Madhava's sine

table

Madhava's sine table is the table of trigonometric sines of various angles constructed by the
14th century Kerala mathematician-astronomer Madhava of Sangamagrama. The table lists
the trigonometric sines of the twenty-four angles 3.75°, 7.50°, 11.25°, ..., and 90.00° (angles
that are integral multiples of 3.75°, i.e. 1/24 of a right angle, beginning with 3.75 and ending
with 90.00). The table is encoded in the letters of Devanagari using the Katapayadi system.
This gives the entries in the table an appearance of the verses of a poem in Sanskrit.

Madhava's original work containing the sine table has not yet been traced. The table is seen
reproduced in the Aryabhatiyabhashya of Nilakantha Somayaji[1](1444–1544) and also in the
Yuktidipika/Laghuvivrti commentary of Tantrasamgraha by Sankara Variar (circa. 1500-
1560).[2]

The table

The image below gives Madhava's sine table in Devanagari as reproduced in Cultural
foundations of mathematics by C.K. Raju.[3] The first twelve lines constitute the entries in the
table. The last word in the thirteenth line indicates that these are "as told by Madhava".
Madhava's sine table in Devanagari

Values in Madhava's table

Diagram explaining the meaning of the values in Madhava's table

To understand the meaning of the values tabulated by Madhava, consider some angle whose
measure is A. Consider a circle of unit radius and center O. Let the arc PQ of the circle
subtend an angle A at the center O. Drop the perpendicular QR from Q to OP; then the length
of the line segment RQ is the value of the trigonometric sine of the angle A. Let PS be an arc
of the circle whose length is equal to the length of the segment RQ. For various angles A,
Madhava's table gives the measures of the corresponding angles POS in arcminutes,
arcseconds and sixtieths of an arcsecond.

As an example, let A be an angle whose measure is 22.50°. In Madhava's table, the entry
corresponding to 22.50° is the measure in arcminutes, arcseconds and sixtieths of
arcseconds of the angle whose radian measure is the modern value of sin 22.50°. The
modern numerical value of sin 22.50° is 0.382683432363 and,

0.382683432363 radians = 180 / π × 0.382683432363 degrees = 21.926145564094

degrees.

and

21.926145564094 degrees = 1315 arcminutes 34 arcseconds 07 sixtieths of arcsecond.

In the Katapayadi system the digits are written in the reverse order. Thus in Madhava's table,
the entry corresponding to 22.50° is 70435131.

Derivation of trigonometric sines from Madhava's table

For an angle whose measure is A, let

Then

Each of the lines in the table specifies eight digits. Let the digits corresponding to angle A
(read from left to right) be

Then according to the rules of the Katapayadi system of Kerala mathematicians we have

Madhava's value of pi
To complete the numerical computations one must have a knowledge of the value of pi ( ). It
is appropriate that we use the value of π computed by Madhava himself. Nilakantha Somayaji
has given this value of π in his Āryabhaṭīya-Bhashya as follows:[4]

Madhava's value of pi

A transliteration of the last two lines:

vibudha-netra-gaja-ahi-hutāśana
tri-guṇa-veda-bha-vāraṇa-bāhavaḥ
nava-nikharva-mite vr̥tivistare
paridhi-mānam idaṁ jagadur budhāḥ

The various words indicate certain numbers encoded in a scheme known as the
bhūtasaṃkhyā system. The meaning of the words and the numbers encoded by them
(beginning with the units place) are detailed in the following translation of the verse: "Gods
(vibudha : 33), eyes (netra : 2), elephants (gaja : 8), snakes (ahi : 8), fires (hutāśana : 3), three
(tri : 3), qualities (guṇa : 3), vedas (veda : 4), nakṣatras (bha : 27), elephants (vāraṇa : 8), and
arms (bāhavaḥ : 2) - the wise say that this is the measure of the circumference when the
diameter of a circle is nava-nikharva (900,000,000,000)."

So, the translation of the poem using the bhūtasaṃkhyā system will simply read
"2827433388233 is, as the wise say, the circumference of a circle whose diameter is nava-
nikharva (900,000,000,000)". That is, divide 2827433388233 (the number from the first two
lines of the poem in reverse order) by nava-nikharva (900,000,000,000) to get the value of pi
(π). This calculation yields the value π = 3.1415926535922. This is the value of π used by
Madhava in his further calculations and is accurate to 11 decimal places.

