Indian Mathematics c5.4

c5.4

4. THE ŚULVASŪTRA PERIOD.—The term *Śulvasūtra* means ‘the rules of the cord’ and is the name given to the supplements of the *Kalpasūtras* which treat of the construction of sacrificial altars. The period in which the *Śulvasūtras* were composed has been variously fixed by various authors. M{\footnotesize AX} M{\"{U}}LLER gave the period as lying between 500 and 200 B.C.; R. C. D{\footnotesize UTT} gave 800 B.C.; B{\"{U}}HLER places the origin of the {\=A}pastamba school as probably somewhere within the last four centuries before the Christian era, and Baudh{\=a}yana somewhat earlier; M{\footnotesize ACDONNELL} gives the limits as 500 B.C. and A.D. 200, and so on. As a matter of fact the dates are not known and those suggested by different authorities must be used with the greatest circumspection. It must also be borne in mind that the contents of the *{\'{S}}ulvas{\=u}tras*, as known to us, are taken from quite modern manuscripts; and that in matters of detail they have probably been extensively edited. The editions of {\=A}pastamba, Baudh{\=a}yana and K{\=a}ty{\=a}yana which have been used for the following notes, indeed, differ from each other to a very considerable extent.