1S75.] G. Thibaut — On the S'ulvasutras. 261 



With the fifteenth part of half a purusha square bricks are made ; they 

 are used for measuring (only for the measurement of the area of the sara- 

 rathachakrachit, not for the construction of the agni). 



A square is made equal to half a square purusha and its fifteenth part 

 taken ; then bricks are made, equal to this fifteenth part. 



Two hundred and twenty-five of these bricks constitute the sevenfold 

 agni together with aratni and prades'a. 



The sevenfold agni with aratni and prades'a means, as mentioned above, 

 the agni the area of which is equal to seven and a half square purushas. As 

 fifteen of the bricks mentioned in the first sutra make half a square 

 purusha, seven and a half purushas require two hundred and twenty-five. 



To these (two hundred and twenty-five bricks) sixty-four more are to 

 be added. 



We get thereby altogether two hundred and eighty-nine bricks. 



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With these bricks a square is to be formed. 



The side of the square comprises sixteen bricks. 



Thirty-three bricks still remain. 



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These are to be placed on all sides round the borders (of the square ; 

 i. e., according to the commentary, on the north side and east side of the 

 square). 



Thereby all 289 bricks are arranged in a square, the side of which is 

 formed by seventeen bricks. It is strange that we are not directed to con- 

 struct the whole square at once, but are told to form at first a square out 

 of 256 bricks and then to place the remaining 33 bricks around it. I have 

 to propose only the following explanation. The commentator describing 

 the whole procedure tells us to form at first in the middle of the agnikshetra 

 a small square with four bricks, then to increase this square into a larger 

 one, of nine bricks, by adding five bricks, to increase this square in its turn 

 into a larger one of sixteen, and so on. While we place the additional bricks 

 by turns on the north and east side and on the south and west side of the 

 initial square of four bricks, the growing square loses and regains by turns 

 its situation right in the centre of the agnikshetra ; it loses it when it is 

 increased for the first time, regains it when increased for the second time, 



