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Ka-a-pa-y-di (Devanagari: ) system(also known as Paralppru, Malayalam:_m) of numerical
notation is anancient Indian system to depict letters tonumerals for easy remembrance
of numbers aswords or verses. Assigning more than one letter to one numeral and nullifying certain other letters as
valueless, this system provides the flexibility in forming meaningful words out of numbers which can be easily
remembered.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Geographical spread of the use
3 Rules and practices
3.1 Variations
4 Usage
4.1 Mathematics and astronomy
4.2 Carnatic music
4.2.1 Raga Dheerasankarabharanam
4.2.2 Raga MechaKalyani
4.2.3 Exception for Simhendramadhyamam
4.3 Representation of dates
4.4 Others
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
History [edit source]
The oldest available evidence of the use of Kaapaydi (Sanskrit: ) system is
fromGrahacraibandhana by Haridatta in 683 CE.
[1]
It has been used inLaghubhskariyavivarana written
by Sankaranryana in 869 CE.
[2]
Some argue that the system originated from Vararuci.
[3]
In some astronomical texts popular in Kerala planetary
positions were encoded in the Kaapaydi system. The first such work is considered to be the Chandra-
vakyani of Vararuci, who is traditionally assigned to the fourth century CE. Therefore, sometime in the early first
millennium is a reasonable estimate for the origin of the Kaapaydi system.
[4]
Aryabhata, in his treatise Aryabhatiya, is known to have used a similar, more complex system to
represent astronomical numbers. There is no definitive evidence whether the Ka-a-pa-y-di system originated
from ryabhaa numeration.
[5]
Geographical spread of the use [edit source]
Almost all evidences of the use of Ka-a-pa-y-di system is from south India, especiallyKerala. Not much is known
about its use in north India. However, on a Sanskrit astrolabediscovered in north India, the degrees of the altitude are
marked in the Kaapaydi system. It is preserved in the Sarasvathy Bhavan Library of Sampurnanand Sanskrit
University,Varanasi.
[1]
The Ka-a-pa-y-di system is not confined to India. Some Pali chronograms based on the Ka-a-pa-y-di system have
been discovered in Burma.
[6]
Rules and practices [edit source]
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Following verse found in akaravarman's Sadratnamla explains the mechanism of the system.
[7][8]
7 7 E: :|
7c E 7c 1:||
Transiliteration:
nanyvacaca nyni sakhy kaapaydaya
mire tpntyahal sakhy na ca cintyo halasvara
Translation: na (), nya () and a ()-s, i.e., vowels represent zero. The nine integers are represented
by consonant group beginning with ka, a, pa, ya. In a conjunct consonant, the last of the consonants alone will
count. A consonant without vowel is to be ignored.
Explanation: The assignment of letters to the numerals are as per the following arrangement.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
ka kha ga gha nga ca cha ja jha nya
a ha a ha a ta tha da dha na
pa pha ba bha ma - - - - -
ya ra la va ha sha sa ha - -
Consonants have numerals assigned as per the above table. For example, ba () is always 3 whereas 5 can be
represented by either nga () or a () or ma () or ha ().
All stand-alone vowels like a () and () are assigned to zero.
In case of a conjunct, consonants attached to a non-vowel will not be valueless. For example, kya (4) is formed
by k ( ) + ya () + a (). The only consonant standing with a vowel is ya (). So the corresponding numeral
for kya (4) will be 1.
There is no way of representing Decimal separator in the system.
Indians used the Hindu-Arabic numeral system for numbering, traditionally written in increasing place values from
left to right. This is as per the rule aknm vmato gati(q ) which means numbers go from left
to right.
[9]
Variations [edit source]
The Dravidian consonant, (Malayalam: , Devanagari: ), of the Dravidian languages ofsouth India is employed
in works using the Kaapaydi system, like the Madhava's sine table.
Some
[who?]
practitioners don't map the stand-alone vowels to zero. But, it is sometimes considered valueless.
Usage [edit source]
Mathematics and astronomy [edit source]
Madhava's sine table constructed by 14th century Kerala mathematician-astronomerMadhava of
Sangamagrama employs the Kaapaydi system to enlist the trigonometric sines of angles.
Karanapaddhati, written in the 15th century, has the following loka for the value of pi ()
uu_-
_u[
G[u
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_um[_
Transliteration
annannnnananunnanityai
ssmhatcakra kalvibhakto
caucandrdhamakubhiplair
vysastadarddha tribhamaurvika syt
It gives the circumference of a circle of diameter, annannnnananunnanityai(10,000,000,000)
as caucandrdhamakubhiplair (31415926536).
Sankaravarman's Sadratnamala uses the Kaapaydi system. A famous verse found inSadratnamala is
g+@@7@ 1 q :
Transliteration
bhadrbuddhisiddhajanmagaitaraddh sma yad bhpag
Splitting the consonants gives,

