The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c8.113

c8.113

Thus, we find that almost all the *Vedi* and Agni which are described in the *Sulba* can be traced back, for the matter of their shapes and sizes, as far as the time of the *Brāhmaṇa* (c. 2000 B.C.); and they are mentioned even in the *Saṁhitā* (c. 3000 B.C.). The *Sulba* has, in fact, expressly admitted in the majority of cases, as has been pointed out before, that it has taken the spatial magnitudes of the altars from the earlier literatures. We can, similarly, trace the earlier origin of many other matters traced in the *Sulba*. As regards the height of an Agni and the number of bricks to be used in its construction, *Taittirīya Saṁhitā* observes: