An interesting Hindu article critical of the term, Vedic Mathematics

Last updated on October 15th 2014

Today's Hindu has this article, Nothing Vedic in ‘Vedic Maths’, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/nothing-vedic-in-vedic-maths/article6373689.ece, which I found to be quite interesting and informative. However I am not knowledgeable about this topic and so do not know how truthful the article is.

BTW the author, C.K. Raju, seems to be quite a famous Mathematics scholar (besides being involved in other fields including Computer Science), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._K._Raju, http://ckraju.net/index.html.

A small extract & some comments:

Vedic mathematics has no relation whatsoever to the Vedas. It actually originates from a book misleadingly titled Vedic Mathematics by Bharati Krishna Tirtha.

[Ravi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_Mathematics_(book) states, "When challenged by Professor K.S. Shukla to point out the sutras in question in the Parishishta of the Atharvaveda, Shukla reported that the Tirthaji said that the sixteen sutras were not in the standard editions of the Parishishta, and that they occurred in his own Parishishta and not any other." So, while I am open to a possible conclusion that "Vedic Mathematics" is not found in any standard recensions (editions/versions) of Vedic texts, the author seems to be stretching it a bit when he states that Tirtha's book admits that the title is misleading!]
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[Ravi: Interesting that the author thinks that traditional Indian ganita has much to offer to India's educational system.]

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Ravi: It would be interesting to read a counter article by pro "Vedic Mathematics" expert(s). BTW I am not a Maths guy but I am interested in the Vedas, and so would like to know what other experts think about "Vedic Mathematics".

Note: A comment of mine on the lines of my comments in this post, appears on The Hindu article webpage, under the name, Ravi S. Iyer.

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Here's an interesting pro-Vedic Mathematics response article, Everything Vedic in ‘Vedic Maths’, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/everything-vedic-in-vedic-maths/article6500986.ece, by James Glover, dated Oct. 15th 2014.

Some short extracts from it:

Vedic Maths is concerned with a universal structure of Maths revealed through a personal approach to problem-solving and other fields of human activity. It is described by a small collection of aphorisms called sutras. Sutras express naturally occurring mental processes by which mathematical problems can be solved with the least effort.

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The sutras also reflect deeper philosophical truths concerning human nature, our perception of the world and our relationship with it.

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Ravi: It is good to see a counter article to Prof. Raju's article critical of Vedic Maths.