समराङ्गणसूत्रधार (महाराज भोज - वास्तु, स्थापत्य एवं यंत्र शास्त्र)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
ARCHÆOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
ARCHÆOLOGICAL
LIBRARY
ACCESSION NO. 64800
CALL No. Sa 7 V/Bho/Gan
D.G.A. 79

The provided image is completely blank and contains no text to transcribe.

इस पृष्ठ पर कोई पाठ (टेक्स्ट) उपलब्ध नहीं है (पृष्ठ रिक्त है)।

Gaekwad's Oriental Series
Published under the Authority of
the Maharaja Sayajirao University
of Baroda
General Editor:
B. J. Sandesara,
M.A., Ph.D.
No. 25
समराङ्गण-सूत्रधारः॥

इस पृष्ठ पर कोई पठनीय पाठ उपलब्ध नहीं है (यह पृष्ठ रिक्त/धुंधला है)।

SAMARĀṄGAṆA-SŪTRADHĀRA
of
Mahārājadhirāja Bhoja,
The Parmāra Ruler of Dhārā
Originally Edited
by
Mahāmahopādhyāya
T. GAṆAPATIŚĀSTRĪ,
Honorary Member, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland, Honorary Doctor of Philosophy,
University of Tubingen,
Editor of the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series
Revised and Edited
by
Vasudeva Saran Agrawala
M.A., PH.D., D.LITT.
Late Professor & Head of the Department of Art and Architecture,
Banaras Hindu University.
[मुद्रा/सील: सत्यं शिवं सुन्दरम् / नई दिल्ली]
★
Oriental Institute
BARODA
1966

First Edition of text
in two volumes
(Gos. nos. 25 & 32)
1924-25.
Second Revised
Edition of text in
one volume
1966 अवा. सं. 61806 12 6.79
Copies 1000 निर्देश सं. Sa 7V/The/Gan
नई दिल्ली
केन्द्रीय पुरातत्व पुस्तकालय
Printed by Ramanlal J. Patel, Manager, The Maharaja Sayajirao
University of Baroda Press (Sadhana Press), Near Palace Gate,
Palace Road, Baroda and published on behalf of the Maharaja
Sayajirao University of Baroda, by Dr. Bhogilal J. Sandesara,
Director, Oriental Institute, Baroda, Nov., 1966.
M. S. ... PUBLICATIONS
BARODA.
Re... Price 30/-
Rs. 40.00
SALES UNIT
Copies can be had from :-
Manager,
THE UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS SALES UNIT,
M. S. University of Baroda Press (Sadhana Press),
Near Palace Gate, Palace Road,
BARODA

FOREWORD
The Samarāṅgaṇa-Sūtradhāra of Bhoja was first published ( 1924 and 1925
A.D. ) as the G. O. Series nos. 25 and 32 in two volumes edited by Mm.T.
Ganapati Shastri. For many years the work was out of stock.
Dr. V. S. Agrawala expressed his desire to re-edit the whole text and add
another volume containing his long Introduction (discussing the contents) and
notes with an index of technical terms. He was preparing this additional volume
but unfortunately he died on the 27th July, 1966 before he could complete the
same. At his suggestion the text originally published in two volumes is now re-
edited and published in one volume as G.O.S. no. 25 while we hope to publish
in future as G.O.S. no. 32 a volume containing Introduction, notes and Index
to the text, on the basis of Dr. Agrawala's notes etc. Dr. Agrawala has given
a small Introduction to this text volume.
We are thankful to the University Grants Commission and the Govern-
ment of the Gujarat State for their financial assistance in publishing this volume.
We are also thankful to Shri R. J. Patel, Manager, M. S. University of
Baroda Press, for his earnest co-operation in printing this volume.
B. J. Sandesara
DIRECTOR
Oriental Institute,
Baroda.
Dated 9th November, 1966

