Katapayadi Sankhya

गोपीभाग्यमधुव्रात-शृङ्गिशोदधिसन्धिग । 
खलजीवितखाताव गलहालारसंधर ॥


Gopibhagya madhuvrata srngisodadhisandhiga|
Khalajivitakhatava galahalarasandhara||



Oh Krishna, the fortune of the Gopis, the detoryer of the demon Madhu,
protector of cattle, the one who ventured the ocean-depths, destroyer of evildoers,
one with plough on the shoulder and the bearer of nectar, may (you) protect (us)!

The shloka above, seems to be one of the many written in praise of one of the most enigmatic and divine Lords of Hinduism, Krishna. The shloka, like many others, praises certain attributes of Krishna and requests him to protect the devotee.
So, what is so special about this shloka, that out of all the shlokas dedicated to Krishna, this particular one turned out to be the starting point of this post?

Simple enough, the shloka demonstrates one of the strongest and most intelligent examples of extreme knowledge and wisdom of our ancient men.

Grahacāraṇibandhana based in the year 683 CE and Laghubhāskariyavivarana based in the year 869 CE speak of a certain numerical notation which goes by the name of Katapayadi Sankhya.
Under this system, a number is ascribed to each and every alphabet of the script, a concept highly similar to the ASCII system in computers. The image below would better explain the relation between the alphabets and the numbers

So, based on the above method, if the letters in the shloka are replaced by the corresponding numbers, i.e. 'go' by 3, 'pi' by 1,  'bha' by 4, 'ya by 1' and so on, the following result is obtained:
31415926535897932384626433832792
The number, as obvious, is the decimal representation of pi upto 32 decimal places.
Who could have thought encrypting a mathematical concept in a devotional Shloka dedicated to Krishna?

So, what do they gain out of it by performing such extraordinary feat? The answer is two-fold.
Firstly, they used methodologies like this to check the correct usage and pronunciation of the verses, where every variation from the correct mantra or shloka would result in an incorrect rendition of the pi number(or any other system which they would have encoded)
Secondly, they used concepts like above to perform encryption and decryption so that the message would reach the intended receiver and no one would be able to catch the real meaning of the message.


Karanapaddhati: Written in the year 1733 CE by mathematician Puthumana Somayaji, the book consists of 10 chapters in total. Our  interest, however is in the 6th chapter.
In the 6th chapter, is given a shloka in Malayalam,


anūnanūnnānananunnanityai
ssmāhatāścakra kalāvibhaktoḥ
caṇḍāṃśucandrādhamakuṃbhipālair
vyāsastadarddhaṃ tribhamaurvika syāt

Not exactly Katapayadi system at play here, this is similar to encrypting formulae or constants in shlokas.
The above shloka, when translated simply means
"The circumference of a circle of diameter anūnanūnnānananunnanityai(10,000,000,000) is caṇḍāṃśucandrādhamakuṃbhipālair(31415926536), which, in turn, gives the value of pi till 10 decimal places.

Representation of dates:

palahāre pālu nallū, pularnnālo kalak kilāṃ

illā pālennu gopālan - āṃgḷamā sadinaṃ kramāl

Conceptualized in modern day India, based on Katapayadi Sankhya, the above shloka, which is in Malayalam, when translated, means that "Milk is best for breakfast, when it is morning, it should be stirred. But Gopālan says there is no milk - the number of days of English months in order"

True to its meaning, when the pairs of letters are substituted in accordance with Katapayadi system, yields

31 28 31 30 31 30 31 31 30 31 30 31

 The Vatsyayan Cipher:

Interestingly, the first written example of encryption in the entire history is found in the most unexpected source. The method, not that strong in that sense, is still used by army and security forces in a much more complex and stronger form.

As per Vatsyayan in his book Kamasutra, a girl needs to have certain attributes and learn certain arts and tricks, including how to cook, how to read and write, and how to send her lover secret messages which no one else would be able to decipher. Vatsyayan even goes on to give an example of such a cipher in the book.

The method is based on substitution cipher. Each alphabest would represent a certain another alphabet. The image below would explain the substitution cipher better:

So, the substitution cipher was invented in ancient India.

Validating the Shlokas:
Almost every major deity of Hinduism has a certain "Shata-Namavaali", or a list of 108 names dedicated to that deity. Shiva and Vishnu  have a list of 108 names dedicated to them. 
Venkateswara Ahtottara Shatanamavali is a list of 108 names dedicated to Lord Venkatesha.
Needless to say, if any of the name is forgotten by a devotee, the hymn would never be complete. 
It is always easier to remember a certain list of they are in a certain order.
For the same reason, and for validating the occurrence of all the 108 names in the order in which they are written in the text, a certain Anustup Chanda was composed, which consists of 4 shlokas, which are made up of the first letters of all the 108 names, in that order, thus validating the 108 names.


