The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c21.s1.13
The Science of the Śulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c21.s1.13
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c21.s1.13
A peculiar mode of expressing certain fractions is sometimes found in the *Śulba*, e.g., *ardha-navama*, which literally means "containing a half for its ninth," is used to denote "eight and a half"; *ardha-daśama* ("containing a half for its tenth") " = 9½, and so on.⁵ Such a term evidently carries with it the concrete concept of the operation of measuring.