इस पृष्ठ पर कोई पाठ्य सामग्री (Text) उपलब्ध नहीं है (यह पृष्ठ रिक्त है)।

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
(First Volume of Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra)
Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra is a work on architecture. It means, literally, an
architect of human dwellings and deals with the planning of towns and villages,
building of houses, halls and palaces as well as machines of various kinds.
The edition is based on the following three manuscripts :—
(1) The manuscript marked क, belonging to the Central Library, Baroda,
which runs up to a certain portion in the 82nd adhyāya but is
wanting in 19 folios, and which was copied, as mentioned in the
colophon, in Saṁvat 1594.
(2) The manuscript marked ख, belonging to the same library, which runs
up to a portion in the 55th adhyāya.
(3) The manuscript marked ग, obtained on loan from the Bhandar at
Pattan, which runs up to a portion of the 49th adhyāya but is want-
ing in 10 folios and which appears to be of the same age as the first.
These manuscripts are full of errors and not very legible. To examine
them for the press was a very difficult task. The first 54 adhyāyas are now
issued as the first volume while the remaining adhyāyas are in the press and will
be published before long as the second volume.
An exhaustive table of contents is prefixed to this volume a perusal of
which will give an idea of all the subjects imbedded in it.
The work treats of the construction of cities, palaces, and mansions with
greater clearness of expression and wealth of details than any other available
work of Śilpa Śāstra. The 31st chapter contains descriptions of various kinds of
machines that are not found in other Śilpa works, such as the elephant machine
(गजयन्त्र), wooden bird-machine travelling in the sky (व्योमचारिविहङ्गयन्त्र),
wooden vimāna machine flying in the air (आकाशगामिदारुमयविमानयन्त्र), door-
keeper machine (द्वारपालयन्त्र), soldier machine (योधयन्त्र) etc.
“ यन्त्रेण कल्पितो हस्ती न तद् गच्छन् प्रतीयते ।
शुकाद्याः पक्षिणः क्लृप्तास्तांस्तस्यानुगमान्मुहुः ॥
जनस्य विस्मयकृतो नृत्यन्ति च पठन्ति च ।
पुत्रिका वा गजेन्द्रो वा तुरगो मर्कटोऽपि वा ॥
चलनेर्वर्तनैर्नृत्यैस्तालेन हरने मनः । ”

viii
" लघुदारुमयं महाविहङ्गं दृढसुश्लिष्टतनुं विधाय तस्य ।
उदरे रसयन्त्रमादधीत ज्वलनाधारमधोऽस्य चाग्निपूर्णम् ॥
तत्रारूढः पूरुषस्तस्य पक्षद्वन्द्वोचालप्रोज्झितेनानिलेन ।
सुप्तस्यान्तः पारदस्यास्य शक्त्या चित्रं कुर्वन्नम्बरे याति दूरम् ॥
इत्थमेव सुरमन्दिरतुल्यं सञ्चलत्यलघु दारुविमानम् ।
आदधीत विधिना चतुरोऽन्तस्तस्य पारदमृतान् दृढकुम्भान् " ॥
Generally, the language of the extant Śilpa works is ungrammatical, but the
present work is free from grammatical solecisms and written mostly in a sweet
and beautiful style. The work will prove to be of immense benefit to students
of Indian architecture as well as to those who wish to follow it in practice.
The author of the work, as mentioned in it, is Mahārājādhirāja Śrī Bhoja-
deva who is probably the same Bhoja of Dhāra who ruled over Malwa in the
first part of the 11th century A.D. and to whom many important works are
ascribed such as, Śṛṅgāraprakāśa (Alaṅkāra) and Sarasvatīkaṇṭhā-bharaṇa
(Vyākaraṇa).
(1924 A.D.)
T. GANAPATI SASTRI

