Vedic Mathematics Lesson PDF

Introduction To Vedic Mathematics
I have talked about my attempts to teach mathematics to my children in

an earlier post. Because of constant coaching from my wife and I, their level
of mathematical knowledge is at a point where they can probably sail
through middle school and the early part of high school without learning
anything more. They know how to solve simultaneous equations in 2
variables, find slopes and intercepts of linear equations, apply the
pythagoras theorem, find the volumes, surface areas, and plane areas of
most regular 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes, etc., etc.
Some of it is still dependent on the mood they are in. Sometimes,

they apply themselves and can then solve any problem they have been
introduced to earlier but stringing together what they know to proceed from
problem to solution. At other times, they will get lazy and claim that they
"don't get" something even though I know they know how to do it. That is
when things get interesting as I lose my patience and berate them for being
lazy and unwilling to think through something.
The next task I have been handed by my wife is to make them good at
mental computation. They are good at basic mental computation like
addition, subtraction and multiplication because they have been to classes
where they teach the use of the Japanese Abacus. But my wife is not
satisfied with the speed they can achieve using the abacus. Essentially, the
use of abacus for doing arithmetic is a brute-force method that has its
limitations.
So, my wife did some research and has asked me to teach them Vedic
Mathematics. The subject intrigued me enough that I started doing some
basic research before I even begin my teaching duties. This is what I have
uncovered so far.
Vedic mathematics is a system of mathematics consisting of a list of 16
basic sūtras, or aphorisms. They were presented by a Hindu scholar and
mathematician, Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja,
during the early part of the 20th century.
Tirthaji claims that he found the sūtras after years of studying the Vedas, a
set of sacred ancient Hindu texts. The calculation strategies provided by
Vedic mathematics are creative and useful, and can be applied in a number
of ways to calculation methods in arithmetic and algebra, most notably
within the education system.
The word “veda” has two basic meanings. The first, a literal translation of
the Sanskrit word, is “knowledge”. The second, and most common meaning
of the word, refers to the sacred ancient literature of Hinduism, the Vedas, a
collection of hymns, poetry and Hindu ceremonial formulae. Believed to be
one of the oldest human written records, the Vedas date back over 4000
years. Traditionally, they were passed down orally and adapted from
generation to generation by sacred sages called rishis, before eventually
emerging written in Vedic, an ancient form of Sanskrit.
The Vedas are divided into four main sections: the Rig-veda, Sama-veda,
Yajur-veda and the Atharva-veda, known collectively as the Samhitas. The
first three, the Rig-veda, Sama-veda, and Yajur-veda are basically ritual
handbooks that were used by priests during the Vedic period (1500–500
BCE). Vedic mathematics is apparently part of the fourth Veda, Atharva-
veda, which is distinct from the others in several ways. First, unlike the
religious focus of the other Vedas, the Atharva-veda contains hymns, spells
and magical incantations for personal and domestic use. Also, the Atharva-
veda, which was written later than the other Vedas, was not always
considered authoritative, but only became so after being accepted by the
Brahmans, the highest order of Hindu priests. Collectively, the Vedas
include information about a huge range of subjects, spanning religion,
medicine, architecture, astronomy, etc.
It is a well-known and accepted fact that ancient Indian Vedic civilizations

were known for being skilled in geometry, algebra and computational
mathematics complex enough to incorporate things like irrational numbers.
Important contributions to early mathematics were made by Indian scholars
like Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II. Indian mathematicians
made early contributions to the study of the decimal number system, zero,
negative numbers, arithmetic, and algebra. In addition, trigonometry was
well-developed and understood in India, and, in particular, the modern
definitions of sine and cosine were developed there. These mathematical
concepts were transmitted to the Middle East, China, and Europe and led to
further developments that now form the foundations of many areas of
mathematics.
Almost all ancient Indian mathematics literature is composed completely in

verse; there was a tradition of composing terse sūtras, like those of Vedic
mathematics, to ensure that information would be preserved even if written
records were damaged or lost. Ancient and medieval Indian mathematical
works, all composed in Sanskrit, usually consisted of a section of sutras in
which a set of rules or problems were stated with great economy in verse in
order to aid memorization by a student. This was followed by a second
section consisting of a prose commentary (sometimes multiple
commentaries by different scholars) that explained the problem in more
detail and provided justification for the solution. In the prose section, the
form (and therefore its memorization) was not considered as important as
the ideas involved. All mathematical works were orally transmitted until
approximately 500 BCE; thereafter, they were transmitted both orally and in
manuscript form.
Mathematicians of ancient and early medieval India were almost all Sanskrit
pandits, who were trained in Sanskrit language and literature, and
possessed a common stock of knowledge in grammar, exegesis and logic.
Memorization of "what is heard" (śruti in Sanskrit) through recitation played
a major role in the transmission of sacred texts in ancient India.
Memorization and recitation was also used to transmit philosophical and
literary works, as well as treatises on ritual and grammar. Modern scholars
of ancient India have noted the "truly remarkable achievements of the Indian
pandits who have preserved enormously bulky texts orally for millennia.
Tremendous amounts of energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in

ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation
with inordinate fidelity. For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas
included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were
subsequently "proof-read" by comparing the different recited versions.
Forms of recitation included the jatā-pātha (literally "mesh recitation") in
which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original
order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated again in the
original order. The recitation thus proceeded as:
word1word2, word2word1, word1word2; word2word3, word3word2,

word2word3; ...
In another form of recitation, dhvaja-pātha (literally "flag recitation") a

sequence of N words were recited (and memorized) by pairing the first two
and last two words and then proceeding as:
word1word2, word(N-1)wordN; word2word3, word(N-3)word(N-2); ...;

word(N-1)wordN, word1word2;
The most complex form of recitation, ghana-pātha (literally "dense

recitation"), took the form:
word1word2, word2word1, word1word2word3, word3word2word1,

word1word2word3; word2word3, word3word2, word2word3word4,
word4word3word2, word2word3word4; …
That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of

the most ancient Indian religious text, the rig veda (ca. 1500 BCE), as a
single text, without any variant readings. Similar methods were used for
memorizing mathematical texts, whose transmission remained exclusively
oral until the end of the Vedic period (ca. 500 BCE).
The most notable application of Vedic mathematics is in education. Vedic

mathematical strategies may prove to be a useful resource for teachers and
students, who may find elements of it easier and more accessible to teach
and learn than conventional mathematics. In particular, these strategies may
be an invaluable resource to students that already struggle with
mathematics, and could benefit from alternative approaches.
One attempt at incorporating Vedic mathematics into education was made

by Mark Gaskell, the head of mathematics at the Maharishi School,
Lancashire, England. The school has developed a Vedic mathematics
curriculum equivalent to the national one with impressive results. According
to Gaskell, the alternative curriculum has resulted in livelier classes, greater
student enjoyment and understanding, and improved academic
performance. In fact, the first set of students to complete the course were
each able to not only pass, but achieve over 80%, on the General Certificate
of Secondary Education, a proficiency test taken by all secondary school
British students, a year earlier than their peers in the regular curriculum.
I have also learnt a few tricks myself based on the research I have done and
the books I have started reading. I am not a big fan of pure arithmetic in
general. After all, calculators are common-place nowadays and they are
getting more and more powerful. But, still there is something to be said for
being able to do some mental computations from time to time. One may not
have access to a calculator just when you need one. You don't want to be
stuck not even able to do some intelligent approximations just because you
don't have access to working electronic brains at that moment. That is what
your organic brains are there for, and I do believe that learning to do mental
computations may not only come in handy for accomplishing some useful
things, but also to keep your brain sharp. The scientific evidence is
unassailable that the more you exercise your brain with mental gymnastics
like the ones involved in mental computations, the less likely you are to
develop degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's disease. And the value
of impressing friends and co-workers by beating them to the punch by telling
them the answer before they have had time to even enter the problem into
their calculators is priceless!
Once you understand a particular vedic method and learn how to do it in

your mind, you can also amaze friends and others with your mental
gymnastics. It is just uncanny how the techniques work: when you perform it
in front of friends, it is as if you are either performing magic or you are a
human calculator. I have even been accused of cheating by some people I
have demonstrated these techniques to, though, of course, they just could
not figure out how exactly I was cheating!
I think the best way to learn something is to absorb the methodology and
then try to repeat it to others in my own words. That will demonstrate that I
understand the methodology completely and will help me in teaching my
kids what I have learnt. So, I will try to explain these mathematical
techniques in my own words in future posts about Vedic Mathematics so
that I am sure of the methodology before I sit my kids down and drill them
on it. And these posts will also serve as a written record of the
methodologies for future reference so that I don't have to hunt around for
the original source as I try to relearn something I may have forgotten.
In the meantime, if you are curious, you can get a taste of Vedic
Mathematics by going to the official website of the Vedic Mathematics
Academy. They have tutorials on some basic methodologies that should be
easy to master for most people. They also sell books and DVD's on the
subject if you are interested in pursuing it further.
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 1: A Spectacular Illustration
You can read about how I got interested in Vedic Mathematics in my
previous post. In this post, I will try to justify the praise I had for the mental
shortcuts Vedic Mathematics has taught me by using a spectacular
illustration. In this lesson, we will learn to find the reciprocals of two-digit
numbers ending in 9. Thus, we are interested in finding the decimal
equivalents of 1/19, 1/29, etc. I will show you 2 methods to work these
problems out, and both these methods produce the exact same solution.
Now, note that all these reciprocals are long series of repeating digits in
decimal form. There is no closed-form decimal form to any of these
reciprocals. The series of repeating digits can be quite long in many cases
(18 digits in the case of 1/19, 28 digits in the case of 1/29 and 42 digits in
the case of 1/49, for instance). As such, finding the full set of digits that
repeat is almost impossible in most calculators that are limited to 8 to 12
digits. Doing the set of long divisions that will result in finding all the
repeating digits of the decimal representation involves 18 steps for 1/19, 28
steps for 1/29, 42 steps for 1/49, etc. It is a long and laborious process
that consumes a lot of time and paper, and is prone to errors just because of
the amount of time and drudgery involved. The only calculator I have found
that can show all the repeating digits of these answers is the Microsoft
Power Toy Calculator, which is part of the Microsoft Power Toys For
Windows XP, which I mentioned in my post on free software suggestions.
With the methods illustrated here, you will be able to find the entire set of
repeating digits in one long string without having to do any long division. You
can choose to either find the digits from right to left or left to right depending
on whether you are more comfortable with simple single-digit multiplications
or single-digit divisions. I will illustrate and explain both methods and you
can choose whichever method you are more comfortable with when the
need arises.
The relevant vedic sutra that addresses this problem simply reads:
Ekadhikena Purvena. Literally translated, it says, by one more than the
previous one. This is typical of most vedic sutras which are cryptic, and rely
on a guru to expound on the full meaning and applications of it to his
students (sishyas). The tradition is then carried forward over
subsequent generations in what is referred to as the Guru-Sishya
parampara. The meaning of the sutra will become apparent as we work
through some examples.
Let us take 1/19 first. As mentioned earlier, there are two methods of
working out the answer. One of them involves basic multiplication and is
worked out from right to left. The other method involves basic division and is
worked out from left to right.
Method 1:
We first apply the literal meaning of the sutra and take one more than the
number previous to the right-most digit of the denominator. In this case, we
get 1 more than 1, which is 2. Call this number our Multiplier.
1. The method starts out by putting a 1 as the right most digit of

the answer. So, our answer so far is 1.
2. Now take the last number we wrote and multiply it by our Multiplier. We
get 1x2 = 2. Write this digit to the left of 1 as part of the answer.
Our answer so far is therefore 21.
3. Now take the last number we wrote down and multiply it by our
Multiplier. We get 2x2 = 4. Write this digit to the left of the answer to
get 421 as the answer so far.
4. After we repeat the above process once more, we get 8421 as
the answer.
5. Now, when we repeat the process above, we get 8x2 = 16 which is a
two-digit number. When the result is a two-digit number, write down the
last digit of the 2-digit number and remember the other digit as a carry-
over. Thus, our answer becomes 68421, and we have a carryover of 1.
6. Repeat the process again. We get 6x2 = 12. Since we have a
carryover number, add that to the answer to get 12+1 = 13. Since this
is a two-digit number, repeat the process outlined above: write down 3
as part of the answer and keep 1 as the carryover number.
Our answer becomes 368421 so far.
7. Repeating the process again, we get 3x2 = 6, add the carryover
number to it to get 6+1 = 7. Write that to the left of the answer to get
7368421.
8. In the next step, the answer becomes 47368421 with a carryover
number of 1.
9. In the next step, the answer becomes 947368421 (multiply 4 by 2 and
add the carryover number).
10.Continue this process until you start getting repeating digits (starting
with 1 which is the last digit of the answer). Then you know that you
have found the entire series of digits comprising the answer. Put a
decimal point in front of the series of digits and denote that the entire
series of digits repeats indefinitely. That is your final answer. In the
case of 1/19, the answer is .052631578947368421, repeated
indefinitely.
Method 2:
Once again, we first apply the literal meaning of the sutra and take one
more than the number previous to the right-most digit of our denominator. In
this case, we get 1 more than 1, which is 2. Call this number our Divider.
1. First put down a decimal point. Then take the numerator and divide it
by our Divider. We get 1 divided by 2, which has a quotient of 0 and a
remainder of 1. Write the quotient to the right of the decimal point, and
keep the 1 as a carryover number. Our answer so far is .0
2. Now, prepend the carryover number of 1 to the last quotient, 0, to get
10. Divide this number by our Divider, 2, to get 5. Write this to the right
of our answer so far as the next digit of the answer. We now have .05
3. Divide this last quotient by our Divider to get a quotient of 2 and a
remainder of 1. Write the quotient to the right of the answer so far.
Keep the remainder as a carryover number. Our answer so far
becomes .052
4. As before, prepend the carryover number (1) to the quotient (2) to get
12. Divide this number by our Divider, 2, to get a quotient of 6 and a
remainder of 0. 6 becomes the next digit of our answer. Our answer so
far becomes .0526
5. Continue this process (always write the quotient as part of
the answer and prepend the remainder to the quotient to get the next
number to divide by the Divider) until we start getting repeating digits
(0526, etc.)
6. Remove the repeating digits, denote the remaining digits as repeating
indefinitely, and you have your final answer. As in method 1, the
final answer from method 2 is also .052631578947368421 repeated
indefinitely.
Now, let us see how to apply this method to something like 1/9, for instance.
Note that 1/9 can be written as 1/09 to make the denominator a 2-digit
number ending in 9. Our Multiplier or Divider becomes 1 more than the first
digit of the denominator, 0, which gives us 1. Using method 1, we put down
1 as the first digit of the answer, then multiply it by our multiplier which gives
us 1 again. Since the digit has started repeating, we know that our answer is
.1 repeated indefinitely.
Similarly, with method 2, we divide our numerator, 1, by our Divider, 1. The

quotient is 1. So, we get the first part of our solution as .1. Dividing the
quotient by 1 again leads to 1 which is a repeating digit. So, our
final answer is .1 repeated indefinitely. I use this simple problem so that you
can actually punch the numbers into a basic calculator and verify that
the answer is indeed what we found out just now, even though verifying
the answer that way for 1/19 or 1/49 is close to impossible. Those
reciprocals may require long division by hand to verify the results we get
using the vedic methods.
For a more challenging problem, let us now apply this method to find the
decimal form of 1/69. Our Multiplier or Divider is 1 more than the first digit of
the denominator, 6, so we get 7 as the Multiplier or Divider.
After step 1 of Method 1, we have an answer of 1.

After step 2, we have an answer of 71.
After step 3, we have an answer of 971, with a carryover number of 4.
After step 4, we have an answer of 7971 with a carryover number of 6.
Following the remaining steps of Method 1, we get subsequent answers of
57971 with a carryover of 5, 057971 with a carryover of 4, 4057971 with no
carryover, 84057971 with a carryover of 2, and so on.
Carrying on until we get repeating digits, we get the final answer as
0144927536231884057971 repeated indefinitely.
Using method 2, after step 1, we have an answer of .0 with a carryover of 1.

