{{Short description|Indian sage and mathematician}} {{multiple issues| {{tone|date=January 2026}} {{unreliable sources|date=January 2026}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2026}} }} {{Infobox person | name = Baudhayana | native_name = बौधायन | native_name_lang = Sa | other_names = Bodhayan | birth_name = Upvarsha | image = Bas-relief of Baudhayana (cropped).jpg | caption = Bas-relief in Shaheedi Park | birth_place = Swami Bodhayan Mandir, Bangaon Village, Bajpatti block, Sitamarhi district, Mithila region, Bihar | monuments = Swami Bodhayan Mandir | alma_mater = Sanskrit and Vedic learning in Mithila | occupation = Vedic Acharya and mathematician | era = 7th-8th century BCE | known_for = Baudhayana Sutra | mother = Charumati | father = Shankardutt }} '''Baudhayana''' (Sanskrit: बौधायन, Romanised: Baudhāyana) was an ancient Indian mathematician and Vedic sage, believed to have lived around the 8th-7th century BCE. He contributed to early Indian mathematics and geometry, primarily through his authorship of the Baudhayana Sutras. His birth anniversary is known as ''Baudhayana Jayanti'' or ''Bodhayan Jayanti'' or ''Bodhayan Janmotsav'' in the Mithila region.
== Description == Baudhayana was a revered philosopher as well as a great Indian mathematician during 700 BC. He was the author of several ancient texts composed in the ancient Indian subcontinent. He composed more than two hundred texts. He gave many important theories of mathematics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=गणितज्ञ बोधायन की जयंती आज, पर्यटन केंद्र के रूप में होगा विकसित - |url=https://www.jagran.com/bihar/sitamarhi-today-the-birthplace-of-mathematician-bodhayan-will-be-developed-as-a-tourist-center-18810738.html |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Jagran |language=hi}}</ref>
In the text Ashtadhyayi, he is described as the guru of the famous Sanskrit grammarian Panini. He was a great scholar of philosophy, theology, mathematics and language. His important works were Vedvriti, Vedanta, Ratna Manjusha, Dharmasutra and Grihasutra.<ref name=":0" /> ''Baudhayana Dharmasutra'' and ''Baudhayana Grihya Parishishta Sutra'' are the two major texts composed by him, which emphasize the ritualistic manner and philosophy of the Hindu tradition. His school of thought in Hindu tradition is known as ''Baudhayana Shakha'' or ''Baudhayana school''. The Baudhayana Shakha consider the practices of image worship in Hinduism. It is affiliated to the Taittiriya recension of ''Krishna'' Yajurveda. In the Baudhayana school, Lord Vishnu is considered as the highest being and called as ''Mahapurusha''. Apart from Lord Vishnu, it also considers all other deities in Hinduism as "Worthy of honor".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Richard H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NxsLEQAAQBAJ&q=Baudhayana |title=Religions of Early India: A Cultural History |date=2024-11-26 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-19926-9 |language=en}}</ref>
Baudhayana is traditionally credited as the author of the Baudhāyana-Śrauta-sutra. It is the oral lectures delivered by him to his disciples and belongs to the Taittiriya recension of the Krishna Yajurveda.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Baudhayana Srauta-Sutra {{!}} IGNCA |url=https://ignca.gov.in/the-baudhayana-srauta-sutra/ |access-date=2025-07-14 |language=en-US}}</ref> The dates of this text are given variously as between the 8th and 5th century BCE. It contains a list of Pythagorean triples and a statement (without proof) of the Pythagorean theorem, both in the special case of the isosceles right triangle and in the general case.<ref>{{cite book |first=Kim |last=Plofker |author-link=Kim Plofker |title=Mathematics in India |title-link=Mathematics in India (book) |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-691-12067-6 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHvThPNp9yMC&pg=PA17 17–18]}}</ref>
== Birth == According to legend in the Mithila region, Baudhāyana is also called as ''Bhagwan Bodhayana''. He was born on the Dwadashi (twelfth day) in Krishna Paksha of Pausha month in the Hindu calendar. He was born at the ''Bangaon'' village of the Bajpatti block in the Sitamarhi district of the Mithila region in the present state of Bihar in India. His childhood name was ''Upvarsha''.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":0" /> His father's name was ''Shankardutt'' and mother's name was ''Charumati''. His father was a scholar of Pataliputra.<ref name=":2" />