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
(Second Volume of Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra)
This, the second volume, completes the work of Samarāṅgaṇa which runs
up to a portion of the 83rd Adhyāya. It contains descriptions of Prāsādas
pertaining to Devas, statues made of gold, silver etc., the art of painting, रस and
दृष्टि to be delineated in pictures and images, 64 kinds of हस्त beginning with Patākā
and similar other topics, a detailed mention of which may be found in the
contents attached.
Great difficulty had to be experienced in bringing out this edition as no
other manuscript was available than the one referred to in the preface to the first
volume, which contains several errors and is in many places not legible. Proper
substitutes for the errors have been proposed within interrogations and new
readings for impure words and phrases suggested as far as possible by means of
foot notes.
The subject matter being śilpa, the work need not possess the characteristics
of a literary work. Nevertheless it is remarkable for its sweet and simple Kāvya
style. It is for this reason that I said in the first volume that the author of the
work is the same King Bhoja of Dhārā who wrote Śṛṅgāraprakāśa and other
works and to whom is assigned a high place in the domain of Sāhitya.
It may be said that, because the various machines such as the elephant
machine, door keeper machine, flying machine etc., mentioned in the work, have
not been either seen or heard of before, they are only products of imagination
and not actual machines made and put into practical use. That is not so; for,
even things which once existed might, in the long run, come to be considered as
unreal on account of their disuse and things involving much labour, time and
money may also get out of use very easily.
It may be asked next why the poet has not described the method of
constructing the machines. The poet himself answers thus :-
यन्त्राणां घटना नोक्ता
गुप्त्यर्थं नाज्ञतावशात् ।
तत्र हेतुरयं ज्ञेयो
व्यक्ता नैते फलप्रदाः ॥
(Vol. I, P. 175)
The meaning of the line, व्यक्ता नैते फलप्रदाः is, in case the methods are revealed in
the work, then every one not initiated in the art by the preceptor will try to
construct the machines and the attempt made by such a person may not only

x
not achieve success but bring about troubles and difficulties. The following
śloka contains the qualifications necessary for constructing the machines.
पारम्पर्यं कौशलं सोपदेशं
शास्त्राभ्यासो वास्तुकर्मोद्यमो धीः ।
सामग्रीयं निर्मला यस्य सोऽरिंम
श्चित्राण्येवं वेत्ति यन्त्राणि कर्तुम् ॥
( Vol. I, P. 176 )
It is also not uncommon, in the case of highly useful machines, to keep
unrevealed the methods of constructing them.
(1925 A.D.) T. GANAPATI SASTRI.

INTRODUCTION
The Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra is an encylopaedic work on medieval Indian
architecture written by King Bhoja of Dhārā ( c. 1000-1055 A.D. ) of the Para-
māra dynasty. Bhoja was a great patron of learning and himself an author of
distinguished reputation being responsible for such eminent works as the Sṛṅgāra-
prakāśa and Sarasvatī-Kaṇṭhābharaṇa, in its versions of Kāvya and Grammar
both being work of great merit.
The Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra as now available in 83 chapters is a dimen-
sional work and all the available manuscripts show that the present text is un-
finished.
This is the second revised edition of this great work on Indian Śilpa Śāstra.
The first edition was published in 1924-1925 in two volumes as No. XXV ( pp.
1-290 ) and No. XXXII ( pp. 1-324 ) of the Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda,
and was edited by the Sanskrit savant Mahāmahopādhyāya T. Gaṇapati Śāstry
of Trivandrum who took immense pains to wade through the three manuscripts
then available to him and present as best a text as was possible. According to
his entry in the Introduction to Volume One the following manuscript material
was then utilised :—
( 1 ) The manuscript marked क belonging to the Central Library, Baroda
which runs up to a certain portion in the 82nd adhyāya but is wanting in 19
folios, and which was copied, as mentioned in the colophon, in Saṁvat 1594.
( 2 ) The manuscript marked ख belonging to the same library which runs
up to a portion in the 55th adhyāya.
( 3 ) The manuscript marked ग obtained on loan from the Bhandar at
Pattan, which runs up to a portion of the 49th adhyāya but is wanting in 10
folios and which appears to be of the same age as the first.
Fortunately for this edition one more manuscript was made available to
me by the courtesy of Dr. B. J. Sandesara, present Director of the Oriental
Institute where the manuscript is deposited. Its details are as follows:—
The manuscript marked द belonging to the library of the Oriental Institute,
Baroda which runs upto verse 237th of chapter 83. Omitting the scribal errors,
I have taken only the material variant readings from this manuscript.
The symbols for the three manuscripts used by Sri Gaṇapathi Śāstry were
क, ख and ग and that for the new manuscript is द. All the variant readings of the
previous manuscripts and the new one have been noted in the footnotes on each
page of the printed texts aad the best reading has been incorporated in the print-

