Lalla

(fl. India, eighth century)

astronomy.

The son of Trivikrama Bhatta and the grandson of ?âmba, Lalla was one of the leading Indian astronomers of the eighth century; the only other major figure known to us from that century is the author of the later Pauli?asiddhânta. Lalla adhered to the two traditions started by ?ryabhata I (b. 476); following the ?ryapaksa (see essay in Supp.), he wrote the ?isyadhivrddhidatantra, which is the most extensive extant exposition of the views of that school. It contains twenty-two chapters divided into two books—an arrangement which influenced Bh?skara II (b. 1115):

I. On the computation of the positions of the planets.

1. On the mean longitudes of the planets.

2. On the true longitudes of the planets.

3. On the three problems involving diurnal motion.

4. On lunar eclipses.

5. On solar eclipses.

6. On the syzygies.

7. On the heliacal settings and risings of the planets.

8. On the shadow of the moon.

9. On the lunar crescent.

10. On planetary conjunctions.

11. On conjunctions of the planets with the stars.

12. On the p?tas of the sun and moon.

13. Conclusion.

II. On the Sphere.

1. On graphical representations.

2. On the construction of the celestial sphere.

3. On the principles of mean motion.

4. On the terrestrial sphere.

5. On the motions and stations of the planets.

6. On geography.

7. On erroneous knowledge.

8. On instruments.

9. On certain (selected) problems.

A commentary on the ?isyadhivrddhidatantra was written by B?skara II.

In accordance with the teachings of the ardhar?trikapaksa (see essay in Supp.), which was also founded by ?ryabhata I, Lalla composed a commentary on the Khandakh?dyaka, which had been written by Brahmagupta (b. 598) in 665; this commentary is no longer extant.

There does survive, however, in two or three manuscripts an astrological work by Lalla, the Jyotisaratnak?a. This was an extremely influential treatise on muh?rta??stra, or catarchic astrology, although it was later eclipsed by its shorter imitation, the Jyotisaratnam?l? of ?rîpati (fl. 1040).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The ?isyadhivrddhidatantra was edited by Sudh?kara Dvivedin (Benares, 1886). There are brief notices concerning Lalla in Sudh?kara Dvivedin, Ganakatarangin? (Benares, 1933), pp. 8–11, repr. from The Pandit, n.s. 14 (1892); and in ?. B. Diksita, Bh?ratîya Jyotih?âstra (Poona, 1896; repr. 1931), 227–229. Fundamental for the problem of his date is the discussion by P. C. Sengupta in The Khandakh?dyaka (Calcutta, 1934), pp. xxiii–xxvii.

David Pingree

Lallā or Lal Ded. 14th-cent. Kashmiri Śaivite poetess. Little is known of her life apart from an immense proliferation of stories, which attest to her popularity, but cannot be verified historically. She composed verse sayings, known as vakh, which are often direct and simple. But many of them are in fact complex in their associations, so that translations cannot convey why they remain so deeply loved among Kashmiris, both Hindu and Muslim.