ŚULBA-SŪTRAS and PYTHAGORAS’ Theorem

Śulba-sūtras, composed in the later part of the Vedic period (c.800 – 500 BCE), are the texts of early geometry in India. The most notable feature of this text, in terms of geometric language, is the profound statement of the theorem of square on the diagonal. This famous theorem is now universally associated with the name of the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (c.570 – c.495 BCE). The objective of this paper is to present a few geometrical propositions discussed in the Śulba-sūtras, which highlight themselves as applications of the theorem stated by Baudhāyana, a distinguished Indian R. s. i (Rishi) as well as a geometrician. In this paper, an attempt has been made to establish that this general theorem was not only known to the Indians long before the date of Pythagoras but also gave an explicit statement of it.