[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) › c22.18 # The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c22.18 The Science of the Śulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c22.18 - **Language:** English ### [c22.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c22.18) A square is generally called \*sama-caturasra\* (\*sama\* = "equal"). It is oftentimes, of course when there is no chance of ambiguity the context being clear, shortened into \*caturasra\*,¹ and occasionally even into simple \*sama\*.² Thibaut is responsible for the opinion that in the term \*sama-caturasra\*, the word \*sama\* refers to the equality of four sides and \*caturasra\* implies that the four angles of the figure are right angles.³ A more plausible interpretation would be that \*sama\* refers to the form or shape of the figure which is to be the same in every respect, \*caturasra\* implying a quadrangle or quadrilateral. It will then be consistent with the term \*dīrgha-caturasra\* for the rectangle,⁴ which signifies that the form of the \*caturasra\* is in this case \*dīrgha\* (or "longish"). The rectangle is sometimes called in short the \*dīrgha\*.⁵ The term for a quadrilateral of unequal sides is the \*viṣama-caturasra\* (literally, "inequilateral quadrilateral"). But in contradistinction from the \*sama-caturasra\* or the square, that term may denote also the rectangle.⁶ - [Previous: c22.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c22.17) - [Next: c22.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c22.19) - [Up: c22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c22) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c22.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c22.18) · Pramāṇa