Hinduism is mostly known for its philosophical, truth-seeking and spiritual teachings. It turns out however that, thousands of years ago, the ancient gurus in India also scribbled out a mass of very practical learning in the form of an entire system of mathematical thought, now known as Vedic mathematics.

Hinduism is mostly known for its philosophical, truth-seeking and spiritual teachings. It turns out however that, thousands of years ago, the ancient gurus in India also scribbled out a mass of very practical learning in the form of an entire system of mathematical thought, now known as Vedic mathematics.

A description of Vedic maths commonly begins by noting that it highlights sixteen doctrines or sutras. When read flatly by themselves, these sutras do not have much meaning. That is because they are intended as terse observations, not whole ideas. They are aphorisms that must be fleshed out by demonstration.

A Hindu Swami named Jagadguru Krsna Tirthaji was the most prominent student of Vedic maths. Much of the modern understanding of this mathematical system is due to his early study of the Veda texts and their presentation in accessible form to a wider audience.

His description of Vedic maths commonly starts by identifying a series of qualitative axioms, that is, formulae written in words rather than quantitative symbols. Like all formulae, these axioms or summarise the approach adopted by Vedic maths to solve mathematical problems.

For example, one axiom is summarised by the following phrase, deduct all from nine but the last from ten. This rule can be applied to subtraction involving base ten numbers. For example, to deduct 234 from 1000, 2 and 3 are subtracted from 9 and 4 is subtracted from 10. These three subtractions yield 7 and 6 and 6 respectively, being 766.

As a further example, take the second sutra vertically and crosswise. This principle can be applied to multiplication. For instance, take the task of multiplying 53 by 61. We know from mainstream long multiplication rules of arithmetic that the answer is 3233. Vedic maths yields the same result by a different method, one where we multiply vertically and crosswise in a three step process. First, we multiply vertically the last two digits of each figure, 3 times 1 equals 3; that becomes the last digit of the solution. Second, we multiply crosswise and add the results, 5 times 1 plus 3 times 6 equals 23; so we put down 3 as another digit in the solution, and then carry 2. Finally, similar to the first step, we multiply vertically the first two digits of each figure, 5 times 6 equals 30. So working from right to left we have the solution digits of 3 then 3 and finally 30 plus the 2. So the solution is 3233.

In short, Vedic math provides an alternative set of rules to arrive at the same answers a conventional maths. Vedic maths is not commonly presented to high school students within the mainstream educational system. Teachers that do teach Vedic mathematics generally report a positive outcome. Some students seem to find Vedic maths more instinctive and hence easier to master.