Wikipedia says that pi was invented by William Jones, a mathematician from Wales, in the 1970s. But, little do we know that our own legendary mathematician Aryabhatta had mentioned the value of pi in one of his ancient shloks, written in 455 A.D.
Our ancestors had a very unique way of passing their time in those days. Most of their time was spent in doing yagnas to various demigods and goddesses. One of the peculiar features of the yagnakundas used for doing yagna was their unique shapes. Some yagnakundas were square, some were circle and some semi circle. The area of the yagnakunda, however, was same for all yagnakundas.
Now, a simple mathematical equation, as given below, between the area of square and circle, can give us the radius of a circle whose area is equal to a given square.
But, how did the ancient Indians build yagnakundas of same area and different shapes? The following shlok written by Aryabhatta in 455 A.D. gives us an idea of how the ancient Indians might have been able to design such intricate structures:
Chatur-4, adhikam-add, shatam-100, ashta-8, gunam-multiply, dwashashtistatha sahasranam-62000, ayuta-divide, dwayavishkambha-20,000, Asanno-approximate;
The above shlok, in short, means:
This value was used to build yagnakundas of circular shapes.
Does this mean that Aryabhatta was the true inventor of pi?
Our ancestors had a very unique way of passing their time in those days. Most of their time was spent in doing yagnas to various demigods and goddesses. One of the peculiar features of the yagnakundas used for doing yagna was their unique shapes. Some yagnakundas were square, some were circle and some semi circle. The area of the yagnakunda, however, was same for all yagnakundas.
Now, a simple mathematical equation, as given below, between the area of square and circle, can give us the radius of a circle whose area is equal to a given square.
But, how did the ancient Indians build yagnakundas of same area and different shapes? The following shlok written by Aryabhatta in 455 A.D. gives us an idea of how the ancient Indians might have been able to design such intricate structures:
chaturadhikaM shatamaShTaguNaM dvAShaShTistathA sahasrANAm AyutadvayaviShkambhasyAsanno vr^ttapariNahaH.[gaNita pAda, 10] Aryabhatiyam (499 CE)
Chatur-4, adhikam-add, shatam-100, ashta-8, gunam-multiply, dwashashtistatha sahasranam-62000, ayuta-divide, dwayavishkambha-20,000, Asanno-approximate;
The above shlok, in short, means:
“Add 4 to 100, multiply by 8 and add to 62,000. This is approximately the circumference of a circle whose diameter is 20,000.”i.e.
correct to four places.The word "Asanna" indicates that this is an approximation.
This value was used to build yagnakundas of circular shapes.
Does this mean that Aryabhatta was the true inventor of pi?
So happy to hear how our I
ReplyDeletendia is
True.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletethere is a long story of it . Pi was first invented by Archimedes(in 250 b.c) & Aryabhatta invented it in 450 A.D , both calculated approximate value.
ReplyDeleteActual value of Pi was invented in "Madhava of Sangamagrama" in "Madhava–Leibniz series" in the 14th century.
William Jones, a mathematician from Wales had only give symbol to Pi.
So Real discoverer of Pi is "Madhava" & "Archimedes" because Aryabhatta discovered it later.
yes
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ReplyDeleteIn the Kalacakra Tantra spoken by the Buddha (Shakyamuni) in southern India in c. 800BC the Buddha mentions that the circumference of all circles is 3 times the diameter. This scripture did not become publicly known til the 1200AD but the Buddhist tradition understands that Buddha preached it the year that he attained enlightenment, around 800BC. Buddha did not define pi to any number of decimal places, he only stated that it is 3. Why? Because Buddha was not worried about being known as a great mathematician because that fame would only detract from his spiritual teaching of perfect nirvana, which was what he really wanted people to realize. He didn't want people to spend their lives arguing over meaningless decimal places which ultimately have no utility in terms of transcending samsara (birth and death cycle) and suffering.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to know that. It is agreeable that Buddhist scripture too, like their Hindu counterparts, are vast resources of undiscovered knowledge. Please keep sharing such interesting facts and keep reading!
DeleteIt was early than bhudists it was nearly 4750 years ago
DeleteUhmm, Buddha lived in 500-400 BC. So Buddhism was founded only after that
Deletewilliam jones discovered pi in 1790 not 1970 ��
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