process begins with the subtraction of the greatest cube number from the figures upto the last *ghana* place. Though this has not been explicitly mentioned in the rule, the commentators say that it is implied in the expression "*ghanasya mûla vargena*" etc. ("by the square of the cube-root" etc.) The method may be illustrated as below: