My 25-Year Journey with Vedic Mathematics
It took me a while to decide, when I was in my college, whether to devote my life to Vedic Mathematics or not. It’s been 25 years since, and I have not regretted a single moment where the choice I made to contribute to the country in Vedic Maths was right or wrong.
I see it as a transformative experience, not only for myself, but for all my students, because in the process of teaching this beautiful subject I met so many people, did so many things, worked with so many different people (students, teachers, parents), and traveled. I can’t be more grateful and thankful to God Almighty for giving this part to me for doing Vedic mathematics. It’s been an absolutely wonderful journey, and the journey started when I was preparing for the CAT examination, which was to get into a business school.
How I Discovered Vedic Mathematics
At that point in time, the internet was just warming up. It had just started around the year 2000. That was the year just after the dot-com bubble, when I graduated and started understanding the internet of sorts.
After I made the decision to study to go to business school, I was preparing for my examination, and that was the time when my mom got me the book called Vedic Mathematics. It was around that time that I realized the value of that book, which she gave me, because initially I thought I never knew about Hindu mathematics or English mathematics or Greek mathematics or Latin mathematics. I was saying maths was just maths, right? It just had proofs, formulas, theorems, and it was fun for me because I could understand them.
When this book, Vedic Mathematics by Swami Shri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaj, came to me, I was like, “Wow, what kind of a book is this? Never seen it.” I kept it away for a while, but then again, one fine day, I picked it up and started reading it. The first chapter enthralled me so much, where they are showing examples of how to calculate things in less time, showing me the formulas and showing me the way to do it.
Discovering the Nikhilam Sutra
I came across this wonderful sutra called the Nikhilam Navatashcaram Dasataha. Translated into English, it means “All from 9 and last from 10.” Essentially, it is a sutra in Sanskrit, which is Nikhilam Navatashcaram Dasataha. It is a beautiful, beautiful sutra because, a question like 98 × 97, could be solved in so much less time that you can’t even believe it. That was very, very fascinating for me. I could just dream about that sutra: wow, such a thing could exist also, and that too, a few hundred years from here, our ancient seers were using that sutra to calculate in ancient India. All of this technology in mathematics was lost, and it was brought back to life by Tirthaji Maharaj, who was also the Shankaracharya of Puri.
How Nikhilam Sutra Helps with Mental Calculations
This Nikhilam Sutra has amazing applications in subtraction, which stands for “All from 9 and last from 10,” and it has many full applications in multiplication as well. It not only helps you to calculate mentally, but you can do some superb calculations mentally, with your eyes shut also, because it’s a pattern-based sutra. A problem like 101 × 101 can be done mentally in split seconds. I realized the value of it and felt that I must write about it and talk to people about the Sutra. At the time, I shared it with friends and friends of friends in my CAT coaching classes, where I was teaching, and soon realized that not many people knew about it.
That gave me, at that point in time, some competitive edge, because what I could do using the sutra, not many people could do it.
From CAT Preparation to the TED Stage
One fine day, I came to know that there is a TED event happening in Bangalore, and the entire TED team from Los Angeles and New York will be in India for a talent search for the next best idea. I was very excited when I heard that, because TED was something I really wanted to be a part of. TED was looking for an idea worth spreading, and I was like, “Wow, if I could get on this stage, many more people would know about Vedic Maths, because that was my idea I was spreading.”
I went to Bangalore and auditioned, and then there were other people like me as well. There were some students, somebody who was a yoga practitioner, somebody who was a spiritual documentary maker, and somebody who was an engineer from Germany who invented something. There were a lot of people who were there, and I was like, “Do I really have a chance to be there amongst all the nice people there to even speak about an idea which I loved, which was Vedic Mathematics?”
Sharing Vedic Mathematics Through TED
Nonetheless, the catch was that if you had the maximum views for your video, which was after the talk, you would be taken to the U.S. on an all-expense-paid trip, and you would have the opportunity to give a TED talk. I was like, “Wow.” So, I went to Bangalore and gave my TED talk. Luckily for me, by the grace of God, I got the maximum amount of views for my video. It was a TED talent search video.
After the show was over and everything, and the views came in, that was the time when I was told that my talk was great and I had a chance to go to New York to present a talk. I was excited to no bounds because this was the first time that I was going to the U.S. I got my visa formalities done, this invite letter, and very soon I was in New York and gave my TED talk in New York. It was part of the TED@Youth in New York, and I gave a 9-minute talk.
The Nikhilam Sutra and Its Educational Value
After a few months, it was released on YouTube, and it caught on like wildfire. Today, we have about more than 4.5 million views on that talk. It became a seminal talk on Vedic Maths, and I presented the Nikhilam Sutra there. Once it became a seminal talk, there were a lot of other things happening around the corner. A lot of people wanted me to write a book for them. A lot of people invited me to other talks also, and so far I have had the opportunity to give about 7 TEDx talks. I was invited to other stages as well to talk about Vedic Mathematics.
I think this sutra, the Nikhilam Sutra, has been lucky for me as well, and it introduced a lot of people to Vedic Mathematics. If you Google today also on YouTube and search for it, you would see that it has the maximum views. Not only that, but it has a lot of educational value. Nikhilam Sutra, according to me, is one of the best sutras which can help you to calculate faster. You can extend the pattern to higher digits, and for young children, if you’re struggling with your multiplication tables, you can also do it quicker with the Nikhilam Sutra.
When Should You Use the Nikhilam Sutra?
It’s fast, guys. It’s not a general sutra by which you can apply and multiply all the numbers which are there. A special sutra by which you can multiply those numbers which are near the power of 10, like 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, and so on. No matter how big the number is, if it’s close to the base, which is the power of 10, you can multiply it very, very quickly. You can also have sub-bases, like other multiples: if the number is near 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 80, 200, 300, 400, you can still multiply them with ease. It’s a great sutra to keep handy in your armor of so many techniques which you will be learning. It’s a great, great technique.
How Teachers Can Use Nikhilam Sutra in the Classroom
Now I want to talk a bit about the effect it has on teachers. Teachers, just pay attention now, because what happens is that when you introduce the Nikhilam Sutra to your students, they will get excited about the simplicity, ease, fun, and joy of learning which they feel through the Nikhilam Sutra. You need to capitalize on the confidence which you create with your students, because they will want to go fast very, very soon. You need to guide them and take care of them in an easy way, which I’m going to show you. Once your students understand the principle behind the Nikhilam Sutra, the pattern which is there, they need to be able to do squares less than 99 mentally.
Teaching Mental Squares with Vedic Maths
Very simple: 99 squared, 98 squared, 97 squared, and so on. They can do it mentally. Just give them some time, guide them, let them shut their eyes, and you guide them through the process so that they understand:
- How do patterns work?
- How do the sutras work?
- How does the Nikhilam Sutra work in this case?
Then you teach them how to do squares of numbers above 100 mentally. That is, 101 squared, 102 squared, 103 squared, 104 squared, and so on.
Developing Number Visualization Skills
As they progress, you need to guide them further. You need to slowly take them into the sessions and give them visualization techniques. That is, teach them how to visualize numbers with their eyes shut. Once you teach them with their eyes shut. They would begin to feel like it is magic, it’s fun, and it’s joyful. Give them that, and then you take them into finding the square of numbers more than 1,000. You see, the effort is reduced if it’s more than 1,000. If it’s 1,001, 1,002, and 1,003, you would realize after a point that there’s no need to carry over unless it’s a really big number. You don’t need to carry over anything, and it’s simple, easy, and very, very doable.
Building Students’ Confidence in Mathematics
Teachers give them visualization techniques. Also, what you can do is give your students some techniques of self-affirmations, like:
- I am good at maths.
- I’m having fun with maths.
- I’m joyful with numbers.
- Maths is not difficult for me.
- Maths is easy for me.
Final Thoughts on Learning Vedic Mathematics
You need to give them positive affirmations. Make them feel that they really like maths and enjoy learning it. Slowly, you will see their attitude toward mathematics begin to change. Maths can shift from something boring or difficult to something fun and joyful. With the right guidance, students can develop a more positive and confident approach to mathematics. You can do that!