SAFFRON BRIGADES OBSESSION WITH 'DIVINE ANCIENT WISDOM';
'VEDIC MATHEMATICS' ;
Religious extremism has been the root cause of most of the
world problems since time immemorial. It has decided the fates
of men and nations. In a vast nation like India, the imposition of
religious dogma and discrimination upon the people has taken
place after the upsurge of Hindu rightwing forces in the political
arena. As a consequence of their political ascendancy in the
northern states of India, they started to rewrite school textbooks
in an extremely biased manner that was fundamentalist and
revivalist. Not only did they meddle with subjects like history
(which was their main area of operation), but they also imposed
their religious agenda on the science subjects. There was a plan
to introduce Vedic Astrology in the school syllabus across the
nation, which was dropped after a major hue and cry from
secular intellectuals.
This obsession with ‘Vedic’ results from the fundamentalist
Hindu organizations need to claim their identity as Aryan (and
hence of Caucasian origin) and hence superior to the rest of the
native inhabitants of India. The ‘Vedas’ are considered ‘divine’
in origin and are assumed to be direct revelations from God.
The whole corpus of Vedic literature is in Sanskrit. The Vedas
are four in number: Rgveda, Saamaveda, Yajurveda and
Atharvaveda. In traditional Hinduism, the Vedas as a body of
knowledge were to be learnt only by the ‘upper’ caste Hindus
and the ‘lower castes’ (Sudras) and so-called ‘untouchables’
(who were outside the Hindu social order) were forbidden from
learning or even hearing to their recitation. For several
centuries, the Vedas were not written down but passed from
generation to generation through oral transmission. While
religious significance is essential for maintaining Aryan
supremacy and the caste system, the claims made about the
Vedas were of the highest order of hyperbole. Murli Manohar
Joshi, a senior Cabinet minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) that ruled India from 1999-2004 went on to claim that a
cure of the dreaded AIDS was available in the Vedas!
And now,Smiriti Irani ,new Avatar of human resources development,under newly constituted BJP ministry has declared her profound faith and priority for ancient divine wisdom. Accordingly Vedic mathematics is soon going to be a buzz word and in due course of time all necessary initiatives will be undertaken to popularize Vedic Mathematics under the policy of redefined and rediscovered education policy based exclusively on much publicized Bhartiya sabhyta tatha sanskrti.
What are the contents of Vedic mathematics and what are its scriptural references ?The only supposedly authoritative book on the subject is-"Vedic Mathematics "authored by Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha [1884-1960],the Shankracharya of Goverdhana Matha, Puri.The content and text of the book is based on 16 Sutras [aphorisms from aika adhikain porvaina to gunakasamachhyah] and 13 Subsutras [anuropyena to gunitsmachhya].Any way,there is nothing Vedic about said content and context,as they are the authors self composed and homespun sentences in modern Sanskrit.Not only that,the 355 page book contains neither any quotation from the Vedas nor does it refer to any Vedic verse or sentence..The book is completely un-Vedic.This fact,in a way,exposes the myth of the Vedic mathematics.Had there been concerned verses available in the Vedas,the learned author would have quoted them.
Dr.K.S.Shukla,formerly professor of mathematics,Lucknow University,in his essay-"Vedic Mathematics-the Deceptive title of Swamiji's book" has commented,"...bears the impression that it deals with the mathematics contained in the Vedas.This indeed is not the case as the book deals not with Vedic mathematics but with modern elementary mathematics".[Issues in Vedic mathematics,page 31]. Dr Shukla has examined in detail all the 40 chapters of said book and concluded-"from the contents it is evident that the mathematics dealt with in the book is far removed from that of the Vedic period.Instead,it is that mathematics which which is taught at present to high school and intermediate classes.It is indeed the result of Swami ji's own experience
as a teacher of mathematics in his early life.Not a single method described is Vedic,but the Swami ji has declared all the methods and processes explained by him as Vedic and ancient."[Ibid,page 34-35].