Example

Madhava's table lists the following digits corresponding to the angle 45.00°:
This yields the angle with measure

The value of the trigonometric sine of 45.00° as given in Madhava's table is

Substituting the value of π computed by Madhava in the above expression, one gets sin 45°
as 0.70710681.

This value may be compared with the modern exact value of sin 45.00°, namely, 0.70710678.

Comparison of Madhava's and modern sine values

In table below the first column contains the list of the twenty-four angles beginning with 3.75
and ending with 90.00. The second column contains the values tabulated by Madhava in
Devanagari in the form in which it was given by Madhava. (These are taken from Malayalam
Commentary of Karanapaddhati by P.K. Koru[5] and are slightly different from the table given in
Cultural foundations of mathematics by C.K. Raju.[2]) The third column contains ISO 15919
transliterations of the lines given in the second column. The digits encoded by the lines in
second column are given in Arabic numerals in the fourth column. The values of the
trigonometric sines derived from the numbers specified in Madhava's table are listed in the
fifth column. These values are computed using the approximate value 3.1415926535922 for
π obtained by Madhava. For comparison, the exact values of the trigonometric sines of the
angles are given in the sixth column.
Madhava's numbers for specifying sin A

in Devanagari Value of sin

script A
Angle A using Decoded Modern
in ISO 15919 Values in derived
in Katapayadi value
transliteration minutes from
degrees system of sin A
scheme seconds Madhava's
(as in
thirds table
Madhava's
original table)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

śreṣṭhaṁ nāma 224ʹ 50ʹʹ

03.75 श्रेष्ठं नाम वरिष्ठानां 0.06540314 0.06540313
variṣṭhānāṁ 22ʹʹʹ

448ʹ 42ʹʹ
07.50 हिमाद्रिर्वेदभावनः himādrirvēdabhāvanaḥ 0.13052623 0.13052619
58ʹʹʹ

670ʹ 40ʹʹ
11.25 तपनो भानु सूक्तज्ञो tapanō bhānu sūktajñō 0.19509032 0.19509032
16ʹʹʹ

maddhyamaṁ viddhi 889ʹ 45ʹʹ

15.00 मध्यमं विद्धि दोहनं 0.25881900 0.25881905
dōhanaṁ 15ʹʹʹ

dhigājyō nāśanaṁ 1105ʹ 01ʹʹ

18.75 धिगाज्यो नाशनं कष्टं 0.32143947 0.32143947
kaṣṭaṁ 39ʹʹʹ

1315ʹ 34ʹʹ
22.50 छन्नभोगाशयाम्बिका channabhōgāśayāmbikā 0.38268340 0.38268343
07ʹʹʹ

1520ʹ 28ʹʹ
26.25 मृगाहारो नरेशोयं mr̥gāhārō narēśōyaṁ 0.44228865 0.44228869
35ʹʹʹ

1718ʹ 52ʹʹ
30.00 वीरो रणजयोत्सुकः vīrō raṇajayōtsukaḥ 0.49999998 0.50000000
24ʹʹʹ

mūlaṁ viśuddhaṁ 1909ʹ 54ʹʹ

33.75 मूलं विशुद्धं नाळस्य 0.55557022 0.55557023
nāḷasya 35ʹʹʹ

2092ʹ 46ʹʹ
37.50 गानेषु विरळा नराः gāneṣu viraḷā narāḥ 0.60876139 0.60876143
03ʹʹʹ

2266ʹ 39ʹʹ
41.25 अशुद्धिगुप्ता चोरश्रीः aśuddhiguptā cōraśrīḥ 0.65934580 0.65934582
50ʹʹʹ
45.00 शङ् कु कर्णो नगेश्वरः śaṅkukarṇō nageśvaraḥ 2430ʹ 51ʹʹ 0.70710681 0.70710678
15ʹʹʹ

2584ʹ 38ʹʹ
48.75 तनुजो गर्भजो मित्रं tanujō garbhajō mitraṃ 0.75183985 0.75183981
06ʹʹʹ

2727ʹ 20ʹʹ
52.50 श्रीमानत्र सुखी सखे śrīmānatra sukhī sakhē 0.79335331 0.79335334
52ʹʹʹ

