RAN̄GANāTHA

(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 Cintãmại of the Devarãtagotra, a resident of Dadhigrãma on the Payọ̣̄ River in central India. Among Ranñganãtha’s brothers was the celebrated astrologer Ḳ#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 Mitabhạ̃ị̄i, on the L̄lãvat̄ of Bhãskara II (b. 1115) in 1630; a Bhañḡvibhanñḡkarạa based on the work of Mun̄śvara Viśvarūpa (b. 17 March 1603), ihe son of our Ranñganãtha (the Bhañḡvibhañḡkarạa was edited by M. H. Ojhã [Varanasi, 1958]); Lohagolakhạ̣ana (edited by M. H. Ojhã [Varanasi, 1961]); and a Palabhãkhạ̣ana. This second Rañganãtha was a son of Ṇsịha and a brother of Mun̄iśvara’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 Gūdhãrthaprakãśikã, a commentary on the Sūryasddhãnta 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 Sūryasiddhãnta 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 Gụ̄hãrthaprakãśikã accompanied the eds. of the Sūryasiddhãnta by Fitz Edward Hall and Bãpū Deva Śãstri (Calcutta, 1859), by Jivãnanda Vidyãsãgara (Calcutta, 1871; 2nd ed. Calcutta, 1891), at the Kãś̄sạsḳta Press (Benares, 1880), and by B. P. Miśra (Bombay, 1956). Short notices regarding Rañganãtha are Sudhãkara Dvivedin, Gạakatarañgị̄ (The Pandit, n.s. 14 [1892], repr. Benares, 1933), 79–81 and Ś. B. D̄sita, Bhãratiya Jyotịśãstra (Poona, 1896; repr. Poona, 1931), 285.

David Pingree