1875.] G. Thibaut— On the S'ulvasutras. 231 



but little information. Thus we read for instance in the Taittiriya 

 Samhita : 



S yenachitam cbinvita suvargakatnak, s'yeno vai vayasam patishthah, 

 s'yena eva bhutva suvargam lokam patati. 



" He who desires heaven, may construct tbe falcon-shaped altar; for 

 tbe falcon is tbe best flyer among tbe birds ; thus he (the sacrificer) having 

 become a falcon himself flies up to the heavenly world." 



In tbe same place tbe dronacbiti is brought into connexion with the 

 acquiring of food ; tbe praiiga and ratbachakra are described as thunderbolts 

 which the sacrificer hurls on his enemies, and so on. Here as in many 

 other cases we may doubt if tbe symbolical meaning which tbe authors of 

 tbe brabmanas find in the sacrificial requisites and ceremonies is the right 

 one ; still we cannot propose anything more satisfactory. 



But tbe chief interest of the matter does not lie in the superstitious 

 fancies in which the wish of varying the shape of the altars may have 

 originated, but in the geometrical operations without which these varia- 

 tions could not be accomplished. The old yajnikas had fixed for the most 

 primitive chiti, the chaturasras'yenachit, an area of seven and a half 

 square purushas, that means seven and a half squares, the side of which 

 was equal to a purusha, i. e., tbe height of a man with uplifted arms. This 

 rule was valid at least for the case of the agni being constructed for the 

 first time ; on each subsequent occasion the area had to be increased by one 

 square purusha. 



Looking at the sketch of the chaturas'ra s'yena we easily understand 

 why just 7J- square purushas were set clown for the agni. Four of them 

 combined into a large square form the atman, or body of tbe bird, three 

 are required for the two wings and tbe tail, and lastly, in order that tbe 

 image might be a closer approach to the real shape of a bird, wings and tail 

 were lengthened, tbe former by one fifth of a purusha each, the latter by one 

 tenth. The usual expression used in the sutras to denote the agni of this 

 area is " agnih saptavidhab saratniprades'ah, the sevenfold agni with 

 aratni and prades'a," the aratni being the fifth ( = 21 angulis), and the 

 prades'a, the tenth of a purusha ( = 12 angulis). 



Now when for the attainment of some special purpose, one of the 

 variations enumerated above was adopted instead of the primitive shape of 

 the agni, the rules regulating the size of tbe altar did not cease to be valid, 

 but the area of every chiti whatever its shape might be — falcon with curved 

 wings, wheel, praiiga, tortoise, etc. — had to be equal to 7-§ square purushas. 

 On the other hand, when at the second construction of the altar one square 

 purusha had to be added to the seven and a half constituting the first chiti, 

 and when for the third construction two square purushas more were re- 

 quired the shape of the whole, tbe relative proportions of the single 



