वास्तु मण्डन (मण्डन सूत्रधार - गृह, राजप्रासाद, दुर्ग एवं नगर-वास्तु सटीक)

INTRODUCTION xv
Sometimes the descriptions are not vivid, and legible, some verses in between
the lines are missing also. This book appears to be a compilation from other
Vāstuśāstra books especially from Aparājitapṛcchā and Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra, but it
has its own ingenuity in some chapters. Specially in the third chapter the portrayal
of different types of yantras, is unique, though the picture is not legible in some
places. The topic is not available in other recognized Vāstusastras.
Again, in the description of gavākṣa, siṁhāsana, śivikā, he leaves marks of his
originality. Descriptions of śāla houses are extremely analytical, elaborate and
praiseworthy from which one can learn about his stupendous expertise over this
technical aspect of architecture.
CONTENTS
Vāstumaṇḍana is a treatise on architecture of 15ᵗʰ century A.D. epitomizing
secular architecture of that period. This book primarily reflects the architectural
pattern and its technology prevalent in Rajasthan, by which the date and time can
be easily ascertained. The author was the chief architect of the ruler Rāṇā Kumbhā,
whose history is known from other literary sources. The very name Vāstumaṇḍana
suggests either a treatise written by Śrī Maṇḍana or a sheer ornamentation of Vāstu.
If this book is compared with other Vāstu texts like Aparājitapṛcchā,
Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra, Mayamata and Mānasāra, it is found to be different from all
of these. At first glance, this book seems to be a compilation from other Vāstu texts
specially Aparājitapṛcchā and Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra. But deeper readings reveal its
uniqueness and speciality. The book mentions few other Vāstu texts, Purāṇas and
names of few authors of similar texts. These are Mānasollāsa, Sārasāgara, Mātsyapurāṇa,
and Maya, Bhoja, Viśvakarmā, Varāha, etc.
Unlike other Vāstu texts, this book contains only about 880 ślokas, divided
into 8 chapters. Among these chapters, the first one Miśrakādhyāya embraces highest
number of ślokas (207) and the fifth chapter Gṛhavinyāsa adhyāya is having only 32
ślokas.
This book may be referred best as a guidebook or a handbook for an architect.
The book must have been very popular in its period as manuscripts of it are found
almost all over India. Rājavallabhamaṇḍana another treatise of the same author
seemed to be very popular also, as large number of manuscripts of it could also be
located. Few similar verses in both the books could be noticed, but Vāstumaṇḍana
deals with each topic more elaborately. For example, in Rājavallabhamaṇḍana twenty-
three ślokas describe one particular topic āyādi ṣaḍvarga, whereas in Vāstumaṇḍana
eighty-five ślokas are written to describe the same topic. Although Rājavallabhamaṇḍana
contains more chapters (14), yet the number of ślokas is found to be more in
Vāstumaṇḍana.