अनुष्टुप्छन्दसि चत्वारः पादाः भवन्ति प्रत्येकपादे च अष्ट अक्षराणि।श्लोके षष्ठं गुरु ज्ञेयं सर्वत्र लघु पञ्चमम्।
द्विचतुष्पादयोर्ह्रस्वं सप्तमं दीर्घमन्ययोः॥
अस्य छन्दसः षष्ठम् अक्षरं गुरु पञ्चमम् च लघु। सप्तमम् अक्षरं प्रथमे तृतीये च पादे गुरु, द्विचतुष्पदयोः सप्तमम् अक्षरं लघु भवति। सप्तमम् अक्षरं यथाक्रमम् परिवर्तते, प्रथमपादे गुरु द्वितीयपादे लघु तृतियपादे गुरु चतुष्पादे लघु।

Encryption or Miracle?
The most interesting part of this entire post, Sri-Raghava-Yadaveeyam deserves a distinct status altogether. Not exactly a work of the ancient Vedic men, this short text of 30 verses, which was compiled in the 17th century, actually deserves a separate blog post altogether. 
The name of the text itself, is quite curious. While the first part of the name of the text denotes Lord Rama, the latter, Yadava, denotes Krishna.

The 30 shlokas in the text, describe glimpses of Rama's life and works. Sample a verse from the text:

वंदेSहं देवं तं श्रीतं रन्तारं कालं भासा य:।

रामो रामाधीराप्यागो लीलामारायोध्ये वासे॥

The above text translates to
I pay my obeisance to Lord Sri Rama, who with his heart pining for Sita, travelled across the Sahyadri, returned to Ayodhya after killing Ravana, and sported with his consort, Sita, in Ayodhya for a long time.

The translation justifies the term "Sri-Raghava" in the name of the text. But, why the reference to Lord Krishna, as in the name of the text?

Now, the above text is read exactly in the reversed order:

सेवायेध्यो रामालाली गोप्याराधी मारामोरा:।

यस्साभालंकारं तारं तं श्रीतं वन्दे अहं देवं॥1

Interestingly, the above translation means:

I bow to Lord Sri Krishna, whose chest is the sporting resort of Sri Lakshmi who is fit to be contemplated through penance and sacrifice, who fondles Rukmani and his other consorts, who is worshipped by the Gopikas, and who is decked with jewels radiating splendor.

Astonishing, isnt it? The 30 shlokas when read in the order which they are composed in, describe the story of Rama, while when they are read in reverse order, describe the story of Krishna. Needless to say, the strong computational attributes of Sanskrit are at play here. And though I have been able to take up only one such Shloka here, the entire composition is an astounding work in itself. 

The text projects the strong computational, and hence encryption prowess of Sanskrit and also how smartly Sanskrit could be played with to create magnificent compositions

With that, I wish to bring an end to my post. The purpose of this post was to bring forward the same familiar concept, that not only were our ancestors religious, but all the concepts around religion and their lifestyle, overall was highly scientific and analytic in nature. Encryption was already in use and in place very smartly, the reason why most of the ancient texts is still considered unsolvable by our neo-modern intellectuals. What people claim to have invented or solved only lately, has been in place in this country since ages.

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Bidding Adieu for now.

Namaste

References:

1.) http://books.google.co.in/books?id=sEX11ZyjLpYC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=encryption+methods+ancient+india&source=bl&ots=8-8qoGBlbD&sig=F9dEDJ8xrwEyZpBXauooNqhCOv0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IbKdUdGJFMzhrAeOjYDAAg&ved=0CIYBEOgBMAk#v=onepage&q=encryption%20methods%20ancient%20india&f=false.
2.) http://ektariovee.blogspot.in/2012/12/sri-raghava-yadaveeyam.html
3.) http://www.cryptool-online.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=148&Itemid=386&lang=en
4.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katapayadi_system
5.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karanapaddhati

The Temples of Ancient Wisdom

Namaste!!
Feels great as the blog crossed 10000 views last week and in a way completed a milestone! All thanks to all of you, who read and liked the posts and the content of the blog. I am really grateful and humbled and would once again like to thank all of you.
Imaginations sometimes run wild and I tried fiction for the first time in my last post-The 14th Year. Thankfully, there were a few positive comments and people asked me for a sequel. Some of you were able to notice that it, in fact, was re-presenting the Laxman-Surpanakha story in a new Avatar.
I hope to write more on the same lines some day, but let us reserve that for later and get to the topic straight away.

