[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) › c6.13 # The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c6.13 The Science of the Śulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c6.13 - **Language:** English ### [c6.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.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. - [Previous: c6.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c6.12) - [Next: c6.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c6.14) - [Up: c6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c6) ## Linked texts (1) - [Baudhāyanaśulbasūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.vedanga.kalpa.sulba.baudhayana) — Baudhāyana, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c6.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.datta-1932.c6.13) · Pramāṇa