After step 2, we have an answer of .01 with a carryover of 3 (remember that
our Divider is 7 and we have to prepend the carryover number to the
previous quotient).
After step 3, we get .014 with a carryover of 3.
After step 4, we get .0144 with a carryover of 6.
Subsequent steps lead to .01449 with a carryover of 1, .014492 with a
carryover of 5, .0144927 with a carryover of 3, and so on.
After repeating the steps as long as is required, we get the answer as
0144927536231884057971 repeated indefinitely.
When we apply the methods above to 1/99, we get a multiplier or divider of
10 and the answer turns out to be .01 repeated indefinitely. 1/09 and 1/99
are special cases with short repeating sequences because the multipliers
and dividers in these special cases are powers of 10 (remember, 1 is 10
raised to the power 0).
The procedure can be used to find the reciprocal of any number ending with
9, not just 2-digit numbers. But the multipliers and dividers get too large to
manipulate comfortably when the denominator becomes too large. There
are extensions and corollaries to this method to allow one to handle such
reciprocals easily. There are also extensions and corollaries to this method
to allow division of any number by any number ending in 9 rather just finding
the reciprocals of numbers ending in 9. There are further extensions that
result in a general rule that will allow one to divide any number by any
number without having to do long division at all.
I will post about these extensions and corollaries as I continue learning the
inner workings of Vedic Mathematics. In the meantime, hopefully this lesson
whets your appetite for the intricacies of arithmetic explored by these
methods. Remember, practice makes perfect, so I will leave it as an
exercise to the reader to find the reciprocals of 29, 39, 49, 59, 79 and 89
using both method 1 and method 2 discussed in this lesson. The basic idea
is that with enough practice, you should be able to do the required
calculations in your head and reel off the answers with no hesitation when
confronted with a given problem. Good luck and happy calculating!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 2: 10's Complements
You can read about my interest in Vedic Mathematics in this earlier post and
find a spectacular application of mental computation using Vedic
Mathematics principles in Lesson 1 of this series of posts.
Today's lesson is going to be quite short. I am going to explain how to

calculate the 10's complement of any number. Essentially, the 10's
complement of a number tells you how far the number is below the next
higher power of 10. For instance, 89 is 11 below 100. I call 11 the 10's
complement of 89. Some texts refer to 11 as the "deficit" of 89 also.
The 10's complement of a number is very useful in a variety of Vedic

Mathematical computations. Thus, learning to work out the 10's complement
quickly and (preferably) mentally will come in handy when we proceed to
later lessons in Vedic Mathematics.
The sutra that tells us how to compute the 10's complement of a number
reads Nikhilam Navatascaramam Dasataha. Literally translated, it means All
From 9 And The Last From 10.
The practical application of it is actually quite easy to follow directly from the
translation of the sutra. Simply put, take your number and subtract each
number from 9 as you go from left to right (All From 9). Put down the
answers you get as the digits of the 10's complement going from left to right.
When you get to the last digit (right-most digit) of the number for which you
are finding the complement, subtract it from 10 (The Last From 10) and
write this answer down as the last digit (right-most) of the answer.
Note that since all the subtractions are of single digits from 9 and the value
being subtracted from is 9 (which is the highest single-digit number in the
decimal system), there arises no question of borrowing digits or doing other
mental gymnastics to get the individual digits of the answer. Hopefully,
subtracting a single-digit number from 10 should not involve any
extraordinary mental gymnastics either. However, that last subtraction can
lead to a minor problem we deal with later in this lesson.
Let us apply this lesson to a simple example. Let us take 389,384,753 as

the number for which we need the 10's complement. Note that the number
has 9 digits, so we are looking for the difference between 1,000,000,000 (1
followed by 9 zeroes, making it a 10-digit number) and the given number (10
raised to the power of 9 is the next higher power of 10 for the given
number).
Taking the first digit of the given number from left, we get 3. Subtract it from
9 to get 6. 6 is the first digit of the answer. The next digit of the answer is 9-8
= 1. The third digit is 9-9 = 0, and so on. When we get to the right-most digit
of the given number, we find that the right-most digit of the answer has to be
10 - 3 = 7. Remember to subtract the last number from 10 rather than 9 to
complete the answer. The answer in this case turns out to be 610,615,247.
You can verify the answer in any calculator that can handle 10 digits or
more. But the method will work for numbers with any number of digits, even
numbers that can not be handled by any calculator because they have too
many digits.
Note that we defined the 10's complement as the deficit from the next higher
power of 10. This is not necessary for the method to work. This method can
be put to work to find the difference between the given number and any
power of 10 that has more digits than the given number. Let me illustrate
with another example.
Suppose we need to find the difference between 1,000,000 and 98,567.

Note that next power of 10 that is larger than the given number is 100,000.
Thus, to simply find its 10's complement, we would apply the formula
illustrated above and find the answer to be 1,433 (the left-most digit
computes to a zero, and has therefore been dropped).
To find the deficit from a higher power of 10, first find the 10's complement.
This time do not drop zeroes from the left of the answer. We find the 10's
complement of the given number to be 01,433. Now pad the 10's
complement to the left with 9's until it has one less digit than the power of 10
from which we are trying to find the deficit. Another way to express this is as
follows: pad the 10's complement to the left with 9's until it has the same
number of digits as the power of 10 has zeroes. In our case, the power of 10
we are finding the deficit from has six zeroes. So, padding out the 10's
complement with 9's to the left so that the answer is 6 digits long gives us
901,433.
Yet another way to express this that may be more intuitive is: pad the given
number with zeroes to the left so that it has as many digits as the power of
10 has zeroes. Then find the 10's complement of the padded number using
the same rule as before. By this method, first we get our padded number as
098,567. Finding the 10's complement of this number using the rule we
explained in the beginning, we get 901,433.
The only trouble you might encounter in the application of this method is if
the last digit of the number is a zero. In that case, subtracting it from 10
gives you a 2-digit answer (10) rather than a single-digit answer. The way to
deal with this is to then put down zero as the last digit of the answer and
carry over the 1 to the left hand side (add it to the number you found earlier
for that digit). If that carryover leads to the second digit becoming 10, repeat
the procedure, carrying over extra digits to the left as long as is necessary.
That may sound confusing, so the easier way to deal with this is as follows:
if the number consists of n zeroes at the end, leave them off initially. Find
the 10's complement of the remaining number with respect to the power of
10 just above the left-over number. Then add n zeroes back to the right of
the answer you get.
Let me illustrate by finding the 10's complement of 89,000. n, in this case, is

3. By dropping the 3 zeroes from the end of 89,000, we get 89. The 10's
complement of 89 with respect to the next higher power of 10 (100) is 11.
Therefore, the 10's complement of 89,000 is 11,000 (which is 11 with 3
zeroes added back to its right).
That is all there is to it! It should be easy to reel the 10's complements of
any number off in seconds using the mental trick illustrated here. Remember
to practice! Happy computing and good luck!!
Note that there are applications out there that define the 10's complement
as one more than the 10's complement we have computed in this lesson.
That kind of 10's complement is useful in some computations involving
subtraction and addition. Remember to not get confused by this distinction
between the different definitions of 10's complements.
------------------------------------------
I taught my kids the trick to finding the reciprocal of any 2-digit number
ending in 9. I thought it would be confusing, given their ages, but they
picked it up right away and had no trouble applying either method 1
or method 2 to any given problem. They then went and demonstrated their
new-found talent to their mother, who was very proud of them and very
happy with me! Now, I have to test them in a few days and make sure they
remember what I taught them. That will also give me a chance to make
sure I remember what I taught them!
In other news, it looks like I will be taking two weeks off to visit and take care
of my parents after my father's surgery starting sometime next week. I have
convinced my wife that nothing will go wrong when I am not around. That
does not mean that she will be entirely at peace, but for now, she seems
confident about handling things during my absence.
Our plan to visit my brother-in-law to help with his mother's surgery and its
aftermath turned into a bit of a disastrous fiasco because of various
problems. We planned to go out there on Friday. But the aircraft on the flight
we were supposed to take was replaced with one that had 70 fewer seats.
So, we changed our plans and were accommodated on a flight that would
take us where we wanted to go with a connection. But at the last minute,
this aircraft developed a mechanical problem that delayed the flight so the
connection would not work. We had to give up that day.
To make a long story short, we ended up trying repeatedly to get out during
the weekend, and then my wife and kids tried on Monday, and today also.
Ultimately, the airline managed to accommodate them today evening on a
flight and they are off. Since she is going to her brother's later than originally
planned, we are still not sure when she is going to come back. We had
originally planned on her being back before I left to visit my parents. But
now we might have to reevaluate that option.
The weed-killer application using the hose-end sprayer actually worked. The
weeds shrivelled up and died, and the lawn looks much better now. So, I
might be switching to the hose-end sprayer permanently and ditching the
pressure sprayer altogether.
This last weekend saw me doing more yardwork as I had to dig a 1 foot x 1
foot x 1 foot hole in the ground to plant a rosebush. The rosebush
unfortunately sat in a friend's car in the hot sun for a while after it was
bought, and came to us with shriveled leaves. We watered it (in the pot) for
a few days, but it still did not show much signs of life. I tried arguing that it
was a waste of effort digging such a large hole for a plant that may already
be dead. But my wife convinced me that all the plant needed was abundant
sunshine and natural soil to thrive. So, the plant is in the ground, under
more than abundant sunshine, and has been watered for a couple of days
now. Still no signs of life, leave alone thriving. Oh well, at least I got some
exercise...
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 3: Multiplication
Part 1
You can read about my interest in Vedic Mathematics in this earlier post,
and read Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 to appreciate the power of Vedic
Mathematics, and to learn the basics that we are going to use in this lesson.
In this lesson, our main goal will be to learn to multiply large numbers that
are just under a power of 10 without doing any long multiplication. Imagine
trying to compute 9986 x 9997 without going through 4 sets of laborious
multiplications and then a laborious addition. When we are done with this
lesson, we will be able to do the above problem in our minds and find the
answer in about 3 to 5 seconds.
As always, it is best to start from the basics and build up to what we want to
accomplish. Let us go through a simple example to illustrate the method,
then I will explain the algebraic logic behind why the method works, then we
will apply it to bigger problems and also explore some additional
considerations.
Assume that we have to find the answer to 9x8. This is quite simple to do for
most people who know their multiplication tables and should not require any
Vedic Mathematics to accomplish. However, we will use this problem to
illustrate the method and extend it to products that would not normally be
covered by multiplication tables.
Follow these steps to find 9x8:
• Find the appropriate base for our calculations. The base will be the
power of 10 that is closest to the numbers to be multiplied. In this
particular case, our base will be 10 itself.
• Put the numbers in two rows on the left hand side. In the middle
column, put a "-" if the number is less than the base and a "+" if the
number is more than the base. In our case, the middle column for both
rows will be "-" since they are both less than 10.
• If the middle column is a "-", in the right hand side, write the 10's
complement of the number, or the deficit from the base.
• If the middle column is a "+", in the right hand side, write the amount
by which the number is greater than the base (we will deal with this
case in a subsequent lesson).
After these 4 steps, we get the figure below:
9-1
8–2
Our first number is 9. It is less than our base, 10, so there is a "-" in the
middle column. In the right hand side, we have the 10's complement of 9,
which is 1. Similarly, in the second row, we have our second number, 8, a "-"
because 8 is smaller than our base, 10, and the 10's complement of 8,
which is 2.
Now, the product will have two parts, a left hand part and a right hand part.
We can draw a vertical line on the third row to demarcate the two parts (this
will not be necessary as we become better at the method with practice and
learn to do the whole thing mentally). So, now we have the figure below:
9-1
8-2
-------
|
The left hand side of the answer can be found in one of 4 different ways:
• Add the numbers on the left hand side and subtract the base from the
answer. This gives us 9 + 8 - 10 = 7.
• Add the deficiences on the right hand side and subtract that from 10.
This gives us 10 - 2 - 1 = 7.
• Cross subtract the deficiency on the first line from the second number.
This gives us 8 - 1 = 7.
• Cross subtract the deficiency on the second line from the first number.
This gives us 9 - 2 = 7.
So, our figure now looks as below:
9-1
8-2
--------
7|
The right hand side of the answer can be found with one simple calculation:
• Simply multiply the deficits by each other to get the right hand side of
the answer.
Our figure will now look as below:
9-1
8-2
--------
7 |2
The answer to the problem is the combination of the left and right hand
sides of the answer above, which gives us 72. This is obviously easy to
verify as the correct answer not only with a calculator, but also by using our
memory of multiplication tables.
What is the algebra behind why this method works? Assume that our base
is b. Let us assume that the two numbers whose product we have to find are
y and z. Let us assume that d and e are the deficits of y and z from our
base, b. So, we are trying to find the product y x z which is the same as (b -
d) x (b - e). We see that this can be written as b x (b - d - e) + d x e.
Which is precisely what we did using the method illustrated in the steps
above: We found the left hand side as the difference between the base and
the sum of the deficits, then multiplied it by the base so that it becomes the
left hand side of the answer. Then we multiplied the deficits by each other
and made it the right hand side of the answer.
Now, let us illustrate the method on more complex problems. These

problems will not only give us practice, but also illustrate how to deal with
some issues we might encounter along the way.
Let us take 96 x 95. First we choose 100 as the base. Then we write the
problem out as below:
96 - 4
95 - 5
--------
|
Note that both numbers are below the base, hence the "-" sign in the middle
column. 4 and 5 are the 10's complements of 96 and 95 respectively (their
deficits from our base of 100).
Now, we find the left hand side of the answer using any one of the 4
methods outlined earlier. We get either 96 + 95 - 100 = 91, or 95 - 4 = 91, or
96 - 5 = 91 or 100 - 4 - 5 = 91. Our figure becomes:
96 - 4
95 - 5
---------
91 |
Now we multiply the deficits by each other to find the right hand side of our
answer. It is 4 x 5 = 20. So, our final answer is 9120, and our figure looks as
below:
96 - 4
95 - 5
---------
91 | 20
Now, let us apply this method to problems which present special cases we
have not encountered so far.
First, let us try to do 99 x 99. Following the methodology outlined above, we

get the figure below:
99 - 1
99 - 1
--------
98 | 1
We quickly realize that 981 is not the answer to the problem. Is there
something wrong with the Vedic method? Not really. Looking at the
algebraic explanation of the method, we find that the answer is actually the
left hand side of the answer multiplied by the base, added to the right hand
side of the answer. This means that the right hand side of the answer has to
have exactly as many digits as the number of zeroes in the base (when we
multiply the left hand side by the base, in this case, 100, we get 9800. The
right hand side is actually added to 9800, not just appended to 98 though
that is the practical effect when the right hand side contains exactly two
digits). In this case, the base is 100, so the right hand side has to have 2
digits. We accomplish this by padding the answer with zeroes to the left until
we get the requisite number of digits. Thus our figure becomes:
99 - 1
99 - 1
---------
98 | 01
Now our answer is 9801 and this can be verified to be correct using a
calculator, or by long multiplication.
Next, let us see what happens when we try to multiply 90 x 88. We get the
figure below:
90 - 10
88 - 12
---------
78 | 120
Obviously 78120 is not the correct answer to the problem. But the algebraic
explanation of the problem comes to the rescue again. We see that the
answer, algebraically, is actually 78 x 100 + 120. The right hand side has to
be restricted to two digits. In our case, we have 3 digits, so retain the right
most 2 digits and use any leftover digits as carryover to increase the left
hand side by. This leads, in this case, to the right hand side becoming 20
and the 1 becoming a carryover digit. Adding 1 to the left hand side gives us
79. Our figure now becomes:
90 - 10
88 - 12
----------
78+1 | 20
The answer is 7920, which can be verified to be correct.
Now, let us tackle the problem we initially posed in this lesson: what is 9986
x 9997? We quickly realize that the base required for this problem is 10000.
Calculating the deficits of the numbers from 10000, we draw the figure
below:
9986 - 14
9997 - 3
--------------
|
Next we find the left and right hand sides of the answer as below:
9986 - 14
9997 - 3
--------------
9983 | 42
Now we note that the right hand side contains only 2 digits whereas 10000
has 4 zeroes. So, we need to pad 42 out to 4 digits, giving us 0042. The
figure now looks as below:
9986 - 14
9997 - 3
--------------
9983 | 0042
This automatically leads to the answer 99830042 which can be verified

using a calculator.
In the interest of a little more practice, and the application of another of the
special cases we are likely to encounter, let us try to find 9900 x 9900. We
use 10000 as the base, which leads to the figure below:
9900 - 100
9900 - 100
-------------
9800 | 10000
Immediately, we see that the right hand side actually has 5 digits, one more
than it should have. Using the rule regarding carryovers, we modify the
diagram as below:
9900 - 100
9900 - 100
--------------
9800 + 1 | 0000
This leads to the answer 98010000 which can be verified to be correct.
Now, let us do 9000 x 9000. Again the base is 10000, which leads to the
figure below:
9000 - 1000
9000 - 1000
----------------
8000 | 1000000
Our right hand side has 3 extra digits. Moving them to the left hand side
using the rule regarding carryovers, we get:
9000 - 1000
9000 - 1000
----------------
8000 + 100|0000
This gives us the correct answer of 81000000.
In subsequent lessons, we will expand on what we learned in this lesson so

that we can handle a wider variety of problems. After all, not all the numbers
we need to multiply are just under a power of 10! Practice makes perfect, so
happy practicing and good luck!!
Vedic Mathematics
Part 2
In this lesson, we are going to explore multiplication further and learn a few
more techniques for mentally working out large multiplication problems
without having to do long multiplication, or relying on a calculator
or computer.
You can find previous posts about Vedic Mathematics below:
Introduction to Vedic Mathematics

