Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c4.s1.3

c4.s1.3

*Sūtra Period, an age of specialisation*—It may be noted in this connection that the study of mathematics started with the sūtra period. At first, the study was strictly subservient to the primary needs, and education meant only the transmission of traditions from the teacher to the pupil and the committing to memory the sacred texts. In course of time, however, the contents of this education began to widen out and each one of the several *aṅgas* of the Veda began to develop. It is in this connection with the construction of sacrificial altars of proper size and shape that the problems of geometry and perhaps also of arithmetic and algebra were evolved. The study of astronomy arose out of the necessity for fixing the proper time for sacrifices.