As per the Hindu Calendar, the birthday of Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Govardhana Math Puri, Barathi Krishna Teertha Swamiji falls on March 24. He discovered Vedic mathematics based on 16 sutras (formulas or aphorisms) for solving different mathematical problems.

The Vedic maths propagated by the Swamiji has reached even interior places like Raichur where there is a Study Centre for Vedic maths.

Fear of numbers

The Study centre at Raichur has been functioning and promoting Vedic maths from the last one year. The Centre aims to dispel the fear of mathematics among students, businessmen and housewife, all of whom need mathematics for calculation.

Several persons are engaged in the promotion of Vedic mathematics, specially among students, like Dr Shreesh Padhye (a dental surgeon), Venkatesh Rao, Nagendranath, Ashok Patil and Lalji Patel Vedic mathematics  complements the mathematics curriculum conventionally taught in schools by acting as a powerful checking tool and saves precious time in examinations.

There are just sixteen sutras or word formulae which solves mathematical problems in arithmetic, algebra, geometry and Calculus.

There are several advantages of Vedic mathematics, which is easy to understand, apply and remember: It is 10 to 15 times faster than conventional mathematics; it improves academic performance of students in schools; it increases mental agility, intelligence and concentration and eliminates fear of maths present in students.

Vedic mathematics was discovered and presented by Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krishna Teertha. Born in 1884, Teertha was an exceptional scholar.

By age twenty he had studied at a number of colleges and universities throughout the country, been awarded the title of ‘Saraswati’ by the Madras Sanskrit Association for his remarkable proficiency in Sanskrit, and had completed seven masters degrees, including Sanskrit, Philosophy, English, Mathematics, History and Science with the American College of Sciences.

Around 1911, Teertha resolved to study several sections of the Atharva-veda, which contain the sutras.  Teertha went to Sringeri, Karnataka, where he began years of solitary study and meditation.

Eight years later, Teertha he deciphered and 16 fundamental mathematical sutras in the Vedas, which today have become the foundation of Vedic mathematics. His influence is even present in small towns like Raichur.