LAGHU BHASKARIYA 73 Maha-Bhaskariya. Shukla further says that the arrangement of the contents of the Laghu-Bhaskarya is more systematic and logical than that of the Maha-Bhaskariya, and is, at the same time, in keeping with the general practice followed by the other Hindu astronomers. Numerous quotations of this work occur in the annotative works of Suryadeva (b. 1191 A.D.), Yallaya (1480 A.D.), Nilakantha (1500 A.D.), Raghunatha Raja (1597) A.D.), Govinda Somayaji and Vişnu Śarma and in the Prayoga- racana, an anonymous commentary on the Maha-Bhaskarıyam. We find the commentaries of this abridged work in Malayalam and Tamil also. All this speaks of the great popularity of this work. There are circumstantial evidences to show that Bhaskara I had associations with the countries of Aśmaka and Surāṣṭra. His commentary on the Aryabhatiya was probably written in the city of Valabhi in Surāṣṭra. Perhaps Bhaskara I was born and educated in Aśmaka and later on he migrated to Valabhi, where he wrote his commentary on the Aryabhatiya or that he was a native of Valabhi and got his education in the Aśmaka country. Perhaps there was a strong school of Astronomy in the Aśmaka country, which was founded by the followers of Aryabhata, so much so that at places. Bhaskara I has also called Aryabhata as Aśmaka, his Aryabhatryam by the name Asmaka- Tantra or the Asmakiya and the followers of Aryabhata as Asmakiyah. This Aśmaka country or Aśmaka Janapada is men- tioned in the Buddhist literature also. It was somewhere either in the north-west of India, or was situated between the rivers Narmada and Godavari. Bhaskara I was evidently a resident of the latter Aśmaka (which was between the Narmada and Godavari). Brahamagupta and Bhaskara I were contemporaries. Both of them developed their systems in the earlier part of the seventh century A.D. (3700 years of Kaliyuga). Brahamasphutasiddhanta was written in 628 A.D. and the commentary on the Arya- bhatiyam by Bhaskara I was composed in 629 A. D. Bhaskara closely followed Äryabhata, but Brahmagupta had the guts to oppose the views expressed by this great master and he not only contradicted him at places, but also propounded many new ideas, methods of calculation and constants of greater accuracy.
