SANKSRIT POETRY AND THE CURSE OF FIBONACCI

Who said math was only for those engineering and stem-based minds? Math can be applied to any profession, and its need for innovation and expressiveness makes it perfect for poets!

What is the connection between math and poetry? The tie between these two subjects goes back several centuries. In fact, the numbers and rhythm involved in poetry is what

helped many mathematicians develop well known formulas and theorems used today! Sanskrit poetry in particular has been very helpful in math due to its unique sequence of

numbers.

The stress and rhythm of the beats in a poem is what makes the different types of poetries unique in the first place. According to the Poetry Archive, stress is the emphasis that falls on certain syllables and not others and the pattern or arrangement of the unstressed and stressed words into rhythmic lines is called the meter. Scansion is the process of discovering which syllables should be stressed and unstressed and helps understand the meter of the poem.

Sanskrit Poetry Dimensions:

• Stressed syllables AKA long syllables (longer when pronounced)

• Unstressed syllables AKA short syllables

• Long Syllables take double to time to pronounce since they take up two beats while short syllables only take up one beat

Math Questions Answered Through Sanskrit Poetry:

Through understanding the setup of these poems, ancient Sanskrit poets and mathematicians get excited at all the opportunities presented that were brought up even in 300 BC!

One question often asked when poems are composed is how many rhythms and poetic meters can be constructed in 12 beats.

There are many possibilities for this scenario.

• Long (6 times)

• Short (12 times)

• Long, Long, Long, Long, Short, Short, Short, Short

• Short, Short, Long, Long, Long, Long, Long

And many, many more possibilities that would take too long to list.

To answer this question, you can use the variable n to represent the number of beats (n=12 here) and find how many 1s and 2s can be added together to form this number. For example, adding 2 six times would make 12 or adding 1 twelve times would also make 12. A mathematician can approach this problem is by testing out examples to make a theorem and finally proving the theorem, the same way the Sanskrit poets did it back in the day.

Step 1: Determine the pattern

• 1 beat - 1 way (short)

• 2 beats - 2 ways (short + short or long)

• 3 beats - 3 ways (three shorts, short + long, or long + short)

• 4 beats - 5 ways (four shorts, short + short + long, long + short + short, short + long + short, or two longs)

In this translation, it is proven that you should start by writing 1 and 2 then find every next number by adding the previous two numbers.

Sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987

When n=12, the number of possible combinations with short and long syllables is equal to the twelfth term in this sequence. This means there are 233 rhythms for 12 beats. These Virahanka numbers are named after poet Virahanka who discovered why these numbers lead to the right result in 700 AD.

They are now called Fibonacci numbers after the Italian mathematician who wrote them 500+ years later, showing how long Sanskrit poetry has been advancing mathematics. Fibonacci numbers are also used in architecture and nature. Daisy petals follow the pattern of 13, 21, and 34, part of the sequence above.

The connection between poetry and math is important as it is critical to appreciate Sanskrit poets who contributed so much to new math theories. Due to Colonialism, these contributions haven’t lasted in history and without these advancements, many people have gotten uninterested in math. Oliver Westwood said, “Recognition is the golden key unlocking the treasure chest of human potential” and it is important to show that recognition where it is deserved.