The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c16.20

c16.20

According to the commentator Kapardisvāmī, the first word of this passage is a conjoint compound of the two words *sā* and *anityā*. So that the above should be rendered as, “It is an inexact (*anityā*) (method of construction); by as much the circle falls short, so much comes in.” He has been followed in this respect by Sundararāja. But the commentator Karavindasvāmī thinks that the correct reading of the passage will be *sā nityā maṇḍalaṃ*,’ etc. According to this reading, the observation appears to imply that the method of construction is an exact (*nityā*) one. But this commentator further thinks that the method has been called “exact” in a relative sense inasmuch as it yields a result more accurate than that obtained by any other method of circling the square known in the Āpastamba school. So he too finally comes to the same point of view as that Kapardisvāmī and Sundararāja.