"India was the motherland of our
race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages. India was the mother
of our philosophy, of much of our mathematics, of the ideals embodied in
Christianity...of self-government and democracy. In many ways, Mother
India is the mother of us all." - Will Durant, American Historian
1885-1981
What is an
ancient system of mathematics that is being taught in some of the most prestigious
institutions in England and Europe and not in India? It is Vedic
mathematics-a long forgotten technique for mathematical calculations! It
is amazing how with the help of 16 sutras and 16 upa-sutras you will be
able to solve/calculate complex mathematical problems-mentally! The basic
roots of Vedic mathematics lie in Vedas jus as basic roots of Hinduism.
Vedic Maths form part of Jyothisha which is one of the six Vedangas. To
many Indians Vedic and Sanskrit slokas/manthras are relevant only for religious
purposes/occasions. But Vedas
(written around 1500-900 BCE) in fact are a treasure house of knowledge
and human experience-both secular and spiritual. Here you will will get an
idea about the power of Vedic Mathematics.
Vedic
Number Representation
Vedic knowledge is in the
form of slokas or poems in Sanskrit verse. A number was encoded using
consonant groups of the Sanskrit alphabet, and vowels were provided as
additional latitude to the author in poetic composition. The coding key is
given as Kaadi nav, taadi nav, paadi panchak, yaadashtak ta ksha shunyam
Translated as below ·
Varnmala
ka
kha ga gha gna
cha
chha ja jha inja
ta
tha da dha na
pa
pha ba bha ma
ya
ra la va sha
sha
sa ha chjha tra gna
letter
"ka" and the following eight
letters
letter
"ta" and the following eight
letters
letter
"pa" and the following four
letters
letter
"ya" and the following seven
letters, and
letter
"ksha" for zero.
In other words,
ka,
ta, pa, ya = 1
kha,
tha, pha, ra = 2
ga,
da, ba, la = 3
gha,
dha, bha, va = 4
gna,
na, ma, scha = 5
cha,
ta, sha = 6
chha,
tha, sa = 7
ja,
da, ha = 8
jha,
dha = 9
ksha
= 0
Thus pa pa is 11, ma
ra is 52. Words kapa, tapa , papa, and
yapa all mean the same that is 11.
