From the year c. 850 the book
Ganita-Sara-Sangraha contains the following:
Three merchants saw in the road a purse. One said, "If I secure this purse, I shall become twice as rich as both of you together."
Then the second said, "I shall become three times as rich."
Then the third said, "I shall become five times as rich."
What is the value of the money in the purse, as also the money on hand?
There are an infinite number of solutions. Find the smallest whole number amounts the merchants could have.
Found on the web (Quoting Mahavira):
<begin>
Three merchants find a purse lying in the road. The first asserts that the discovery would make him twice as wealthy as the other two combined. The second claims his wealth would triple if he kept the purse, and the third claims his wealth would increase five fold. How much concurrency would each receive. <end>This concurs with Brian's interpretation and his solution.
The text, addressed by SH and myself, allows different interpretation, assuming logical continuation of the conversation following the 1st statement.
As Lemmie Caution would ask : "am i right or am I?"
@ Steve. Jer & Brian - fair dislosure