bha

d

r

ba

d

dh

sa

d

dha

ja

n

ma

ga

a

ta


ra

d

dha

s

ma

ya

d

bha

pa

gi
4 - 2 - 3 - 9 7 - 9 8 - 5 3 5 6 - 2 - 9 - 5 1 - 4 1 3
Reversing the digits to modern day usage of descending order of decimal places, we
get314159265358979324 which is the value of pi () to 17 decimal places, except the last digit might be rounded
off to 4.
This verse encrypts the value of pi () up to 31 decimal places.
d- 7
nlc-^oo || ce IC ||
This verse directly yields the decimal equivalent of pi divided by 10: pi/10 = 0.31415926535897932384626433832792
n`. c_ e n`` c | D ||
Carnatic music [edit source]
The melakarta ragas of the Carnatic music is named so that the first two syllables of the name will give its
number. This system is sometimes called the Ka-ta-pa-ya-di sankhya. TheSwaras 'Sa' and 'Pa' are fixed, and
here is how to get the other swaras from the melakarta number.
1. Melakartas 1 through 36 have Ma1 and those from 37 through 72 have Ma2.
2. The other notes are derived by noting the (integral part of the) quotient and remainder when one less than the
melakarta number is divided by 6.
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Melakarta chart as per Kaapaydi system
3. 'Ri' and 'Ga' positions: the raga will have:
Ri1 and Ga1 if the quotient is 0
Ri1 and Ga2 if the quotient is 1
Ri1 and Ga3 if the quotient is 2
Ri2 and Ga2 if the quotient is 3
Ri2 and Ga3 if the quotient is 4
Ri3 and Ga3 if the quotient is 5
4. 'Da' and 'Ni' positions: the raga will have:
Da1 and Ni1 if remainder is 0
Da1 and Ni2 if remainder is 1
Da1 and Ni3 if remainder is 2
Da2 and Ni2 if remainder is 3
Da2 and Ni3 if remainder is 4
Da3 and Ni3 if remainder is 5
See swaras in Carnatic music for details on above notation.
Raga Dheerasankarabharanam [edit source]
The katapayadi scheme associates dha 9 and ra 2, hence the raga's melakarta number is 29 (92 reversed). Now
29 36, hence Dheerasankarabharanam has Ma1. Divide 28 (1 less than 29) by 6, the quotient is 4 and the
remainder 4. Therefore, this raga has Ri2, Ga3 (quotient is 4) and Da2, Ni3 (remainder is 4). Therefore, this raga's
scale is Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Da2 Ni3 SA.
Raga MechaKalyani [edit source]
From the coding scheme Ma 5, Cha 6. Hence the raga's melakarta number is 65 (56 reversed). 65 is greater
than 36. So MechaKalyani has Ma2. Since the raga's number is greater than 36 subtract 36 from it. 65-36=29. 28 (1
less than 29) divided by 6: quotient=4, remainder=4. Ri2 Ga3 occurs. Da2 Ni3 occurs. So MechaKalyani has the
notes Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma2 Pa Da2 Ni3 SA.
Exception for Simhendramadhyamam [edit source]
As per the above calculation, we should get Sa 7, Ha 8 giving the number 87 instead of 57 for
Simhendramadhyamam. This should be ideally Sa 7, Ma 5 giving the number 57. So it is believed that the
name should be written as Sihmendramadhyamam (as in the case of Brahmana in Sanskrit).
Representation of dates [edit source]
Important dates were remembered by converting them using Kaapaydi system. These dates are generally
represented as number of days since the start of Kali Yuga. It is sometimes called kalidina sankhya.
The Malayalam calendar known as kollavarsham (Malayalam: ) was adopted in Kerala beginning
from 825 CE, revamping some calendars. This date is remembered as chrya vgbhad, converted
using Kaapaydi into 1434160 days since the start of Kali Yuga.
[10]
Narayaniyam, written by Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, ends with the line, yurrogyasaukhyam
(__) which means long-life, health and happiness.
[11]
In Malayalam
In Devanagari E
In IAST yurrogyasaukhyam
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Value as per Kaapaydi 1712210
This number is the time at which the work was completed represented as number of days since the start of Kali
Yuga as per the Malayalam calendar.
Others [edit source]
Some people use the Kaapaydi system in naming newborns.
[12][13]
The following verse compiled in Malayalam by Koduallur Kuikkuan Tapurn usingKaapaydi is the
number of days in the months of Gregorian Calendar.
_, u
u- [
Transiliteration
palahre plu nall, pularnnlo kalakkil
ill plennu goplan - gamsadina kraml
Translation: Milk is best for breakfast, when it is morning, it should be stirred. ButGoplan says there is no milk -
the number of days of English months in order.
Converting pairs of letters using Kaapaydi yields - pala () is 31, hre () is 28, plu =
31, nall (_) is 30, pular ( is 31, nnlo (u) is 30,kala () is 31, kkil () is
31, ill () is 30, ple () is 31, nnu go(u) is 30, plan ( is 31.