A Spectacular Illustration of Vedic Mathematics
10's Complements
Multiplication Part 1
In the previous lesson we dealt with large numbers that are just under a
power of 10. We solved problems like 9986 x 9997 as illustrations of the
technique. Today, we will modify the method slightly to deal with problems
such as 1002 x 1005. In short, we will learn to multiply large numbers that
are just above a power of 10.
As in the previous lesson, it is best to start from the basics and build up from
that. As a basic illustration, let us solve the problem of finding the product 11
x 12. This is a very basic problem that most people will know the answer to
based on their memory of multiplication tables. However, we will use this
problem to illustrate the method and extend it to products that would not
normally be covered by multiplication tables.
Follow these steps to find 11 x 12:
• Put the numbers in two rows on the left hand side. In the
middle column, put a "-" if the number is less than the base and a "+" if
the number is more than the base. In our case, the middle column for
both rows will contain "+" because the numbers are larger than our
base, 10.
complement of the number, or the deficit from the base (we dealt with
this case in the previous lesson. This may be a good time to review
that lesson and refresh your memory before proceeding).
by which the number is greater than the base.
After these steps, we get the figure below:
11 + 1
12 + 2
Our first number is 11. It is more than our base, 10, so there is a "+" in the
middle column. In the right hand side, we have the excess of 11 over 10,
which is 1. Similarly, in the second row, we have our second number, 12, a
"+" because 12 is greater than our base, 10, and the excess of 12 over 10,
which is 2.
11 + 1
12 + 2
-------
|
The left hand side of the answer can be found in one of 4 different ways:
• Add the numbers on the left hand side and subtract the base from the
answer. This gives us 11 + 12 - 10 = 13.
• Add the excesses on the right hand side and add that to 10. This gives
us 10 + 2 + 1 = 13.
• Cross add the excess on the first line to the second number. This gives
us 12 + 1 = 13.
• Cross add the excess on the second line to the first number. This gives
us 11 + 2 = 13.
So, our figure now looks as below:
11 + 1
12 + 2
--------
13 |
The right hand side of the answer can be found with one simple calculation:
• Simply multiply the excesses by each other to get the right hand side
of the answer.
Our figure will now look as below:

11 + 1
12 + 2
--------
13 |2
The answer to the problem is the combination of the left and right hand
sides of the answer above, which gives us 132. This is obviously easy to
verify as the correct answer not only with a calculator, but also by using our
memory of multiplication tables.
The algebra behind this is very similar to the algebra behind why the
method we covered in Part 1 works. Assume that our base is b. Let us
assume that the two numbers whose product we have to find are y and z.
Let us assume that d and e are the excesses of y and z over our base, b.
So, we are trying to find the product y x z which is the same as (b + d) x (b +
e). We see that this can be written as b x (b + d + e) + d x e.
Which is precisely what we did using the method illustrated in the steps
above: We found the left hand side as the sum of the base and the
excesses, then multiplied it by the base so that it becomes the left hand side
of the answer. Then we multiplied the excesses by each other and made it
the right hand side of the answer.
Now, let us illustrate the method on more complex problems. These

problems will not only give us practice, but also illustrate how to deal with
some issues we might encounter along the way. Note that the solutions to
these issues are going to be very similar to the solutions we uncovered
in Part 1 when we were multiplying numbers just below our base.
Let us take 104 x 105. First we choose 100 as the base. Then we write the
problem out as below:
104 + 4
105 + 5
--------
|
Note that both numbers are above the base, hence the "+" sign in the
middle column. 4 and 5 are their excesses from our base of 100
respectively.
Now, we find the left hand side of the answer using any one of the 4
methods outlined earlier. We get either 104 + 105 - 100 = 109, or 105 + 4 =
109, or 104 + 5 = 109 or 100 + 4 + 5 = 109. Our figure becomes:
104 + 4
105 + 5
---------
109 |
Now we multiply the excesses by each other to find the right hand side of
our answer. It is 4 x 5 = 20. So, our final answer is 10920, and our figure
looks as below:
104 + 4
105 + 5
---------
109 | 20
As mentioned earlier, the special cases we might encounter are identical to

the special cases we encountered in Part 1. Our right hand side could
contain too few or too many digits. In both cases, the solution in this case is
identical to how we dealt with the problem in Part 1.
The right hand side of the answer has to contain the same number of digits
as there are zeroes in the base. That follows directly from the algebraic
basis of the method. So, if the right hand side contains too few digits, we
pad the right hand side with zeroes to the left until it has the appropriate
number of digits. This is illustrated in the problem below:
101 + 1
102 + 2
------------
103 | 02
The answer is 10302 rather than 1032.
Similarly, if we were to work out 110 x 112, we would get the figure below:
110 + 10
112 + 12
--------------
122 + 1| 20
The answer is 12320 rather than 122120 because the extra digit on the right
hand side (1) is to be carried over to the left hand side.
We will now find the answer to the problem posed at the top of the lesson:
what is the product of 1002 and 1005. We draw our figure as below using
1000 as the base:
1002 + 2
1005 + 5
---------------
1007 | 010
We note that since our base is 1000, we need to have 3 digits in the answer
on the right hand side. Since the product of the excesses (5 x 2 = 10) has
only 2 digits, we pad it with a zero to the left to get 010. The answer to our
product thus becomes 1007010.
We will conclude the lesson by dealing with the other type of special case
with a couple of large numbers. Let us find the product 1100 x 1100. We
draw the figure below:
1100 + 100
1100 + 100
---------------
1200 | 10000
We see that the right hand side contains 5 digits, so the left-most 2 digits
become a carryover to the left hand side, leaving us with the figure as
below:
1100 + 100
1100 + 100
--------------
1200 + 10 | 000
This gives us the answer 1210000 which can be verified to be correct using
a calculator or computer.
In subsequent lessons, we will expand this method even further by talking

about how to multiply numbers that are on either side of a power of 10, and
numbers that are close to some multiple or factor of a power of 10. Until
then, happy computing and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Part 3
In this lesson, we are going to explore multiplication even further and learn a
few more techniques for mentally working out large multiplication problems
without having to do long multiplication, or relying on a calculator or
computer.

10's Complements
In the previous lessons, we dealt with the multiplication of large numbers

that were both either just under a power of or just above a power of 10.
Thus, we solved problems like the finding the product 9986 x 9997, and
1002 x 1005 as illustrations of the techniques we learned. In this lesson we
will deal with multiplication of two numbers one of which is just below a
power of 10, with the other being just above that power of 10. In short, by
the end of this lesson, we should be able to solve problems like 996 x 1006
in 3 to 5 seconds mentally, without the need for calculators or a computer.
Just like in previous lessons, let us start with a simple problem to illustrate
the approach and then examine the algebraic basis of the method, so that
we can then apply it with confidence to larger problems. Let us solve the
problem of finding the product 8 x 13. This is a very basic problem that most
people will know the answer to based on their memory of multiplication
tables. However, we will use this problem to illustrate the method and
extend it to products that would not normally be covered by multiplication
tables.
Follow these steps to find 8 x 13:
• Put the numbers in two rows on the left hand side. In the middle
column, put a "-" if the number is less than the base and a "+" if the
number is more than the base. In our case, the middle column for both
rows will contain "+" because the numbers are larger than our base,
10.
complement of the number, or the deficit from the base.
by which the number is greater than the base.
After these steps, we get the figure below:
8-2
13 + 3
Our first number is 8. It is less than our base, 10, so there is a "-" in the
middle column. In the right hand side, we have the deficit of 8 from 10 (also
known as the 10's complement of 8), which is 2. Similarly, in the second
row, we have our second number, 13, a "+" because 13 is greater than our
base, 10, and the excess of 13 over 10, which is 3.
8-2
13 + 3
-------
|
The left hand side of the last row of the figure (I am not going to call it the
left hand side of the answer, and the reason will become clear as we
proceed) can be found in one of 4 different ways:
• Add the numbers on the left hand side and subtract the base from it.
We get 8 + 13 - 10 = 11.
• Cross add the number in the left column of the first row with the signed
number in the right column of the second row (by signed number, we
mean, prepend the sign in the middle of the second row to the number
in the right column of the second row). We get 8 + 3 = 11 (note that +3
is the signed number in the second row because the middle column of
the second row is "+" and the number in the right column of the second
row is 3).
• Cross add the number in the left column of the second row with the
signed number in the right column of the first row. This time, we get 13
- 2 = 11. The number to be added to 13 is -2 because the middle
column of the first row is "-" and the number in the right column of the
first row is 2.
• Add the signed numbers in the first and second rows and add 10 to the
result. In this case we get -2 + 3 + 10 = 11. The signs in front of the
numbers are derived by the same logic as above.
Our figure now becomes:

8-2
13 + 3
----------
11|
Now find the right hand side of the last row of the figure (once again, the
reason why I don't call it the right hand side of the answer will become
clearer as we proceed) as the product of the numbers in the right hand
column of the 2 rows. Our figure now becomes:
8-2
13 + 3
---------
11| 6
At this point, we are going to deviate from the method in the previous
lessons. We are not going to declare 116 to be the answer. Instead, do the
following three steps to convert the left and right hand sides of the last row
into the left and right hand sides of the answer (we will refer to this in
subsequent parts of the lesson as the three-step procedure):
• If the right hand side consists entirely of zeroes, the left and right hand
sides of the last row are the left and right hand sides of
the answer. Skip the next two steps.
• Subtract 1 from the left hand side, and make the result the new left
hand side of the answer.
• Take the 10's complement of the right hand side, and make that result
the new right hand side of the answer.
After the above two steps, we get the figure below:

8-2
13 + 3
---------
10 | 4
We subtracted 1 from the previous left hand side of the answer (11) to get
10 as the new left hand side. We also took the 10's complement of 6 (which
was our previous right hand side) to get 4 as the new right hand side.
The answer to our problem is 104, which can be verified with a calculator or
our memory of multiplication tables.
Examining the algebraic basis of the method will reveal why we had to
perform the three-step procedure to arrive at the final answer. Assume that
we have find the product y x z. Let y be less than our base, b, and z be
greater than our base b. Moreover, let d be the deficit of y from b, and e be
the excess of z over b. So, we are interested in finding the product y x z,
which can be rewritten as (b-d) x (b+e).
Expanding the above product gives us b x (b-d+e) - d x e. We performed b-

d+e using one of the 4 methods provided for finding the left hand side of the
last row. We then made it the left hand side of the last row by multiplying it
by our base, b. The problem arises because we have to subtract d x e from
this answer rather than adding, as we performed in previous lessons. If d x
e is zero, then nothing more needs to be done. That is covered by the first
step of the three-step procedure outlined above. If it is not zero, that leads
to the 2 extra steps of the three-step procedure that result in subtracting the
right hand side from the left-hand side multiplied by the base.
This may be a little confusing initially, so let us work out a few more
problems to make sure we understand the method, not only for the standard
case, but also when some special cases arise, as we shall see shortly.
Let us solve 95 x 106 using the method outlined above. First we see that we
have to use 100 as our base. Then we draw the figure below:
95 - 5
106 + 6
------------
|
In the first row, we have our first number, 95, a "-" because 95 is less than
our base, 100, and the deficit of 95 from 100, which is 5. In the second row,
we have our second number, 106, a "+" because 106 is more than our base,
100, and the excess of 106 over 100, which is 6.
Now, we calculate the left hand side of the last row using any of the four
methods outlined earlier. We get 95 + 106 - 100 = 101, 95 + 6 = 101, 106 - 5
= 101 or -5 + 6 + 100 = 101. The right hand side of the last row becomes 30,
the product of 5 and 6. Our figure thus becomes:
95 - 5
106 + 6
----------
101 | 30
Now, we perform the three-step procedure to complete the method. The

right hand side is not all zeroes, so we do the additional two steps of the
three-step procedure. The left hand side of the answer becomes 101 -1 =
100. The right hand side of the answer becomes the 10's complement of 30,
which is 70. We then get our final answeras 10070. It is easy to verify that
this is indeed the correct answer.
The special cases that may arise are similar to the special cases we dealt
with in the previous lessons: The right hand side of the last row may contain
too few or too many digits. In either case, we can easily deal with the
situtation if we keep the algebraic basis of the solution method in mind. The
rules for dealing with these special cases are outlined below:
• The right hand side of the last row should have the same number of
digits as the number of zeroes in the base. If this is already the case,
nothing additional needs to be done. We just follow the three-step
procedure outlined earlier for converting the numbers on the left and
right hand sides of the last row into the left and right hand sides of the
answer.
• If the right hand side contains too few digits, pad it to the left with
zeroes. Then take the 10's complement of that number from the
base. Do not take the 10's complement of the original right hand
side (with its fewer-than-required digits) from its next higher
power of 10 and then pad the result with zeroes. We will illustrate
this in an example below.
• If the right hand side contains too many digits, retain as many digits on
the right hand side as there are zeroes in the base. Move the
remaining digits to the left as a carryover. However, instead of adding
the carryover to the left hand side, subtract the carryover from the left
hand side. Then follow the three-step procedure outlined earlier for
converting the left and right hand sides of the last row into the left and
right hand sides of the answer.
To illustrate the case of the right hand side containing too few digits,
consider the product 99 x 101. We get the figure below after following all the
steps before the special procedure needed to convert the left and right hand
sides of the last row into the left and right hand sides of the answer:
99 - 1
101 + 1
-------------
100 | 1
Now, we notice that the right hand side contains a single digit, 1. Since our
base is 100, which has 2 zeroes, we need to pad 1 with zeroes to the left
until it becomes 2-digits long. We therefore get 01 as the right hand side of
the last row. We then proceed to subtract 1 from the left hand side to get 99
and then take the 10's complement of 01 with respect to 100 (our base) to
get 99 (if we take the 10's complement of 1 with respect to its next higher
power of 10, we would get 9, and padding it with zeroes to the left would
give us 09, which is not the correct answer. So, it is important to follow the
steps exactly as outlined, and not do the complementing/padding in arbitrary
order). This gives us the final answer of 9999 which can be verified to be
correct.
Next let us work out the product 88 x 110. We get the figure below after
following all the steps before the three-step procedure:
88 - 12
110 + 10
---------------
98 | 120
We see that the right hand side contains 3 digits which is one more than the
number of zeroes in our base, 100. So, we carry over the left most digit to
the left hand side and instead of adding it, we subtract it from what is
already on the left hand side. We are left with 97 and 20 on the left and right
hand sides of our figure. Now, we apply the three-step procedure to convert
these numbers into the left and right hand sides of our answer. We get 96
and 80, leading to the answer of 9680, which can be verified to be correct.
It is important to practice this thoroughly to become fluent at it so that we
can do this correctly in our mind without missing some important subtraction
or addition. But before, I leave you, let me solve the problem we started this
lesson with: 996 x 1006. We draw the figure below to begin with:
996 - 4
1006 + 6
------------
1002 | 24
We see that our number on the right hand side of the last row, 24, needs an
extra digit to be the same length as the number of zeroes in our base, 1000.
Once we pad the right hand side with zeroes to the left, we get the answer
quickly as 1001976. This can be verified to be true.
Let us solve 900 x 1100 as our final illustration. We get the figure below:
900 - 100
1100 + 100
--------------
1000 | 10000
Since 10000 has 2 digits more than the number of zeroes in our base, 1000,
we need to move them to the left hand side and subtract them from 1000.
This leads to a left hand side of 990. Now, note that the right hand side
consists entirely of zeroes. Therefore, nothing more needs to be done to
derive the answer, according to the first step of the three-step procedure
outlined earlier. The answer is simply 990000, which can be verified
accurate. The case with all zeroes in the right hand side of the final row
therefore has important implications, and needs to be reviewed carefully.
Practice is particularly important for this lesson. Practice will not only make
you more proficient, but also get you into the habit of working out
mathematical problems using the new techniques I introduce here. This is
going to be important as we proceed deeper and deeper into the jungle of
arithmetic, and the techniques become more and more involved. Hope you
will make the time to do so. In the next lesson we will deal with products of
numbers that are close to a multiple or submultiple of a power of 10. Happy
computing and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Part 4
In this lesson, we are going to deal with products of numbers that are close
to a multiple of a power of 10, rather than being close to a power of 10 itself.
This will come in handy when we want to work out products like 5007 x
4950 mentally, without the use of a calculator or computer.