xii
ed texts. It is gratifying that the new material has effected improvement in the
texts at many places but still there remain textual obscurities which may be due
to the very technical nature of the material and the Śilpa terminology employed
in the work.
As observed by the previous editor, Sri Gaṇapathi Śāstry, the language of
the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra is correct in grammatical Sanskrit against what is
usually found in the Śilpa works. This may be attributed to the great erudition
and love of Sanskrit of King Bhoja who was no doubt one of the greatest San-
skritists of medieval times and combined in him unique liberality and patronage
of scholars paralleled in the annals of ancient India only by Candragupta
Vikramāditya of the Gupta dynasty.
The name Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra is worthy of attention. The word
Sūtradhāra literally means ‘thread-bearer’, i.e. an architect who takes his
measurements by means of the plumbline. Here is a pun on the word ‘samara’
which means both a battlefield and a mortal human being (sa + mara) (destin-
ed to die). Thus the title as applicable to Bhoja would signify firstly that he
was the architect of the fortunes on the battlefield, i.e. who planned the
course of battle leading to victory, and secondly, who was the architect of
human dwellings, i.e. civil architecture on an extensive scale. The epithet in
its second denotation is a fact of King Bhoja's building activities who planned
cities, palaces, temples, educational institutions and hospitals, wharfs, lakes,
ponds, stepped wells, pavillions, resting places, roads, groves, etc., in a liberal
spirit. The contingent of buildings and establishments of Mahārājādhirāja
Bhoja requires to be fully explored and described in detail in a separate work
from the archaeological and art point of view in a comprehensive biography of
this distinguished monarch which is still a desideratum. The great educational
college called Bhoja Pāṭhaśālā at Dhārā was one of the most monumental build-
ings of Bhoja, unfortunately demolished by the Muslim invaders and turned into
a Mosque. From the surviving ruins, it is possible to form an estimate of its
original grandeur and dimensions of its site-plan and halls embellished with
numerous images and inscribed slabs bearing the texts of poetry and drama
in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhraṁśa, and specimens of the prevailing script and
dialects. Such a marvellous conception of an educational institution marked by
the visual documentation of literature has seldom been known in the history of
any country. The architectural beauty of the pillars and the ceilings in this
unique building bespeaks volumes for the aesthetic taste of King Bhoja who was
a rare genius as an architect, a fact amply supported by the contents of the
Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra.
Another great monument due to the genius of King Bhoja was the Bhoja
Sāgara lake in which water was collected from the three enclosing slopes of

xiii
mountains and stored into a reservoir by building an embankment on the fourth
side. The fame of this wonderful lake resounded in popular memory throughout
the medieval times and has been preserved upto our own times in the Hindi
saying: Tāla to Bhopāla tāla aur sab talaiyā (ताल तो भोपाल ताल और सब तलैया). (i. e.
amongst lakes the foremost is the one called Bhopal Tal or the lake built by
King Bhoja, round which was planned the city of Bhopal, the others are mere
ponds of water).
The art of building embankments for artificial lakes has reached its
perfection in medieval India and its greatest example was that planned and
erected by Bhoja, that was perhaps equalled later on by the Rājasamudra lake
of King Rājasamudra of Chittor.
Of the other monuments raised by Bhoja and now in ruins or lost in
oblivion, it is tempting to speak in detail from the point of view of architecture
but that should await an exhaustive scientific survey by trained archaeologists
who should correlate the actual monuments with the detail furnished in the texts
of the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra. The civil and religious architecture envisaged
in the present text was no figment of imagination but rooted in the solid facts
of the state policy pursued by King Bhoja for bestowing on his people as many
different kinds of architectural monuments as possible, both in the civil and
religious fields. It appears that his soul had some point of affinity with the
traditional architect of ancient times namely Viśvakarmā and he felt specially
delighted when some civil building with all the perfection of art known in his
time was brought into existence.
I wish to endorse fully the remarks of the previous editor about the
beautiful style of Sanskrit found in the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra which it is a
pleasure to go through and relish its classical flavour : “Generally the language
of extant Śilpa works is ungrammatical, but the present work is free from
grammatical solecisms and written most in a sweet and beautiful style. The
work will prove to be of immense benefit to students of Indian architecture as
well as to those who wish to follow it in practice”.
Chapter 31 entitled ‘Yantra Vidhāna’ deals with a number of mechanical
contrivances, some of which at least seem to have been a fact of life, others
perhaps imaginary like the flying plane. This topic is unique to the Samarāṅgaṇa
Sūtradhāra and nothing similar to this is found in any other Śilpa text.
Dr. V. Raghavan has written a special exposition of its contents to which we
shall refer in our commentary on this work to be published as volume two.
I feel grateful to Dr. B. J. Sandesara for entrusting to me the editorship
of this second revised edition of the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra which had long
become out of print. I now hope that this new edition together with its

