->ChandlerMinh at 08:49, 30 September 2021

2021-09-30T08:49:49Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Veṇvāroha
| title_orig =
| translator = [[Malayalam]] commentary by [[Achyuta Pisharati]] (1550–1621)
| image =
| caption =
| author = [[Madhava of Sangamagrama]] (c.1350 – c.1425)
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Sanskrit]]
| series =
| subject = [[Astronomy]]/[[Mathematics]]
| genre =
| publisher = Malayalam commentary edited by [[K.V. Sarma]] and printed by Sanskrit College, [[Thrippunithura]], Kerala, India
| pub_date = Original in 1403 [[Common Era|CE]]. Malayalam commentary printed in 1956 [[Common Era|CE]].
| english_pub_date =
| media_type =
| pages =
| isbn =
| oclc =
| dewey =
| congress =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}

'''Veṇvāroha''' is a work in [[Sanskrit]] composed by [[Madhava of Sangamagrama|Mādhava of Sangamagrāma]] ({{circa|1350}} – {{circa|1425}}), the founder of the [[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]]. It is a work in 74 verses describing methods for the computation of the true positions of the [[Moon]] at intervals of about half an hour for various days in an [[Moon cycle|anomalistic cycle]]. This work is an elaboration of an earlier and shorter work of Mādhava himself titled ''[[Sphuta-chandrapti|Sphutacandrāpti]]''.<ref name="Pingree">{{cite book|author=David Edwin Pingree|title=Census of the exact sciences in Sanskrit|publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]]|location=Philadelphia|date=1981|volume=4|pages=414 |isbn=0-87169-146-9}}</ref> ''Veṇvāroha'' is the most popular astronomical work of Mādhava.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Helaine Selin|editor-link=Helaine Selin|title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Westen Cultures |publisher=Springer|date=1997|pages=522|chapter=Article by R.C. Gupta|isbn=978-0-7923-4066-9}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The title ''Veṇvāroha'' literally means '[[Bamboo]] Climbing' (''Veṇu'' 'bamboo' + ''āroha'' 'climbing') and it is indicative of the computational procedure expounded in the text. The computational scheme is like climbing a bamboo tree, going up and up step by step at measured equal heights.

==Overview==
It is dated 1403 [[Common Era|CE]]. [[Achyuta Pisharati|Acyuta Piṣārati]] (1550–1621), another prominent [[mathematician]]/[[astronomer]] of the [[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics|Kerala school]], has composed a [[Malayalam]] [[Close reading|commentary]] on ''Veṇvāroha''.<ref name="Pingree"/> This astronomical treatise is of a type generally described as Karaṇa texts in [[India]]. Such works are characterized by the fact that they are compilations of [[algorithm|computational methods]] of [[astronomy|practical astronomy]].

The novelty and ingenuity of the method attracted the attention of several of the followers of Mādhava and they composed similar texts thereby creating a genre of works in Indian mathematical tradition collectively referred to as ‘veṇvāroha texts’. These include ''Drik-veṇvārohakriya'' of unknown authorship of epoch 1695 and ''Veṇvārohastaka'' of [[Puthumana Somayaji|Putuman Somāyaji]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5e_1.pdf|author=K.V. Sarma|title=A survey of source materials |publisher=Indian national Academy of Science|access-date=21 March 2010}}</ref>

In the technical terminology of astronomy, the ingenuity introduced by Mādhava in ''Veṇvāroha'' can be explained thus: Mādhava has endeavored to compute the true [[longitude]] of the Moon by making use of the true motions rather than the epicyclic astronomy of the [[Aryabhata]] tradition. He made use of the anomalistic revolutions for computing the true positions of the [[Moon]] using the successive true daily velocity specified in ''[[Candravakyas|Candravākyas]]'' (Table of Moon-mnemonics) for easy memorization and use.<ref>{{cite journal|author=K. Chandra Hari|title=Computation of the true moon by Madhava of Sangamagrama|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|volume=38|issue=3|pages=251–253|url=http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/2000c4df_231.pdf|access-date=21 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316083104/http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/2000c4df_231.pdf|archive-date=16 March 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Veṇvāroha has been studied from a modern perspective and the process is explained using the properties of periodic functions.<ref>{{cite journal|author=S. Madhavan|title=Veṇvāroha From a Modern Perspective|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|volume=47|issue=4|pages=699–717|date=2012|url=http://www.insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/IJHS/Vol47_4_8_SMadhavan.pdf}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Indian mathematics]]
*[[Indian mathematicians]]
*[[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]]
*[[Madhava of Sangamagrama]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*For a fuller technical account of the contents of ''Veṇvāroha'' see : {{cite journal|author=K. Chandra Hari|title=Computation of the true moon by Madhava of Sangamagrama|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|volume=38|issue=3|pages=231–253|url=http://www.insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/IJHS/Vol38_3_3_KCHari.pdf|access-date=21 March 2010}}
*''Veṇvāroha'' with the Malayalam commentary of [[Achyuta Pisharati]] has been edited by [[K.V. Sarma]] and published by Sanskrit College, [[Thrippunithura]], [[Kerala]], [[India]] in 1956.

{{Indian mathematics}}

[[Category:Hindu astronomy]]
[[Category:History of mathematics]]
[[Category:Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]]
[[Category:Indian astronomy texts]]

Venvaroha - Revision history

->ChandlerMinh at 08:49, 30 September 2021