The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c6.13

c6.13

Of all the extant *Śulbas*, that of the Baudhāyana is the biggest and is also, perhaps, the oldest. It is divided into three chapters. The first chapter contains 116 *sūtras* ("aphorisms") of which the opening two are merely introductory; *sūtras* 3-21 define the various measures ordinarily employed in the *Śulbas*; *sūtras* 22-62 give the more important of the geometrical propositions necessary for the construction of the sacrificial altars; and *sūtras* 63-116 deal briefly with the relative positions and spatial magnitudes of the various *vedis* (or "altars"). The second chapter consists of 86 *sūtras* of which the major portion, *sūtras* 1-61, is devoted to the description of the spatial relations in the different constructions of the Agnis (or "the large Fire-altars made of bricks") in general, and the remaining portion, *sūtras* 62-86, elaborates the construction of the two simplest Agnis, *viz.*, the *Gārhapatya-citi* (or "The House-holder's Fire-altar") and *Chandaściti*¹ (or "The Agni made, as it were, of *mantras* instead of bricks"). The third chapter, in altogether 323 *sūtras*, describes the construction of as many as seventeen different kinds of *Kāmya Agnis* (or "the altars for the sacrifices performed with a view to attain definite objects") of rather complex nature. In case of some, the description is quite elaborate and minute in details, but in other cases it is less so.