Some years ago, when my father was based in Varanasi, I had the chance to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple for the first time in my life. I was only 9 then, and had only witnessed the slightly newer and more "blazing" temples like those of Birla's and J.K.'s, which are mostly built of white marbles, and shine brightly during the evenings and nights.
For the first time I witnessed a temple built in slightly older times. The kid in me was disgusted by the water and  pieces of flowers and leaves lying all around the temple premises and me being forced to remove slippers and walk barefoot. All of a sudden I blurted out "This temple is so dirty!".  My father snapped back "You shall never call a temple dirty!". I wanted to ask why, but sensing the mood my father was in, a better sense prevailed inside me, and I decided to postpone the question in the wake of my own health benefits.. Never knew I would eventually find the answers to my questions.

The knowledge of Ancient Vedic Men was of such high degree,  the customs they popularized and inbred among the people in their daily lives was of highly scientific and logical nature. A highly scientific marvel like Aum is remodeled to be an important religious symbol, while the Gods are attributed with Vahanas akin to their individual divinities. It is but very obvious then, that the places where the Gods reside, the temples are deemed to be resplendent of similar scientific and symbolic imagery, which not only appeals to the devotee's sub-conscious, but also helps him meditate peacefully.

The Architecture-The location and The Garbhagraha:
It is a mighty known fact that most of the ancient temples were designed to be more than mere places of worship and meditation. The Vedic temples were built strategically at places where the positive cosmic energy is in abundance because of the magnetic and electric fields.

The main idol is always located in the core center of the temple, known as the Garbha-Griha. As a matter of fact, first the idol is placed at its position and then the temple is built around it. The Garbha-griha is chosen to be the place where  magnetic waves are the strongest. As a practice, some copper plates, inscribed with Vedic Shlokas are kept beneath the main idol. Copper absorbs the magnetic energy and radiates positive energy to the surroundings. This specific attribute of copper makes it useful in curing arthritis by wearing it in bracelets.

As a person revolves around the main idol in a clockwise direction, he receives the positive energy radiated from the copper, and this, gradually helps him, in meditation and maintain a good health on a regular visit. In a way, the temples were designed as "Public charging sites".

The pyramidal shape:
The particular pyramid shape of these temples serve manifold purposes. However hot or humid the entire surroundings may be, one could never feel hot inside a temple. A tall, gradually narrowing structure, along with water being poured all across the floors keeps the inside of the temple premises cool, and the magnetic fields stronger(heat reduces magnetic energy).
In the year 2005, an article was published in the Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. A group of scientists in Bangalore took containers of various shapes and placed various food items in it. As days passed, it was observed that the container which was pyramidal in shape demonstrated the slowest decay out of all the containers.
Various temples use flowers to further keep the atmosphere inside light and comfortable, to negate the effects of moistness. These flowers and fruits get decomposed as slowly as possible because of the pyramidal structure.

The Bells:
 As per legends, the bell sound is to ward evil forces away. A well designed bell, if struck, produces long strains of AUM.
Symbolically, the body of the bell represents time. the tongue of the bell represents Saraswati. Striking the bell would mean the message of Saraswati, which is knowledge and wisdom itself, being spread all over.
Scientifically, a temple bell is made up of a variety of metals, just in the correct proportion. When struck properly, a bell sound lasts for at least seven seconds, and touches the seven healing centers, or the Chakras   in the body. It also unites the left and the right part of the brain. As soon as one hears the bell, all pre-thoughts are emptied, or in a way, it wakes one up before entering the temple itself.
The bells also dont allow any insect to remain inside the temple. The reason, why even the oldest of temples wont have any insects or pests inside them.

Dhwaja:
Another inseparable ingredient of any Vedic temple, Dhwaja or, the Flag, serves purposes more than mere symbolisms of a number of legends. The color of the dhwaja, red or orange, symbolizes the fierce energy of the sun. As the flag flutters, thanks to its very peculiar spear shape, it symbolizes sun's life-giving glow. As the flag flutters, it also symbolizes great wisdom and bravery together.
Scientifically, the flag acts as a conductor to transfer the energy from within the Garbha Griha to the entire atmosphere, thus radiating positive energy all across. It also acts as a lightning rod which saves the temple structure from lightning.