xiv
commentary in a subsequent volume will be found useful by students of Indian
art and architecture. For the sake of convenience the two separate volumes of
the first edition have now been brought together with continuous pagination
which will facilitate consultation and reference to the text. It may also be observ-
ed that after the publication of the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra in its first edition of
1924-25 several new important texts of Indian Śilpa Sāstra have come to light
amongst which the Aparājita Pṛcchā (G. O. S. Vol. 115) is the most important.
Although there are many elements common to these two big Śilpa works, the
Samarāṅagaṇa Sūtradhāra represents the architectural facts of the Malava school
and the Aparājita Pṛcchā those of the Saurashtra school of Western India, of
which the two respective patrons were King Bhoja and Siddhārāja Jaisingh. An
exhaustive comparison of their contents and topics and a comparative study of
terminologies would be found quite revealing of the growth of Indian architec-
tural tradition in two contiguous regions and during about the same period, the
Aparājita Pṛcchā being of course a later compilation than the Samarāṅgaṇa
Sūtradhāra and more diffused in its contents and style.
V. S. AGRAWALA
2 December, 1965

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS
The detailed contents of the Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra are shown in the
Sanskrit analysis prepared by the previous editor, T. Gaṇapati Śāstrī. Here is
a small synopsis of contents showing the principal subjects in English. Now I
will speak chapter-wise.
Ch. 1, entitled Mahāsamāgamana is introductory, stating that this Vāstu-
śāstra follows the tradition of Viśvakarmā, who was commanded by Brahmā to
place the various settlements and buildings, make the earth free from fear and
worthy of habitation.
Ch. 2, a dialogue between Viśvakarmā and his four sons, Jaya, Vijaya,
Siddhārtha and Aparājita, who were commissioned by the father to build all
kinds of Vāstu monuments in the four direction.
Ch. 3, Praśna relates to questions of Jaya about the extent, nature and
geography of the earth and heavenly constellations.
Ch. 4, Mahadādisarga deals with the creation of Mahat (the Universal),
Ahaṁkāra (the Individed Ego) and the five Tanmātras by Brahmā, who was
born on the lotus, springing from the navel of Viṣṇu.
Ch. 5, Bhuvanakośa deals with the length, breadth and circumference of
the earth as well as of the seven continents and oceans.
Ch. 6, Sahadevādhikāra depicts the age when gods and men lived together
in a state of nature and obtained all their wants from the Kalpa-vṛkṣa or Wish-
fulfilling Tree.
Ch. 7, Varṇāśramavibhāga deals with the four classes of society and the
four stages of life.
Ch. 8, Bhūmiparīkṣā deals with the examination of the earth and the
varieties of its clay prior to building.
Ch. 9, Hastalakṣaṇa gives the measurement of a hasta or cubit, which was
equal to twenty four aṅgulas or eighteen inches.
Ch. 10, Puraniveśa deals with town planning of three sizes, big, intermediate
and small, each having its contingent of moat, city wall, gateways, towers, roads
and buildings.
Ch. 11, Vāstutrayavibhāga,, deals with the three kinds of the site plan,
divided into sixty four, eighty-one and hundred padas or squares like those on the
graph, each serving as the station of a deity.

