A Bibliography of Sanskrit Works on Astronomy and Mathematics, Part I: Manuscripts, Texts, Translations and Studies c5: Introduction

A Bibliography of Sanskrit Works on Astronomy and Mathematics, Part I: Manuscripts, Texts, Translations and Studies c5

Language: English

Introduction

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The present bibliography of Sanskrit works in astronomy and mathematics, including references to manuscripts, texts, translations and studies, has been prepared under a scheme on the history of sciences sponsored by the National Institute of Sciences of India, with a view to providing source materials for the eventual compilation of a history of sciences in India. This bibliographical study was planned in three parts, of which the first part is here presented, and the two remaining parts to be devoted to notes on Indian astronomers and mathematicians and to abstracts of books, articles and reviews in learned periodicals in European languages bearing on the history of Indian astronomy and mathematics, will follow in due course.

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For this work, the National Institute of Sciences of India (NISI) authorized the establishment of a unit at the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, and a Sub-Committee composed of scientists, historians and indologists was appointed by the Society, in accordance with a plan originally adopted by the NISI, to make available the benefit of frequent discussions among experts of many disciplines during the progress of the work. The unit received invaluable help from the members of the Sub-Committee both in the formulation and final execution of the plan of this bibliography, for which I place on record my sincere and grateful thanks. On a more general level the work had the benefit of much useful discussions and suggestions from the History of Science Board of the NISI, for which I record my appreciation and thanks.

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In the plan followed in this bibliography, entries in regard to authors as well as titles have been arranged alphabetically. Under each author his works are also arranged alphabetically. The principal information on the work, e.g., a brief description including chapter headings wherever possible, manuscript references including catalogue number, folios, script, date of copying etc., commentators

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and anonymous commentaries, printed text, translations etc. and study, has been given for each title under the author concerned. In the case of an anonymous work, such information is included, for obvious reasons, under the title itself. In addition, the titles of which the authors are known and therefore entered with full particulars under the author have also been separately entered in the alphabetical sequence with the direction ‘see x’ where x stands for the author. By this arrangement location of a work by title in case the name of the author may not be remembered has been facilitated.

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The main idea in emphasizing the entries with all particulars under authors has been prompted by a consideration to give as full a picture as possible in a bibliography of the achievement of an author, reflected, for example, in the number of his works, their availability in Mss, the number of commentaries, the availability of such works in print and/or translations and the extent to which such works, in full or in part, have been the subject of modern studies. Thus, while it will be possible from this bibliography to ascertain how much information is readily likely to be available about any author, it will also reveal areas where such information is deplorably scanty and is still locked up in Mss. yet to be edited and studied. It is believed that for the compilation of the proposed history of sciences in India as far as concerns the history of astronomy and mathematics and also for further researches in the history of development of these subjects as expressed through the medium of the Sanskrit language, such a bibliography will be of more direct assistance.

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The entries given under ‘Manuscript reference’ require some explanation. Take the following example:

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BORS/AB. iii. 400, 18ff. Nāgarī. 1863 A.D. Here, BORS/AB. is the abbreviation of ‘A descriptive catalogue of Mss in Mithila. Compiled by A. P. Banerji Sastri. The Bihar and

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Orissa Research Society. Patna. 1937’. A list of abbreviations for the manuscripts catalogues used in this study is separately given.

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iii is the volume of the catalogue referred to above. 400 refers to the catalogue number. 18ff means that the Ms in question has 18 folios. Nāgarī means the script of the Ms. 1863 A.D. indicates the date of copying the Ms.

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Under ‘Study’ where references are given to articles published in serial publications, abbreviations of such serial publications have been employed, and a list of such abbreviations is appended. For example,

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*BCMS*, 19, 87-94, 1928.

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Here,

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*BCMS* stands for *Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society*. 19 ,, volume number. 87-94 ,, page references. 1928 ,, year of publication.

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In the preparation of this bibliography, 79 catalogues of Sanskrit manuscripts were consulted. Information given with respect to Mss. is therefore limited to what is contained in the aforesaid catalogues. To that extent the present survey of Mss. attempted in this work needs must be incomplete in view of a considerable amount of manuscript literature, whether already deposited in the libraries or in private collections, remaining yet to be catalogued and described. It is possible that the catalogues consulted may not have exhausted all those that have appeared to date; but every effort has been made to make the bibliography as representative as possible. The bibliography records more or less 660 titles by about 480 authors and about 320 anonymous works.

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I place on record my sincere thanks to the National

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Institute of Sciences of India for making available this opportunity of work in an area of growing interest and to the Asiatic Society, Calcutta for varied facilities and cooperation throughout the progress of the work. My thanks are due to the National Library, Calcutta, the Central Library of the Calcutta University, the Library of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, and the Library of the Calcutta Mathematical Society for permitting the use of their libraries for the work. Last, not the least, I express my grateful thanks to Dr. A. C. Ukil, the first convener of the NISI History of Science Board and to Dr. D. M. Bose, the present convener, for their keen interest, many valuable suggestions and constant encouragement.

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Calcutta, October 2, 1964. Āśvin 10, 1886 Śaka.

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S. N. SEN.