A History of Sanskrit Literature c35.s1.6

c35.s1.6

In one sphere, however, distinctly interesting results were attained in geometry as a result of the care taken in the measurement of altars. These results are enshrined in the Çulbasūtras, works which are of the late Sūtra period, possibly of *c.* 200 B.C., though this is mere guesswork. They are concerned with the construction of squares and rectangles; the relation of the diagonal to the sides; the equivalence of rectangles and squares; and the construction of equivalent squares and circles. We find the Pythagorean problem stated generally, but there is nothing to show how far it was fully understood and what exactly was the Indian conception of the irrational. The question of influence on Pythagoras or influence of Greece or Egypt on India has been much discussed¹ without proving any dependence in either case. But in any event the theories of the Çulbasūtras for whatever reason had apparently no effect on the later progress of geometry.