2858ʹ 22ʹʹ
56.25 शशी रात्रौ हिमाहारौ śaśī rātrou himāhārou 0.83146960 0.83146961
55ʹʹʹ

vēgajñaḥ pathi 2977ʹ 10ʹʹ

60.00 वेगज्ञः पथि सिन्धुरः 0.86602543 0.86602540
sindhuraḥ 34ʹʹʹ

छाया लयो गजो 3083ʹ 13ʹʹ

63.25 chāya layō gajō nīlō 0.89687275 0.89687274
नीलो 17ʹʹʹ

निर्मलो नास्ति 3176ʹ 03ʹʹ

67.50 nirmalō nāsti satkulē 0.92387954 0.92387953
सत्कु ले 50ʹʹʹ

rātrou 3255ʹ 18ʹʹ

71.25 रात्रौ दर्पणमभ्राङ्गं 0.94693016 0.94693013
darpaṇamabhrāṅgaṁ 22ʹʹʹ

3320ʹ 36ʹʹ
75.00 नागस्तुङ्ग नखो बली nāgastuṅga nakhō balī 0.96592581 0.96592583
30ʹʹʹ

3371ʹ 41ʹʹ
78.75 धीरो युवा कथालोलः dhīrō yuvā kathālōlaḥ 0.98078527 0.98078528
29ʹʹʹ

3408ʹ 20ʹʹ
82.50 पूज्यो नारीजनैर्भगः pūjyō nārījanairbhagaḥ 0.99144487 0.99144486
11ʹʹʹ

3430ʹ 23ʹʹ
86.25 कन्यागारे नागवल्ली kanyāgārē nāgavallī 0.99785895 0.99785892
11ʹʹʹ

3437ʹ 44ʹʹ
90.00 देवो विश्वस्थली भृगुः devō viśvasthalī bhr̥ guḥ 0.99999997 1.00000000
48ʹʹʹ

Madhava's method of computation

No work of Madhava detailing the methods used by him for the computation of the sine table
has survived. However from the writings of later Kerala mathematicians like Nilakantha
Somayaji (Tantrasangraha) and Jyeshtadeva (Yuktibhāṣā) that give ample references to
Madhava's accomplishments, it is conjectured that Madhava computed his sine table using
the power series expansion of sin x.

See also

Madhava series

Āryabhaṭa's sine table

Ptolemy's table of chords

References

1. The Aryabhatiam of Aryabhattacharya with the Bhashya of Nilakantha Somasutvan, Part1-

Gaṇitapāda, Edited by K. Sambasiva Sastri, Trivandrum Sanskrit Series No.101. p. 55.
https://archive.org/details/Trivandrum_Sanskrit_Series_TSS
http://www.sanskritebooks.org/2013/02/trivandrum-sanskrit-series-anantasayana-samskrita-
granthavali/

2. C.K. Raju (2007). Cultural foundations of mathematics: The nature of mathematical proof and the
transmission of calculus from India to Europe in the 16 thc. CE. History of Philosophy, Science and
Culture in Indian Civilization. Vol. X Part 4. Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations. pp. 114–123.

3. C.K. Raju (2007). Cultural foundations of mathematics: The nature of mathematical proof and the
transmission of calculus from India to Europe in the 16 thc. CE. History of Philosophy, Science and
Culture in Indian Civilization. Vol. X Part 4. Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations. p. 120.

4. C.K. Raju (2007). Cultural foundations of mathematics: The nature of mathematical proof and the
transmission of calculus from India to Europe in the 16 thc. CE. History of Philosophy, Science and
Culture in Indian Civilization. Vol. X Part 4. Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations. p. 119.

5. Puthumana Somayaji. Karanapaddhati (with a commentary in Malayalam by P.K. Koru). Cherpu,

Kerala, India: Astro Printing and Publishing Company. (Published in 1953)

Further references

Bag, A.K. (1976). "Madhava's sine and cosine series" (https://web.archive.org/web/201507

05200732/http://www.dli.gov.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005af4_54.pdf)
(PDF). Indian Journal of History of Science. Indian National Academy of Science. 11 (1): 54–
57. Archived from the original (http://www.dli.gov.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/2
0005af4_54.pdf) (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
For an account of Madhava's computation of the sine table see : Van Brummelen, Glen
(2009). The mathematics of the heavens and the earth : the early history of trigonometry (htt
p://press.princeton.edu/titles/8956.html) . Princeton: Princeton University Press.
pp. 113–120. ISBN 978-0-691-12973-0.

For a thorough discussion of the computation of Madhava's sine table with historical
references : C.K. Raju (2007). Cultural foundations of mathematics: The nature of
mathematical proof and the transmission of calculus from India to Europe in the 16 thc. CE.
History of Philosophy, Science and Culture in Indian Civilization. Vol. X Part 4. Delhi: Centre
for Studies in Civilizations. pp. 114–123.

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