1,2,3

"The world owes most to India in the realm of mathematics, which was developed in the Gupta period to a stage more advanced than that reached by any other nation of antiquity. The success of Indian mathematics was mainly due to the fact that Indians had a clear conception of the abstract number as distinct from the numerical quantity of objects or spatial extension."
A.L. Basham, noted Australian historian

In the year 1911, noted Vedic scholar Bharati Krishna Tirthaji, a scholar of history, mathematics, Sanskrit and philosophy. and had made a comprehensive study of the four Vedas, Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Yajurveda, and Samaveda. Studying these texts for years, he was able to reconstruct a series of mathematical formulae, called Sutras. He continued the study for 7 years and compiled them together in a major single volume, which got published five years after his death, Vedic Mathematics, in the year 1965.

Repeated attempts of a few British mathematicians finally bore results duting the years 1981 to 1987, when Vedic mathematics started being taken seriously. A number of London and Indian schools took it up as subjects, and intellectuals started delving more time and energy into the same.

The Content:
The entire Vedic mathematics is divided into 16 Sutras or formulae, which when translated to english and analyzed, makes up 19 major aphorisms and 14 sub-aphorisms. It would be a bit too ambitious to include each one of them here, I would like to pick up a few simpler ones  which would strengthen my point..


Mental Multiplication:
So, what do you do when you are to multiply, say, 78X92?
You jot down the numbers hurrily on a notepad, do a quick 8X2, write down 6, carry over 1...blah blah blah...something like this
    78
    92
  156
702X
7176
Because thats what was taught in schools. Now, what Vedic Maths asks you to do is, think beyond the obvious(am I sounding like some management Guru?)
The nearest 10s base to 78 (and 92) is 100
Step 1) We subtract 100 from both numbers
78 - 100 = -22
92 - 100 = -8
Step2) Add 78 and 92 and subtract 100 from it 78+92-100=70
Step3) Multiply -22 and -8  -22 X -8 = 176
Step4) Carry the 1 from 176 and add it to the result obtained in Step 2 70+1 = 71
Step5)Concatenate the two 71 and 76=7176
And this can be done mentally, which is almost impossible in the first approach. A similar approach could be taken up for two digits or three digit numbers

Mental Squaring:
What would you do if someone asks you to calculate the area of a 42m X 42 m land? Again take out your notepad and scribble?
Or maybe take the above approach and solve it out much quicker?
Or maybe take another better and much interesting approach?
Step 1)Round of 42 to the nearest 10s, ie 40.
Step 2)Now add the remaining amount, ie 2 to 42 ie 44
Step 3) Multiply 40 and 44(much easier), ie 1760
Step4)Now take the number from step 2, ie 2 and square it, ie 4. Add the number to result of Step 3, ie 1764

Cubing a two digit number:
What would you do if someone asks you to find the volume of a 25X25X25 box?
Consider ab=25(where a=2, b=5)
Step 1)Cube a, is 8
Step 2)Divide b by a, ie 5/2=2.5
Step 3) Now write four subsequent products of a with the result of Step 2 and prepare a matrix
8    20     50     125
Step 4) Double the number at 2nd and 3rd place and add them at their subsequent places. Carry over the leftmost digit if the sum is of two digits
8    20     50     125
      40     100
8    60     150   125
8    60     162    5
8    76     2        5
15     6    2         5
The answer is 15625

Multiply and two 2-digit numbers:
If the base 100 method(the first in this blog), still looks tougher to compute mentally, or if you want to explore some more of it, here is another
Consider you have to multiply 12X34. Prepare a matrix of the two numbers.
1     2
3     4
Step1) Multiply ac, ie 1X3=3
Step 2)Multiply bd, ie 2X4=8
Step 3)Add ad and bc, ie 4 and 6=10
Step 4)Prepare another matrix mentally with the results of Step1, 3 and 2 respetively
3     10     8
Step 5) Carry over any extra digit to the left
4   0   8
The Answer is 408

More practical usage of Vedic Maths: Convert kilo to pounds:
Often people switch to Google in the blank of an eye when asked to fill up a form with weight as pounds(when they are more familiar with kilo). Or they would switch to their cellphones.
Well, its much easier to do it mentally, and a better way to keep the mind healthy.
If we have to convert 85 kilo to pounds,
Step 1) Double the kilos, 85X2=170
Step 2) Divide the answer by 10, ie 170/10=17
Step 3) Add the two numbers, 170+17=187, and thats the answer.(to the nearest integer)