As per legends, the pillar holding the Dhwaja, the Dhwaja-stambh represents as a connect between heavens and earth. The stambha symbolizes the Holy Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. The flag when seen by a devotee from a distance, informs him about the deity being worshipped within the temple and sometimes, even the rituals are symbolized by the Dhwaja.

The ingredients of worship: Lets take a step back from here, ie. the temple premises, and have a look at whats all happening inside the temple. Even under scorching sun and intense heat, the insides of the temple are still pretty cool. Water is being sprayed continuously and devotees are lighting up incense sticks, striking bells, and offering flowers to the deity. Lamps are lighted all over, which emit talismanic low light. Add to that the positive vibes which are already present all around.
All these ingredients of a 'perfect' worship create a state of trance, where from the point a devotee enters the premise, he enters into a state of trance and is almost hypnotized in the entire settings of the temple. His mind is now singularly focussed on devotion, and the body is absorbing positive energy. According to the very scientific Vedas, this is the state of trance when a man himself becomes God. Its only then,  it is said, that one could build a temple inside his heart and can meditate without even needing one temple.

I wont say that each and every older temple of India has been built keeping the same concepts and ideologies in mind as stated above, but every temple that's based on Vedic notions, follows the same architecture and model as stated by the Vedic principles
Neither did I try to comprehend nor find any logical reasoning to why certain temples allow animal sacrifice. I personally feel that's an incorrect practice and should not be encouraged in the name of religion.

Its nothing lesser than a colossal tragedy with what happened in Uttarakhand a few days back. Thousands of innocent souls lost their lives and we all must pray for their souls to rest peacefully.
However, one cannot take away the fact that only Kedarnath temple kept standing along with the central sanctum, primarily because they were based on Vedic foundations and the calamity couldn't shake it's very foundations.
Hoping that our governments take some lesson out of this tragedy and embrace the state with better disaster management facilities

People go to temples to wish for money, success, luck, and what not. But, this was not the primary reason for which these temples were built. The temples can help you attain a better health and peace of mind, and guide you towards spirituality. Sadly, modern day pundits have made temples an easy way to earn money, promising people of their wishes being fulfilled, but a temple visit would not serve such a purpose. Go there for your betterment, not to trade your time for your wish.

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The 14th Year

"You know whats the best thing about this place?",she said all of a sudden, breaking the flow of Jazz music being played in the background.
"You mean except the boring music and the inexplicable, over the top, prices?", Anuj smiled sarcastically.
"Noooooooooooo.", she said and giggled with uncontrollable girlish charm.
"Perhaps, you would care to tell me, then", said Anuj as she finished laughing.
"Hmmm, I love the lights here."
"But, its so dark in here, almost impossible to see each other's face, even when we are sitting right across each other."
"Precisely,", she murmured, and then continued,"There is no veiled emotion, you cannot cover up your feelings on the pretext of using your eyes, your smile or your facial expressions. We are sitting together and still communicate as if talking on a phone, all resplendent with our purest of emotions, instrumented only by the variations of our voice."
Anuj smiled, and sipped his drink.
"What?", she asked, her girlish charm back.
"Nothing"
"No, tell me!"
"I am sure, the exuberant philosophy is being sponsored by the wine! Is that the reason you ordered it, instead of your regular whisky?", he asked, putting a couple of roasted peanuts in his mouth, kept in front of him.
"Wine helps me shed my reservations, my nervousness. I feel more confident."
"Hard to believe a girl like you can be nervous at all.", he said as both of them broke into a laughter. As the laughter died down, he took a sip from his glass and asked,"What are you nervous about?"
She straightened herself up, feeling a bit restless,"I wanted to ask you something."
"Hello!", he smiled,"Since when do you need permissions from me?"
"Tell me, how long do we know each other for?"
"Almost 6 months. Why?"
"And how do you find me as a person?"
"What kind of a question is that? Of course, you a great company, and a nice person to be with. I really like being with you. Why do you ask this all of  a....."
"I wanted to propose to you", she interrupted and broke into a smile,"I love you. Marry me!!"

