Lilavati

Lilavati (also Leelavati, , Līlāvatī) was Indian mathematician Bhāskara II's treatise on mathematics in the twelfth century.

Name

The name comes from his daughter Līlāvatī. Many of the problems are addressed to Līlāvatī herself who must have been a very bright young woman. For example "Oh Līlāvatī, intelligent girl, if you understand addition and subtraction, tell me the sum of the amounts 2, 5, 32, 193, 18, 10, and 100, as well as those when subtracted from 10000." and "Fawn-eyed child Līlāvatī, tell me, how much is the number 135 multiplied by 12, if you understand multiplication by separate parts and by separate digits. And tell , beautiful one, how much is that product divided by the same multiplier?"

The word Līlāvatī itself means beautiful or one possessing beauty (from Sanskrit, Līlā = beautiful, -vatī = female possessing the quality).

Contents

The book contains thirteen chapters, mainly definitions, arithmetical terms, interest computation, arithmetical and geometrical progressions, plane geometry, solid geometry, the shadow of the gnomon, the kuttaka - a method to solve indeterminate equations, and combinations.

Lilavati includes a number of methods of computing numbers such as multiplications, squares, and progressions, with examples using kings and elephants, objects which a common man could understand.

Excerpt from Lilavati (Appears as an additional problem attached to stanza 54, Chapter 3. Translated by T N...
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