Pingala
Pingala | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 3rd or 2nd century BCE |
| Academic work | |
| Era | Maurya or post-Maurya |
Main interests | Sanskrit prosody, Indian mathematics, Sanskrit grammar |
Notable works | Author of the "Chandaḥśāstra" (also called Pingala Sutras), the earliest known treatise on Sanskrit prosody, Creator of Pingala's formula |
Notable ideas | Mātrāmeru, Binary numeral system, Meru Prastāra |
Acharya Pingala (Sanskrit: पिङ्गल, romanized: Piṅgala; c. 3rd–2nd century BCE) was an ancient Indian scholar, poet, grammarian and mathematician whose master work Chandaḥśāstra (Sanskrit: छन्दःशास्त्र, lit. 'A Treatise on Prosody'), also called the Pingala Sutras (Sanskrit: पिङ्गलसूत्राः, romanized: Piṅgalasūtrāḥ, lit. 'Pingala's Formulae'), is the foundational text of Chandas (prosody and metrics)—one of the six Vedāngas (auxiiiary science) of traditional Indian scholarship.
The Chandaḥśāstra is a work of eight chapters written in the late Sūtra style, that relies on explanatory commentaries for full comprehension. Dated to the final centuries BCE the was elaborated in 10th century CE by Halayudha in his commentary, the Mṛtasañjīvinī. According to Indian tradition and historical accounts, Maharshi Pingala is described as the younger brother of Pāṇini, the famous Sanskrit grammarian of Vyākaraṇa. Others traditions identify him with Patanjali, the 2nd-century BCE scholar who authored the Mahābhāṣya.