Halayudha

Halayudha
Born	c. 10th century AD
Academic work
Main interests	Sanskrit mathematician
Notable works	Mṛtasañjīvanī and "Halayudha trikon"

Halayudha (Sanskrit: हलायुध) was a 10th-century Indian mathematician who wrote the Mṛtasañjīvanī, a commentary on Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra. The latter contains a clear description of Pascal's triangle (called meru-prastāra).

Biography

Halayudha originally resided at the Rashtrakuta capital Manyakheta, where he wrote under the patronage of emperor Krishna III. His Kavi-Rahasya eulogizes Krishna III. Later, he migrated to Ujjain in the Paramara kingdom. There, he composed Mṛta-Sañjīvanī in honour of the Paramara king Munja.

Works

Halayudha composed the following works:

• Kavi-Rahasya, a book on poetics
• Mṛta-Sañjīvanī, a commentary on Pingala's Chandaḥ-śāstra
• Abhidhana-ratna-mala, a lexicon
• Halāyudha Kośa, a dictionary
• He seems to be the first person who came out with the idea of what is today called Pascal's triangle, which he called the staircase of mount Meru.

See also

• Indian mathematicians

References

Bibliography

History of Rashtakutas

• Ganga Prasad Yadava (1982). Dhanapāla and His Times: A Socio-cultural Study Based Upon His Works. Concept. OCLC 9760817.