Chandravakyas

Chandravākyas (IAST: Candravākyas) are a collection of numbers, arranged in the form of a list, related to the motion of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth. These numbers are couched in the katapayadi system of representation of numbers and so apparently appear like a list of words, or phrases or short sentences written in Sanskrit and hence the terminology Chandravākyas.[1] In Sanskrit, Chandra is the Moon and vākya means a sentence. The term Chandravākyas could thus be translated as Moon-sentences.[2]

Vararuchi (c. 4th century CE), a legendary figure in the astronomical traditions of Kerala, is credited with the authorship of the collection of Chandravākyas. These were routinely made use of for computations of native almanacs and for predicting the position of the Moon.[3] The work ascribed to Vararuchi is also known as Chandravākyāni, or Vararucivākyāni, or Pañcāṅgavākyāni.[4]

Madhava of Sangamagrama (c. 1350 – c. 1425), the founder of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics, had set forth a revised set of Chandravākyās, together with a method for computing them, in his work titled Venvaroha.[2]

Chandravākyas were also popular in Tamil Nadu region of South India. There, the astrologers and astronomers used these vākyās to construct almanacs. These almanacs were popularly referred to as the Vākya-pañcāṅgas.[5] This is used in contrast to the modern mode computation of almanacs based on parameters derived from astronomical observations that are known as Dṛk Pañcāṅgas ( or Thirukanitha Pañcāṅgas).

  1. ^ K.V. Sarma (1985). "A Survey of Source Materials" (PDF). Indian Journal of history of Mathematics. 20: 1–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b Selin, Helaine, ed. (1997). Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures. Springer. ISBN 978-0-7923-4066-9. (p.522)
  3. ^ Raja, C. Kunhan (1946). Chandravakyas of vararuci: A practical guide for calculating the position of the sun and moon, namely, tithi and naksatra, on any day of the year. Adyar Library, Madras.
  4. ^ Pingree, David Erwin (1994). Census of the Exact sciences in Sanskrit. American Philosophical Society. p. 756. ISBN 978-0-87169-213-9. (p.558)
  5. ^ Karanam, Ramakumar. "Panchangam Calculations". Retrieved 5 May 2010.