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11.09.2013 Feature Article

VEDIC MATHEMATICS, hidden philosophy behind an ancient wisdom of Indian origin needs to be explored.

VEDIC MATHEMATICS, hidden philosophy behind an ancient wisdom of Indian origin needs to be explored.
11.09.2013 LISTEN

An amazing philosophy behind a traditional knowledge system, containing powerful system of calculations, popularly known as Vedic Mathematics, is being referred to here. I will continue to call it Vedic, purely from a generally accepted usage perspective and it is much more than what the term strictly means. Bharati Krsna Tirthaji (1884-1960) had propounded twenty nine sutras, claimed as founded in the Adharvana Veda, scattered in the appendices. After a hard penance for eight years in the SRINGERI forests, he was able to reconstruct the mathematics of the Vedas and wrote sixteen volumes expounding the Vedic system. However, these were unaccountably lost and when the loss was confirmed in his final years he wrote a single book. Vedic Mathematics, originated with that book with the same name by Bharati Krsna, published posthumously in 1965 by some of his disciples.

Bharati Krsna bequeathed to us no accurate or definite reference of the sutras. Locating the sutras within the ancient texts has so far proven to be beyond some of the most able scholars in this field. This text in any authenticated versions of the Vedas has somehow escaped attention of many interested scholars as well. Although it is claimed that Tirthaji rediscovered or reconstructed Vedic Mathematics from stray references within the appendix portions of the Atharvaveda, but we do not know whether or not these appendices were ever available. But he evidently spent a large proportion of his life teaching the system so it is quite possible that Bharati Krsna Tirthaji intuited the sutras from his deep understanding of the subject, the Vedas and the nature of the human mind. Hence regarding any discovery of reference to the sutras in the Vedas may serve as an additional advantage rather than a necessity.

A copy of Bharati Krsna's book was brought to London a few years later after publication and some English mathematicians took an interest in it. They extended the introductory material given in the book and gave many courses and talks in London. A book called Introductory Lectures on Vedic Mathematics was published in 1981. Between 1981 and 1987 an English Mathematician made several trips to India initially to find out what further was known about it. Following these journeys a renewed interest was taken by scholars and teachers in India. It seems that once they saw that some people in the West took Vedic Mathematics seriously, they realized they had something special. Several schools in London began to teach the Vedic system, with notable success. Before the westerners took interest an Internet search for "Vedic Mathematics" and related phrases did not yield a single 'hit' but now there are 700,000 links (on Google) and increasing but unfortunately most of these are sprawled with repetitive redundant information.

It has been a very controversial issue, especially with the name of the book 'Vedic Mathematics' and I re-iterate the firm conviction that all teaching and pedagogy must be founded on rational, scientific and secular principles. So it is the call of the day to evaluate the true spirit and the relevance of that in present days without being preoccupied with less important trivial issues like its being Vedic or not and make use of the system towards the benefit of mankind by establishing an authenticated appraisal.

Now-a-days this traditional stream of mathematical knowledge, a boon inherited by generations from our ancient 'Maharishis', is ironically in the hands of a few business men who might not be having any idea about its rich heritage and history, but marketing unstructured training methodologies, which are not only jeopardizing the whole spirit & beauty behind Vedic Mathematics and leading to deprivation of trainee aspirants, both financially & qualitatively, but also an ancient culture of ours is getting disgraced in this way. Such propaganda has highlighted only a few aspects and uses of the tricks of Vedic Mathematics like its speedy ways of calculation in certain special situations. However, the necessity to calculate fast has lost whatever importance it had, with the advent of calculators. Most of the presently market available curriculums on Vedic Mathematics simply tends to spoon-feed a few concoctions which are far from being needful to the mathematical diet of the students.

An ancient wisdom of Indian Origin is getting disgraced. Although utilities of the ways it is being promoted cannot be totally refuted, but in most of the cases it is completely ignoring the philosophy behind this traditional knowledge and thus turns it as a shortcut of arithmetical calculations where the principle of diminishing returns sets in very fast. This gives a wrong perception regarding an age - old mind - science where the true spirit needs to be protected by fair propagation. The modus operandi of the twenty nine sutras were clearly explained by Swamiji and the procedures on comparison with the existing methods evidently show elegance, ease, less time consumption and the symmetry in work in these Methods.

Sitangshu Ghoshal, Post Graduate in Management, an 'Edupreneur', is Patron Founder and Founder-Acharya, Vedic Mathematics Department of Maharshi VedVyas International Virtual Vedic University. (http://www.virtualvedicuniversity.com, www.e-vedicuniversity.com). He is associated with several organizations of international repute and multinational presence. He is into conducting several workshops, regular activity centers with the intention of promoting Vedic Mathematics.

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