Vākyakaraṇa
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''Vākyakaraṇa'' is the source book of ''Vākyapañcāṅga'' which is a type of almanac popular among Tamil speaking people of South India. In ''Vākyapañcāṅga'', the positions of the celestial entities and the timings of celestial events as obtained using the computational methods expounded in the text ''Vākyakaraṇa''. These methods make use of astronomical tables compiled centuries ago. Each entry in such tables is in the form of a ''vākya'', that is, a sentence in Sanskrit, and it represents some numerical value encoded using the ''kaṭapayādi'' scheme. Different sets of such ''vākya''-s have been compiled for different celestial entities. One such set is '' Cāndrvākya''-s which is a set of 247 values relating to the position of the Moon. The original set of '' Cāndrvākya''-s are attributed to the legendary Kerala astronomer
Vararuci Vararuci (also transliterated as Vararuchi) () is a name associated with several literary and scientific texts in Sanskrit and also with various legends in several parts of India. This Vararuci is often identified with Kātyāyana. Kātyāyana is ...
. These were later revised by Mādhava of Saṅgamagrāma, another legendary astronomer and mathematician from Kerala. Such collections of ''vākya''-s have been compiled in respect the five planets Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. It may be noted that these ''vākya''-s themselves are not part of the ''Vākyakaraṇa''. The authorship of the work has not been fully established. However, internal evidences suggest that the author should be somebody hailing from Kanchi in the Tamil country. The date of composition has been determined as c.1282 CE. ''Vākyakaraṇa'' has been commented upon by Sundararāja, a contemporary of Nīlakaṇṭha Somayājī (1444 – 1545)) the author of
Tantrasamgraha Tantrasamgraha, or Tantrasangraha, (literally, ''A Compilation of the System'') is an important astronomy, astronomical treatise written by Nilakantha Somayaji, an astronomer/mathematician belonging to the Kerala school of astronomy and mathemat ...
. Even though ''Vākyakaraṇa'' is the source book of ''Vākyapañcāṅga'', almanac makers now do not use this work directly. They make use of later modern adaptions of the work like ''Jyotiṣa Gaṇita Śāstram'' by Mūnāmpaṇṇai Kṛṣṇa Jyosyar and ''Parahita Gaṇitaṃ'' by Swamy Ayyangar of Karayur.


Contents

Most of the manuscripts of ''Vākyakaraṇa'' are divided into five chapters. However, there is one manuscript that contains an additional sixth chapter and it is believed to a later interpolation. The first chapter is concerned with computations involving the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the ''Rāhu'', the second chapter with the planets, the third chapter with problems involving time, position and direction, the fourth chapter with eclipses and the fifth chapter with the rising and setting of the ''Mahāpāta''-s. T. S. Kuppanna Sastri and K. V. Sarma have critically assessed the contents of the work thus: :"Being a ''Karaṇa'' intended for practical use, ease of computation is the aim, which means that too much accuracy cannot be expected in the work. The ''vākya''-s are given to the nearest minute. The differences between the ''vākya''-s are so great that interpolation gives values several minutes off the correct values. The sines are given for 15 degree intervals and the declination of points on the ecliptic for five degree intervals. The methods of computing the circumstances of the eclipses and the ''Mahāpāta''-s are rough and can only give results not very accurate."


Additional reading

* The full text of ''Vākyakaraṇa'' with the ''Laghuprakāśikā'' commentary by Sundararāja critically edited with introduction, English translation and appendices by T. S. Kuppanna sastri and K. V. Sarma is available for free download in the Internet Archive. the appendices of the downloadable version contain the full set of ''vākya''-s in respect of the Moon and the five planets. :: * For a critical study of the contents of ''Vākyakaraṇa'':


See also

*
Vākyapañcāṅga Two types of almanacs are popular among the Tamil speaking people in India, and the world over. They are known by the names ''Vākyapañcāṅga'' and ''Thirugaṇita-pañcāṅga''. The latter is also known as ''Dṛggaṇita pañcāṅga''. This ...


References

{{Indian astronomy Hindu astronomy Astronomy books Hindu astrological texts Indian astronomy texts