India that is Bharat, consists of two fringe groups of fanatics. One group, has a fascination for everything that is foreign, and contempt for anything that is indigenous. They consider themselves westernized, progressive and rational. The other group consists of people who consider that everything which is a part of Indian tradition is the best in the world and try to rationalize even the most obnoxious customs of yesteryears like Sati, Devdasi system etc. Both these attitudes stem out of some sort of or rather, shall we say the same sort of inferiority complex, which arises due to constant comparisons between what is ones own and that which belongs to some one elses.
Srikrishnamangals opinion in this matter is that a scientific and rational approach does not recognize any geographical barriers and judges each thing on its own merit. Kalidasa said Santah pareekshyaiva anyatharath bhajante mudhah parapratyaya neya buddhih. The good and the wise follow this or that path, only after proper examination; while fools mortgage their thinking faculties to be controlled by others (belonging to either of the above two groups).
Nothings else can be a better example for such compartmentalized attitudes than the stands taken by different groups of Indians towards the relevance of Vedic Mathematics to the 21st Century students.
On the one hand, the Sangh Parivar has introduced Vedia mathematics in schools of UP and are extolling its virtues and superiority over other systems of mathematics. Their main attraction towards this system is not its utility, but its being Indian and Vedic. Had the same system had a foreign origin, whether they would have adopted it with the same enthusiasm is a mute question. It is the same set of Indians who had opposed the entry of Colour T. V. and computers when they were introduced to India.
On the other hand, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research had decided that the book wrote by Sankaracharya was not fit to be kept in its library. This happened long ago. Whether they had changed their minds now due to political compulsions, I wonder.
Before going to the details regarding the pros and cons of the matter, let us understand what is Vedic Mathematics is all about. The Sankaracharya of Govardhana Peetha, Puri, Shri Bharati Krishna Teertha, wrote the book which was published in India, 1965. The author (1884-1960) was a great scholar and had obtained, seven masters degrees at the age of 20. In this book, he had claimed that the 16 Sutras quoted by him, from some Vedic source, consisting of a mere 120 words, can solve all the worlds mathematical problems.
The major objection of Indian scholars to this claim is that it is too tall an order and incredible and they could not be digested by them even before testing it. Secondly the author has not demonstrated any link between the Vedas and his system of mathematics. Hence the title, Vedic Mathematics was a misnomer. Thirdly, according to them, this method would have been useful, if the paper and pencil were not freely available, and if one had to carry out the mathematical operations in ones mind only. What is the use of this system, when we have sophisticated computers and micro processors?
Let us analyse the above arguments one by one. First about the Vedic credentials: The root Vid means to know, in Sanskrit. In that sense, any school of knowledge or thought is Vedic. Other than that there is no concrete evidence to proved that these sixteen Sutras belong to Atharwana Veda or any other upa-Vedas. It was a device adopted among the Pandits in the middle ages, to write Sthala Puranas (stories of the deities being worshipped at various temples of India) and interpolate them in any of the 18 Puranas to gain authenticity. Various atharwaseersa stotras, khila suktas, Satyanarayana Vrata Mahatmya etc. belong to this category. The above mathematic sutras may one of its kind or it may be Sankaracharyas own creation. The purpose of such interpolations are to make their contents accepted easily by the public.
But does it really matter? According to British scholar, Mr. A. P. Nicholas, It is a waste of time to squabble over the origin of the system, but it is fruitful to explore the system with the belief that there is no limitation to it.
The only thing that matters is whether Vedic Mathematics is useful to the students in any way; the answer is yes. According to Mr. A. P. Nicholas the system has enormous potential for solving problems in geometry, applied mathematics and modern astronomy. For example, Mr. Ken Williams of University College, London, who has mastered the system for solving modern astronomical problems, could solve what is called, Keplers Equation in 90 second. The simple equation has no algebraic solution and is solved normally by a trial and error method, which required repeated guesses.
The elements of the system of Vedic Mathematics are already being taught in some London schools. The speciality of this system is its easier mental calculations. There is an unconfirmed story regarding this. A teacher in London prison school was given the job of teaching mathematics to child prisoners between the ages of 12 and 17. He found it too difficult to teach them the number tables from 1 to 16 and ask them to learn by heart. Young children between the age of 3 to 10 can easily mug up anything that is taught. As their age increases, their ability to learn by rot method decreases. May be it is the possible reason that our ancestors insisted on children to learn the Vedas and Sutras by rot method, without explaining their meanings.
Hence the teacher adopted a novel way to teach the students. He used the methods explained in the Vedic Mathematics successfully. He found that the students were able to solve the problems of multiplications, divisions etc. without resorting to number tables.
Even in India, we find our elders including old ladies make the toughest calculations mentally by adopting some such short cuts.
Further, Srikrishnamangal would like to vouchsafe that the reasons for the phenomenal success of Indians throughout the world in I. T. , scientific research can be attributed to their mental calculating / comprehending abilities. This in turn, can be due to the influence of Sutra literature on generations after generations for centuries. For example, 14 Panian Sutras had explained the entire Sanskrit Grammar and phonetics. Similarly, there are Brahma Sutras, Yoga Sutras, Dharma Sutras etc. The purpose and utility of these Sutras is to condense bulk of informations into smallest possible capsules. The 16 Sutras of Vedic Mathematics is also one such effort to make students understand easily, bulk of mathematical materials which already exist. No amount of computing technology can substitute human intellect. The role of computers etc. are of accessorial in nature. According to our considered opinion, though this subject should not be taught in substitution of the existing curriculum. It should no doubt, form a part of the total mathematical syllabus being taught in our schools and colleges (preferably at higher standards). The contents of 16 Sutras and their utility will be dealt with in our next edition.