The Fibonacci sequence appears in Indian mathematics, in connection with Sanskrit prosody.In the Sanskrit oral tradition, there was much emphasis on how long (L) syllables mix with the short (S), and counting the different patterns of L and S within a given fixed length results in the Fibonacci numbers; the number of patterns that are m short syllables long is the Fibonacci number Fm + 1
Susantha Goonatilake writes that the development of the Fibonacci sequence "is attributed in part to Pingala (200 BC), later being associated with Virahanka (c. 700 AD), Gopāla (c. 1135), and Hemachandra (c. 1150)".[3] Parmanand Singh cites Pingala's cryptic formula misrau cha ("the two are mixed") and cites scholars who interpret it in context as saying that the cases for m beats (Fm+1) is obtained by adding a to Fm cases and [L] to the Fm−1 cases. He dates Pingala before 450 BCE.
However, the clearest exposition of the series arises in the work of Virahanka (c. 700 AD), whose own work is lost, but is available in a quotation by Gopala (c. 1135):
Variations of two earlier meters [is the variation]... For example, for [a meter of length] four, variations of meters of two [and] three being mixed, five happens. [works out examples 8, 13, 21]... In this way, the process should be followed in all mAtrA-vr.ttas (prosodic combinations).
The series is also discussed by Gopala (before 1135 AD) and by the Jain scholar Hemachandra (c. 1150).