Vedic mathematics

Nowadays a lot of training sessions are available on Vedic mathematics for children with a promise that it would improve their interest in and understanding of math. In this article we try to understand what Vedic mathematics is and whether the claims made on its behalf are sustainable. We will start with a brief history of how Vedic mathematics reached its current status.

A Brief History

HH Bharatikrishna Tirtha, who was the Sankararacharya of Puri wrote in 1965, a book “Vedic Mathematics”. He claimed that the book was based on sixteen terse sutra or aphorisms which he found after an extensive study of the Vedas. It discusses various strategies for performing arithmetic computations quickly and mentally.

The author would, however, not reveal the portions of the Vedas where he had found the sutras. Many independent scholars also raised doubts that they have not been successful in locating the source of these sutras in the Vedas.

Indian Express of 23rdNovember 2011, carried a news item which reproduced a comment by Premamand Keeriyat , an ardent believer in Vedic Mathematics techniques. It said, “One day, he (Premamand) read an article in 'The New Indian Express' by the former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. In it, he wrote that he had gone on a visit to Liverpool University and was astonished to discover that Indian maths was being taught there.

Premanand continued, “In fact, the principal introduced me as a person who came from the land of Vedic maths,” wrote the prime minister. Thereafter, Rao described the wonder of Vedic maths, and mentioned the name of Swami Bharati Krishna Tirthaji, a scholar and the head of the Govardhan Math at Puri, Orissa.

After this reported endorsement by the Prime Minister, Vedic mathematics acquired a strong following by many politicians and educators. A World Academy of Vedic Mathematics was formed. Dr L M SInghvi, president of this Academy, wrote a letter to NCERT on 30thJune 2003 urging it to include Vedic Mathematics in the school curriculum.

There were reports Vedic Mathematics courses offered in schools across the world. In India also several training academies came up. Vedic Mathematics was offered as an alternative to the west-inspired education and a panacea for all the ills of the mathematics education in India.

A Critical Evaluation

Vedic Mathematics is very similar to the Trachtenburg system of “rapid mental calculation” developed by Jacow Trachtenburg during the 2ndWorld War when he was incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp, as a means of keeping his brain focused away from the horrors of the camp.

Though mathematics was used for computations, its main purpose was always seen as improvement of critical & logical thinking. Particularly in the last five decades, the advances in computer software have take over almost all computations (including solving of differential equations) from paper & pencil methods. Today almost any cell phone or watch can perform complex calculations.

In this scenario of what importance is it to learn methods of rapid arithmetic computations! The fact that the Indian school math curriculum still lays a lot of emphasis on computational algorithms could also be seen as a reason for the abysmal mathematical knowledge of our school students.

In my 25 years as a math educator, I have yet to come across a student who said that learning Vedic mathematics improved his performance in mathematics.

Hence Vedic Mathematics can be learnt as a way to exercise the brain in ways puzzles do. But they should not be learnt with the hope that they would increase interest in mathematics.