If Aryabhatta invented 0, then how did we know that Ravana had 10 heads? Answer Request
Let me burst the bubble for you. Aryabhatta did not invent or discover zero.
Yes, you heard me right. Zero as a concept has been mentioned in many mathematical expressions even before Aryabhatta.
The concept of zero and nothingness has been prevalent since the beginning of time. Aryabhatta is considered to have contributed the modern symbol for the value of zero.
Even the symbol is an excellent choice.
- It has neither a beginning, nor an end.
- There are no sides.
- The symbol looks empty and signifies the concept it represents- nothingness.
There is also the fact that we should consider that zero is simply something we apply while calculating. we can count indefinitely without ever using 0. 0 is a symbol, a convenience and a convention, not a mathematical priori. That's precisely the reason why it is called an invention and not a discovery.
How many times do you utter the word "zero" while counting till hundred ? Not once, right ?.
Zero is "applied" in decimal number system because it makes conducting mathematical operations incredibly easy, which other systems couldn't guarantee us.
A notation for powers of 10 upto the power 17 was already in use even from vedic times. Single words have been used to denote the powers of the number 10. The numbers one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand and so on are given by the sequence of words in the list- Eka, Dasa, Sata, Sahasra, Ayuta, Laksha, Prayuta, Koti, Arbuda, Abja, Kharva, Nikharva, Maha Padma, Sankha, Jaladhi, Antya, Maha Sankha, Paraardha. Thus the decimal system was in the culture even in the early part of the first millenium B.C. The Yajurveda, in its description of rituals and the mantras employed therein, the Mahabharata and the Ramayanaa in their descriptions of statistics and measurements, used all these words, with total abandon.
For eg., Chatur Veda (Four Vedas) , Shad Shastra (Six Shastra) , Ashtadasha Purana (Eighteen Purana), Sahasranama Stotra (Hymns praising thousand names of a deity), Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotra (Hymns praising ‘Eight Above Hundred’-108 names of a deity) etc.
The idea of a zero-less counting system seems impossible to us because we deal with it on a daily basis and we rarely use any other system of counting.
Speaking mathematically, even the concept of zero varies with the context. You can conceive it as absence of numbers, or a neutral on an integral line, or as a source/origin in a multi-dimensional space.
So now consider the question that you asked. Was counting not possible before the time of introduction of the modern symbol of zero?
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