The Shulbasutras of Baudhayana, Apastamba, Katyayana and Manava: With Text, English Translation and Commentary c8.t26: Chapter 13: Construction of Fire-Altars in the Form of a Chariot Wheel (Rathacakra) and a Trough (Droṇa)
The Śulbasūtras of Baudhāyana, Āpastamba, Kātyāyana and Mānava: With Text, English Translation and Commentary c8.t26
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Chapter 13: Construction of Fire-Altars in the Form of a Chariot Wheel (Rathacakra) and a Trough (Droṇa)
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**13.1-13.3.** As mentioned in the previous chapter, these three rules are in continuation of *sūtras* 12.9 and 12.10, dealing with the construction of a *rathacakracit*. This type has been fully discussed in connection with Baudhāyana’s rules describing such a fire-altar (*BŚl.* 16-16.5).
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THE FIRE-ALTAR IN THE FORM OF A TROUGH (*DROṆA*).
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**13.4-13.16.** Of the two types of fire-altars in the form of a trough (*droṇa*), the square type in which both the body and the handle are squares is here described. The circular type is not discussed. Baudhāyana, as we have noticed, discussed both the types,— square-type in rules *BŚl.* 17.1-17.12, and the circular type in *BŚl.* 18.1-18.11.
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In Āpastamba’s *droṇaciti*, the relative areas of the handle and the body of the trough are different from those prescribed by Baudhāyana. The area of the seven-fold fire-altar being 108000 sq. *aṅg.*, the handle measures 10800 sq. *aṅg.* and the body 97200 sq. *aṅg.* The area of the square body is 9 times that of the square handle and therefore the side of the handle is one-third of the side of the body. The sides are :
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The side of the body = 311 *aṅg.* 26.18 *ti* = 312 *aṅg*—8 *ti* approx. as given by Karavinda and Sundararāja.
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The side of the handle = 103 *aṅg.* 31.28 *ti.*
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The bricks are formed by the twelfth part of the side of the body, and out of such *dvādaśī* square bricks, *adhyardhā* (one side longer by half), quarter bricks etc. are formed, of which specifications are as follows:
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B₁ — one-twelfth or *dvādaśabhāgīyā* square brick : side-25 *aṅg.* 33 *ti* = 26 *aṅg.*—1 *ti* ;
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B₂ — *adhyardhā* of one-twelfth—38 *aṅg.* 33 *ti* × 25 *aṅg.* 33 *ti* ;
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B₃ — quarter of one-twelfth ;
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B₄ — quarter of *adhyardhā*.
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B₃ and B₄ are used to make the total number of bricks in a layer equal to 200. Sundararāja mentions one-ninth bricks.
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The arrangement of bricks in the first and the second layers, for which the directions in the *sūtras* are quite clear, are shown in Fig. 14(a) and (b). In the first layer, 24 B₂ bricks are placed,—12 on the eastern side, 4 each on the two western
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Fig. 14. Fire-altar in the form of a trough : (a) first layer, (b) second layer.
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sides of the body and 4 at the western end of the handle. The remaining space can just accommodate 124 B₁ bricks. The total number of bricks comes to 148. In the second layer, the rule prescribes the use of 32 B₂s,—24 in the body and 8 in the handle; the remaining space can be filled with 112 B₁s, making the total number 144. The deficit in either layer is made up by replacing the required number of B₁s and B₂s by quarter bricks.
Linked texts (1)
- Baudhāyanaśulbasūtra — Baudhāyana, Sanskrit