Anuj stared at her for a few seconds, searching for words."I think you have had too much wine. Finish up your drink and we shall get out of here now. I will drop you to your home", he fumbled a bit while saying.
"That was not the answer I was expecting!", she complained feigning false anger. "I am not drunk. Answer me!", she almost commanded.
Anuj stared at his drink for a moment while holding the glass and then kept it on the table."I like you, Meenaxi. And I value you as a friend. In the last 6 months we have formed a special bond and I really cherish it. But I cant love you, leave alone marrying you."
"But if you really like me so much, then whats stopping you? I know you love me as much. Come on, look at me", she pleaded as Anuj looked at the eyes covered by darkness prevailing all over. "Tell me, whats wrong? What are you hiding from me?"
Anuj lowered his eyes as his mind wandered over something. At last, he looked back at her and said,"I am already married."

The music in the background had changed gears. With advent of darkness outside, the mood had changed to  much groovier numbers.
"You never told me!", she said, a few drops of tears had come up in her eyes."You hid this from me all along. Why did you do it? Why didnt you tell me before?"
"Because I never felt the need", replied Anuj defensively. "I would have told you had you asked me. Never once did I feel the need to bring up the topic of my marriage with Urmi."
"Not even when I told you about my marriage? About how my brother killed my husband when he sensed his greed for power? I told you every detail about myself, and you never got an opportunity to talk about your marriage?", her eyes were wet
"Because you needed emotional support that time and I didnt see any need to drop on you the details of my marriage then. Besides, what was the pointing of bringing up the topic of my marriage when are living separately since 13 years."
"13 years!! But why?", she looked at him like a small girl
"Thats a long story. All you need to know is that my father had asked my brother Raghava and his wife Bhumi to expand our retail business here, in Gurgaon. As I love my brother very much, I decided to accompany him, and asked Urmi to take care of our family."
Meenaxi brought up her glass and drank all the glimmering red liquid in one sip. She kept the glass down.
"Do you still love your wife?"
"Of course, I do! Ours was a love marriage. She is the sister of Bhumi bhabhi"
"Even after 13 years of living away from each other. Come on, had she been that important, you would have told me about her. You dont love her anymore.", she declared.
"Up to you to believe. I think I should leave now", he said gulping his drink in one go."I will see you tomorrow when you are sober." he said and stood up to leave
"Please, don't leave. I really love you, Anuj. Cant you stay back with me, here?"
"Please dont complicate things, Meenaxi.  I have a family back home, and a wife, and I cant ignore them. I very well know you have had your share of heart breaks. Give it some time, you will find a better man."

“You are the one I want to be with.”, she said in a dreamy voice and reached out for his hands, caressing his fingers.
Anuj snatched his hands out of her grasp, "Meenaxi, I think you are totally out of your mind today. Lets leave now."
Meenaxi stood up and came close to Anuj,"Why, dont you think I am beautiful? I love you, I want you."
Anuj moved to his side as Meenaxi blocked his way. He caught her shoulder and pushed her slightly and tried to move, as she embraced him from behind.
"Please dont leave me Anuj.", she pleaded as she tightened her embrace.
"Meenaxi, let me go", he said in a stern voice as he tried freeing himself up "You are drunk like hell. Move away from me", he clutched her wrist and forced her away from him.
She pounced herself on him and started kissing him.
"Move away, Meenaxi. Just back off!!", he said and pushed her hard to the side. She lost her balance as her high heels slipped, and she fell on the glass table full on her face. The glass broke under her face, as it reached beyond the hollow of the table.
She stood up and turned only to watch Anuj walking hastily towards the exit, with all the waiters staring at her in horror.
"Anuj!", she shouted,"Dont you dare leave me like that! My brother wont tolerate my insult.", she said as
she felt some wetness dripping from her face. She rushed towards the bathroom. As she reached for the wash basin, she looked up and saw a deep scar running across her nose, with pieces of glass still stuck to the part, blood dripping all over. She cried frantically, further increasing the pain. She clinched her teeth and stared hard at her face in the mirror.
 "You will regret this Anuj Suryavanshi! I promise you that! You will pay heavily for this!!", she said and broke into another blot of insane crying.

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.
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Please help me promote the book and the page and make it a huge success.

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The Krishna Advantage

In older times, old enough to be termed mythological, the kings used to have a council of ministers, The Board of directors, who used to suggest various methods and tools to improve and expand their kingdom, generate more profits, while keeping the people happy.

Now, not all the kings were exactly concerned with keeping their people happy, they were more concerned with their exploits and trying hard for their names to be etched into the memory of all future generations to come. So, you have books and songs written about them, huge palaces built by them, and cities being named after them. Out of these kings, seldom came the ones, who had perfected the art and skills of management so well, that not only they grew to the divine status they deserved and commanded back in those times, they are synonymous to God even thousands of years later in this modern world. Lord Rama was one, Lord Krishna, another.

