Vedic Maths

Advocating ‘Vedic mathematics’ as a
replacement for traditional Indian

arithmetic is hardly an act of
nationalism; it only shows ignorance
of the history of mathematics
Gujarat has made it compulsory for school

students to read the texts of Dinanath Batra,
endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to news reports, Mr. Batra has
now proposed a non-
governmental education commission which
will Indianise education through, for
instance, Vedic mathematics. The Minister
for Education has also mentioned Vedic
mathematics as part of her agenda.
One appreciates the desire of these people to

work for Indian traditions. But where in the
Vedas is “Vedic mathematics” to be found?
Nowhere. Vedic mathematics has no relation
whatsoever to the Vedas. It actually
originates from a book misleadingly
titled Vedic Mathematics by Bharati
Krishna Tirtha. The book admits on its first
page that its title is misleading and that the
(elementary arithmetic) algorithms
expounded in the book have nothing to do
with the Vedas. This is repeated on p. xxxv:
“Obviously these formulas are not to be
found in the present recensions of
Atharvaveda.” I have been pointing this out
since 1998. Regrettably, the advocates of
“Vedic mathematics,” though they claim to
champion Indian tradition, are ignorant of
the actual tradition in the Vedas. Second,
they do not even know what is stated in the
book — the real source of “Vedic
mathematics.” Third, they are unaware of
scholarly writing on the subject. When
education policy is decided by such ignorant
people, they only end up making a laughing
stock of themselves and the Vedas, and thus
do a great disservice to the very tradition
which they claim to champion.
Everyone learns how to add, subtract,

multiply and divide in school. Why should
we replace those algorithms with “Vedic
mathematics”? Will that Indianise
education? No. The standard arithmetic
algorithms actually originated in India,
where they were known by various names
such as patiganita(slate arithmetic).
However, the word “algorithm” comes from
“algorithmus”: the Latinised name of al
Khwarizmi of the 9th century House of
Wisdom in Baghdad. He wrote an
expository book on Indian arithmetic
called Hisab al Hind. Gerbert
d’Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II), the
leading European mathematician of the 10th
century, imported these arithmetic
techniques from the Umayyad Khilafat of
Córdoba. He did so because the primitive
Greek and Roman system of arithmetic (tied
to the abacus), then prevailing in Europe,
was no match for Indian arithmetic.
However, accustomed to the abacus (on
which he wrote a tome), Gerbert was
perplexed by algorithms based on the place-
value system, and foolishly got a special
abacus (apices) constructed for these
“Arabic numerals” in 976 CE. Hence the
name “Arabic numerals” — because a
learned pope amusingly thought there was
some magic in the shape of the numerals
which made arithmetic efficient.
Later, Florentine merchants realised that

efficient Indian arithmetic algorithms
conferred a competitive advantage in
commerce. Fibonacci, who traded across
Islamic Africa, translated al Khwarizmi’s
work, as did many others, which is why they
came to be known as algorithms. Eventually,
after 600 years, Indian algorithms displaced
the European abacus and were introduced in
the Jesuit syllabus as “practical
mathematics” circa 1570 by Christoph
Clavius. These algorithms are found in
many early Indian texts, such as
the Patiganita of Sridhar or the Ganita
Sara Sangraha of Mahavira, or
the Lilavati of Bhaskara II. So, advocating
“Vedic mathematics” as a replacement for
traditional Indian arithmetic is hardly an act
of nationalism. On the contrary, it only
shows ignorance of the history of
mathematics. Spreading this ignorance
among future generations will weaken the
nation, not strengthen it.
The techniques of “Vedic mathematics” are

designed for mental arithmetic, traditionally
used by lower caste artisans such as
carpenters or by people like Shakuntala
Devi. There are many other such systems of
mental arithmetic today. If that is what we
intend to promote, we should first do a
systematic comparison. We should also be
honest and refrain from using the misleading
label “Vedic” which is the main selling point
of Bharti Krishna Tirtha’s system, and which
attracts gullible people who infer value just
from the wrapper.
Suppressing real Mathematics
Promoting the wrongly labelled “Vedic

mathematics” suppresses the mathematics
that really does exist in the Vedas. For
example, Yajurveda 17.2 elaborates on the
decimal place value system (the basis of
Indian algorithms) and some of those names
for numbers are still in use, though terms
such as arab (arbudam) have changed
meaning. That passage shows that the place
value system extends back to Vedic times,
and it was a late acquisition only in
mathematically backward Europe.
Likewise, the theory of permutations and

combinations is built into the Vedic metre
(and Indian music in general), as explained
in various texts from
Pingala’s Chandahsutra to
Bhaskar’s Lilavati. The aksa sukta of
the Rgveda gives a beautiful account of the
game of dice, which is the foundation of the
theory of probability. The romantic story of
Nala and Damayanti in the Mahabharata
further relates dice to sampling theory (to
count the number of fruits in a tree).
More details are in my article on

“Probability in Ancient India” available
online and published in the
Elsevier Handbook of the Philosophy
of Statistics. However, all these scholarly
efforts are jeopardised, for they too are
viewed with suspicion.
We need to change the Western and colonial

education system, especially with regard to
mathematics. Traditional Indian ganita has
much to offer in this process, but “Vedic
mathematics” is definitely not the right way.
Wrong solutions like “Vedic mathematics”

persist because an insecure political
dispensation values the politically loyal over
the learned who are loyal to the truth.
(“Merit” apparently is important only in the
context of reservations.) Such political
processes are historically known to damage
real traditions.
As I wrote over a decade ago in my

book The Eleven Pictures of Time,
those who attain or retain state power
through religion are the worst enemies of
that religion, whatever be the religion they
claim to represent: Christianity, Islam, or
Hinduism.

Vedic Maths

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Advocating ‘Vedic mathematics’ as a

replacement for traditional Indian

Gujarat has made it compulsory for school

One appreciates the desire of these people to

Everyone learns how to add, subtract,

Later, Florentine merchants realised that

The techniques of “Vedic mathematics” are

Promoting the wrongly labelled “Vedic

Likewise, the theory of permutations and

More details are in my article on

We need to change the Western and colonial

Wrong solutions like “Vedic mathematics”

As I wrote over a decade ago in my

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