By Chandrahas M. Halai
In my earlier article, Mathematics, Everywhere! https://www.indictoday.com/quick-reads/mathematics-everywhere-solving-culinary-problem-with-mathematics/ , I had quoted a verse from ancient Indian mathematician and Jain monk Mahaviracharya’s book Ganitasarasangraha (written around 850 AD):
In worldly life, in Vedic learning, in religious practice, in business, in everything, Mathematics is useful. In romance, economics, in music, dance and drama, in cooking, medicine and in architecture, in prosody, poetry, logic and grammar, and in all the arts, Mathematics reigns supreme. It is used in calculating movements of the Sun and other heavenly bodies. Whatever there is in all the three worlds, which are possessed by moving and non-moving beings- all that indeed cannot exist as apart from Mathematics?
You might be wondering whether the reference to romance in the above verse is a mistake. No! It is not. It is very much there.
Actually some examples in ancient Indian mathematics work alluded to romance and love making, one of them is in Ganitasarasangraha itself. Ancient Indian mathematicians had a sense of humour and were fun-loving. They used to make learning and doing mathematics interesting and fun-filled activity. Let me present here two examples from Bhaskaracharya’s Lilavati (written in 1150 AD) which refer to romance.
लोलाक्ष्या प्रियनिर्मिता वसुलवा भूषा ललाटेऽर्पिता
यच्छिष्टास्त्रिगुणाद्रिभागकलिता न्यस्ता कुचान्त: स्त्रजि ।
शिष्टार्धं भुजनालयोर्मणिगण: शेषाब्धिकस्त्र्याहत:
कांच्यात्मा मणिराशिमाशु वद मे वेण्यां हि यत्षोडश ॥
A lover gave his fiancée some jewels for making ornaments. She used one-eighth of them for an ornament for the forehead. She used 3/7th of the remaining for a necklace. Half of the remainder were used to make armlets. Three quarters of the remaining jewels, along with little tinkling bells, were used to make a belt. Finally, she put 16 jewels in her wreathed hair. Find quickly the total number of jewels?
(Which lady wouldn’t like to have such a fiancé?)
Solution:
Let the total number of jewels be x.
The lady used 1/8th of the jewels for an ornament for the forehead, i.e. x/8.
Therefore, x – (x/8) = 7x/8 are the remaining jewels.
She used 3/7th of the remaining jewels for making a necklace. i.e. (3/7) * (7x/8) = 3x/8
Therefore, now (7x/8) – (3x/8) = x/2 jewels remain.
Of these, half were used to make armlets. i.e. x/4
Therefore, now x/4 jewels remain.
Of these, 3/4th was used to make a belt. i.e. (3/4)(x/4) = 3x/16
Therefore, now (x/4) – (3x/16) = x/16 jewels remain, which the lady had put into her hair.
Hence, we have
x/16 = 16
x = 256
Therefore, the total numbers of jewels that the lover had gifted his fiancée were 256.
Let us now look at another problem from Lilavati :
हारस्तारस्तरुण्या निधुवनकलहे मौक्तिकानां विशीर्णो
भूमौ यातस्त्रिभागः शयनतलगतः पंचमांशोऽस्य दृष्टः ।
प्राप्तः षष्ठः सुकेश्या गणक दशमकः संगृहीतः प्रियेण
दृष्टं षट्कं च सूत्रे कथय कतिपयैमौंक्तिकैरेष हारः ॥
In a coital sport of a couple, the lady’s pearl necklace was broken. One-third of the pearls fell on the ground; one-fifth went under the bed. The lady collected one-sixth and her lover collected one-tenth. Six pearls remained on the original thread. Find the total number of pearls in the necklace.
Solution:
Let the total number of pearls in the necklace be x.
Hence, we now have
(x/3) + (x/5) + (x/6) + (x/10) + 6 = x
Therefore, the total numbers of pearls in the necklace were 30.
From this example, it is clear that talking about love making was not a taboo during Bhaskaracharya’s times.
Here, let me present a similar example from Ganitasarasangraha :
One night, in a month of the spring season, a certain young lady was lovingly happy along with her husband on the floor of a big mansion, white like the moon, and situated in a pleasure-garden with trees bent down with the load of the bunches of flowers and fruits, and resonant with the sweet sounds of parrots, cuckoos and bees which were all intoxicated with the honey obtained from the flowers therein. Then on a love-quarrel arising between the husband and the wife, that lady’s necklace made of pearls broke and fell on the floor. One-third of the pearls reached the maid-servant there; 1/6 fell on the bed; then ½ of what remained (and one-half of what remained thereafter and again ½ of what remained thereafter) and so on, counting six times (in all), fell everywhere; and there were found to remain (unscattered) 1,161 pearls, and if you know how to work on fractions, give the total number of pearls in that necklace.
It is quite possible that Bhaskaracharya might have been inspired by this and other examples from Ganitasarasangraha.
Also, note that in the 9th century AD, a Jain monk, Mahavira was not averse to talk about love and romance.
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