Crown of Treatises: Chapter on Mathematics

In these two verses, the names of the eighteen teachers who propagated Jyotish-shastra The traditional Indian science of astronomy and astrology are enumerated. Among these, several are authors of both Samhita Compendiums on mundane astrology and natural phenomena and Siddhanta Mathematical treatises on astronomy, while some specialize in only one of these subjects. For some names mentioned, no extant text on either subject is available; if such works do exist, they likely remain lost in obscurity. It is difficult to determine for certain whether the names mentioned in the aforementioned verses are listed in chronological order or not. It is necessary here to quote the verses of a few ancient and modern teachers. Whether their statements follow ancient opinions, the traditions famous in their own times, or the utility or futility of specific principles—this is a matter that learned thinkers can judge for themselves. This is because the proverb "There is no single sage whose opinion is the sole authority" original: "Naiko muniryasya matam pramanam" has been proclaimed for a long time. Even in the Siddhanta-Shiromani The "Crest-jewel of Mathematical Astronomy" by Bhaskara II, it is written: "Only the great truly understand the intentions of the great."

The teacher Varahamihira has written in his Panchasiddhantika The "Five Astronomical Canons," a 6th-century synthesis of Indian astronomy—

Among these, many Smritis Legal and ethical texts are also famous under the names of these sages. The original 18 Smritis grew to 36, then reached 60, and eventually numbered up to 71. See the introduction to the 'Manusmriti' (Nawal Kishore Press, Lucknow).

An inaccurate manuscript of the Panchasiddhantika was found by the Bombay archaeologist Dr. G. Bühler. After correcting it, Dr. G. Thibaut and Mahamahopadhyaya Shri Sudhakar Dwivedi published an excellent edition, from which time it gained special fame. At the beginning, there is a vast introduction in English by Thibaut containing many noteworthy subjects; then follows the original text and Dwivedi's 'Prakashika' commentary; finally, there is Thibaut's English translation. The said book was published by the Medical Hall Press, Benares, in 1889.