Halayudha

Halayudha (Sanskrit: हलायुध) was a 10th-century Indian mathematician who wrote the Mṛtasañjīvanī, a commentary on Pingala's Chandaḥśāstra. The latter contains a clear description of Pascal's triangle (called meru-prastaara).

Halayudha originally resided at the Rashtrakuta capital Manyakheta, where he wrote under the patronage of emperor Krishna III. His Kavi-Rahasya eulogizes Krishna III. Later, he migrated to Ujjain in the Paramara kingdom. There, he composed Mṛta-Sañjīvanī in honour of the Paramara king Munja.

Halayudha composed the following works:

• Kavi-Rahasya, a book on poetics
• Mṛta-Sañjīvanī, a commentary on Pingala's Chandaḥ-śāstra
• Abhidhana-ratna-mala, a lexicon

• Ganga Prasad Yadava 1982, p. 228.