10's Complements
The method we will use in this lesson is explained very cryptically and
succintly in an Upasutra (sub-formula) of the main sutra. This upasutra
simply reads Anurupyena, which literally means Proportionately. I will now
explain how the method is applied by taking a simple example. Let us find
the product 21 x 22.
We notice that both these numbers are not very close to 10, but they are
very close to a multiple of 10, 20. So, we choose 10 as our base and 20 as
our "working base" for this problem. Notice that our working base is derived
from our base by multiplying by 2, so keep 2 in mind as our multiplier.
Following the method in this lesson, and using 20 as our working base, we
come up with the figure below:
21 + 1
22 + 2
---------
23 | 2
Now, before we find the final answer, we just have to perform one additional
computation: Take the left hand side of the last row of the figure and multiply
it by our multiplier before combining it with the right hand side of the last
row. This gives us 23 x 2 = 46, and the answer to our problem is simply 462.
You may verify the answer using a calculator or computer.
The same method works when the numbers are just below a multiple of 10
also. Let us take 19 x 18 as an example. Let us choose 10 as our base and
20 as our working base. We get 2 as our multiplier. Use the method
illustrated in this lesson to derive the figure below:
19 - 1
18 - 2
-----------
17 | 2
As in the previous problem, before we find the final answer, we just have to
perform one additional computation: Take the left hand side of the last row
of the figure and multiply it by our multiplier before combining it with the right
hand side of the last row. This gives us 17 x 2 = 34, and the answer to our
problem is simply 342, which is easily verifiable.
Let us examine the algebraic basis for why the method works. Let us
assume that our base is b and our working base is w. Let us assume that
our multiplier is m, so w = m x b. We need to multiply y with z, and their
deficits (or excesses, it will work either way) with respect to w are d and e
respectively. So, our problem is to find y x z, which can be written as (w - d)
x (w - e). Expand this out to w x (w - d - e) + d x e. Expanding the outer w as
m x b, we get m x b x (w - d - e) + d x e. Now, we derived (w - d - e) by cross
subtracting the deficits across the rows. We then multiplied it by the base to
make it the left hand side of the answer. The only odd piece left out is the
multiplier itself, which can be brought inside the parentheses, giving us the
following:
y x z = b x (m x (w - d - e)) + de
This is what was accomplished by the extra step of multiplying the original
left hand side by the multiplier before combining it with the right hand side to
get the final answer. It is a straight-forward explanation, but it also explains
several things about the method that we might have had doubts about.
For instance, we knew how many digits the right hand side is supposed to
have when we used a power of 10 as our base (the number of zeroes in the
base), but what happens when we use a multiple of this power of 10 as our
base. The algebraic explanation tells us that the number of digits does not
change: We are still using the original base to multiply the left hand side by,
so the number of digits of the right hand side has to be the number of
zeroes in the original base (which, under most cases will be the same
number of zeroes as in the working base, but need not be: there is
absolutely nothing preventing us from choosing and using 2.5 or some other
non-round number as the multiplier! Note that the number of zeroes in the
working base would then not be the same as the number of zeroes in the
base).
Using this knowledge, let us solve some problems using this method for
practice, then we will conclude by solving the problem posed at the
beginning of this post.
Let us try to solve 29 x 31 using this method. Let us use 10 as our base and
30 as our working base, giving us 3 as our multiplier. We get the figure
below:
29 - 1
31 + 1
---------
30 | 1
Now we multiply 30 by 3 to 90 as our left hand side. Note that since there
are both deficits and excesses (the numbers are on either side of the
working base), we need to use the three-step process explained in this
lesson to derive the final answer, which turns out to be 899. In the first step
of that process, we see that the right hand side is not all zeroes. We then
proceed to subtract 1 from the left hand side, to give us 89. Then we take
the 10's complement of 1 to get 9 as the right hand side, giving us
899. Note that the multiplication by the multiplier happens before the
three-step process is performed, not after. Once again, the order in
which we do the OPERATIONS is important for the method to succeed.
What about 22 x 25? Let us use 10 as the base and 20 as the working base,
giving us 2 as our multiplier. We derive the figure below:
22 + 2
25 + 5
---------
27 | 10
Now, we multiply 27 by the multiplier to get 54. We then carry over the extra
digit on the right hand side to the left hand side, giving us a left hand side of
55, a right hand side of 0, and a final answer of 550. Note again that the
carryover happens after multiplication by the multiplier. A good rule to
remember, therefore, is that multiplication of the left hand side by the
multiplier precedes all other steps in finding the answer. This is obvious from
the algebraic explanation of the method, but bears repeating nevertheless.
Let us compute 32 x 25 as a further illustration of the technique. We derive

the figure below by using 10 as our base, 30 as our working base, and 3 as
our multiplier:
32 + 2
25 - 5
---------
27 | 10
We first multiply the left hand side by our multiplier to get 81 on the left hand
side. We then see that our right hand side contains 2 digits while our base
(10) has only one zero. So, we carry over the extra 1 to the left hand side,
but since this problem is one of numbers on either side of the working base,
the carryover digit has to be subtracted from the left hand side rather than
added to it. We get 80 on the left hand side. We then apply the three-step
procedure in this lesson, and find that since the right hand side is all zeroes,
nothing further needs to be done, giving us an answer of 800.
Let us illustrate one final example before we solve the problem we started
out with. Let us compute 32 x 24 this time. Use 10 as the base and 30 as
the working base. We then get the figure below:
32 + 2
24 - 6
----------
26 | 12
We multiply 26 by 3 (our multiplier) to get 78. Then we subtract the extra

digit on the right hand side from this number to get 77. Now applying the
three-step procedure, we get 768 as the final answer (subtract 1 from 77,
take the 10's complement of 2 and then combine them).
Now, let us get to the problem we posed at the top of this post. How do we
compute 5007 x 4950 using this method? We quickly conclude that we
should use 1000 as our base, 5000 as our working base and therefore, 5 as
our multiplier. That results in the figure below:
5007 + 7
4950 - 50
------------
4957 | 350
Now multiply 4957 by 5 to get 24,785 (this step may seem a little daunting,
but it is actually easy to do since the multiplier is just a single-digit number.
Just remember to keep track of the carryover digits as you perform the
multiplication from right to left and you will find that it is not that difficult. But,
it is one of the reasons why we will learn how to work with a submultiple of a
power of 10 in the next lesson).
350 already has the same number of digits as the base, so there is no
carryover from the right hand side. Applying steps 2 and 3 of the three-step
procedure (the right hand side is not all zeroes), we get our final answer as
24,784,650 (subtract 1 from 24,785 to get the left hand side, and combine it
with the 10's complement of 350).
All this may sound complicated at first, but I can not emphasize enough or
enough times that practice is the key to success with Vedic Mathematics.
The more you practice, the easier it gets. Practice also makes your brain
sharper, making it easier to absorb new material. In the next lesson, we will
take the problem above, but work at it using submultiples of a power of 10
rather than multiples. It will add one more weapon to your mental arithmetic
arsenal. Happy practicing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Part 5
In this lesson, we are going to deal with products of numbers that are close
to a sub-multiple (or factor) of a power of 10, rather than being close to
a multiple of a power of 10 or a power of 10 itself. This will come in handy
when we want to work out products like 5007 x 4950 mentally (this is the
same problem we dealt with in theprevious lesson. We will calculate the
answer again for this problem so that you can compare the two methods
and choose which one is more convenient for you to use based on your
personal preferences), without the use of a calculator or computer.

10's Complements
The method derives from the same upasutra that we used in the previous
lesson. As you may recall, this upasutra reads simply Anurupyena, which
literally means Proportionately. I will now explain how the method is applied
by taking a simple example. Let us find the product 53 x 55.
We notice that these numbers are not very close to 100, but they are very
close to a sub-multiple (or factor) of 100, 50. So, let us choose 100 as our
base and 50 as our working base and because 100/2 = 50, we will will
designate 2 as our divider. Using 50 as our working base, we now derive the
figure below:
53 + 3
55 + 5
------------
58 | 15
If you have questions about the derivation of the figure above, please review
the previous lessons, in particular, Lesson 4.
As in the previous lesson, the first step after we get the figure above is to
apply the upasutra (Proportionately). In this case, our divider is 2, so divide
the left hand side of the last row by 2 to get 29. Combine it with the right
hand side to get 2915, which can be verified to be our answer.
Let us examine the algebraic basis of the method, which is almost identical
to the algebraic basis of the method illustrated in the previous lesson. That
will once again answer some questions we might have about special cases
related to this method.
Let us assume that our base is b and our working base is w. Let us assume
that our divider is m, so w = b/m. We need to multiply y with z, and their
excesses (or deficits, it will work either way) with respect to w are d and e
respectively. So, our problem is to find y x z, which can be written as (w + d)
x (w + e). Expand this out to w x (w + d + e) + d x e. Expanding the outer w
as b/m, we get (b/m) x (w + d + e) + d x e. Now, we derived (w + d + e) by
cross adding the excesses across the rows. We then multiplied it by the
base to make it the left hand side of the answer. The only odd piece left out
is the divider itself, which can be brought inside the parentheses, giving us
the following:
y x z = b x ((w + d + e)/m) + de
This is what was accomplished by the extra step of dividing the original
left hand side by the divider before combining it with the right hand side to
get the final answer.
Now, as long as the division does not result in a fractional result, things are
fine. Let us examine a case when the division actually does result in a
fractional result. Let us take the example of finding 23 x 24 by using 100 as
our base and 25 as our working base. Our divider becomes 4. We first draw
the figure below:
23 - 2
24 - 1
-----------
22 | 2
Now, when we divide 22 by 4 (our divider), we get a quotient of 5 and a

remainder of 2. So, the answer to the division is actually 5 and a half. Since
we are multiplying the left hand side by the base, 100, the result of the
division is actually 550, not 5 and a half. Thus, the rule for dealing with
fractional results in division becomes clear:express the remainder as a
fraction using the base as the denominator and then carry over the
numerator to the right hand side. Our remainder here is 2 out of 4 or 2/4 and
expressing it as a fraction with 100 as the denominator gives us a
numerator of 50 (50/100 = 2/4). Carrying over the 50 to the right hand side
gives us the answer 52 for the right hand side. Our left hand side was 5 (the
quotient of dividing 22 by 4), giving us the final answer of 552.
Let us now illustrate this method with one more example: 48 x 51. Let us
take 100 as our base and 50 as our working base. We get the figure below:
48 - 2
51 + 1
-----------
49 | 2
Dividing 49 by 2 gives us 24 with a remainder of 1. Since 1/2 is the same as

50/100, we carry 50 over to the right hand side. But notice that this is a
problem of numbers on either side of the working base, so the right hand
side has to be subtracted from the left hand side. So, to get the right hand
side of the answer, we actually have to compute 50 (our carryover from the
left hand side) - 2 (the number originally on the right hand side, which needs
to be subtracted). This gives us a right hand side of 48, and a final answer
of 2448.
Hopefully, this, in combination with the algebraic basis of the method, and
all the examples we have worked out in previous lessons is enough for us to
solve any problems we encounter using this method. Therefore, as a final
illustration, let us solve the problem we started this lesson with: 5007 x
4950.
Let us use 10000 as our base and 5000 as our working base. Our divider is
2. Let us draw the figure below:
5007 + 7
4950 - 50
---------------
4957 | 350
When we divide 4957 by 2, we get a quotient of 2478 and a remainder of 1.

Notice that 1/2 is the same as 5000/10000, so we need to carry 5000 over
to the right hand side. The computation on the right hand side is therefore
5000 - 350 = 4650 (this is a case of numbers on either side of the working
base, so the right hand side has to be subtracted from the left hand side).
The final answer is 24784650, which is what we derived in the previous
lesson using 1000 as the base.
Hope you are practicing these techniques so that you can do them mentally
without the need for even a paper or pen. Practice is the key to speed and
mental agility. Happy computing and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Special Case 1
In the previous lessons, we have dealt with multiplication of numbers using
their deficits and excesses with respect to a power of 10 or a multiple of
sub-multiple (factor) of a power of 10. Because of the procedure used,
the method has some corollaries that deal specifically with some special
cases we may encounter. We will talk about one of these corollaries in our
lesson today.

10's Complements
The corollary deals with the multiplication of numbers by numbers that

consist entirely of 9's, such as 9, 99, 999, etc. Notice that all these numbers
have a deficit of 1 with respect to a power of 10. So, this corollary takes
advantage of that property in an obvious way. The sub-sutra that deals with
this property reads Ekanyunena Purvena. It sounds very similar to the sutra
we studied earlier, Ekadhikena Purvena, and is actually the converse of
that. Instead of increasing by one, we reduce by one, as will become
obvious when we work out the details. Let us take the case of a simple
example to illustrate. Let us try to compute 79 x 99 using the techniques we
have learnt so far.
Using the methods in this previous lesson, we obtain the figure below:
79 - 21
99 - 1
---------
78 | 21
The answer is 7821. But it is obvious that the answer can be derived without
actually drawing the figure above. We simply reduce the number to be
multiplied by the number that contains all 9's by 1, to use as the left hand
side of the answer. On the right hand side, we simply write down the 10's
complement of the number. Let us make this clearer by working out a few
more examples:
65 x 99 = 6435 (64 is one less than 65, and 35 is 65's 10's complement)
578 x 999 = 577422 (577 is one less than 578, and 422 is 578's 10's
complement)
8621 x 9999 = 86201379 (8620 is one less than 8621, and 1379 is 8621's
10's complement)
In all the examples above, the numbers to be multiplied together both have
the same number of digits. What happens when the number of digits is
different between the two numbers to be multiplied with each other? To
explore, let us take the example of 7 x 99. Using 100 as the base, it is
possible to draw the figure below:
7 - 93
99 - 1
---------
6 | 93
The rule then becomes obvious. If the number to be multiplied with the
number that contains all 9's has fewer digits, use one less than that number
as the left hand side of the answer. For the right hand side, pad the number
with zeroes to the left and take its 10's complement with respect to the
power of 10 just above the number that contains all 9's. To illustrate this
rule, let us consider the following additional examples:
56 x 999 = 55944 (55 is one less than 56, and 944 is the 10's complement
of 56 with respect to 1000)
78 x 9999 = 779922 (77 is one less than 78, and 9922 is the 10's
complement of 78 with respect to 10000
987 x 999999 = 986999013 (986 is one less than 987, and 999013 is the
10's complement of 987 with respect to 1000000)
Now, let us explore what happens when the number of digits in the number
that consists of all 9's has fewer digits? To explore, let us work out an
example such as 82 x 9. Using 10 as the base, we can draw the figure
below:
82 + 72
9-1
-----------
81 | 72
Using the 3-step procedure from this previous lesson (notice that this is a
case of the numbers being on either side of our base, so we have to use the
3-step procedure to derive the final answer), we get the final answer as 738.
Obviously, it is still easy to work out the answer using the lessons we have
learnt earlier, but it may not be as mentally intuitive as the previous cases.
Instead of going through the procedure of drawing the figure above to derive
the answer (after the application of the 3-step procedure), we can formalize
the derivation of the final answer as below:
Divide the number to be multiplied (multiplicand) by the number consisting
of all 9's (multiplier) into two parts: a right-hand part that contains as many
digits as the multiplier and a left-hand part consisting of the extra digits
Subtract from the multiplicand one more than the left-hand part of the
multiplicand and use as the left hand side of the answer
Take the 10's complement of the right-hand part of the multiplicand and use
as the right hand side of the answer
To illustrate this procedure, let us consider the following examples:
7437 x 99 = 736263 (7362 is 7437 - (74 + 1), and 63 is the 10's complement
of 37)
3948 x 999 = 3944052 (3944 is 3948 - (3 + 1), and 052 is the 10's
complement of 948)
73367 x 999 = 73293633 (73293 is 73367 - (73 + 1), and 633 is the 10's
complement of 367)
Another way to handle this kind of problem is also presented below.

Depending on personal tastes, it is possible to use either method. Let us
take the example of 82 x 9 once again. This time, let us reformulate 82 x 9
as 82 x 90 / 10. 82 x 90 can be solved using the figure below:
82 - 18
90 - 10
---------
72 | 180
Carrying the 1 from the left hand side to the right hand side, we get 7380.
Dividing this answer by 10 gives us 738, as before. To make it easier to
solve mentally, the following steps can be formalized:
Let the difference in digits between the multiplicand and multiplier be d

Subtract the power of 10 with the d zeroes from the multiplicand and make
this the temporary left-hand side of the answer
For the temporary right-hand side of the answer, use the 10's complement
of the multiplicand
To derive the final left and right-hand sides of the answer, retain as many
digits of the right-hand side as there are digits in the multiplier and carry
over the rest of the digits to the left-hand side
To illustrate this procedure, let us use it on the same examples as before:
7437 x 99 = 736263 (7337 | 2563 is the temporary answer, leading to a

final answer of 736263 after carrying over 25 to the left hand side)
3948 x 999 = 3944052 (3938 | 6052 is the temporary answer, leading to a
final answer of 3944052 after carrying over 6 to the left hand side)
73367 x 999 = 73293633 (73267 | 26633 is the temporary answer, leading
to a final answer of 73293633 after carrying over 26 to the left hand side)
Hopefully, this lesson has provided an insight into the kinds of simplifications
that result when special properties of certain numbers are taken advantage
of while using the methods of the past few lessons. The next lesson will
focus on some more special applications of the past few lessons. In the
meantime, happy computing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Special Case 2
As mentioned in the previous lesson, it is possible to make some
multiplication problems much easier than even the procedures make them
by taking advantage of some special properties of the numbers involved in
the multiplication. In this lesson, we will talk about another special case that
occurs somewhat frequently. Consider products such as 23 x 27. Notice that
the last digits add up to 10 (7 + 3 = 10) and the digits other than the last digit
are the same in both numbers.

