92 BRAHMASPHUTASIDDHANTA & KHANDAKHADYAKA should now be translated thus : "In this Mahayuga when sixty times sixty years and three quarter yugas also had passed, twenty increased by three years had elapsed since my birth." Now Bhaskara I the author of the Mahabhaskariya and the Lagubhaskarıya, wrote a commentary on the Aryabhatiya. The author commenting on this stanza observes that: "Or this was addressed by Aryabhata when expound- ing the science to Pandurangasvamin. Lätadeva Nihsanku and other pupils."* This direct pupil of Aryabhata I also says that this stanza does not show that the Aryabhatiya was composed when Ärya- bhata I was only 23 years old. but refers to the time when he probably began his career as a teacher of Astronomy. Senagupta out of his discussion concludes that we are not justified in accepting that the Aryabhatiya was composed when Aryabhata was only 23 years of age. This treatise as it exists in the present form must have been the composition of a maturc age; it is a treatise highly finished in form; the date mentioned in this great work refers to a date when its author became a reputed guru or teacher. Alberuni and Brahmagupis Dr. E.C. Sachau in his translation of Alberuni's India (vol. II. p. 304) speaks of Brahmagupta in the following words: Brahmagupta holds a remarkable place in the history of Eastern civilization. It was he who taught the Arabs astronomy before they became acquainted with Ptolemy; for the famous Sindhind of Arabian litera- ture, frequently mentioned but not yet brought to light, is a translation of his Brahmasiddhanta: and the only other book on Indian astronomy, called Atarkand, which they knew, was a translation of his Khanda khadyaka. Brahmagupta, the celebrated author of the Brahmasphuta- siddhanta, has another great work as we have said before to his credit which goes by the name Khandakhadyaka. This has 1. एतदेवाचाय्ययमदस्य शास्त्रव्याख्यान समये वा पाण्डुरङ्ग स्वामिलाटदेवनिः शङ्कुप्रभृतिभ्यः statal
