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Vol. 12, No. 1, January - 2000, 67 - 74
ARHAT VACANA
Kundakunda Jñanapitha, Indore
INDIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO MATHEMATICS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MISPLACED CREDITS OF JAINĀCĀRYAS*
Anupam Jain **
Respected Madam Padmavathamma and Honourable Delegates,
First of all I would like to congratulate to the organisers, specially to the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Hegde on behalf of myself and on behalf of Institutions to which I am related for giving me an opportunity to deliver a talk on History of Mathematics. My area of specialization is Jaina School of Mathematics therefore I have selected my topic related to Jaina School of Mathematics and it is 'Indian Contributions to Mathematics with Special Reference Ip Misplaced Credits of Jainācāryas'
India is a religious country. In ancient time here people give much importance to the religion and religious ceremonies. They fix the utility of any knowledge by its use in understanding the religion and philosophy and performing religious ceremonies. Due to this very special circumstances, religious centres and texts are very important source to bring out the development of knowledge in any field. Of course it is true that the climate of India is not suitable for long preservation of ancient records. Political and communal disturbances also damaged it a lot. Even than the records of old Mathas and Bhandars are very useful for us.
The oldest evidence of mathematical knowledge to Indians is found in the Indus Valley civilization. The metalic seals found in the excavations of Mo-un-jo-dāro and Harappa indicates that the people of this civilization have the knowledge of large numbers. It is also clear from the potteries and other archaeological remains that they have knowledge of Geometry. Vedas which are said to be the oldest written document in India, contain some mathematical knowledge even in the crude form.
Indians give much importance to Mathematics. It is clear from a verse of Vedāmga Jyotisa
यथा शिखा मयराणां नागानां मणियो तथा। तद् सर्व वेदांगानाम्, गणितं मूर्ध्नि स्थितम्।'
*
Invited talk delivered in International Conference on Combinatorics, Statistics, Pattern Recognition and Related Areas, Mysore University. Mysore, 28-30 Dec. 1998. Res.: 'Gyan Chhaya, D-14, Sudama Nagar. Indore -452 009 Ph. & Fax : 91-731 - 787790 E-mail: kundkund @bom4.vsnl.net.in
**
