Hastas & the Aṅgula
Every Āyādi figure is computed on a length measured in hastas, and the texts name several hastas rather than one. Each is counted in aṅgulas, the finger-breadth, and each is assigned to a kind of work. Here they are with the text each comes from, and with the one thing the texts do not give: how long an aṅgula is in metres.
The chain of measure
Eight paramāṇu make a rathareṇu, and from there each step is again eight: vālāgra, likṣā, yūkā and yava. Eight yava make one aṅgula; twelve aṅgulas a vitasti; twenty-four aṅgulas a kiṣku, which is the hasta; four hastas a daṇḍa; and eight daṇḍas a rajju. The 25-aṅgula prājāpatya, the 26-aṅgula dhanurmuṣṭi and the 27-aṅgula dhanurgraha are longer cubits kept for particular work. Mayamata 5.3–12 (Sanskrit edited by Pandey, translated by Dagens).
The named hastas
| Hasta | Aṅgulas | Derived length | Used for | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KiṣkuEngine default | 24 | 0.4572 m | Vehicles and beds; or every building (Mayamata 5.6–7). The engine's default hasta. | Mayamata 5.4–7 (ed. Pandey; tr. Dagens); Mānasāra 2.49–58 (tr. Acharya); Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.1–4 |
| Prājāpatya | 25 | 0.4763 m | Vimānas — temples (Mayamata 5.6). | Mayamata 5.4–7 (ed. Pandey; tr. Dagens); Mānasāra 2.49–58 (tr. Acharya); Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.1–4 |
| Dhanurmuṣṭi | 26 | 0.4953 m | Buildings (vāstu), houses among them (Mayamata 5.7). | Mayamata 5.4–7 (ed. Pandey; tr. Dagens); Mānasāra 2.49–58 (tr. Acharya); Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.1–4 |
| Dhanurgraha | 27 | 0.5143 m | Villages and settlements (Mayamata 5.7). | Mayamata 5.4–7 (ed. Pandey; tr. Dagens); Mānasāra 2.49–58 (tr. Acharya); Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.1–4 |
| Prācya | 28 | 0.5334 m | One of the Kerala text's eight hastas. | Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.4 |
| Vaideha | 29 | 0.5524 m | One of the Kerala text's eight hastas. | Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.4 |
| Vaipulya | 30 | 0.5715 m | One of the Kerala text's eight hastas. | Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.4 |
| Prakīrṇaka | 31 | 0.5906 m | One of the Kerala text's eight hastas. | Manuṣyālaya Candrikā 3.4 |
How the lengths are derived: aṅgulas × the engine's default aṅgula (HASTA_IN_METERS / 24 = 19.05 mm, three-quarters of an inch); the texts do not state the aṅgula in metres.
Where the texts differ
- Which hasta a house is measured in. The Mayamata (5.7) gives buildings, houses among them, the dhanurmuṣṭi; the Mānasāra (2.49–58, as reported in Acharya’s Dictionary of Hindu Architecture) gives buildings in general the prājāpatya, the ground the dhanurmuṣṭi and villages the dhanurgraha, and allows the 24-aṅgula cubit for all. The engine defaults to the kiṣku and states the cubit it used in the method block of every reading.
- The Kerala Manuṣyālaya Candrikā (3.1–4) lists eight hastas of 24 to 31 aṅgulas, four of them beyond the Mayamata’s. It assigns them by varṇa (3.5–7); the engine does not apply that assignment. Its Kerala “kōl” names eight different lengths, so a bare “kōl” is refused rather than guessed.
- Other texts use the same words for other lengths. The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa (1.7.99) and the Rājavallabha Maṇḍana (1.39) make the kiṣku 42 aṅgulas, and the Viśvakarma Vāstuśāstra (7.75) makes the dhanurmuṣṭi two hastas. The engine uses the Mayamata, Mānasāra and Manuṣyālaya Candrikā values.
- The house-builder’s own hand. The Viśvakarma Prakāśa (2.40–43) builds the house by the owner’s hand, or the eldest wife’s, the eldest son’s or the builder’s, and takes a hand as one fifth of the height from the big toe to the tip of the ring finger of the raised arm. The engine accepts an owner’s own hand as a measure.
Why the metres are derived
No text gives the aṅgula in metres. The engine uses 19.05 mm (three quarters of an inch), which makes the kiṣku 0.4572 m. Taking the aṅgula of Mauryan measure, about 1.763 cm, the same cubits come to 42.3 cm (kiṣku), 44.1 cm (prājāpatya), 45.8 cm (dhanurmuṣṭi) and 47.6 cm (dhanurgraha) — from a secondary source, and not the engine’s default.
Try a hasta on your own dimensions in the Āyādi calculator.