| Karana-kutuhala | |
| Author: | Bhaskara II |
| Title Orig: | करणकुतूहल |
| Orig Lang Code: | sa |
| Country: | ancient India |
| Language: | Sanskrit |
| Subject: | jyotisha (astrology and astronomy) |
| Genre: | karana (concise exposition of astronomy) |
| Published: | 1183 CE |
| Preceded By: | Siddhanta Shiromani |
Karana-kutuhala (IAST: Karaṇakutūhala) is a 1183 CE Sanskrit-language book on jyotisha (astrology and astronomy) by Bhaskara II, a mathematician-astronomer from present-day India.
Bhaskara II wrote Karana-kutuhala (literally, "Calculation of Astronomical Wonders") in 1183 CE.[1]
Alternative titles for Karana-kutuhala include Karaṇakutūhalam, Khetakarma, Graha-gama-kutuhala, Brahma-tulya, and Vidagdha-buddhi-vallabha. As the name suggests, the book is a karana text, that is, a concise exposition of astronomy. Bhaskara's Karana-kutuhala was followed by Indian astronomers for several centuries, during which no other karana text was produced, until Ganesha composed Graha-laghava or Siddhanta-rahasya in the early 16th century.
The text was popular in west and north-west India, and survives in form of over 150 manuscripts.
Karana-kutuhala condenses and approximates many computational formulae from Bhaskara's earlier work, the Siddhanta Shiromani, in accordance with the Brahma-paksha sunrise-epoch astronomical school. It uses the epoch of sunrise on 23-24 February 1183 of the Julian calendar (1 Chaitra Shaka 1105).
The text contains following chapters:[2]
Several later writers composed commentaries on the Karana-kutuhala. These include:[3]
Brahmatulya-sarani (literally "Tables of/for the Brahmatulya"), an anonymous Sanskrit text from the 16th or the 17th century, contains astronomical tables and versified instructions based primarily on the Karana-kutuhala.[4]
A critical edition of the text by Madhava Shastri Purohita, with Sumati-harsha's commentary, was published in 1901.[2]