Kalpa (Vedanga)

[6] Kalpa is a Sanskrit word that means "proper, fit, competent, sacred precept", and also refers to one of the six Vedanga fields of study.

[12][13] This field of study emerged to serve the needs of priests as they officiated over domestic ceremonies such as weddings and baby naming rites of passage, so that the rituals were efficient, standardized and appeared consistent across different events.

[10] They also helped the audience and the individuals integrate within customs and cultural practices, state Winternitz and Sarma, from "the moment when he is received in his mother's womb to the hour of his death", and beyond during his cremation.

The first versions of the Kalpa Sutras text were probably composed by the 6th-century BCE, and they were attributed to famous Vedic sages out of respect for them in the Hindu traditions or to gain authority.

[19] They provide, states Kim Plofker, what in modern mathematical terminology would be called "area preserving transformations of plane figures", tersely describing geometric formulae and constants.

Vedic sacrifice rituals at a weddingWest of the (sacred) fire, a stone (for grinding corn and condiments) is placed and northeast a water jar.

— Āśvalāyana Kalpa sutra, Book 1.7, Translated by Monier Monier-Williams[23][24]The Dharmasūtras are texts dealing with custom, rituals, duties and law.