Computing the number of perfumes that constitute the gandhārṇava and kacchapuṭa of Varāhamihira (2021)
Chauthaiwale, Shriram (Author)
Deopujari, Jayant (Author)
Chauthaiwale, Atharva (Author)
Indian Journal of History of Science
Volume: 56
Issue: 2
Pages: 85-92
The sixth-century Indian scholar Varāhamihira elaborated on the processes for the preparation of perfumes in the ‘gandhayukti’ chapter of the Bṛhatsaṁhitā. He adapted the combinatorial analysis and magic square structure for arriving at the possible number of perfumes from the set of specified substances. This attempt is an excellent example of the multidisciplinary thought process of the Indian scholars in general and Varāhamihira in particular. This paper focuses on the verses under the captions ‘gandhārṇava’ and ‘kacchapuṭa’. In the first case, four substances are selected from sixteen, and the chosen four are permuted with the pre-defined proportions. In the second case, selected substances are placed in a 4 × 4 magic square. The claims by Varāhamihira and the same amended by the commentator Bhaṭṭotpala for the number of perfumes are verified here. The constraints imposed by Varāhamihira in the first case on the proportions of the two substances are considered. The correct number for the possible perfumes is determined mathematically in the first case and by the specially designed computer program in the second case. Valid lists of perfumes with ingredients obtained as the output are attached in the form of web links in the first case, and the same is placed in the Appendix for the second case.
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