Jinamanjari 1999 04 No 19

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 4

Jinamañjari, Volume 19, No.1, April 1999
INTRODUCTION TO JAINA MATHEMATICS
Dr. R.C. Gupta. Professor Emeritus, Jhansi, India
Although declared as unorthodox by some, the Jaina system of philosophy is unique and has its own characteristics which it place high among the various systems of not only India, but of the whole world. One such characteristic is the doctrine of anekantavda or the theory of manifold-ness. In fact no history of human thoughts and ideas will be complete without this Jaina contribution. The remarkable thing is that the Jaina thoughts seem to be as lively in the current time as they were in the past.
Ours is an era of science and technology in which mathematics plays a significant role as a powerful tool. Without forming a large number of equations and solving them accurately, a rocket or satellite cannot be launched or orbited successfully and provide communication services.
The importance of mathematics was recognised in India. In the Jaina school, mathematics played an important role in a well-rounded philosophical education. Rşabha, the first Tirthankara, was known to have taught arithmetic to his eldest son, Bharata, according to the tradition. Much more use of mathematics was made in Jaina philosophy and cosmology than in any other system. According to an ancient fourfold classification of the Jaina canonical literature, the Ganitānuyoga or Karaṇānuyoga is just one excellent examples. From the famous Jaina mathematician Mahāvīrācārya's Ganitasāra Sangraha (ca. 850 C.E.) we find the following description of the universal utility of mathematics:
In all transactions which relate to worldly, Vedic, or other similar religious affairs, calculation is of most use. In the science of love, in economics, in music and in drama, in the science of cooking, in medical science, in architecture, in prosody, poetics and poetry, in logic and grammar, and in relation to all that constitutes the peculiar value of the arts, the mathematics is held in most high esteem. In relation to the movements of the sun and other planets, in eclipses, in conjunction of the planets, in problems related to direction, position, and time, in the moon's phases, indeed in all these, the use of mathematics is most accepted. The number, the diameter, and the perimeter of islands, oceans, and mountains; the dimensions of the