10's Complements
Multiplication Special Case 1
Let us try to work out 23 x 27 using techniques from our previous lessons.
We will use 10 as our base and 20 as our working base. We get the figure
below:
23 + 3
27 + 7
--------
30 | 21
We now have to multiply the left hand side by our multiplier, 2 (20 / 10 = 2).
This gives us a final answer of 621. The important thing to notice is that
when the final digits add up to 10, the left hand side becomes 10 more than
our working base (30 is 10 more than our working base of 20). Multiplying
the result by the multiplier leads to the same result as taking the product of
the first digit by a number one more than it and using it as the left hand side
of the answer.
In fact, that is precisely this short cut that makes working out problems like
the above very easy. The procedure is actually another application of a sutra
we are familiar with from another lesson (this is another feature of Vedic
Mathematics: many sutras are used in several contexts and the
specific application of the sutra depends on the context): Ekadhikena
Purvena, which means literally By One More Than The Previous One. In this
case, the application of the sutra is as below:
Multiply the last digits of the numbers and use as the right hand side of
the answer after padding with zeroes to make it 2 digits long
Multiply the left-over part of the number (after removing the last digits) by
one more than itself and use this as the left hand side of the answer.
Let us practice the application of this procedure using the examples below:
31 x 39 = 1209 (09 is the product of 1 and 9, and 12 is 3 x (3 + 1))

The second case above, which is actually the square of a number ending in
5, is much better known than the other applications of this special case. You
can find the shortcut explained as below:
Use 25 as the last two digits of the answer

Multiply the part of the number to be squared that is left over after taking
away the 5 by the next number and use as the left hand side of the answer
The algebraic explanation of why it works as it does may or may not be

provided along with the shortcut (in most cases I have seen, the result is
presented more as a mathematical curiosity rather than as part of a
coherent discourse on mental arithmetic and its roots), leading one to
believe that Vedic Mathematics is nothing but some arithmetic
tricks discovered by accident by idle people who had too much time on their
hands! The truth is quite the contrary, and it is easy to see that these results
are not coincidental or discoveries of chance, but obtained by the
careful application of the fundamentals of algebra to the solution of
arithmetic problems.
Let us extend this method to the case where the last digits of the numbers
do not add up to 10, but to a higher power of 10, such as 100. Let us take
the case of 103 x 197. Let us use 100 as the base in this case, 100 as the
working base and 1 as our multiplier. This leads to the figure below:
103 + 3
197 + 97
----------
200 | 291
Since our multiplier is 1, the final answer become 20291. Notice that the left
hand side of the answer is the product of 100 and one more than the
multiplier. This property can be taken advantage of by formalizing this to the
procedure below:
Multiply the final parts of the number that add up to a power of 10, and
make the result twice as long as the number of zeroes in the power of 10,
by padding to the left with zeroes as necessary. Make this the right hand
side of the answer
Multiply the initial part of the number left over by one more than itself and
make this the left hand side of the answer
Using this procedure, let us take a crack at the following examples:
395 x 305 = 120475 (0475 is 5 x 95 expanded to twice of 2 digits, which is 4

digits, and 12 = 3 x (3+1))
450 x 450 = 202500 (2500 is 50 x 50 (it does not have to padded with
zeroes because the result is already 4 digits long) and 20 = 4 x (4 + 1))
5001 x 5999 = 30000999 (000999 is 999 x 1 expanded to twice of 3 digits,
which is 6 digits, and 30 = 5 x (5 + 1))
Hopefully, the applications of this special case are clear from the
explanations and examples above. Practice, as always, is the key to
identifying the numerical patterns that this special case is most applicable
to. So, continuous practice will make one perfect at identifying when this
special case is applicable and at applying the special case quickly and
correctly. Happy computing and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Special Case 3
This is the last of the special cases that can be derived as a corollary from
the general method we have dealt with in previous lessons. This special
case deals with the squaring of numbers.

10's Complements
The upasutra (sub-rule) that applies to this case reads Yavadhunam

Thavadhunikritya Varga Cha Yojayetu. Literally, this means Whatever The
Extent Of The Deficiency, Lessen It Further To That Extent; And Also Set
Up The Square Of That Deficiency.
We will illustrate the application of this corollary by working out a simple

example. Let us compute the square of 94 using the method explained
above. From our previous lessons, we know that the figure below can be
drawn to calculate the square of 94:
94 - 6
94 - 6
-----------
88 | 36
This directly gives us the answer to the problem as 8836.
Now let us see how the special case is applicable in this case. We see that
the left hand side of the answer is equivalent to the number to be squared
reduced by the deficiency of that number from the base. This is obviously
the application of Whatever The Extent Of The Deficiency, Lessen It Further
To That Extent. The right hand side is simply the square of the deficiency.
This is the application of And Also Set Up The Square Of That Deficiency.
The algebraic explanation of this corollary can be derived directly from the
algebraic explanation of the general method that has been provided in
previous lessons. Now we will apply this special case to solve a few more
problems.
89 x 89 = 7921 (the right hand side of the answer is 121 (the square of 11),
so we carry over the 1 to the left hand side, which started out as 89 - 11 =
78)
99 x 99 = 9801 (the right hand side of the answer has been padded with
zeroes to the left so that it has the same number of digits as the number of
zeroes in the base)
997 x 997 = 994009 (once again, the right hand side of the answer has
been padded with the appropriate number of zeroes)
880 x 880 = 774400 (the left hand side of the answer has been augmented
by the carryover of 14 to the left hand side from the original right hand side
of 14400)
Now, let us examine how to modify the upa-sutra slightly to deal with
squares of numbers that are a little greater than the base rather than being
a little less than the base. Let us deal with the case of 105 x 105. We get the
figure below when we use the method we have learnt in previous lessons:
105 + 5
105 + 5
-----------
110 | 25
The general rule thus becomes quite clear: instead of reducing the number
by the deficiency, if there is an excess, increase the number by the excess
to get the left hand side of the answer. As before, use the square of the
excess as the right hand side of the answer.
Notice that the square of 105 could have been derived simply by using the
technique explained in the previous lesson for squaring of
numbers ending in 5. But, the application of the technique explained in this
chapter to the same problem serves to illustrate that there are several tools
to perform the same function, and it is up to us to choose the method that is
most suitable and easy to apply to the given situation.
Let us now solidify our understanding of the technique by applying it to a

few more problems:
13 x 13 = 169 (3 is the excess of 13 over 10, 16 is 13 + the excess, and 9 is

the square of the excess)
1003 x 1003 = 1006009 (the right hand side has been padded with zeroes
to make it 3 digits long, the same length as the number of zeroes in our
base, 1000)
1100 x 1100 = 1210000 (the original left hand side of 1200 has been added
to the carryover of 10 from the right hand side to get the final answer)
111 x 111 = 12321 (the original left hand side of 122 has been added to the
carryover of 1 from the right hand side to get the final answer)
That is all there is to it. This has been a short lesson, but hopefully, this has
been a useful addition to our arsenal of mental arithmetic techniques. As is
always the case, when we start accumulating more and more tools for our
toolbox, it is important to understand the functions, strengths and
weaknesses of each tool, and use the most appropriate tool for the job that
confronts us at any given point. Practicing is the key to understanding the
tools at our disposal. Happy computing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 11: Vertically and Cross-wise I
In the previous lessons we learnt how to do multiplication of numbers that
are close to a power of 10, or close to a multiple of sub-multiple (factor) of a
power of 10. Unfortunately, we know that not all products involve numbers
that are so well-behaved. If the numbers are very far apart, then there will
obviously be no powers of 10 or multiples or sub-multiples thereof that will
be close enough to both numbers. This will make the use of the techniques
described in the previous lessons inconvenient, and it may not be possible
to use them mentally at all.

10's Complements
In this lesson, we will learn the application of a more general mental

multiplication technique that is described in a Vedic Sutra in the following
words: Urdhva Tiryagbhyam. Literally, it means Vertically and Cross-
wise. This sutra is used in various contexts, for various applications, but its
most common and elementary application is in the context of multiplication.
To illustrate the application of this technique, we will start with a simple
example. Then, we will examine the algebraic basis for the technique, which
will clarify the application of the technique to some special cases we may
encounter in practice. The algebraic basis of the technique will also allow us
to appreciate the full power and potential of the technique for all kinds of
multiplication tasks.
Let us see how we would compute the product 52 x 21 using

this method. First write 52 and 21 on two rows, with the digits aligned
vertically. This gives us:
52
21
---------
Now, start from the right hand side. Multiply the right-most digits of the two
numbers vertically (as the name suggests), and write the product down as
the right-most digit of the answer. We get 2 as the right-most digit of
the answer since 2 x 1 = 2:
52
21
----------
••2
Now, cross multiply the first digit of the first number with the second digit of
the second number and add the result to the cross product of the second
digit of the first number and the first digit of the second number (this is the
cross-wise in the name of the technique). Write this number down as the
second digit of the answer. We get 9 since 5 x 1 + 2 x 2 = 9
52
21
----------
•92
As the last step, multiply the first digits of the two numbers vertically, and put
the product down as the left-most digit of the answer. We get 10 since 5 x 2
= 10.
52
21
-----------
1092
We can verify with a calculator that the product is indeed 1092. Because we
perform either vertical multiplication or cross-products for the different digits
of the answer, the name of the method makes sense and is easy to
remember.
Let us now examine the algebraic basis for the method. To do so, we first
note that any two-digit number can be written as az + b where z = 10. So
the two numbers whose product is to be found can be expressed as az + b
and cz + d. Notice that (az + b) x (cz + d) = acz2 + (ad + bc)z + bd.
It is immediately obvious that ac is the vertical product of the first digits of

the numbers to be multiplied, bd is the vertical product of the last digits of
the numbers to be multipled, and (ad + bc) is the sum of the cross-products
of the digits in the two numbers.Notice the symmetry of the technique as
we start with a vertical product at the right, proceed to a cross-product
involving both right and left hand sides, and then continue on to
a vertical product at the left. This symmetry will be expanded upon when we
extend this method to deal with products of numbers that are more than two
digits each.
What is also immediately obvious is that the right-most vertical product

represents the units digit of the answer, the sum of the cross-products
represents the tens digit of the answer, and the left-most vertical product
represents the hundreds digit. Because each of them represents one place
in the final answer, if any of these numbers have more than one digit, we
have to carry over to the left any excess digits. That is one of the reasons
we work the problem out starting from the extreme right so that we can keep
track of the carryovers, if there are any, when we find the digits towards the
left.
To illustrate the concept of carryover, let us work out a few examples. We

will start with 75 x 92. We will use colors in the figure below to make sure
the technique is well-understood since the carryovers can cause some
confusion. Let us first draw the figure below:
75
92
--------
Now, we multiply the right-most digits vertically and find that the product is
10. Since this is 2 digits long, we write the right-most digit on one line and
the carryover digit (the 1) on the next line to make sure we understand that
it is carried over:
75
92
---------
••0
•1
Both the red numbers with yellow backgrounds in the figure above are
derived from the first vertical multiplication. Now, let us perform the cross-
multiplication of the digits. We get 7 x 2 + 9 x 5 = 14 + 45 = 59 as the cross-
product. Just like we did for the verticalproduct, we will write the two digits of
59 on different lines to distinguish the carryover from the non-carryover
number:
75
92
---------
•90
51
Both the green numbers with violet backgrounds in the figure above are
derived from the cross-multiplication. Now, let us perform the
final vertical multiplication of the left-most digits. We obtain 63 since 7 x 9 =
63. Since there are going to be no more digits to the left, we can put down
the 63 as it is on the first line instead of spreading it over 2 lines. We
therefore, get the figure below:
75
92
---------
6390
•51
Both the dark blue numbers with light blue backgrounds in the figure above
are derived from the last vertical product. Now add up the two rows of
numbers to derive the final answer:
75
92
---------
6390
•51
---------
6900
We need to initially resort to the procedure of writing the answer down in

two lines and adding them up to get the final answer to keep the carryovers
from becoming too confusing. But as we practice the technique over and
over again, it will become easy to keep the carryovers straight mentally, so
that we can reel off the answer in one step for any multiplication involving
two digits. To illustrate the technique further, I have worked out a few more
problems. The color schemes are the same as what was used in the above
example so that it is easy to follow the different steps all the way to the
derivation of the final answer.
84
29
---------
1606
•83
---------
2436
99
99
---------
8121
168
---------
9801
79
08
---------
062
57
---------
632
Notice that we padded the second number in the product above with a zero
to the left so that it is 2 digits long. When we extend this technique to
products of numbers with more digits, we will see that the padding of
numbers with zeroes to the left is a common and needed technique to make
the numbers the same length so that this technique can be applied
mechanically.
And finally:
50
50
---------
2500
Note that even though this lesson has explained the procedure starting with
the vertical multiplication of the right-most digits, we can proceed in the
opposite direction, starting with the vertical product on the left-hand side, the
cross-product and then the verticalproduct on the right-hand side. It is more
difficult to keep track of the carryovers from the right to the left while at the
same time solving the problem from left to right, especially when we are
trying to solve the problem mentally, that is why solving from left to right has
been avoided. But if we write the answer down on paper using rows of
numbers as in the figures above, there is no difference between starting
from the left and starting from the right. You just have to remember that
carryover always proceeds from right to left and only the right-most digit of
each product is retained while the rest of the digits are carried over to the
left.
Hopefully, the examples above have provided a good sample of what to

expect during the application of this method to 2-digit numbers. Practice will
make the application of the technique very easy and quick. In the next
lesson, we will extend this method to multiplication involving numbers that
are more than 2 digits long. Happy practicing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 12: Vertically and Cross-wise II
In the previous lesson, we learnt the basic application of the Urdhva
Tiryagbhyam sutra to simple problems of multiplication.
You can find all the previous posts about Vedic Mathematics below:

10's Complements
Vertically And Crosswise I
Before we dive into the application of the method to products of numbers

with more than two digits, let us study the pattern of vertical and cross-wise
multiplications the technique in the previous lesson involved.
The procedure started out using just the right-most digits of the numbers in
a vertical multiplication. Then the method expanded to the left and involved
the next column of the numbers as well as the right-most column. This was
a cross-wise multiplication. Then the method proceeded still further to the
left, but since there were no more digits to the left, the right-most digits were
excluded from the multiplication, leaving us with just the left-most digit in a
vertical multiplication. Thus the method expanded from right to left, starting
with a vertical multiplication of the right-most digits, until the left-most digit
was involved in a cross multiplication with the right-most digit, then
contracted from right to left, leaving us in the end with just the left-most
digits involved in a vertical multiplication. There is an inherent symmetry in
the procedure and this symmetry will help us remember the procedure very
easily.
Now let us start by working out a simple problem: 123 x 321. After that, we
will expand on the algebraic explanation of the technique to provide
a general formula, and then finish with more examples that illustrate the
expansion and contraction of the cross-products and the symmetry inherent
in the procedure. To find 123 x 321, we will start with the figure below:
123
321
---------
As in the previous lesson, we will start by vertically multiplying the right-most

digits of the numbers and putting the product down as the right-most digit of
the answer. The product in this case is 3 x 1 = 3.
123
321
---------
••••3
The numbers involved in the multiplication and the corresponding product

are denoted by red letters in the figure above.
Now, we expand the multiplication from right to left, thus involving the
second and third digits of both numbers in a cross-multiplication. The cross-
multiplication produces the answer 2 x 1 + 2 x 3 = 8.
123
321
---------
•••83

are denoted by orange letters in the figure above.
Now, we expand the multiplication still further to the left, thus involving all
three digits of each of the two numbers. The cross-multiplication in this case
will involve the product of the first and third digits, the second and second
digits and the third and first digits of the two numbers. Notice the symmetry
of the cross-multiplication. Note also, that when the cross-multiplication
involves an odd number of digits, the middle digits are multiplied vertically
with each other and added to the cross-product. The cross-product we get is
1 x 1 + 2 x 2 + 3 x 3 = 14. Since this product consists of two digits, we are
going to write the right digit on the first row of the answer and the left digit
on the carryover row as shown below:
123
321
--------
••483
•1

are denoted by light blue letters in the figure above.
Since we have now expanded the cross-multiplication all the way to the left-
most digits of the numbers, we start the contracting from right to left. We
exclude the right-most digits from the next cross-product, giving us the
cross-product 1 x 2 + 3 x 2 = 8.
123
321
---------
•8483
•1

are denoted by dark blue letters in the figure above.
We now contract further by excluding the middle digits and perform a

vertical product of the left-most digits of the numbers. We get 1 x 3 = 3.
123
321
--------
38483
•1

are denoted by violet letters in the figure above.
Adding up the two rows of the answer gives us 39483, which can be verified
to be the correct answer.
Let us now examine the algebraic basis for the technique with respect to 3-
digit numbers in particular. Any 3-digit number can be expressed as az2 +
bz + c, where z = 10. So, the multiplication of 2 3-digit numbers can be
expressed as the product (az2 + bz + c) x (dz2 + ez + f). Expanding out the
terms, we immediately see our vertical and cross-products
clearly. The answer has deliberately been written with the constant term first
and the powers of z increasing to mimic our performance of the
multiplication from right to left (even though numbers are normally written
with the powers of 10 decreasing from left to right by convention).
cf + (bf + ec)z + (af + be + cd)z2 + (ae + bd)z3 + adz4
The cross and vertical products we performed are readily apparent in the
algebraic formula above.
The actual algebraic expansion of the product of any two numbers of any
length can be worked out easily and it can be verified that the pattern of
vertical and cross-wise multiplications follows the expansion and contraction
from right to left as we mentioned earlier. The following sequence of figures
below shows the pattern of multiplications for a product of 2 six-digit
numbers. The numbers are abcdef and ghijkl (where each letter actually
denotes a numerical digit). Similar figures can be drawn for any number of
digits easily.
Units digit (100)
Tens digit (101)

Hundreds digit (102)
Thousands digit (103)
Ten Thousands digit (104)
Hundred Thousands digit (105)
Millions Digit (106)
Ten Millions Digit (107)

Hundred Millions Digit (108)
Billions Digit (109)
Ten Billions Digit (1010)
Now, we will conclude this lesson by working out a couple more examples to
solidify our understanding of the concepts covered in this lesson. In the
following examples, each vertical and cross-product is written on a separate
line so that explanations can be provided. Note that this is done only for
clarity, and in general, even with carryovers, most problems can
be solved by writing the numbers involved in two or three lines at most (note
that even if it is not possible to solve the problem mentally, this technique
will involve much fewer lines of numbers to calculate the final answer than
will usually be the case with full long multiplication).
3892
4379
--------------
••••••18 (vertical multiplication, 2 x 9)
•••••95• (cross-wise multiplication, 9 x 9 + 7 x 2)
•••141•• (cross-wise multiplication, 8 x 9 + 9 x 7 + 3 x 2)
••118••• (cross-wise multiplication, 3 x 9 + 8 x 7 + 3 x 9 + 4 x 2)
••81•••• (cross-wise multiplication, 3 x 7 + 8 x 3 + 4 x 9)
•41••••• (cross-wise multiplication, 3 x 3 + 4 x 8)
12•••••• (vertical multiplication, 3 x 4)
--------------
17043068
79823
82002
----------------
•••••••••6 (vertical multiplication, 3 x 2)
••••••••4• (cross-wise multiplication, 2 x 2 + 0 x 3)
••••••16•• (cross-wise multiplication, 8 x 2 + 2 x 0 + 0 x 3)
•••••24••• (cross-wise multiplication, 9 x 2 + 8 x 0 + 0 x 2 + 2 x 3)
••••42•••• (cross-wise multiplication, 7 x 2 + 9 x 0 + 8 x 0 + 2 x 2 + 8 x 3)
•••32••••• (cross-wise multiplication, 7 x0 + 9 x 0 + 2 x 8 + 8 x 2)
••82•••••• (cross-wise multiplication, 7 x 0 + 9 x 2 + 8 x 8)
•86••••••• (cross-wise multiplication, 7 x 2 + 8 x 9)
56•••••••• (vertical multiplication, 7 x 8)
-------------
6545645646
Hope these samples clarify the application of this method to multiplication

problems of all sorts. Multiplying long numbers with each other is always a
challenge using any method. Hopefully this lesson has provided a new
perspective on how to tackle such problems. Practice will enable one to
master this technique so that it becomes easy to apply when the need
arises. Happy computing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 13: Squaring, Cubing, etc.
Squaring is a special case of multiplication, and as such any technique that
has been covered for multiplication can be used for squaring also with no
problems. Also, in a previous lesson, we have dealt with the technique for
squaring numbers close to a power of 10 using the Yavadunam sutra
(Yavadhunam Thavadhunikritya Varga Cha Yojayetu: Whatever The Extent
Of The Deficiency, Lessen It Further To That Extent; And Also Set Up The
Square Of That Deficiency). Examples of using that method were also dealt
with in that lesson.