They didnt have any educational degrees back then, and neither the colleges which would specialize in such courses, so the practice of "branding" people with their educational qualification didnt exist. Whatever knowledge they possessed was majorly on account of them being earned through their initial years in Gurukuls and then while gaining experience when interacting with the world. It therefore, would be no smaller a feat, if a legend rises high, so as to attain a divine status. Sri Krishna had all what it takes to be one of the greatest managers of all times, and we are not talking of Bhagvad Gita yet.

(Credits- www.totalbhakti.com)

Ethics first: So, Arjuna was the husband of Krishna's half sister. And that would make him an ideal choice for Krishna to take sides with. Why the dilemma then, when both Duryodhana and Arjuna visited him to ask for his help?

Being an upholder of Dharma, Krishna would never take sides based on relations. An attribute similar to the concept of Internal Equity in management terms.

So, Krishna not only gives both of them an equal opportunity to take him into their sides(and Duryodhana pretty much knows it, the reason why he approaches Krishna), he also decides to be fair again and asks Arjuna to make a choice between himself and his entire army. Arjuna chooses Krishna himself, and the entire army is given to Duryodhana. So, Krishna always put ethics ahead of priorities. But now the question, why did Krishna give Arjuna the chance to make a choice?

(Credits- gardenofthefareast.com)

Why Arjuna? As per legends, Krishna was sleeping when both Duryodhana and Arjuna arrived near his bed side to ask for his help. Duryodhana arrived first, and considering himself to be the superior one, sat besides Krishna's head. Arjuna, who respected Krishna as a father-figure sits near his feet. When Krishna wakes up, he sees Arjuna first, and thus, decides to give him the choice of choosing first.

Krishna makes this decision, not because he knows that Arjuna respects him a lot and considers him a father-figure(that would have been a bad management skill!)

Krishna is always considered a father-figure, a Guru in the entire Mahabharata. If legends are to be believed, he has already shown God-like attributes and miracles before this setting. Still, Duryodhana, bitten by his ego, chooses not to respect Krishna, costing him the opportunity to make the first choice. Arjuna, a warrior himself greater than all his contemporaries, displays the qualities of a humble person. Arjuna places his aim and vision ahead of his ego and thus, Krishna chooses him to make his choice first.

On a side note, Duryodhana was quite happy on being given the army, this was what he would have chosen anyways.

(Image taken from internet)

Raas-Leela: I have never seen a divine and sacred term being misused and quoted in such derogatory terms as Raas-Leela, special thanks to Bollywood. 

As per legends, in Raas Lila, Krishna plays flute and girls danced around him. The Raas Leela happens in dark forests, where the girls are away from security of home and family, yet feel secure enough. They dance around Krishna, not for any duty or custom, they do so for the love of him, at their own free will. Krishna is believed to be giving complete attention to each and every girl, and the moment they try to gather more part of his attention or feel Krishna loves her more, Krishna disappears for her.

The above setting is the perfect model of how an organizational setup is ought to be. Everyone feels equally appreciated and safe within the realms of the organizational culture. No one is supposed to be jealous and there should be gradual warmth among people. There should be perfect harmony, and its all in the hands of the manager, the leader, the Krishna.

(Image taken from internet)

On another side-note, Krishna was only 8-10 years old when he performed the Raas Leelas, so to use the term in derogatory terms by Bollywood is not only incorrect, it is highly stupid.

Commitments First: Radha was the first and the biggest love of Krishna's life. They loved each other like the body and soul(jeev-Atma and Param-atma). What then, made him leave her and travel to Mathura?

(Image taken from internet)

Krishna and Radha were together since their early childhood days. It is even believed that radha was born blind, and she gained her sight only after seeing Krishna. The childhood pranks, the games they played together and their celebration of Holi is legendary. But, as a child, Krishna never knew that he was destined to be a king, nor did Radha.

Once Krishna knew he was to kill Kansa and then be crowned as the King, Radha choses to stay back and keep alive the memroies of their love together. A staunch believer of Karma, Krishna knew his destiny was now different from Radha and their love would never be the same once they are together in the palace. Her staying back would etch their eternal love forever in the Vrindavan.

Krishna chose to follow his commitments over his personal prefernces. He could have chosen to stay back, but then the world would never have seen such a just and enigmatic King. The Mahabharat would not have been won by Pandavas, the Bhagvad Geeta never told. The power of letting your personal desires go in the pursuit of betterment of organization is what he teaches us.