== Baudhayana Jayanti == {{Infobox holiday | type = Cultural | holiday_name = Baudhayana Jayanti | official_name = Bodhayan Janmotsav | nickname = Bodhayan Jayanti | observedby = Hinduism | significance = Celebration of the birth anniversary of Baudhayana | date = Pausha Krishna Dwadashi | frequency = Annual | startedby = Swami Bodhayan Mandir | firsttime = 1957 | date2024 = 27 December }}
Baudhayana Jayanti is majorly celebrated in the Mithila region. A grand ceremony of Baudhayana Jayanti is organised at the campus of the Swami Bodhayan Mandir in the Sitamarhi district of Bihar since 1957.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-20 |title=बिहार के ऐसे गणितज्ञ...जिनकी थ्योरम प्रयोग कर आर्यभट्ठ ने की थी अंतरिक्ष की कई खोज, पाणिनि के थे गुरु |url=https://hindi.news18.com/news/bihar/sitamarhi-panini-guru-mathematician-baudhayana-aryabhata-use-of-his-theorem-know-birthplace-local18-8907667.html |access-date=2025-07-13 |website=News18 हिंदी |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-12-27 |title=भगवान बोधायन की जयंती आज |url=https://www.livehindustan.com/bihar/sitamarhi/story-celebration-of-saint-bodhayan-jayanti-with-grand-festivities-in-bazpatti-201735238092884.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250418195257/https://www.livehindustan.com/bihar/sitamarhi/story-celebration-of-saint-bodhayan-jayanti-with-grand-festivities-in-bazpatti-201735238092884.html |archive-date=2025-04-18 |access-date=2025-07-13 |language=hi-IN |url-status=live }}</ref> On the occasion of the celebration, Sadhu - Saints and sages are invited.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2019-01-02 |title=तैयारियां पूरी, दार्शनिक गणितज्ञ भगवान बोधायन की जयंती आज |url=https://www.bhaskar.com/bihar/sitamarhi/news/preparations-are-completed-the-birth-day-of-philosopher-mathematician-lord-goddess-021034-3560175.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803163444/https://www.bhaskar.com/bihar/sitamarhi/news/preparations-are-completed-the-birth-day-of-philosopher-mathematician-lord-goddess-021034-3560175.html |archive-date=2021-08-03 |access-date=2025-07-12 |work=Dainik Bhaskar |language=hi |url-status=live }}</ref> A 7-day long ''Shrimad Bhagwat Katha'' is organised in the campus of the temple. The preparation of the festive celebration starts a week before the Baudhayana Jayanti. It starts with celebration of a ''Kalash Sobha Yatra'' procession.<ref>{{Cite news |title=शोभायात्रा:बोधायन जयंती 20 को 14 को कलश शोभायात्रा |url=https://www.bhaskar.com/local/bihar/sitamarhi/news/bodhayan-jayanti-20-to-14-kalasha-procession-130677240.html |work=Dainik Bhaskar}}</ref> Every year a huge feast is organized here. A large number of devotees gather here on the Bodhayan Jayanti. They take sacred bath in the pond situated in the campus of the temple. They do parikrama and worship the statue of Bodhayan in the temple.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=भगवान बोधायन की तपस्थली बोधायनसर को अब मिल सकेगी विश्वव्यापी ख्याति - Bodhanyansar, the ascetic place of Lord Bodhayan, will now be able to gain worldwide fame - Bihar Sitamarhi General News |url=https://www.jagran.com/bihar/sitamarhi-bodhanyansar-the-ascetic-place-of-lord-bodhayan-will-now-be-able-to-gain-worldwide-fame-19851207.html |access-date=2025-07-13 |website=Jagran |language=hi}}</ref>
The Bodhayan Janmotsav has been proposed as the status of state festival in Bihar by the state minister Jeevesh Mishra. In 2022, he assured the people of Mithila that the Bodhayan Jayanti would be given the status of a state festival through the Art and Culture department.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=बोधायन गणितज्ञ ही नहीं बल्कि ज्योतिषाचार्य व वेदज्ञ थे: मंत्री |url=https://www.livehindustan.com/bihar/sitamarhi/story-bodhayan-was-not-only-a-mathematician-but-also-an-astrologer-and-a-vedic-scholar-minister-5467202.html |work=Hindustan}}</ref>
== References == <references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudhayana}} Category:Indian philosophers Category:Indian mathematicians Category:Sanskrit and Vedic learning in Mithila Category:Philosophers of Mithila Category:Ancient Indian mathematicians Category:Year of death missing