Adding to time:
Whats the fastest way to calculate if the current time is 4:15, and someone asks you to calculate the time 2 hours 55 minutes later?
You first add the minutes and then the hours, which is quite simple as such, but then what would you say about this
Step1) Add 415 and 255, ie 670
Step 2) Add 40 to the answer, ie 670+40=710,and 7:10 is the answer

Concept of infinity and zero:
Two concepts highly useful in almost every practical application of maths in daily lives and even for astronomical calculations.
Infinity finds its first usage in the Yajurveda. Vedic men had several terms to describe what is infinity, ananta, purnam, asamkhya being few of them. Consider the following shloka out of the Yajur Veda,


पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम पूर्णत पूर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पुर्नामेवावासिश्यते 


From infinity is born infinity. When infinity is taken out of infinity, only infinity is left.
Till then, the Greeks used to distinguish between numbers with positional systems, like 27,207,270 would be represented as 27, 2 7, 27 . this system did not provide much flexibility to them to write large numbers with regular instances of 0.
Similarly, Romans didnt have the concept of 0, and had to write numbers like 101,000 as 101MMM.
AtharvaVeda described how the vale of a single digit number increases by 10 by writing 0 in front of it.

Trigonometry:
A fact iterated in the movie Namaste London, Trigonometry even got its name from Vedic mathematics, the word being Tri(three)-kon(angle)-mati(perimeter). Though, now the concepts have already been discovered and have been in use since years, The circular nature of Sin, Cos and Tan finds its mention in the Vedas.
The fact that Sinx/Cosx = Tanx finds its mention in the Vedas.

Currently, as you are reading all of this, researches are being carried on, and undertaken, including the effects of Vedic mathematics on children. Major research is being done on how to develop more powerful and simpler application of Vedic mathematics in geometry, calculus, etc.
What makes Vedic mathematics different from other schools and branches of theoretical and practical mathematics, is the flexibility of Vedic mathematics in providing them freedom with creating their own methods and breaking the "correct answer" jinx.
Vedic Mathematics provides us with quick and fast one-line formulae which speeds up mental calculation. It is a mental tool which not only helps a person solve complex problems quickly, but with repeated practice, also helps a person concentrate better.

Its absolute pity, that in spite of it being such a great marvel as "Vedic Mathematics", some elitist, from within the Indian sub-continent itself, claim it to be a farce. They say that they dont find any such reference in Vedas, and that it was a result of imagination of Tirthaji himself.
The Vedas, primarily, have been known to reveal the true knowledge and meaning of the verses, the hidden secrets to those who are worthy. While this may appear to be a line straight out of a Dan Brown book, it is a mighty known fact that Vedas are written in a cryptic language and a mere translation would mean nothing or may produce some relevant results. The Vedas are believed not to reveal the true meaning to the reader, but rather help the reader find certain answers, which others wont be able to see or even validate.
The irony is, that while the western world is embracing and opening up itself to the charms and secrets of Vedic Mathematics, there are Indians themselves, who claim the Vedic Mathematics to be a lie.
Nothing is greater a tragedy than to not believe in your achievements while the world celebrates them

Realists, as always, would claim that Vedas do not actually teach mathematics on the face of it, but the fact is Vedic mathematics is gradually making a stronghold in the education system of the entire world and is soon becoming a force to reckon.

Coming up with a book based on Indian history/mythology.
Please join the Facebook page and invite others as well to do the same.
Please help me promote the book and the page and make it a huge success.

Please click here and like the page which comes up - Finders, Keepers

I would like to end the post as of now, and would like to know what you thought about it. If you are on Facebook and are interested in such topics, please click on the link below and like the page which comes up.Khoj-In Search of Lost Signs

Ancient UFOs of India

Lets start this post with a small assumption. Lets assume that the tales and legends of Ramayana were more of a historical curiosity than mythology. That Ram, Sita and Laxman did spend some 14 years in jungles, and actually covered the entire length of the Indian subcontinent, reached Rameshwaram, prayed to Shiva, and then fought and won the epic war with Ravana. That Ramayana and Ramcharit Manas actually talk of history and not of some mysterious and hypothetical tales, though I personally still believe it to be history itself.

Anyways, having made this small assumption for the non-believers, lets move directly to the day when Rama has just defeated Ravana, the day, we celebrate even today as Dusshehra. Now, Ram was a pious king, so he would have made sure that the bodies of all soldiers were ceremoniously cremated. He also waited for Vibhishana to be crowned king of Lanka, or whatever remained of it. He would have bid adieu to Sugriva, Jamavant, Nala, Neela, and others. All of this could have taken a day, or two, when Rama along with Laxman and Sita would have started back for Ayodhya. All of them reach Ayodhya and the entire town broke into celebrations, the day, we still celebrate as Diwali. Which means, it took all three of them some 18-19 days to travel back. This certainly seems to be a bit far fetched, especially knowing that they crossed sea, and high altitude mountains and dense forests, not to mention they didnt have any maps. How did they do it then? Ramayana mentions a certain Pushpak Vimana, but could they fly in those days?

