Vedic
math
Vedic mathematics (book) | |Note that there are two distinct articles with almost the same name: this one has "mathematics" lowercase, Vedic Mathematics (book) has "Mathematics" capitalised.
For the actual mathematics of the Vedic period, see Sulba Sūtras and Indian mathematics.
Vedic mathematics is a list of sixteen basic sūtras, or aphorisms, presented by a Hindu scholar and mathematician, Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja, during the early part of the 20th century.[1] While its author claimed it to be a system of mathematics, this is not generally accepted, and it is more generally regarded as a set of strategies for calculation. These are said to be creative and useful, and can be applied in a number of ways to calculation methods in arithmetic and algebra, most notably within the education system. Some of its methods share similarities with the Trachtenberg system.
Tirthaji claimed that he found the sūtras after years of studying the Vedas, a set of sacred ancient Hindu texts.[2] However, Vedas do not contain any of the "Vedic mathematics" sutras.[3][4]
Origin of the system
There has been much controversy among Indian scholars about Tirthaji’s claims that the mathematics is Vedic and that it encompasses all aspects of mathematics (Kansara, 2000).
First, Tirthaji’s description of the mathematics as Vedic is most commonly criticised on the basis that, thus far, none of the sūtras can be found in any extant Vedic literature (Williams, 2000). When challenged by Prof K.S. Shukla to point out the sutras in question in the Parishishta of the Atharvaveda, Shukla reported that the swamiji said that the sixteen sutras were not in the standard editions of the Parishishta, and that they occurred in his own Parishishta and not any other.[5][6] Considering the lack of references to the sūtras, coupled with the fact that the language style does not seem Vedic, some propose that the sūtras were simply composed by Tirthaji himself.
Critics have questioned whether
Vedic mathematics (book) | |Note that there are two distinct articles with almost the same name: this one has "mathematics" lowercase, Vedic Mathematics (book) has "Mathematics" capitalised.
For the actual mathematics of the Vedic period, see Sulba Sūtras and Indian mathematics.
Vedic mathematics is a list of sixteen basic sūtras, or aphorisms, presented by a Hindu scholar and mathematician, Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja, during the early part of the 20th century.[1] While its author claimed it to be a system of mathematics, this is not generally accepted, and it is more generally regarded as a set of strategies for calculation. These are said to be creative and useful, and can be applied in a number of ways to calculation methods in arithmetic and algebra, most notably within the education system. Some of its methods share similarities with the Trachtenberg system.
Tirthaji claimed that he found the sūtras after years of studying the Vedas, a set of sacred ancient Hindu texts.[2] However, Vedas do not contain any of the "Vedic mathematics" sutras.[3][4]
Origin of the system
There has been much controversy among Indian scholars about Tirthaji’s claims that the mathematics is Vedic and that it encompasses all aspects of mathematics (Kansara, 2000).
First, Tirthaji’s description of the mathematics as Vedic is most commonly criticised on the basis that, thus far, none of the sūtras can be found in any extant Vedic literature (Williams, 2000). When challenged by Prof K.S. Shukla to point out the sutras in question in the Parishishta of the Atharvaveda, Shukla reported that the swamiji said that the sixteen sutras were not in the standard editions of the Parishishta, and that they occurred in his own Parishishta and not any other.[5][6] Considering the lack of references to the sūtras, coupled with the fact that the language style does not seem Vedic, some propose that the sūtras were simply composed by Tirthaji himself.
Critics have questioned whether