गणितसारसंग्रह (महावीराचार्य - प्रो. लक्ष्मीचन्द्र जैन सविस्तार हिन्दी अनुवाद सटीक)

INTRODUCTORY
Āryabhaṭa, the elder (c. 510 A. D.), Brahmagupta (c. 628 A.
D.), Mahāvīrāchārya (c. 850 A. D.) and Bhāskarāchārya (c. 1150
A. D.) are the most eminent mathematicians of ancient India.
Mahāvīrāchārya, the author of the Gaṇitasāra-Saṁgraha, lived in
a period well-known, in the history of South India, for its prosperity,
political stability and academic fertility. He was a contemporary
and enjoyed the patronage of Nṛpatuṅga, or Amoghavarsha (815–
877 A. D.) of the Rāshṭrakūṭa dynasty. Nṛpatuṅga was ruling at
Mānyakheṭa, but his kingdom extended far northwards. His capital
was a centre of learning. He was not only a mighty ruler, but also
a patron of poets and himself a man of literary aptitude and
attainments. A Kannaḍa work, Kavirājamārga, on poetics is
attributed to him. He was a great devotee of Jinasena (the author of
Ādipurāṇa and Pārśvābhyudaya) whose ascetic practices and literary
gifts must have captivated his mind. He soon became a pious
Jaina and renounced the kingdom in preference to religious life as
mentioned by him in his Sanskrit work, the Praśnottara-ratnamālā
and as graphically described by his contemporary Mahāvīrāchārya
in his Gaṇitasāra-Saṁgraha.
Mahāvīrāchārya combines the discipline of seasoned
mathematician with the warm and vivid imagination of a creative
poet. He skilfully summarizes all the known mathematics of his
time into a perfect textbook which was used for centuries in the
whole of Southern India. He states rules clearly and precisely. He
simplifies and sharpens many processes. He generalises many a
theorem shedding light on new aspects by apt illustrations.
Gaṇitasāra-Saṁgraha is a veritable treasury of problems many of
which are characterised by mathematical subtlety, poetic beauty and
delicate hint of refined humour, qualities so rare in a mathematical
text book. It is difficult to decide, in a textbook, what is old and
what is the original contribution of the author.