Kātyāyana was probably a scholar who lived in India around 200 BC. Like Baudhayana, he composed the Sulba Sutras, or sacred mathematical texts for the Vedic rites.

His sutras presented much geometry, including the celebrated Pythagorean theorem (first presented for a square by Baudhayana.

He also made extremely important contribution to linguistics—especially Sanskrit. He is believed to have lived after the grammarian Panini, and to belong to the Aindra schhol of grammarians. He felt the necessity of changing some grammar listed by Panini, because Sanskrit had changed by that time. He took only those Sutras of Panini which required trttsuch treatment, and wrote Vārttikas (explainatory notes) on them. His grammar is full of descriptive adequacy and remarkable for its explanatory value.

See also

• Indian mathematicians

External link

• at the MacTutor archive