The Usage of savarṇana- in the Triśatībhāṣya

Abstract

The Triśatībhāṣya is an anonymous commentary on Śrīdhara’s arithmetic text, Triśatī. In Indian arithmetic the term savarṇana-, “reduction to the same color,” is usually found in the context of the calculation of fractions. The word has two meanings in the Triśatī: （1） to reduce fractions to a common denominator, and （2） to make a composite fraction calculable by reducing it to a simple fraction which possesses one numerator and one denominator. The author of the Triśatībhāṣya accepts the two meanings, but, in the topic of the Rule of Five （pañcarāśika）, he uses savarṇana- in a different meaning. The present paper gives an explanation of the unusual usage of the term in the Triśatībhāṣya.