Geometry in Ancient and Medieval India c8.s2.4

c8.s2.4

**3.7.** An important branch of Jaina religio-computational literature, viz., the *karaṇa-gāthās*, are either entirely lost or are yet to be brought out of the obscurity of forgotten private libraries. Stanzas from such works are quoted in almost all Jaina commentaries. What is more, even Bhāskara I, the great exponent of Āryabhaṭa I’s mathematics and astronomy, quotes three Prākṛt *gāthās* in his commentary on the *Āryabhaṭīya*. Amongst the mathematicians mentioned by Bhāskara four bear the rather unusual names Maskari, Pūraṇa, Mudgala and Pūtana. The passages in which these names occur are—