[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932) › c20.9 # The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c20.9 The Science of the Śulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c20.9 - **Language:** English ### [c20.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c20.9) In the Śulba, a surd is technically called \*karaṇī\*. Thus \*dvi-karaṇī\*-means √2, \*tri-karaṇī\* =√3, \*tṛtīya-karaṇī\* =√(1/3), \*saptama-karaṇī\* =√(1/7), \*aṣṭādaśa-karaṇī\* =√18, etc.¹ The term was also used in the more general sense of a root. For we have at least one instance of its application in that sense, \*e.g.\*, \*catuṣkaraṇī\* =√4, which is not a surd.² The Sanskrit word \*karaṇī\* means "producer," "that which makes." From that it came to denote the sides of a rectilinear geometrical figure of any shape,³ and then more particularly, the side of a square. - [Previous: c20.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c20.8) - [Next: c20.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c20.10) - [Up: c20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c20) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c20.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c20.9) · Pramāṇa