The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c8.83

c8.83

It has been stated before that the standard form of an optional Fire-altar is that of a certain bird. This bird is called *Śyena* ("falcon") in the *Taittirīya Saṁhitā*¹ and *Suparṇa Garutman* ("well-winged eagle") in the *Vājasaneya Saṁhitā*² and *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*³ which is sometimes abridged into *Suparṇa* in the latter.⁴ The first name is found more commonly in other *Saṁhitā* and *Śrauta-sūtra* whereas the other names are rarely met with elsewhere.⁵ A clear reference to this form is found in the *Ṛgveda* where Agni is frequently called a bird.⁶ The spatial magnitudes of the falcon-shaped Fire-altar have been defined in almost all the earlier works from the *Taittirīya Saṁhitā* onwards, and they are exactly the same as those that are found in the *Śulba*. Though it is stated by the authorities that it should be measured preferably with a bamboo-rod the details of the method of measurement are scanty in earlier ones. The *Taittirīya Saṃhitā* says :