10's Complements
Vertically And Crosswise II
Squaring can also be performed using the Urdhva-Tiryak (vertically and

cross-wise) method. It can be set up as a regular multiplication with the
same number on two lines, or the vertical and cross-products can be
performed mentally with the number to be squared on just one line. Also,
some simplifications are possible because of the performance of squaring
rather than general multiplication. For instance, since the cross-products
involve the same numbers, the sum of the cross products is just double of
the singlecross-product. This property is referred to as Duplex, or in the
Vedas as Dvandva Yoga. Some examples of this approach are dealt with
below:
47
-------
••49 (vertical multiplication, 7 x 7)
•56• (Duplex of 47, 2 x 4 x 7. In normal multiplication, we would use 4 x7 + 4
x 7 rather than the duplex)
16•• (vertical multiplication, 4 x 4)
-------
2209
78
--------
••64 (vertical multiplication, 8 x 8)
112• (duplex of 78, 2 x 7 x 8. In normal multiplication, we would use 7 x 8 +
7 x 8 rather than the duplex)
49•• (vertical multiplication, 7 x 7)
--------
6084
321
--------
•••••1 (vertical multiplication, 1 x 1)
••••4• (Duplex of 21, 2 x 2 x 1)
••10•• (Duplex of 321, 2 x 3 x 1 + 2 x 2. Note that the product of the middle
numbers is not doubled)
•12••• (Duplex of 32, 2 x 3 x 2)
•9•••• (vertical multiplication, 3 x 3)
--------
103041
That should make the use of the duplex clear.
The Yavadunam sutra can be used for cubing numbers also. Obviously, this
works only when the numbers are close to a power of 10. And there are
some minor differences between the application of the sutra to squaring and
the application of the sutra to cubing.The procedure is explained as below
for numbers that have a small excess with respect to the base:
• Find the excess of the number to be cubed with respect to the

base. Let this be E
• Add 2 x E to the number to be cubed and set as the left hand part of
the answer. Calculate the excess of this number with respect to the
base. Let this be F (note that F will be 3 x E)
• Calculate F x E and set as the middle part of the answer
• Now calculate the cube of E, and set this as the right hand part of the
answer.
Note that the number of digits of each part of the answer has to be the same
as the number of zeroes in the base, as before. Any excess digits have to
be carried over to the left. If the parts of the answers don’t have the requisite
number of digits, they have to be padded with zeroes as necessary.
A few examples of this approach are worked out below for illustration:
1053 = 115|75|125
115 is 105 + 2 x 5 (5 is the excess of 105 over our base, 100. Thus, 5 is E. F
becomes 15)
75 is F x E
125 is 53.
After carrying over the 1 from 125 to the left, we get the final answer as
1157625.
10043 = 1012|048|064
1012 is 1004 + 2 x 4 (4 is the excess of 1004 over out base, 1000. Thus, 4
is E. F becomes 12)
48 is F x E
64 is 43.
Note that the numbers have been padded with zeroes to make them 3 digits
long, giving us the final answer of 1012048064.
Let us examine the algebraic basis for this method. This will clarify the
method further and also help us tackle the case of deficits from the base,
rather than excesses. Let the number to be cubed be expressed as (B + E),
where B is our base and E is the excess with respect to the base.
(B + E)3 = B3 + 3B2E + 3BE2 + E3.
Adding twice the excess to the original number and setting it as the left hand
side of the answer is the same as deriving B3 + 3B2E. Now, we calculate F
as the new excess of this number with respect to the base, and note that F
= 3 x E. So, by calculating F x E, we calculate 3 x E2. By setting this as the
middle part of the answer, we compute 3BE2. Finally, we cube the excess
and set it as the right hand part of the answer, giving us E3, the final part of
the algebraic expression.
Now, let us examine the case of (B – D)3, where B is the base and D is a
deficit with respect to the base. Expanding (B – D)3 gives us B3 – 3B2D +
3BD2 – D3. This algebraic expression gives us the necessary details to
derive the exact steps needed to cube numbers that are just below a power
of 10 mechanically and easily. In short, those steps are explained below:
• Find the deficit of the number to be cubed with respect to the base. Let
this be D
• Subtract 2 x D from the number to be cubed and set as the left hand
part of the answer. Calculate the deficit of this number with respect to
the base. Let this be F (note that F will be 3 x D)
• Calculate F x D and set as the middle part of the answer
• Now calculate the cube of E. Rather than setting this as the right-hand
part of the answer, note that this has to be subtracted from
the answer. So, use the three-step procedure outlined in this lesson to
calculate the final middle and right-hand parts of the answer.
This procedure will become clearer as we work out the following examples.
973 = 91|27|-27
91 is 97 – 2 x 3 (3 is the deficit of 97 with respect to our base, 100. Thus, D
is 3 and F becomes 9)
27 is F x D
-27 is -33
Following the 3-step procedure of this lesson, we get the final answer as
912673.
9943 = 982|108|-216
982 is 994 – 2 x 6 (6 is the deficit of 994 with respect to the base,
1000. Thus D is 6 and F becomes 18)
108 is F x D
-216 is -63
The final answer, after application of the 3-step procedure from here is
982107784.
9903 = 970|300|-1000
970 is 990 – 2 x 10 (10 is the deficit of 990 with respect to the base,
1000. Thus D is 10 and F becomes 30)
300 is F x D
-1000 is -103
The final answer, after application of the 3-step procedure from here is
970299000.
Cubing of 2-digit numbers can also be performed using another sutra called
the Anurupya Sutra. To use this, follow the procedure below:
• Put down the cube of the left digit of the number to be cubed as the left
most number in a row of 4 numbers
• Put down the square of the left digit multiplied by the right digit as the
second number in the same row of numbers
• Put down the square of the right digit multiplied by the left digit as the
third number in the same row of numbers
• Put down the cube of the right digit as the right most number in this
row of numbers
• Under the second number in the row above, put down twice the
second number
• Similarly, under the third number in the first row, put down twice the
third number
• Add them up, making sure to carry over excess digits from right to
left. That is the final answer.
Note that the first row can also be expressed as writing the numbers from
the cube of the first digit to the cube of the second digit such that the
numbers in between form the same ratio with respect to each other: in other
words, the numbers in the first row are in geometric progression from the
cube of the first digit to the cube of the second digit. In fact the constant
ratio of the geometric progression is the same as the ratio between the first
and second digits of the number to be cubed.
Also note that the procedure above is a direct result of the algebraic identity
that (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 + b3. The first line contains the terms a3,
a2b, ab2 and b3. The second row contains the remaining 2a2b and
2ab2 (double of the middle two terms of the first row).
To illustrate, let us work through some simple examples:
113 = 1|1|1|1
••••••••••2|2
------------------------
•••••••1|3|3|1
Note that the top row consists of all 1’s because 1 is 1 cubed as well as the
square of 1 multiplied by 1. The 2’s in the second row are twice of the
numbers in the first row. Adding gives us the final answer of 1331.
253 = 8|20| 50|125
••••••••40|100
----------------------------
••••••••••15625
Note the carryovers carefully in the example above. From the right most
column, 12 is carried over to the left. This gets added to 150, giving 162, of
which 2 remains and 16 is carried over further to the left. This gets added to
60, giving 76. 6 remains and 7 is carried over to the left-most column, giving
the final sum of 15. Each column should consist of one digit, with all the
excess digits carried over to the left until the left-most column, which
obviously will not have any carryover out of it.
A few more examples of cubing using this method are provided for further
illustration:
323 = 27|18|12|8
••••••••••36|24
----------------------
••••••••••32768
473 = 64|112|196|343
••••••••••224|392
----------------------------
••••••••••••103823
183 = 1| 8| 64 |512
••••••••16|128
------------------------
•••••••••••5832
Expanding out (a + b)4 gives us a4 + 4a3b + 6a2b2 + 4ab3 + b4. Using this
algebraic expansion, we can derive a similar method for finding the fourth
powers of 2 digit numbers as below:
• Put down the fourth power of the left digit of the number to be raised to
the fourth power as the left most number in a row of 5 numbers
• Put down the cube of the left digit multiplied by the right digit as the
second number in the same row of numbers
• Put down the square of the right digit multiplied by the square of the
left digit as the third number in the same row of numbers
• Put down the cube of the right digit multiplied by the left digit as the
fourth number in this row of numbers
• Put down the fourth power of the right digit as the last number in this
row of numbers
• Under the second number in the row above, put down thrice the
second number
• Similarly, under the third number in the first row, put down five times
the third number
• Under the fourth number in the first row, put down thrice the fourth
number
• Add them up, making sure to carry over excess digits from right to
left. That is the final answer.
Let us illustrate by taking a simple example:
114 = 1|1|1|1|1
•••••••••3|5|3
---------------------
•••••••1|4|6|4|1
Note that just as in the case of calculating cubes, the numbers in the top
row will be in geometric progression from the fourth power of the first digit to
the fourth power of the second digit. A few more examples will illustrate this
progression as well as give us insight into the method so that we can use it
quickly and with ease.
214 = 16| 8| 4|2|1

•••••••••24|20|6
--------------------------
194481
Note the carryovers in this example carefully. The right most and the
4th columns do not generate any carryover. The 3rd column adds up to 24,
leading to the retention of the 4 and the carryover of the 2, which makes the
second column 34. Once again, the 4 is retained, and the 3 is carried
over. Adding the 3 to 16 gives us 19 which is put down on the left since
there are no more columns to carry numbers over to the left.
634 = 1296| 648| 324|162|81

•••••••••••1944|1620|486
--------------------------------------
15752961
Note how the knowledge that the numbers in the top row are in geometric
progression leads to some facility in the calculation of the numbers. Since 3
(the second digit of the number to be raised to the fourth power) is half of 6
(the first digit of the number), we know that each number in the top row will
be half of the previous number in that row, proceeding all the way from 1296
(64) to 81 (34). The carryovers are more complicated in this example, but
keeping the column dividers enables us to work them out pretty easily (just
in case you are confused, the numbers carried over to the left are 8, 65, 200
and 279).
We will conclude this lesson with a couple more examples to illustrate the
method:
154 = 1| 5| 25|125|625
••••••••15|125|375|
-------------------------------
•••••••••••50625
324 = 81| 54| 36|24|16

•••••••••162|180|72|
-------------------------------
••••••••••1048576
Extending this method further to find the fifth and higher powers of 2-digit
numbers is quite trivial. Note that the coefficients of the binomial terms of
higher and higher powers follow the Pascal triangle, so they are very easy
to calculate (for instance, the coefficients for (a + b)5 are 1, 5, 10, 10, 5, 1,
and those of (a + b)6 are 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6 and 1). Once the first row is
written down in geometric progression using successively lower powers of a
and higher powers of b, all we have left to do is to fill out the middle of the
second row with one less than the coefficients in the expansion, and then
add the columns up correctly, accounting for carryover.
Hope this lesson has been a useful extension of the principles of general
multiplication to some special cases that are likely to be encountered
somewhat frequently. Computing cubes, fourth powers, etc., is not easy to
do mentally, even with the simplifications introduced by these methods, but
hopefully it is better than performing long multiplication over and over again,
with the attendant errors that is likely to bring along. Practice will make the
application of these methods more a habit than a chore. So, happy
computing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 14: Subtraction
One would think that subtraction is a basic enough application that there is
no need for any shortcuts. But there are several pitfalls in subtraction
that can cause problems, as we will see, for learners as well as seasoned
calculators.

10's Complements
Squaring, Cubing, Etc.
The most obvious problem that confronts one when performing subtraction
is the concept of borrowing numbers from the left to perform subtraction.
This is particularly confusing for learners, and the procedure is very error-
prone since repeated borrowings result in so many numbers struck off and
rewritten that it becomes difficult to be sure what was written and what the
final number to be subtracted from should be.
This difficulty can be easily illustrated when dealing with a subtraction
problem like the following:
18700054
-9898989
Following the classic procedures, we see that the top line becomes a mess
of strikeouts and rewrites as we are repeatedly forced to borrow from the left
as we try to subtract each digit. It requires a lot of concentration, and it is
easy to see how the procedure can be error-prone. As for teaching it to
young children, it could become an exercise in frustration both for them and
for the teacher.
The second type of problem with subtraction is the problem of multiple

subtractions. Consider the problem below:
14983475
-4983493
-1938798
-6373264
It is not easy to figure out how to perform this kind of subtraction straight-
away. The simplest solution seems to be to add up the numbers to be
subtracted separately, then substitute that sum in this problem and do a
single subtraction. It is either that or we have to perform 3 separate
subtractions. The problem is compounded when multiple subtractions and
additions are combined in a single problem. Consider this:
349849548
+57943899
-45445852
+46367267
-38768848
-37573553
+84765898
This type of problem is more common than one imagines. Take the simple
task of balancing a checkbook for instance. You are immediately confronted
with multiple credits and debits interspersed with each other, making the
problem very similar to the one above.
Luckily, Vedic Mathematics has a very simple solution that converts all
subtraction problems into simple addition problems. It is an application of
the Nikhilam Sutra which, if you recall from the lesson on 10's complements,
reads Nikhilam Navatascaramam Dasatah, which means All From 9 And
The Last From 10. Yes, it involves the use of 10's complements. To
illustrate, let us tackle a simple problem: 112 – 98.
To solve the problem, write 112 on one line and the 10's complement of 98
on the second line as below:
112
••2
Now add them up to get 114. From this, subtract the power of 10 with
respect to which the 10's complement was taken. In this case, that is 100,
and 114 - 100 is easy to derive mentally to be 14. And that is all there is to it.
The algebraic basis of the method should be obvious to everyone

immediately. What we are doing is rewriting a number as the difference
between a power of 10 and the number's 10's complement. Thus a - b
becomes a - (10^n - d), where d is the 10's complement of b with respect to
10^n. This is obviously the same as a + d - 10^n (^ denotes raising to the
power, or exponentiation). Difficult subtraction problems become easy
addition problems followed by the subtraction of powers of 10, which is
child's play.
Let us now solve the problem we started with as an illustration of the

problems with multiple borrowings of numbers on the top row and see how
the problem becomes much more pleasant:
18700054
-9898989
becomes
18700054
+0101011 (10's complement of 9898989 with respect to 10000000)
------------
18801065
------------
From this, we subtract out 10000000. This gives us 8801065, which can be
verified to be the correct answer.
How do we apply this method to multiple subtractions or combined

additions and subtractions? The answer should be obvious from the
algebraic explanation of the method: we replace all the numbers to be
subtracted by their 10's complements, add them all up, then subtract out all
the powers of 10 with respect to which the 10's complements were taken. To
illustrate this, we will deal with the two problems we used to illustrate the
difficulties encountered with these types of problems:
14983475
-4983493
-1938798
-6373264
becomes
14983475
+5016507 (10's complement of 4983493 with respect fo 10000000)
-------------
31687920
From this, we subtract out 10000000 thrice, giving us 1687920 right away.
Similarly,
349849548
+57943899
-45445852
+46367267
-38768848
-37573553
+84765898
becomes
349849548
+57943899
+46367267
+84765898
-------------
717138359
-------------
From this, we subtract 100000000 thrice, and get 417138359 immediately

and easily.
What happens when we use this method and the final answer is less than
the power of 10 to be subtracted from it? To illustrate this case, consider the
simple case of 110 - 988. We can easily write that as below:
+110
-------
+122
-------
Now, we need to subtract 1000 from 122, but find immediately, that this is
not as simple as it seems because 122 is much smaller than 1000. But the
Nikhilam sutra again comes to our rescue. 122 - 1000 is the same as -(1000
- 122). The figure inside the parentheses can immediately be identified as
the 10's complement of 122 with respect to 1000. Thus the answer becomes
-878, which can be verified to be the correct answer. Thus, the simple rule is
that if the final answer of our additions results in a number smaller than the
power of 10 to be subtracted to give the final answer, then prepend a "-"
sign in front and put down the 10's complement of the number as the rest of
the answer. To illustrate this further, let us work out a few more examples:
+039475
-347829
becomes
+039475
----------
+691646
----------
Since this answer is less than 1000000, the final answer becomes -308354
(negative of the 10's complement of 691646)
Similarly,
+73473
-38758
-34980
-54804
becomes
+73473
----------
244931
----------
This answer is less than the 300000 we need to subtract. So, we first
subtract 200000 to get 44931. Then we take the negative of the 10's
complement of this number with respect to the third 100000 to get the final
answer. It becomes -55069, which can be verified to be correct.
Note that there is nothing special about this method except its antiquity.
Computer scientists the world over know that computers perform
subtraction by using the 1's complements of numbers (since computers use
binary numbers, 1's complement in the world of computers is equivalent to
10's complement in our decimal world) or a slight modification of it, called a
2's complement. But using complements to perform subtraction did not start
with the computer age. Instead we see that Vedic sutras have documented
this method for millenia before the first electronic computers were invented!
As always practice will make one proficient at using this technique to tackle
pesky subtraction problems without performing pesky subtractions. Happy
computing, and good luck!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 15: Division By The Nikhilam Method I
I have been slacking off in my learning of Vedic Mathematics due to a
confluence of various factors. The method I was trying to learn was a little
complicated and the book I was learning it from did not have a good
explanation of how and why the method works. I went off and started
working on other things while pondering the method to find a good way to
explain it to my kids. The basic point of my learning Vedic Mathematics was
to teach it to my kids, so I had to make sure I understood the method well
enough to make it easy for my kids to understand when I taught it to them.
Then, we got a steady stream of guests at home. First came my friend and
his family from San Diego. Then, it was my brother-in-law and his family.
This last weekend, I was visited by a cousin and his wife. It now looks like
my hosting days are over for the next couple of weeks at least, so I decided
I would take advantage of the down-time to get this method squared away
and documented.

10's Complements
Subtraction
In this lesson, we are going to explore the process of division. In particular,

the method, as the name indicates, is based on finding and using the 10's
complement of the number in the denominator (remember that the Nikhilam
sutra goes as follows: Nikhilam Navatascaramam Dasatah, literally meaning
All From 9 And The Last From 10).
To illustrate the use of this method, we will first perform some divisions by 9.
Then we will extend the method to other denominators in future lessons.
Remember that the 10's complement of 9 is 1. Let us first try to find the
answer to the division problem of 33/9. To perform this division, write down
the problem as below:
91
3|3
What we have done is write the denominator on the top line along with its
10's complement and the numerator on the next line. Next, we have divided
the numerator into two parts with "|". The part to the right of | contains the
same number of digits as the denominator (1 in this case) and the part to
the left contains all the other digits of the numerator.
Now, put a zero below the first digit of the numerator. Take the sum of zero
and this first digit (this will obviously be the first digit itself).
91
3|3
0
-----
Now, multiply this sum by the 10's complement of the denominator (1 in this
case) and put it under the next digit of the numerator. So, we multiply 3 by 1
to get 3. Since the next digit of the numerator is after the "|", put down a
similar "|" in the third row and write the 3 to the right of it.
91
3|3
0|3
-----
We then add up the numbers in the columns (ignore the row with the
denominator and its 10's complement during this addition) and put them in
the answer row. Now, in the answer line, we have two parts. We have
carried down the dividing "|" from the rows above to the answer row also.
We get the figure below:
91
3|3
0|3
------
3|6
It should be easy to recognize that the 3 to the left of the "|" is the quotient
and the 6 to the right is the remainder. The fact of the matter is that that is all
there is to division of any number by 9. Let us go ahead and test this with
larger numbers to make sure!
Let us take the case of 1232/9. Let us start with the figure below:
91
123|2
Now, put down 0 under the first digit of the numerator. We get:
91
123|2
0
--------
Now, multiply the sum of 0 and 1 (this is just 1) the 10's complement and put
it under the next digit of the numerator. We get:
91
123|2
01
-------
We get 2 + 1 = 3. Take the 3 and multiply it by the 10's complement of 9 to

get 3. Put that under the next digit of the numerator. We get:
91
123|2
013
-------
Adding 3 to 3, we get 6. Multiply 6 by the 10's complement (1), we get 6. Put

this under the next digit of the numerator. Since the next digit of the
numerator is to the right of the "|", put a "|" in the third row before putting the
6 to its right. We get the following figure.
91
123|2
013|6
-------
Now, add up the columns to get the figure below:
91
123|2
013|6
-------
136|8
It is easy to verify with a calculator that the answer to our division problem is
indeed a quotient of 136 and a remainder of 8.
I admit that it is hard to believe that division can be this easy. After all, we
did not perform any trial and error multiplication. We did absolutely no
subtraction. We did a little multiplication, but in the case of 9, that
multiplication turned out to be trivial because the 10's complement of 9 is 1.
We then did a little basic addition. That is all there is to division using the
Nikhilam method!
Let us now deal with some special cases before we proceed to apply this
method to more complicated problems. Consider the example below:
91
123|4
013|6
-------
136|10
In the first step, we put down 0 under the first digit. Then we multiplied the
sum of 0 and the first digit by the 10's complement of 9 (1), and added it to
the second digit. The procedure is the same as before all the way until the
very end. But at the very end, we find that the sum to the right of the "|" is a
2-digit sum that can not really be the remainder because it is larger than the
denominator.
The special procedure to deal with this kind of situation is to then perform
division of the remainder by the same denominator to get a new quotient
and remainder. Then add the new quotient to our already obtained quotient.
The new remainder from this secondary division becomes the remainder to
the original problem. We easily see that the quotient of dividing 10 by 9 is 1
and the remainder is 1. Adding the new quotient of 1 to the already obtained
136 results in a final quotient of 137 and a final remainder of 1. This can be
verified to be the correct answer to the problem.
The second special case we will deal with is illustrated below:
91
47|6
04|11
-------
51|17
Note that in this case, when we added 4 with 7 following the regular
procedure, we get a 2-digit sum (4 + 7 = 11). Since that sum needs to be
added to the next digit of the numerator and this next digit is beyond the "|",
we don't perform the normal carryover we are used to. Instead, the 11 is
added directly to the 6 already to the right of the "|" to get 17 as the
intermediate remainder to the problem. To the left of the "|", we follow the
normal rules of addition (including carryover from right to left), to get 51.
Dividing 17 by 9 leads to a quotient of 1 and a remainder of 8. So, the
final answer to our problem becomes a quotient of 51 + 1 = 52, and a
remainder of 8. This can be verified to be the correct answer to the problem.
Let us now see how to deal with one more special case. For this, let us try
to find the answer to 4975831/9. Let us first draw the figure below:
91
497583|1
0
Adding 0 to 4 gives us 4. Multiplying 4 by the 10's complement of 9 (1),

gives us 4 which is then added to 9, the next digit in the numerator. This is
shown in the figure below:
91
497583|1
04
Adding 9 to 4 though gives us a 2-digit answer (9 + 4 = 13). To

accommodate this, we don't write 13 fully under the 7, instead we write the
right-most digit (3) under the 7 and the remaining digits under the digits to
the left of the 7 as below (this is similar to normal carryover rules when we
encounter more than one digit where only one digit will fit):
91
497583|1
043
01
The 1 in the 4th row and the 3 in the 3rd row are from the sum of 9 and 4.
Now, we add 13 to 7 to get 20. This again is a 2-digit number. The
procedure is similar to what we did before, and we write it as below:
91
497583|1
0430
012
The 2 in the 4th row and the 0 at the right extreme of the 3rd row are the
result of the 20 that resulted from adding 13 to 7. Now add 20 (after
multiplying it by the 10's complement of 9) to 5 to get 25. Write it down as
below:
91
497583|1
04305
0122
The second 2 in the 4th row and the 5 in the third row are obtained from the
25 that resulted from adding 20 to 5. The next step must be familiar by now:
Add 25 and 8 (we omitted mentioning multiplying the 25 by the 10's
complement of 9 because it always results in the same number, but this
becomes important when we perform division by numbers other than 9,
whose 10's complements are not just 1) to get 33. Write it down as below:
91
497583|1
043053
01223
Now, we add 33 to 3 to get 36. Since 36 is to be added to the 1 that is to the

right of the "|", it is not subject to the normal carryover rules we have used
so far. It is to be added to 1 as is to result in an intermediate remainder of
37. The interim quotient is obtained by adding up the numbers in the
columns using regular addition rules. We get the figure below:
91
497583|•1
043053|36
01223
-------------
552866|37
Dividing 37 by 9 gives us a quotient of 4 and remainder of 1. Adding this 4 to

our intermediate quotient gives us a final quotient of 552870 and a final
remainder of 1. This can be verified to be the correct answer to this
problem.
91
497583|•1
043053|36
01223
-------------
552866|37
552870|01
A couple more problems are worked out below to further illustrate this
technique. Where necessary, the final quotient and remainder are written
right below the intermediate quotient and remainder, as in the problem
above.
91
347038|•5
037447|25
00111
------------
385595|30
385598|3
91
9437583|•6
0936386|39
011223
--------------
10486199|45
10486204|0
Note that since the intermediate remainder is divisible by 9 without a

remainder, the final remainder becomes 0.
In the next lesson, we will deal with denominators other than 9. First we will
extend the method to work with numbers such as 99, 999, etc., whose 10's
complements are 1. Then, we will further extend the method to
denominators whose 10's complements are not 1. In the meantime, hope
you will find the time to practice so that you will be ready to move on without
confusion! Good luck!!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 16: Division By The Nikhilam Method II
In the previous lesson, we went over the basics of division using the
Nikhilam Sutra. We dealt with examples that involve division by 9. In this
lesson, we will continue our exploration by taking on problems where the
denominator consists of several 9's strung together. We are talking about
denominators such as 99, 999, etc.

10's Complements
Subtraction
Division By The Nikhilam Method I
Notice that numbers such as 99, 999, etc., all have 1 as their 10's
complement. To use the technique illustrated in this lesson, we will consider
the 10's complement of 99 to be 01, that of 999 to be 001, etc. The reason
for this will become apparent when we explain the method and work out a
few problems. Remember that, as in theprevious lesson, the divisions in this
lesson are going to be performed with trivial multiplications, basic additions,
and no subtractions!
Let us start with a simple example. Let us try to find the quotient and
remainder of the simple division problem, 800/99. First we write the problem
as below:
99 01
8|00
We have written the denominator and its 10's complement (including the
leading zero) on the first line. Then we have written the numerator on the
second line. Since the denominator contains 2 digits, we have separated the
right-most two digits of the numerator from the rest of the numerator using a
"|".
As in the previous lesson, the first step is to write a 0 under the first digit of
the numerator. Then add the zero to the first digit. In our case, we get 8.
99 01
8|00
0
Now, multiply the 8 by each digit of the 10's complement, and write the
answers under the next digits of the numerator. In our case, we have to
multiply 8 by 01. We first multiply 8 by 1 and get 8. Leave a gap in the third
row for inserting the product of 8 and 0, and write the 8 we got as the
product of 8 and 1 under the next digit of the numerator. We therefore get:
99 01
8|00
0|•8
The "•" in the third row shows the gap we have reserved for the product of 8
by the left digit of the 10's complement. That product is 0 (0 x 8 = 0). Now fill
that gap with this product. We get the figure as below:
99 01
8|00
0|08
---------
Make sure the third row contains the "|" at the appropriate location. Now add
up the 2nd and 3rd rows as in the previous lesson to get the figure below:
99 01
8|00
0|08
---------
8|08
It is easy to see that the last row contains the quotient of 8 before the "|" and
the remainder of 8 after the "|".
Let us now expand this method to tackle larger numerators. Along the way,
we will deal with and explain some special cases that may arise. First, let us
try to find 12332/99. First we write the numbers as below:
99 01
123|32
0
----------
We have put a zero down below the first digit of the numerator. We add the
first digit of the numerator to the zero to get 1. Now multiply 1 by each digit
of the 10's complement and put the answers down under the appropriate
columns of the numerator. Remember that the product of 1 with the left digit
of the 10's complement goes to the left of the product of 1 with the right digit
of the 10's complement. We then get the figure below:
99 01
123|32
001
----------
The product of 1 with 1 (the right digit of the 10's complement) went under
the 3rd digit of the numerator, while the product of 1 with 0 (the left digit of
the 10's complement) went under the 2nd digit of the numerator.
Now, add up the numbers under the second column of the figure above
(obviously not including the first row which contains the denominator and its
10's complement). We get 2 + 0 = 2. Now, multiply this number by each digit
of the 10's complement and put the answers under the appropriate digits of
the numerator (product of 2 with the left digit of the 10's complement goes to
the left of the product of 2 with right digit of the 10's complement). We get
the figure below:
99 01
123|32
001|2
000|
----------
Notice that we have added another row to the figure. The product of 2 with 1
(the right digit of the 10's complement) went under the 4th digit of the
numerator. Since it is beyond the "|", we draw a "|" in the third row and put
the 2 to its right. The product of 2 with 0 (the left digit of the 10's
complement) should go under the 3rd digit of the numerator (so that it is to
the left of the product of 2 with the right digit of the 10's complement). Since
there is already a number under the 3rd digit of the numerator in the
previous row, we decided to add an extra row to the figure to hold this zero.
This is a good idea in general when we are practicing, but since the number
is zero and does not make a difference in addition, we can choose to ignore
it and not create the extra row.
Now, there is one more important rule to follow in this case. The product of
the right digit of the 10's complement with 2 went under the first digit of the
numerator that is to the right of the "|". The rule to remember is that when
this happens, pad that number with as many zeroes to the right as there are
additional numerator digits to the right of the column where we put our
product. In our case, the numerator has 1 additional digit beyond the "|", so
we need to pad the 2 with 1 zero to abide by this rule. The figure now
becomes:
99 01
123|32
001|20
000|
-----------
Now, add the numbers under the next digit of the numerator. We have
already dealt with the second digit of the numerator, so we move on to the
3rd digit of the numerator. The numbers under that column are 3, 1 and 0.
the sum of them is 4. Now multiply this sum by each of the digits of the 10's
complement and put them under the 4th and 5th digits of the numerator.
Make sure the product with the right digit of the 10's complement goes
under the 5th digit and the product with the left digit goes under the 4th digit
so that they maintain their relative positions to the right and left of each
other. We get the figure below:
99 01
123|32
001|20
000|04
-------------
We have dealt with all the digits of the numerator that are to the left of the
"|". That signals an end to the process of adding and multiplying by the 10's
complement. All we have to do now is add up the digits under each column
to find the answer. We get:
99 01
123|32
001|20
000|04
----------
124|56
It is easy to verify with a calculator that we have indeed ended up with the
correct answer to the problem we started with: a quotient of 124 and a
remainder of 56. Simple enough, isn't it?
Let us get a little more adventurous and explore a problem like 390879/99.
We first start with the figure below:
99 01
3908|79
0
------------
We get the sum of the first digit of the numerator and 0 as the first digit of
the numerator itself (3). We multiply this 3 by the 10's complement digit by
digit to get the figure below:
99 01
3908|79
003
-----------
The sum of the second digit of the numerator with the number under it is 9.
We repeat the procedure of multiplying this sum by the digits of the 10's
complement and putting the answers in the appropriate columns. In the
figure below, we have omitted writing the zero that results from the product
of 9 with the left digit of the 10's complement under the 3rd digit of the
numerator because it makes no difference to the sum of that column.
99 01
3908|79
0039
-----------
Now, we move to the 3rd digit of the numerator. The sum of numbers in that
column is 3. Multiply this by the digits of the 10's complement and put them
under the appropriate columns of the numerator. Note that in this case, the
product of 3 with the right digit of the 10's complement goes under the first
digit of the numerator to the right of the "|", so make sure it is padded with
the appropriate number of zeroes. We get the figure below:
99 01
3908|79
0039|30
-----------
Once again, in the figure above, we have omitted the zero that should go
below the 4th digit of the numerator (resulting from the product of 3 with the
left digit of the 10's complement) because it does not make a material
difference to the outcome. Now, add up the numbers under the 4th digit of
the numerator to get 17. We now multiply this number by each digit of the
10's complement. Multiplying 17 by 0 (the left digit of the 10's complement)
presents no problems since the answer is zero. Multiplying 17 by 1 (which is
the right digit of the 10's complement) creates a problem because the
answer is 2 digits long and therefore, will not fit under a single digit of the
numerator. This answer is supposed to go under the 6th digit of the
numerator. Since both the 5th and 6th digits of the numerator are to the right
of the "|", normal carryover rules apply, and we just end up putting the right-
most digit of the answer under the 6th digit of the numerator, and the left
digit of the answer under the 5th digit of the numerator. We get the figure
below:
99 01
3908|79
0039|30
0000|17
------------
Now add up the numbers in the columns to get the intermediate answer
below:
99 01
3908|79
0039|30
0000|17
------------
3947|126
Obviously, this an intermediate answer because the remainder is larger than

