From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, p. 1251 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1513 Courtesy of Springer.
Yativṛṣabha
Flourished Prākrit, Jadivasaha, (India), 6th century
Little is known about Yativṛṣabha. He was a Jain monk who studied under ārya Maṅkṣu and Nāgahastin. He composed, along with other traditional Jain works, the Tiloyapaṇṇattī (in Sanskrit, Trilokaprajñapti or Knowledge on the three worlds), a work on Jain cosmography. This work describes the construction of the Universe expressed in specific numbers; for example, the diameter of the circular Jambu continent, upon which India is located, is 100,000 yojanas and its circumference is 316,227 yojanas, 3 krośas, 128 daṇḍas, 13 aṅgulas, 5 yavas, 1 yūkā, 1 ṛikṣā, 6 karmabhūmivālagras, 7 madhyabhogabhūmivālagras, 5 uttamabhogabhūmivālagras, 1 rathareṇu, 3 trasareṇus, 2 sannāsannas, and 3 avasannāsannas, plus a remainder of 23213/105409. Yativṛṣabha also gives formulas for computing the circumference (C) and the area (A) of a circle having a diameter of d:
Selected References
Hayashi, Takao (1993). Indo no Sūgaku (Mathematics in India). Chūkō‐shinsho 1155. Tokyo: Chūōkōron‐sha.
Pingree, David (1976). “Yativrsabha.” In Dictionary of Scientific Biography, edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie, Vol. 14, pp. 548–549. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
——— (1994). Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit. Series A. Vol. 5, pp. 319a–320b. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
Yativṛṣabha (1943–1951). Tiloyapahnattī, edited by H. Jaina and A. N. Upādhyāya. Sholapura (2nd ed. of Vol. 1, Sholapur, 1956). New edition by V. Mātājī (Vols. 1 and 2 covering the first four chapters have appeared), Kotā, 1984–1986.