Year:1895;Place:Chowpatty, Mumbai
A mid-size crowd which included come general public, certain journalists and government officers waited with bated breath as a Sanskrit scholar by the name of Shivkar Bapuji Talpade performed nothing short of a miracle. Eight years before Orville Wright proved that it was possible for a 'manned heavier than air machine to fly', Talpade had created an aircraft designed purely on Vedic writings and had it take off unmanned in full view of the crowd. The aircraft, named Marutsakha-friend of the air, flew some 1500 feet before it came crashing down. The technology used by Talpade, mercury bombardment unit using solar cells, is now being deployed by NASA in building spacecrafts for future

I brought up the above two examples to prove a simple point, our ancient ancestors did have the knowledge and intelligence to be able to build a proper flying manned aircraft, Vimana.

Not only the Ramayana, Mahabharat talks of Krishna fighting in sky with his enemy. Samaragna Sutradhar talks about the semantics of building an aircraft. There are 230 stanzas talking of construction, take-off, cruising, normal and forced landings and even collision with birds. In 1875, Vaimanik Shastra, perhaps the most descriptive of all the texts dedicated to aircraft building was discovered in an ancient Indian Temple. The text was written by Sage Bharadwaj, who is known to have taught neo-modern sciences like aerospace sciences in his Ashrams.

The Vaimanik Shastra comprehensively explains the methods of steering, precautions for long distance travels, and a way to switch from fuel to solar energy. It has diagrams depicting building an aircraft, mentions apparatus which would not catch fire and can sustain at high altitude, and is based completely on verses and stanzas from the Vedas. The fuel used was a "yellowish-white liquid" and the text even talks about combustion engines and pulse-jet engines, a technology which was discovered not a long time ago. As per the text, there are 32 secrets which a pilot needs to learn and such a pilot could fly a plane, immobilize a plane, make his plane invisible to others and even destroy enemy planes.

There seems to be no doubt that Vimanas were powered by some sort of "anti-gravity." Vimanas took off vertically, and were capable of hovering in the sky, like a modern helicopter.


 It is interesting to note, that the Nazis developed the first practical pulse-jet engines for their V-8 rocket "buzz bombs." Hitler and the Nazi staff were exceptionally interested in ancient India and Tibet and sent
expeditions to both these places yearly, starting in the 30's, in order to gather esoteric evidence that they did so, and perhaps it was from these people that the Nazis gained some of their scientific information.

A piece of writing was found recently, at Easter Island near South America. The writing,still undeciphered is strikingly similar to texts found in Mohenjo Daro civilizations. Ramayana and other ancient texts related to Rama also talk of flying Vimanas to far lands in the pursuit of strengthening their military warfare.

Rig Veda and Yajur Veda comprise of hymns which talk in detail about Vimanas. The difficulty which scientists face today is the mention of a number of alloys and metals, which the historians are not able to decipher and understand.

I have often seen people wondering and even laughing at such knowledge, claiming it all to be nothing but a hypothetical imagery of ancient science. Why would ancient Indians not publish all this knowledge and keep it to themselves? The reason was pretty simple, and understandable. The knowledge was highly futuristic, and dangerous if fell into the wrong hands.It was for this reason that the knowledge was never published and was  taught to a specific group of students.

Needless to say, Indian ancient science was one of the most advanced, and highly futuristic, even when measured against today's parameters. This was the land of great intellectuals and philosophers. The various dynasties and empires which ruled India, robbed Indians off the intent to think beyond the obvious. The knowledge of the Vedas, the intelligence of the ancient Indians, is still out there, all around us. The reason, why Vedas should be considered more than religious books, and be rightfully called the powerhouse of knowledge.

With that I wish to end this post. The intelligence of ancient Indians, and the knowledge of Vedas, something I am a huge fanboy of. Would like to touch more of such sciences in coming posts. Thanks again for all the appreciation shown in terms of comments, page views and likes on FB. Your appreciation keeps me going.
Namaste!

Coming up with a book based on Indian history/mythology.
Please join the Facebook page and invite others as well to do the same.
Please help me promote the book and the page and make it a huge success.

Please click here and like the page which comes up - Finders, Keepers