<P> The domestic fire - altar in the Vedic period was required by ritual to have a square base and be constituted of five layers of bricks with 21 bricks in each layer . One method of constructing the altar was to divide one side of the square into three equal parts using a cord or rope, to next divide the transverse (or perpendicular) side into seven equal parts, and thereby sub-divide the square into 21 congruent rectangles . The bricks were then designed to be of the shape of the constituent rectangle and the layer was created . To form the next layer, the same formula was used, but the bricks were arranged transversely . The process was then repeated three more times (with alternating directions) in order to complete the construction . In the Baudhāyana Śulba Sūtra, this procedure is described in the following words: </P> <P> II. 64 . After dividing the quadri - lateral in seven, one divides the transverse (cord) in three . II. 65 . In another layer one places the (bricks) North - pointing . </P> <P> According to (Filliozat 2004, p. 144), the officiant constructing the altar has only a few tools and materials at his disposal: a cord (Sanskrit, rajju, f .), two pegs (Sanskrit, śanku, m .), and clay to make the bricks (Sanskrit, iṣṭakā, f .). Concision is achieved in the sūtra, by not explicitly mentioning what the adjective "transverse" qualifies; however, from the feminine form of the (Sanskrit) adjective used, it is easily inferred to qualify "cord ." Similarly, in the second stanza, "bricks" are not explicitly mentioned, but inferred again by the feminine plural form of "North - pointing ." Finally, the first stanza, never explicitly says that the first layer of bricks are oriented in the East - West direction, but that too is implied by the explicit mention of "North - pointing" in the second stanza; for, if the orientation was meant to be the same in the two layers, it would either not be mentioned at all or be only mentioned in the first stanza . All these inferences are made by the officiant as he recalls the formula from his memory . </P> <P> With the increasing complexity of mathematics and other exact sciences, both writing and computation were required . Consequently, many mathematical works began to be written down in manuscripts that were then copied and re-copied from generation to generation . </P>

Describe briefly the development of agriculture and mathematics during the gupta period