The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c14.28

c14.28

Above all there is the remark of Kātyāyana at the end of his enunciation of the general theorem of the square of the diagonal of a rectangle: *iti kṣetrajñānam* or “this is the knowledge of (plane) figures.” Thibaut renders it as “this is the knowledge (requisite) for (the measurement of) areas.” This is evidently inaccurate. For in the *Śulbasūtra*, the area is technically called *bhūmi*, not *kṣetra* which denotes “figures.” These prove conclusively that the universal geometrical character of the theorem was fully recognised.