Use of permutations and combinations in India

Abstract

Interest of the Hindus in the subject of permutations and combinations originated in connection with the variation of the Vedic metres in a very early age. There are specific rules for the calculation of the variation of metres in the Chandaḥ-sūtra of Piṅgala (before 200 BC). Permutations and combinationsseem to have been subjects of such a fascinating study for the Hindus that they applied the ideas about them in various other spheres of life, e. g. architecture, music, medicine, and astrology. Application of the principles of permutations and combinations is also found in the canonical literature ofthe Jainas in the study of philosophical categories. The present article aims at giving an account of the various uses of permutations and combinations in Indian literature.