The Shulbasutras of Baudhayana, Apastamba, Katyayana and Manava: With Text, English Translation and Commentary c8.t6: Chapter 8: Construction of a Rectilinear Śyenacit—First Type

The Śulbasūtras of Baudhāyana, Āpastamba, Kātyāyana and Mānava: With Text, English Translation and Commentary c8.t6

Language: English

Chapter 8: Construction of a Rectilinear Śyenacit—First Type

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**8.1.-8.5.** Baudhāyana, Āpastamba and other *Sulbakāras* have considered the construction of two categories of falcon-shaped fire-altars. e.g. (a) the first category in which the body, the wings and the tail are rectilinear (squares and rectangles), and (b) the second category in which the wings are curved, the tail is spread out, and the body and the head have their corners cut off. In the latter case the shape of the altar more closely resembles the falcon.

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The *sūtra* 8.4 is taken from the *Taittirīya Saṃhitā* which runs as follows :

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*pañca dakṣiṇāyāṃ śroṇyāmupadadhāti | pañcottarasyāṃ tasmāt paścādvarṣīyān purastāt pravaṇaḥ paśubasto vaya iti dakṣiṇe'ṃsa upadadhāti | vṛṣṇirvaya ityuttare'msāveva pratidadhāti | vyāghro vaya iti dakṣiṇe pakṣa upadadhāti | siṃhovaya ityuttare pakṣayoreva vīryaṃ dadhāti | puruṣo vaya iti madhye tasmāt puruṣaḥ paśunāmadhipatiḥa* |

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The construction of the fire-altar after the shadow cast on the ground by a flying bird is also given in the same *Brāhmaṇa* as follows : *vayasāṃ vā eṣa pratimayā cīyate yadagniryanyāñcaṃ cinuyātb* |

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In this chapter, a simple rectilinear *śyenacit* is discussed.

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**8.6-8.7.** *Bricks.* The following four types of square bricks are used for the construction: B₁—one-fourth brick (*caturthī*) —30 × 30 sq. *aṅgulas*. B₂—one-fifth brick (*pañcamī*)—24 × 24 sq. *aṅgulas*. B₃—one-sixth brick (*ṣaṣṭhī*) —20 × 20 sq. *aṅgulas*. B₄—one-tenth brick (*daśamī*) —12 × 12 sq. *aṅgulas*.

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**8.8-8.10.** *Measurement of the fire-altar.* In this fire-altar, the body (*ātman*) is a square and the two wings and the tail are rectangles. To set up these rectilinear figures of required areas on the ground, one can use either a cord or a bamboo rod and follow the rules of construction of such figures discussed in chapters 1 and 2. For measurement with a bamboo rod with a hole at either end and at the middle, Āpastamba has given greater details which are considered in our notes to *Āśl. 9.1-9.3*.

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The body is a square of 4 sq. *pu.*, that is, of side 2 *pu.* or 240 *aṅg.* At the middle of its southern and northern side, a rectangle each, measuring 144 *aṅgulas* × 120 *aṅgulas*, with the longer side drawn south-north, is set up; this will represent the south and the north wing. A rectangle of 132 *aṅgulas* × 120 *aṅgulas*, with the longer side towards east-west, attached to the middle of the western side of the body, is the tail (Fig. 33). The area of the altar is :

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b *Taitt. S.* 5.5.3.2.

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$1/(120²) [ 240² + 2 × 144 × 120 + 132 × 120 ] = 7½ sq. puruṣas as required$ in the text.

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a *Taitt. S.* 5.3.1.5.

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**8.11-8.13.** *Placement of bricks in the first layer.* Starting with the south wing, 4 B₂ bricks flanked on either side by 2 B₄ bricks are placed in a row, east-west, at a distance of 40 *aṅgulas* from the end of the wing (Fig. 33). Dvārakānātha explains *puruṣatṛtīyavelāyām* as *catvāriṁśadaṅgulapramāṇavelāyāmatītyām*. Then 8 B₁s are placed in two rows, leaving a space which can be filled exactly by 18 B₃ bricks. In this way, 34 bricks can be placed in the south wing (*evaṁ pakṣe catustriṁśadiṣṭakāḥ*. The northern wing is covered in the same way starting with the northern end.

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Fig. 33. Arrangement of bricks in the first layer of a *caturaśra śyenacit* (northern wing not shown).

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In the tail, as per direction of the rule, 8 B₁s can be placed, —4 on the eastern and 4 on the western side, 12 B₄s—6 on the southern and 6 on the northern side, and 12 B₂s in the remaining space in the middle, accounting for 32 bricks (*pucche dvātriṁśat*—D.). Rule 8.12 also directs the filling up of the body with B₂ bricks, and clearly enough 100 B₂s can be accommodated in a square 240 × 240 sq. *aṅgulas* (*ātmani śatam*—D.). The number and types of bricks used in different parts of the fire-altar are shown in Table 1, in agreement with Dvārakānātha's enumeration (*caturthyaścaturviṁśatiḥ* | *pañcamyo viṁśatyadhikaṁ śatam* | *ṣaṣṭhyaḥ ṣaṭtriṁśat* | *daśamyo viṁśatiḥ* |).

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**8.14-8.18** *Placement of bricks in the second layer.* The arrangement of bricks is shown in Fig. 34. After leaving 48 *aṅgulas* at the end of the southern wing, 3 B₃s are placed at the western and the eastern side each towards north, and 3 B₃s in the middle; the space (that is, two rows, south-north) in between these three rows is filled with 4 B₁s. D. explains this placement as follows: *aratnidvaye'tīte pakṣapaścimapārśva udīcyastisraḥ*

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TABLE 1. *Bricks in different parts of the citi—first layer.

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| Parts of the *citi* | Brick types | | | | Total |
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Body | | 100 | | | 100 |
| Wings | 16 | 8 | 36 | 8 | 68 |
| Tail | 8 | 12 | | 12 | 32 |
| Total | 24 | 120 | 36 | 20 | 200 |

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*ṣaṣṭhyastataḥ purastāddakṣiṇottare dve dve dvipade | tatastisraḥ ṣaṣṭhyaḥ | tato dve dvipade | tataḥ pūrvapārśve tisraḥ ṣaṣṭhyaḥ |*

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Fig. 34 Arrangement of bricks in the second layer of a *caturaśra śyenacit* (north wing not shown).

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In the body, 9 *B*₃ bricks are placed in a square 60 × 60 sq. *aṅgulas* at each of the two western corners. On the eastern side of the body, 9 *B*₃s, arranged in a square, are placed in each of the two eastern corners, one such set of 9 *B*₃s in the middle, and the two rows east-west, in between these 3 sets are filled by 4 *B*₁ bricks, 2 in each row. The remaining space is covered with *B*₂ bricks. Notice that the overlapping of edges of the bricks in the two layers has been clearly avoided (*BŚl.* 5. 14). The arrangement of different types of bricks in different parts of the fire-altar is shown in Table 2.

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| Parts of the *citi* | Brick types | | | Total |
| | B₁ | B₂ | B₃ | |
| Body | 4 | 55 | 45 | 104 |
| Wings, including bricks partly covering body | 8 | 40 | 18 | 66 |
| Tail, including bricks partly covering body | | 30 | | 30 |
| Total | 12 | 125 | 63 | 200 |

Linked texts (1)

Taittirīyasaṃhitā — Sanskrit