the denominator. As in the previous lesson, we resolve this by dividing the
intermediate remainder by the denominator and add the resulting quotient to
the intermediate quotient to get the final quotient. The resulting remainder
becomes the final remainder to the problem. Performing this operation, we
get the following final answer:
99 01
3908|79
0039|30
0000|17
------------
3947|126
3948|27
It is easy to verify that this is indeed the correct answer to the problem.
Let us work out a couple more problems with 99 as the denominator before
we move on to larger denominators such as 999. We will first work out
797883/99 to illustrate the technique further. The following figure should be
self-explanatory since we have just followed the steps explained at length
above to derive it.
99 01
7978|83
0079|140 -----> See the notes below
0000|17
-----------
8057|240
8059|42
Note that the sum of 7 and 7 under the 3rd column of the numerator is 14.
When 14 is multiplied by the right digit of the 10's complement (1), we get
14, which is supposed to go under the 5th digit of the numerator (first digit of
the numerator beyond the "|"). Because of the rule we explained earlier, this
14 has to be padded with one zero to account for the fact that there is one
more digit of the numerator after the "|", to the right of this 5th digit (note that
the 14 is not subject to normal carryover rules because it is supposed to go
under the first digit of the numerator to the right of the "|"). The intermediate
remainder thus becomes 83 + 140 + 17, which is 240. We then divide 240
by 99 to get an adjustment to the intermediate quotient and the final
remainder. One can verify that the final answer above is indeed correct.
Next, let us work out 9798474379/99.
99 01
97984743|79
00978634|80
00011110|07
----------------
98974487|166
98974488|67
The figure above should be self-explanatory. Notice that the third digit of the
numerator, we encounter a 2-digit sum (9 + 9 = 18). Multiplying 18 by the
right digit of the 10's complement gives a 2-digit product, 18. This is written
with the 8 under the 5th digit of the numerator and the 1 under the 4th digit
of the numerator (normal carryover to the left applies since the numbers are
all to one side of the "|"). Now, when we add up the numbers under the 4th
digit of the numerator for the next step, the sum becomes 8 + 7 + 1 = 16.
Don't forget the carryover digit from the previous step when you are adding
up the numbers under a particular column. The 16 that results from
multiplying this sum by the right digit of the 10's complement then goes
under two columns because of the carryover (the 6 under the 6th column
and the 1 under the 5th column). The sum of the 5th column then includes
this carryover 1.
When we get to the 7th digit of the numerator, the sum of digits under it is 8.
Multiplying this by the right digit of the 10's complement results in 8 which
needs to go under the 9th digit of the numerator. Since this is the first digit of
the numerator to the right of the "|", we pad the 8 with one zero (to account
for the fact that there is one more digit in the numerator beyond the "|").
Extending this method to denominators with more 9's should be quite easy
to work out by now. Make sure that you write out the 10's complement with
leading zeroes and multiply the sum by each digit of the 10's complement
one by one. Let us illustrate by taking some examples.
999 001
1234133|321
0001235|300
0000000|060
0000000|008
----------------
1235368|689
Notice that the sum of the 1 and 0 in the first column of the numerator gives
1. Multiplying 1 by each digit of the 10's complement (001) produces the 1
under the 4th column of the numerator and the zeroes under the 2nd and
3rd columns. Similarly, under the second column of the numerator we have
a 2 and a 0, whose sum is 2. Multiplying 2 by each digit of the 10's
complement produces zeroes under the 3rd and 4th columns (which need
not be written out) and a 2 under the 5th column.
When we come to the 5th column of the numerator, we find a 1 and a 2 in

that column. Their sum is 3. Multiplying 3 by each digit of the 10's
complement produces a 3 which needs to go under the 8th column of the
numerator. This is the first digit of the numerator to the right of the "|", so we
write the 3 there and then pad it with 2 zeroes because the numerator has 2
more digits to the right of the "|". Similarly, when we deal with the 6th column
of the numerator, we obtain a sum of 6 which results in a product of 6 that
needs to go under the 9th digit of the numerator. That 6 is then padded with
a zero to the right because there is one more digit in the numerator to the
right of the "|" beyond the 9th digit. Once this rule is remembered and
applied, the problems become quite easy to work out correctly.
Extending this method to deal with denominators like 9999 is quite trivial,
given how we have worked out several examples using 99 as a
denominator and at least one problem involving 999 as the denominator. We
will proceed to working with denominators that contain digits other than 9 in
the next lesson. Until then, practice is the key to success in using this
method, so good luck, and happy computing!
Vedic Mathematics
Lesson 17: Division By The Nikhilam Method III
In the previous lesson, we learnt how to extend the method we learnt for
division by 9 in the earlier lesson, to denominators that consist of a series of
9's. In this lesson, we will deal with denominators that are not all 9's.

10's Complements
Subtraction
Division By The Nikhilam Method I
Division By The Nikhilam Method II
We have already seen the beginnings of how the process works in the
previous two lessons. The key to the process is in the step where we
multiplied the sum under each column by the 10's complement of the
denominator. To illustrate the method further, we will take a few examples,
starting with a simple case.
Let us work out 123/8. As before, our figure starts out looking like the one
below:
82
12|3
0
As always, the first line consists of the denominator followed by its 10's
complement (2 is 8's 10's complement). The numerator has been divided by
a "|" such that there are as many digits to the right of the "|" as there are
digits in the denominator. We then put a zero under the first digit of the
numerator.
Now add up the digits in that column of the numerator to get a sum of 1 (1 +
0 = 1). Multiply it by the 10's complement to get 2 (1 x 2 = 2). Put that under
the second digit of the numerator. The figure now looks as below:
82
12|3
02|
The sum of the digits under the second column is 4. Multiplying this by the
10's complement gives us 8. Put the 8 under the third digit of the numerator,
right of the "|". Now we add up the numbers under the columns to get the
figure below:
82
12|3
02|8
-------
14|11
Note that there is no carryover from the right of the "|" to the left of it.
Following the rules on how to deal with a remainder greater than the
denominator, we divide the remainder by the denominator and add the new
quotient to the original quotient and retain the new remainder as the final
remainder. Our final figure looks like this:
82
12|3
02|8
--------
14|11
15|3
It is easy to verify that this is indeed the right answer to the problem.
Now, let us work out a larger problem such as 894378/7. We get the figure
below:
73
89437|8
04
2
On the first line, we have 7 and its 10's complement, 3. Then we have the
numerator, with one digit behind the "|". We have a zero below the first digit
of the numerator. The sum of those is 8 and the product of this sum with the
10's complement is 24. We have followed the usual rules of carryover by
putting the 4 under the second digit of the numerator and the 2 under the
first digit. Our next sum becomes 33 (24 + 9 = 33). Multiplying that by 3
gives us 99. Once again, we put the first 9 under the third digit of the
numerator and the second 9 under the 2nd digit of the numerator to give us
the figure below:
73
89437|8
049
29
Now, we move on to the third digit of the numerator. The sum we have is
now 99 + 4 = 103. Multiplying 103 by the 10's complement, we get 309.
Now, we put the 9 below the 4th digit of the numerator, the 0 below the 3rd
digit and the 3 below the 2nd digit of the numerator. We get the figure
below:
73
89437|8
0499
290
03
Under the 4th digit of the numerator, we now have 309 + 3 = 312.
Multiplying 312 by 3 gives us 936. We write it as below following normal
carryover rules:
73
89437|8
04996|
2903
039
Coming to the last digit of the numerator before the "|", we get 936 + 7 =
943. Multiplying 943 by 3 gives us 2829. This leads to the figure below and
the intermediate answer as below:
73
89437|8
04996|2829
2903
039
-------------
127363|2837
Deriving the final answer from this intermediate answer, we get:
73
89437|8
04996|2829
2903
039
-------------
127363|2837
127768|2
To illustrate division by bigger denominators, let us start with 1123/88.
We start out by writing the problem as below:
88 12
11|23
As always, 88 and its 10's complement, 12, are on the first line. We have
written the numerator on the next line, separating the last two digits behind
the "|" because the denominator contains 2 digits. Now we write a 0 below
the first digit of the numerator. We then add up the numbers under that digit,
giving us 1. Now we have to multiply this number by the digits of the 10's
complement. The product of 1 with the left digit of the 10's complement is 1
(1 x 1 = 1), and this goes under the second digit of the numerator. The
product of 1 with the right digit of the 10's complement is 2 (1 x 2 = 2) and
this goes under the 3rd digit of the numerator, to the right of the "|". The
figure below reflects this:
88 12
11|23
01|2
Now add up the digits under the second digit of the numerator to get 1 + 1 =
2. We now multiply this sum by the digits of the 10's complement. The
product of 2 with the left digit of the 10's complement is 2 (2 x 1 = 2), and
this goes under the 3rd digit of the numerator. The product of 2 with the right
digit of the 10's complement is 4 (2 x 2 = 4), and this goes under the 4th
digit of the numerator. Since we have now dealt with all the digits of the
numerator to the left of the "|", we are done. Add up the numbers under the
columns to get the intermediate answer as below:
88 12
11|23
01|24
00|2
----------
12|67
Since the intermediate remainder is less than the denominator, the

intermediate answer above is also the final answer, and this can be verified
using a calculator.
Let us try a couple more problems to convince ourselves that the method
indeed works. We will start with 49857/79.
79 21
498|57
084|
Note that 4 + 0 = 4, and the product of 4 with 2 and 1 gives rise to the 8 and
4 under the 2nd and 3rd digits of the numerator. Now, 9 + 8 = 17. The
product of 17 with 2 and 1 gives rise to 34 under the 3rd digit of the
numerator and 17 under the 4th digit. Since the 4th digit is the first digit of
the numerator beyond the "|", and there is one more digit of the numerator
to its right, we write the 17 as 170, with the addition of a zero to account for
this extra digit. We get the figure below:
79 21
498|57
084|170
034|
Since the 3 in the last row, from the 34 obtained as the product of 17 with 2,
has never been dealt with in the problem before (and it is placed under the
2nd digit of the numerator, which we have already finished dealing with), we
have to include it when we find the sum under the 3rd digit of the numerator.
This gives us the sum of 46 (8 + 4 + 34). Multiplying 46 by 2 and 1 gives us
92 and 46. They are written as below (note the zero after the 92 to account
for the fact that the 92 goes under the 4th digit of the numerator and there is
one other digit of the numerator to the right of the "|"):
79 21
498|57
084|170
034|920
000|46
----------
616|1193
We then divide 1193 by 79 to get a final remainder of 8 and a new quotient

of 15. Adding the original quotient to the new quotient gives us a final
answer as below:
79 21
498|57
084|170
034|920
000|46
----------
616|1193
631|8
Let us now extend this method further by working out a few more problems.
Just remember some simple rules and the rest becomes very easy:
• Write the 10's complement with as many digits as the denominator,
padding to the left with zeroes as necessary
• Put a zero under the first digit of the numerator
• Add them (you get the first digit of the numerator once again), and
multiply the sum by the individual digits of the 10's complement
• The product of the left-most digit of the 10's complement with the sum
goes under the next digit of the numerator, while the product of the
digit to its right with the sum goes under the next digit to the right and
so on
• If some number from the product has not been dealt with when finding
the sum of digits under a particular digit of the numerator (because of
carryover as in the previous example), then it has to be dealt with
when finding the sum under the next digit of the numerator
• There is no carryover from the right of the "|" to the left
• If a number goes under a digit to the right of the "|", pad it with as
many zeroes to the right as there are digits in the numerator to its right
• Stop when you have dealt with the sum of digits under the last digit of
the numerator to the left of the "|"
• Add up the digits to the right of the "|" with no carryover to the left
• Normal carryover rules apply when the carryover is entirely to the left
of or right of the "|"
• If the intermediate remainder is larger than the denominator, perform
division of this remainder by the denominator once again (this process
is recursive, so remember this rule when you divide the remainder by
the denominator!)
• The new quotient is added to the intermediate quotient to get the final
quotient
• The new remainder is the final remainder
Let us now apply these rules to a few more problems that look difficult, but
actually turn out to be quite easy once we start tackling them.
989 011
234|667
002|200
000|300
000|030
000|060
000|006
-----------
236|1263
237|274
9819 0181
2387|5754
0026|2000
0013|24000
0000|0300
0000|11000
0000|8800
0000|110
0000|1600
0000|1280
0000|16
----------------
2426|54860
2431|5765
888|112
9|899
0|900
0|090
0|018
--------
9|1907
11|131
9966 0034
1|5432
0|0034
---------
1|5466
9966 0034
15|4320
00|0340
00|0150
00|0020
------------
15|4830
As you can see from the examples worked out above, this method works
very well when the denominator is made up of large digits so that its 10's
complement contains small numbers (mostly 0's, 1's etc.). The method
becomes more cumbersome when the products are larger because of large
numbers in the 10's complement. We will deal with such problems using
other methods in future lessons.
This method is valuable though precisely because it is very useful when the
denominator is composed of large numbers. It is in such division problems
that most people face problems because trial and error multiplication
becomes more difficult when the denominator consists of large numbers.
Moreover, such problems also involve more difficult subtractions, especially
when the numerator contains small numbers for its digits. Since the method
illustrated here consists of very simple multiplications (mostly single digit by
single digit, though occasionally one may need to multiply larger numbers)
and additions, this method is ideal for such difficult division problems. Even
though the method may seem complicated at first glance, it is very easy to
master with practice. Good luck, and happy computing!

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Introduction To Vedic Mathematics

I have talked about my attempts to teach mathematics to my children in

Some of it is still dependent on the mood they are in. Sometimes,

It is a well-known and accepted fact that ancient Indian Vedic civilizations

Almost all ancient Indian mathematics literature is composed completely in

Tremendous amounts of energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in

word1word2, word2word1, word1word2; word2word3, word3word2,

In another form of recitation, dhvaja-pātha (literally "flag recitation") a

word1word2, word(N-1)wordN; word2word3, word(N-3)word(N-2); ...;

The most complex form of recitation, ghana-pātha (literally "dense

word1word2, word2word1, word1word2word3, word3word2word1,

That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of

The most notable application of Vedic mathematics is in education. Vedic

One attempt at incorporating Vedic mathematics into education was made

Once you understand a particular vedic method and learn how to do it in

1. The method starts out by putting a 1 as the right most digit of

Similarly, with method 2, we divide our numerator, 1, by our Divider, 1. The

After step 1 of Method 1, we have an answer of 1.

Using method 2, after step 1, we have an answer of .0 with a carryover of 1.

Today's lesson is going to be quite short. I am going to explain how to

The 10's complement of a number is very useful in a variety of Vedic

Let us apply this lesson to a simple example. Let us take 389,384,753 as

Suppose we need to find the difference between 1,000,000 and 98,567.

Let me illustrate by finding the 10's complement of 89,000. n, in this case, is

Follow these steps to find 9x8:

After these 4 steps, we get the figure below:

So, our figure now looks as below:

Our figure will now look as below:

Now, let us illustrate the method on more complex problems. These

First, let us try to do 99 x 99. Following the methodology outlined above, we

The answer is 7920, which can be verified to be correct.

This automatically leads to the answer 99830042 which can be verified

This leads to the answer 98010000 which can be verified to be correct.

This gives us the correct answer of 81000000.

In subsequent lessons, we will expand on what we learned in this lesson so

You can find previous posts about Vedic Mathematics below:

Introduction to Vedic Mathematics

After these steps, we get the figure below:

So, our figure now looks as below:

Our figure will now look as below:

Now, let us illustrate the method on more complex problems. These

As mentioned earlier, the special cases we might encounter are identical to

The answer is 10302 rather than 1032.

In subsequent lessons, we will expand this method even further by talking

You can find previous posts about Vedic Mathematics below:

Introduction to Vedic Mathematics

In the previous lessons, we dealt with the multiplication of large numbers

Follow these steps to find 8 x 13:

After these steps, we get the figure below:

Our figure now becomes:

After the above two steps, we get the figure below:

Expanding the above product gives us b x (b-d+e) - d x e. We performed b-

Now, we perform the three-step procedure to complete the method. The

You can find previous posts about Vedic Mathematics below:

Introduction to Vedic Mathematics

Let us compute 32 x 25 as a further illustration of the technique. We derive

We multiply 26 by 3 (our multiplier) to get 78. Then we subtract the extra

You can find previous posts about Vedic Mathematics below:

Introduction to Vedic Mathematics

Now, when we divide 22 by 4 (our divider), we get a quotient of 5 and a

Dividing 49 by 2 gives us 24 with a remainder of 1. Since 1/2 is the same as

When we divide 4957 by 2, we get a quotient of 2478 and a remainder of 1.