Poetic Mathematics

“Like the crest on the heads of the peacock,

 Like the gems on the hoods of the cobras,

 Mathematics is at the top of the Vedanga sastras”

I would like to share very beautiful and interesting problems rich in poetic imagination so much so even who is congenitally allergic to mathematics will be made to love the subject.

Bhaskara gives the following problem in his very popular text, Lilavati:

“O tender girl, out of the swans in a certain lake, ten times the square root of their number went away to Manasa(Sarovar) on the advent of the rainy season, one – eighth the number went away to a forest by name Sthala Padmini. Three pairs of swans remained in the lake engaged in amorous sports. What is the total number of swans?” 

Another interesting problem from Mahavira’s Ganitasara Sangraha:

“On hearing the distinct sound caused by the drum made up of clouds in the rainy season, 1/16 and 1/8 (of a collection) of peacocks, together with 1/3 of the remainder and 1/6 of the remainder (thereafter), gladdened with joy, kept on dancing on the big stage of the mountain top; and 5 times the square root (of that collection) stayed in an excellent forest of vakula trees; and the remaining 5 were seen on a punnaga tree. O mathematician, tell me how many peacocks were there in the collection.”

As a coincidence the answer to both these questions is 144.