xvi
Ch. 12, Nāḍyādisirādivikalpa describes the artery and veins of the Vāstup-
uruṣa.
Ch. 13, Marmavedha describes the marma or vulnerable organs of the
Vāstupuruṣa.
Ch. 14, Puruṣāṅgadevatānighaṇṭvādiniṛṇaya describes the planning of the
various limbs of the Vāstupuruṣa in the different squares of the site plan.
Ch. 15, Rājaniveśa describes the planning of the royal palace in the heart
of the capital ( Puramadhya ).
Ch. 16, Vanapraveśa describes the fetching of timber from the forest as the
principal building material including selection of trees and their falling.
Ch. 17 Indradhvajanirūpaṇa describes the ceremonial creation of Indra-
dhvaja or Indra's banner in the form of a mighty tree to which worship was
offered by the king and the people.
Ch. 18, Nagarādisaṁjñā describes the various kinds of towns and their
synonyms.
Ch. 19, Catuḥśālavidhāna describes the building of the Catuḥśāla an open
quadrangle with rooms on all four sides; similarly of dviśāla and triśāla,
pañcaśāla Ṣaṭśāla with numerous varieties of each.
Ch. 20, Nimnoccādiphala describes the fruit of the depressions and
eminences of the site.
Ch. 21, Dvāsaptatitriśālalakṣṇam describes seventy two kinds of triśāla
buildings.
Ch. 22, Dviśālagṛhalakṣṇam describes the dviśāla houses.
Ch. 23, Ekaśālalakṣaṇaphalādi describes the variety of ekśāla houses.
Ch. 24, Dvārapīṭhabhittimānādikam gives the measurements of door and
walls.
Ch. 25, Samastagṛhāṇām Saṁkhyākathanam gives the number of all kinds
of houses like pañcaśāla, triśāla, catuḥśāla, ekaśāla.
Ch. 26, Āyādinirṇaya describes the determining of Āya or auspicious
moments and astrological calculations for building houses.
Ch. 27, Sabhāṣṭakam deals with the eight kinds of Sabhā or the halls of
public audience built for the king together with their Alinda or porch and
Prāgrīva or portico.
Ch. 28, Gṛha-drvaya-pramāṇa gives the measurement of doors including
the threshold lintel and jambs with their several divisions, pillars with their
decorations and the several elements of the eaves.

xvii
Ch. 29, Śayanāsanalakṣaṇa describes the making of bed steads, seats,
chairs etc. which should be beautified with gold, silver and ivory or bell metal.
Ch. 30, Rājagṛha describes the buildings of king's house.
Ch. 31, Yantravidhāna deals with the various kinds mechanical con-
trivances.
Ch. 32, Gajaśālā describes the stables for elephants.
Ch. 33, Aśvaśālā deals with the stables for horses.
Ch. 34, Aprayojya-projya gives a list of what should be shown and what
should not be shown in private and public buildings of all kinds, giving a list of
hundred of inauspicious and auspicious figurines and symbols.
Ch. 35, Śilānyāsavidhi describes the laying of the foundation stone.
Ch. 36, Balidāna-vidhi describes the offering of Bali-worship to the
different deities.
Ch. 37, Kīlaka-sūtrapāta describes the lay-out of a house in its different
parts with the help of a measuring string tied to a peg and then inserting different
pegs in the ground to indicate the measured portions.
Ch. 38, Vāstusaṁsthāna-mātṛkā describes the allocation of the different
portions of the site plan of the town for the residence of the various officials,
professionals and castes.
Ch. 39, Dvāra-guṇa-doṣa describes the good points and faults of the door-
ways.
Ch. 40, Pīṭhamāna describes the measurements of the Pīṭhas or the plat-
forms or seats for the different gods and the kings and men by which the size of
the building was proportionately determined.
Ch. 41, Cayavidhi describes the buildings of walls by means of a regular
brick-laying.
Ch. 42, Śāntikarma-vidhi relates to the performance of Śānti by the chief
architect.
Ch. 43, Dvārabhaṅga-phala describes the evils flowing from the falling
of the doorways.
Ch. 44, Sthapatilakṣaṇa describes the qualities of an architect.
Ch. 45, Aṣṭāṅgalakṣaṇa describes the eight limbs of town planning and
the architecture of a city.
Ch. 46, Toraṇabhaṅgādiśānti describes the śāntikarma in case there is a
collapse of the city gate.