(Image taken from internet)

The Strategist: Krishna knew, had guessed it from the start itself, that with a smaller force, the Pandavas dont have much of a chance against the mighty Kauravas who had the likes of Duryodhana, Karna, Bhish-Pitamah, to name a few. He also knew that though Kauravas would stoop low to unethical methods, if situation demands it, but the Pandavas would never do it under Yudhishtira.

As a smart strategist, he never broke any rule, but bent the semantics of the rules much to the benefit of the Pandavas.

He knew Bhishm-Pitamah would never attack a eunuch, so he asks Shikhandi to stand in front of Arjuna while Arjuna shoots his arrows at him. Arjuna vowed that he would kill Jayadratha before sunset and Jayadratha goes into hiding. Krishna stages a solar eclipse to make Jayadratha believe the sun has set and come out of hiding.

A good and ethical manager never breaks the rules of the organization and the society, but should be smart enough to bend these rules, being in the realms of ethical processes, to the benefit of his company.

(Image taken from internet)

The Motivator: And finally the Bhagvad Geeta. For the sake of upliftment of Dharma, and the destruction of Adharma, Krishna would never shy away from taking any step. Even if it would mean destruction, it would be creative. Arjuna was worried that the people he is fighting are his own family, and there will be blood shed. Krishna not only motivates him to gear up for the battle to follow, he emphasizes on creative destruction. He controls the entire army of Pandavas under his single command and guides them to victory, in spite of facing the mammoth Kauravas.

And to think of it, in the end, Krishna had vowed not to play any combative role in the entire war. He was there as a strategist, motivator, a guiding force, never really taking part in the war physically, the qualities a good manager ought to have. In-spite of a smaller workforce, he guides them to success, purely based on his management skills. Skills, which no one taught him,which cannot be imparted, he learnt it himself. Each chapter of his life, be it his friendship with Sudama, his friendship with Arjuna, his fight with Kansa, has a lot to teach us. No wonder, he commands one of the biggest headcount of devotees in Hinduism.

Jai Shri Krishna

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.

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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

Image Credits

References:
1.) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/management-leaders/6-management-lessons-from-various-forms-of-lord-vishnu/krishna-on-not-being-wrong-in-breaking-rules-if-dharma-is-upheld/slideshow/19126174.cms
2.)http://themotivatorsarab.blogspot.in/2009/11/lessons-from-life-of-lord-krishna.html
3.) http://www.slideshare.net/ravi_volley/lord-krishna-as-a-strategist
4.) http://www.academia.edu/1055932/Application_of_Mythology_in_Modern_Indian_Management_Practices
5.) http://eawc.evansville.edu/essays/de.htm
6.) http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/why-did-krishna-choose-arjuna-instead-of-karna-drona-o-bhishma/

The Matrix Reloaded

असतो  मा सद  गमय,
(Lead us from darkness to the light)
तमसो मा  ज्योतिर गमय, 
(Lead us from knowledge of the unreal to the real)
मृत्योरमा अमृतं  गमय.
(Lead us from fear of death to knowledge of our immortality)
शांति, शांति , शांति .
(Peace, peace, peace.)

One of the biggest and most successful franchises of all times in the world, ends their trilogy in the year 2003 with four simple lines taken from Brihadaranyaka Upanishada.
Composed into an adrenaline rushing melody by Don Davis, he named the track "Navras".

Epic, for the first time in the history of cinema, had truly found a new address. The address was by the name of The Matrix. The grandest and the most complex phenomenon had hit the world, and till that day, Nolan wouldn't have even conceptualized Inception and Cameron had already given up the idea of Avatar once. Though, some would argue that The Matrix is much more complex than Inception and much more grand than Avatar, and believe me, I would not argue back on this.

Ever thought, what made the Wachowski Brothers end their most grand, most colossal and most ambitious project with a verse out of the sacred books of Hinduism, with all the cultures of the world at their helm to look into? Of course, they had to choose something eventually,  one could argue. And that seems true for a while. But as we try to dig in deeper and try to see more than whats easily visible to the eyes, reality confronts us on its own. There are obvious signs of Hindu symbolism all over The Matrix, and the verse was not a mere chance.

Namaste and welcome to the ninth post of the blog. I wish to take up yet another used and majorly discussed topic of all times. Understanding the pan-Indian philosophy of The Matrix. While its a mighty known fact that the entire movie was based around on the concept of Karma and the notion of One-ness (Neo being an anagram of One), I would still like to talk about the lesser talked about signs and symbols present in the movie. A special thanks to my friend Rohit Batra for giving me idea about the topic.

