Bijaganita ([biːd͡ʒəgəɳit̪ᵊ, -ɪt̪ᵊ] ,IAST:Bījagaṇita) wastreatise onalgebra by the Indian mathematicianBhāskara II. It is the second volume of his main workSiddhānta Shiromani ("Crown of treatises")[1] alongsideLilāvati,Grahaganita andGolādhyāya.[2][3]
The title of the work,bījagaṇita, which literally translates to "mathematics (gaṇita) using seeds (bīja)", is one of the two main branches of mediaeval Indian mathematics, the other beingpātīgaṇita, or "mathematics using algorithms".Bījagaṇita derives its name from the fact that "it employs algebraic equations (samīkaraṇa) which are compared to seeds (bīja) of plants since they have the potentiality to generate solutions to mathematical problems."[4]
The book is divided into six parts, mainly indeterminate equations, quadratic equations, simple equations, surds. The contents are:
In Bijaganita Bhāskara II refinedJayadeva's way of generalization of Brahmagupta's approach to solving indeterminate quadratic equations, including Pell's equation which is known aschakravala method or cyclic method. Bijaganita is the first text to recognize that a positive number has two square roots
The translations or editions of the Bijaganita into English include:
Two notable Scholars from VaranasiSudhakar Dwivedi andBapudeva Sastri studied Bijaganita in the nineteenth century.