In simple words,it is like selling a modern statue in the name of an antique.A clearcut deception is involved there.
'VEDIC MATHEMATICS' ;
Religious extremism has been the root cause of most of the
world problems since time immemorial. It has decided the fates
of men and nations. In a vast nation like India, the imposition of
religious dogma and discrimination upon the people has taken
place after the upsurge of Hindu rightwing forces in the political
arena. As a consequence of their political ascendancy in the
northern states of India, they started to rewrite school textbooks
in an extremely biased manner that was fundamentalist and
revivalist. Not only did they meddle with subjects like history
(which was their main area of operation), but they also imposed
their religious agenda on the science subjects. There was a plan
to introduce Vedic Astrology in the school syllabus across the
nation, which was dropped after a major hue and cry from
secular intellectuals.
This obsession with ‘Vedic’ results from the fundamentalist
Hindu organizations need to claim their identity as Aryan (and
hence of Caucasian origin) and hence superior to the rest of the
native inhabitants of India. The ‘Vedas’ are considered ‘divine’
in origin and are assumed to be direct revelations from God.
The whole corpus of Vedic literature is in Sanskrit. The Vedas
are four in number: Rgveda, Saamaveda, Yajurveda and
Atharvaveda. In traditional Hinduism, the Vedas as a body of
knowledge were to be learnt only by the ‘upper’ caste Hindus
and the ‘lower castes’ (Sudras) and so-called ‘untouchables’
(who were outside the Hindu social order) were forbidden from
learning or even hearing to their recitation. For several
centuries, the Vedas were not written down but passed from
generation to generation through oral transmission. While
religious significance is essential for maintaining Aryan
supremacy and the caste system, the claims made about the
Vedas were of the highest order of hyperbole. Murli Manohar
Joshi, a senior Cabinet minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) that ruled India from 1999-2004 went on to claim that a
cure of the dreaded AIDS was available in the Vedas!
And now,Smiriti Irani ,new Avatar of human resources development,under newly constituted BJP ministry has declared her profound faith and priority for ancient divine wisdom. Accordingly Vedic mathematics is soon going to be a buzz word and in due course of time all necessary initiatives will be undertaken to popularize Vedic Mathematics under the policy of redefined and rediscovered education policy based exclusively on much publicized Bhartiya sabhyta tatha sanskrti.
What are the contents of Vedic mathematics and what are its scriptural references ?The only supposedly authoritative book on the subject is-"Vedic Mathematics "authored by Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha [1884-1960],the Shankracharya of Goverdhana Matha, Puri.The content and text of the book is based on 16 Sutras [aphorisms from aika adhikain porvaina to gunakasamachhyah] and 13 Subsutras [anuropyena to gunitsmachhya].Any way,there is nothing Vedic about said content and context,as they are the authors self composed and homespun sentences in modern Sanskrit.Not only that,the 355 page book contains neither any quotation from the Vedas nor does it refer to any Vedic verse or sentence..The book is completely un-Vedic.This fact,in a way,exposes the myth of the Vedic mathematics.Had there been concerned verses available in the Vedas,the learned author would have quoted them.
Dr.K.S.Shukla,formerly professor of mathematics,Lucknow University,in his essay-"Vedic Mathematics-the Deceptive title of Swamiji's book" has commented,"...bears the impression that it deals with the mathematics contained in the Vedas.This indeed is not the case as the book deals not with Vedic mathematics but with modern elementary mathematics".[Issues in Vedic mathematics,page 31]. Dr Shukla has examined in detail all the 40 chapters of said book and concluded-"from the contents it is evident that the mathematics dealt with in the book is far removed from that of the Vedic period.Instead,it is that mathematics which which is taught at present to high school and intermediate classes.It is indeed the result of Swami ji's own experience
as a teacher of mathematics in his early life.Not a single method described is Vedic,but the Swami ji has declared all the methods and processes explained by him as Vedic and ancient."[Ibid,page 34-35].
In simple words,it is like selling a modern statue in the name of an antique.A clearcut deception is involved there.
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