There is no spoon: "Sab Moh Maya hai" :- One of the heavily used jargons in engineering colleges around India. The line finds its heritage in various ancient sacred texts. The word 'Maya' appears 70 times in Rig Veda and 27 times in Atharva Veda. In the earliest of texts, Maya is believed to be an illusion which lets you forget your original nature or consciousness. Scientifically, this state is equivalent to being in a state of dream. A human falls into deep sleep, and then transcends into a state of dreaming. This transition of mind from deep sleep to dream state is Maya. Maya is creation out of nothing. In other words, The Matrix itself was Maya. From Morpheus, Neo learns that how he had perceived himself in the Matrix was simply "the mental projection of your digital self".

Sati: Sati is the first person which is shown after the Matrix is destroyed. Sati, being the wife of Shiva, the god of destruction is symbolic to resurrection and peace after mayhem.

"No one can be told what the Matrix is": One of the most famous lines of the Matrix, "No one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself", seems to have been directly picked from various chapters out of Bhagvad Gita and Shiva Purana, Ramayana, etc. In all these texts, more than explaining the concept of God and his divinity, the emphasis is on the devotion towards God, and understanding him, experiencing him.

The Unbalanced Equation: "Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix."- The Creator to Neo, The Matrix Reloaded.
Bhagvad Gita claims that evil is as important a part of the entire existence as the good. A concept well explained in Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code", this is the concept of duality. For the earth to spin, the good has to exist along with the bad. Destruction is as important as creation.

The Lotus: Neo sees a lotus towards the end of the movie. Lotus, again is a sacred symbol as per Hindu mythology, and Lord Brahma of the Divine Trinity sits on the lotus flower. Brahma is known as the creator of the Universe, and after Shiva plays his role of destruction, Brahma begins resurrection. The flower is seen at a point when the Matrix is going to be destructed, and a new Matrix will be created.

Krishna-Arjun: And now lets talk about the most interesting part of the entire Matrix-Hinduism symbolism. Doesnt the entire sequence where Morpheus introduces himself to Neo and subsequently to the Matrix and its semantics have a close resemblance to some well-known concept??

Yes, thats Krishna and Arjun for you on celluloid.

When Morpheus gives both the red and blue pills to Neo, and asks him to make a decision, he has yet not told anything about the after-effects. He lets Neo choose his destiny, much akin to Krishna asking Arjuna that acts of an individual is his sole choice. God can only be his helping hand, but the individual makes his decisions controlled by mother nature and his past Karma. This concept of Neo in total control of his own decisions and destiny comes up time and again during these sequences. When Morpheus takes Neo to meet Oracle, he says, "I can only show you the door, but you are the one who has to walk through it."

Krishna-Arjun(II): Morpheus' revelations that Neo's soul(trapped inside the Matrix) and Neo's body(trapped in the human battery farms) are completely distinct from each other and Neo, which he learns after taking the red pill, is again similar to Krishna telling Arjuna that his duties of the soul are different from his duties as the body. One can only experience the soul if he lets go of the false conceptions of the body.

To say that The Matrix was solely based on Hinduism alone, would be baseless. To claim that The Matrix was the only movie based on Hindu concepts, is again baseless. However, Hindu themes did form one of the most important baselines of the entire trilogy. Though we may find certain obvious and hidden references of Hindu symbolism in a number of movies like Inception, Avatar, etc, I chose The Matrix as it perfectly embraces Hinduism concepts like the Karma, Holy Trinity, etc and presents its own implementation of it, much to the viewer's delight.
Maybe, and just maybe the Wachowski brothers didnt have this much "Hinduism" in mind when conceptualizing The Matrix, but then that further strengthens the scientific base of Hinduism. It automatically applies to every modern and scientific concept of the world.

दैवी  ह्येसा  गुणमयी  मामा  माया  दुरत्यया 

मामेव  ये  प्रपद्यन्ते  मायामेतम  तरन्ति  ते

(Bhagvad Gita ShlokaII.4)

In other words,

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

I would like to end the post as of now, and would like to know what you thought about it.
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
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

References:
1.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gadadhara-pandit-dasa/the-matrix-through-hinduism_b_1925721.html.
2.) http://forums.gameaxis.com/showthread.php?t=1436777
3.) http://www.scribd.com/doc/16880/The-Matrix-Decoded
4.) http://thematrix101.com/revolutions/symbolism.php
5.) http://forums.gameaxis.com/showthread.php?t=1436777
6.) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/?ref_=sr_1