RAN?GAN?THA

(fl. 1603 at Benares, India) astronomy.

Rañganãtha was the son of Ballãla, scion of a learned Brãhmana family who traced his descent through Trimalla and Rãma to Cintãma?i of the Devarãtagotra, a resident of Dadhigrãma on the Payo??? River in central India. Among Ranñganãtha’s brothers was the celebrated astrologer K?#s0323;#n0323;a (see D. Pingree, Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit, series A, II [Philadelphia, 1971], 53a–55b). He should not be confused with the Benares astronomer Rañganãtha who wrote a commentary, the Mitabhã?i??i, on the L?lãvat? of Bhãskara II (b. 1115) in 1630; a Bhañg?vibhanñg?kara?a based on the work of Mun??vara Vi?var?pa (b. 17 March 1603), ihe son of our Ranñganãtha (the Bhañg?vibhañg?kara?a was edited by M. H. Ojhã [Varanasi, 1958]); Lohagolakha??ana (edited by M. H. Ojhã [Varanasi, 1961]); and a Palabhãkha??ana. This second Rañganãtha was a son of N?si?ha and a brother of Mun?i?vara’s principal rival, Kamalãkara (fl. 1658; see D. Pingree, op.cit., pp. 21a–23a). The only known work of Ranñganãtha, the son of Ballãia, is the G?dhãrthaprakã?ikã, a commentary on the S?ryasddhãnta that he wrote at Benares in 1603 (see essay in Supplement). Its importance for the history of Indian astronomy lies in the fact that Rañganãtha’s recession and interpretation of the S?ryasiddhãnta were followed by E. Burgess in his English translation of that text (Journal of the American Oriental Society, 6 , pt. 2[1860], 141–498; reprinted, New Haven, 1860, and Calcutta, 1935).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The G??hãrthaprakã?ikã accompanied the eds. of the S?ryasiddhãnta by Fitz Edward Hall and Bãp? Deva ?ãstri (Calcutta, 1859), by Jivãnanda Vidyãsãgara (Calcutta, 1871; 2nd ed. Calcutta, 1891), at the Kã??sa?sk?ta Press (Benares, 1880), and by B. P. Mi?ra (Bombay, 1956). Short notices regarding Rañganãtha are Sudhãkara Dvivedin, Ga?akatarañgi?? (The Pandit, n.s. 14 [1892], repr. Benares, 1933), 79–81 and ?. B. D?sita, Bhãratiya Jyoti??ãstra (Poona, 1896; repr. Poona, 1931), 285.

David Pingree