...and by the grace of God, it has now been printed and prepared. I have surrendered all rights for the reprinting and distribution of this book to Seth Khemrajji Seth Khemraj Shrikrishnadas, a famous publisher of Sanskrit and Hindi texts in Mumbai. I now hope that appreciative gentlemen will examine this work and make my labor successful. For followers of the Vedic religion, studying this work is extremely necessary, because the science of astronomy is considered the eye of the Vedas: "Astronomy is known as the eye." original Sanskrit: "Jyotisham nayanam smritam." The metaphor suggests that while the Vedas provide the body of knowledge, astronomy/mathematics provides the vision to navigate time and ritual.

I hope that gentlemen will set aside any malice and forgive whatever mistakes I may have made, as is the nature of being human.

Determination of the Author’s Time and Other Details

Shri Bhaskaracharya, the creator of "Lilavati," resided in a city named Vijjadavid (which is famous nowadays by the name Bijapur) near the Sahyadri mountains. He was born to Shri Maheshwaropadhyaya of the Shandilya lineage gotra: a paternal lineage tracing back to a common rishi or sage in the Shaka year 1036 equivalent to 1114 CE. Bhaskaracharya himself has written this fact in the "Prashnadhyaya" [Chapter on Questions] of his work "Goladhyaya" [Book on the Spheres]. He was a Karnataka Brahmin and a follower of the Vaishnava tradition worshippers of Vishnu. His composed works include "Lilavati," "Bijaganita" [Algebra], "Goladhyaya" [Spheres], "Ganitadhyaya" [Mathematics], "Karanakutuhala," and others.

Just as the work "Siddhanta Shiromani" by Bhaskaracharya is widely popular at this time, the "Lalla Siddhanta" an earlier astronomical treatise by the scholar Lalla was popular during Bhaskaracharya's own era. Bhaskaracharya also attained his scholarship by first studying the "Lalla Siddhanta," but later, accepting the views of Brahmagupta a famous 7th-century mathematician and astronomer, he refuted many topics found in Lalla’s system.

On this text "Lilavati," there are commentaries by great scholars such as Gangadhara, Ganesha Daivajna, Suryadasa, Lakshmidasa, Munishvara, Ramakrishna, and Kripanatha. Furthermore, the notes of Shri Bapudeva Shastri and the printed notes prepared by the Great Scholar Mahamahopadhyaya: a title given to prestigious scholars Shri Sudhakar Dwivediji—the professor of mathematics at the Kashi [Varanasi] State Sanskrit College—have also been published. In the year 1587 AD, by the command of the Emperor Akbar, Faizi translated this "Lilavati" into Persian. Later, in 1816 AD, Mr. J. Taylor and in 1817 AD, Mr. Henry Thomas Colebrooke translated it into English. Some say...