The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c7.5

c7.5

The commentator Rāma was an inhabitant of Naimiṣa (near modern Lucknow). He seems to have been the author of several works such as *Karma-dīpikā*, *Kuṇḍākṛti* (with commentary), *Śulba-vārttika*, *Śāṅkhyāyana Gṛhya-paddhati*, *Samara-sāra* and its commentary, *Samara-sāra-saṁgraha* and the commentaries on the *Kātyāyana Śulba* and *Śāradā-tilaka Tantra*. The date of composition of the *Kuṇḍākṛti* is given as 1506 Vikrama Saṁvat (1449 A.D.). In his commentary on the *Kātyāyana Śulba*, Rāma has quoted copiously from his *Śulba-vārttika* ("The Critical Annotation of the *Śulba*") and also from his commentary on the *Śāradā-tilaka*. There is also a quotation from the *Triśatikā* of Śrīdhara (*c.* 750 A.D.).¹ In this work we notice some new contributions from him. To construct a right-angled triangle having a given leg (a), Rāma suggests the employment of a new rational rectangle (a, 8a/15, 17a/15) in addition to those taught in the *Śulbas*.² But the most notable contribution of him is a correction to the well-known *Śulba* value of √2, viz.,