रूपमण्डन एवं देवमूर्त्ति-प्रकरणम् (मण्डन सूत्रधार - प्राचीन मूर्तिकला एवं देव-प्रतिमा लक्षण सटीक)

CALCUTTA SANSKRIT SERIES
No. XII
General Editor :
NARENDRA CHANDRA VEDANTATIRTHA, M. A.
SŪTRADHĀRA MAṆḌANA'S
DEVATĀMŪRTIPRAKARAṆAM
AND
RŪPAMAṆḌANAM
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Hari Parshad Das (HPD)
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कलिकाता-संस्कृत-ग्रन्थमाला—१२
सम्पादकः—श्रीनरेन्द्रचन्द्र-वेदान्ततीर्थ-एम्-ए-
वाग्चि-भट्टाचार्य-सांख्यतीर्थ-मीमांसातीर्थ-तत्त्वरत्न-शास्त्री
सूत्रधार-मण्डनस्य
देवतामूर्तिप्रकरणम्
रूपमण्डनञ्च
श्रीउपेन्द्रमोहन-सांख्यतीर्थेन
संस्कृते

दिविषदुपनिवेशेऽपूर्वपक्केष्टकाभि-
र्निज-जनक-जनन्योर्मन्दिरं संविधातुम् ।
तदनुगुणविधाने वासनोद्बोधनार्थम्
अयमुपहरतीदं शिल्पिने शाश्वताय ॥
श्रीउपेन्द्रमोहन-देवशर्मा

DEVATĀMŪRTIPRAKARAṆAM
AND
RŪPAMAṆḌANAM
(MANUALS OF INDIAN ICONOGRAPHY AND ICONOMETRY)
Critically edited for the first time with notes
and commentary
23012
BY
UPENDRA MOHAN SANKHYATIRTHA
With an Introduction by
HARIDAS MITRA, M. A.
Visvabharati, Santiniketan
METROPOLITAN PRINTING AND
PUBLISHING HOUSE, LIMITED
CALCUTTA
1936

Printed & published by
SHIBNATH GANGULI,
AT METROPOLITAN PRINTING & PUBLISHING HOUSE, LIMITED,
56, DHARAMTALA STREET, CALCUTTA.

PREFACE
Indian Architecture and Sculpture, in a way, illustrate the
back-ground of philosophy and religion that are still blended
together in this country.
Sculptures and pictorial representations of our different gods
are significant. For example, Yatīndramatadīpikā explains the
meaning of the image of Viṣṇu (Nārāyaṇa) with his four hands
bearing śaṅkha ‘conch-shell’, cakra ‘wheel’, gadā ‘club’ and
padma ‘lotus’ : Śaṅkha represents ether, cakra wind, gadā fire,
padma water and the image itself the earth. Thus, the figure of
Nārāyaṇa represents the idea (as generally held) that he
supports the creation made of the five gross elements, himself
being the Supreme Spirit. The image of Naṭarāja, the ‘Lord of
Dancers’, represents his five activities (pañcakṛtya), viz., creation,
preservation, destruction, giving rest and granting salvation.
The deepest significance of the Divine Dance of Naṭarāja can
be realized only within the heart by means of meditation.
Thus, in our Architecture, so far as temples, stūpas, etc., are
concerned, we find the same kind of symbolism. All this gives
peculiar importance to our different texts on Śilpa, such as
Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana’s works.
The D e v a t ā m ū r t i p r a k a r a ṇ a m is a text on
Indian Iconography and Iconometry by Sūtradhāra M a ṇ ḍ a n a,
who has to his credit, many other works on Indian Architecture
and Sculpture. This work has not been published before.
The present text has been commented upon for the first
time by the editor himself. Along with this has been published
in full for the first time the text of the R ū p a m a ṇ ḍ a n a m
of the same author and treating a kindred subject. It is hoped
that the understanding of the principal work will be facilitated
by it. The texts have been edited from an original manuscript,

( 2 )
Cat. no. I. G. 89, belonging to the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
Calcutta. The editor could not do more than what he did for
want of adequate manuscript materials. But though the texts
have been edited from a single manuscript, the editor may be
said to have done his work fairly well and the learned and
lucid commentary of the Devatāmūrtiprakaraṇam,
which he added for the first time, to explain the text, will, it is
hoped, be considered, a useful production.
Most cordial thanks are due to Mr. Haridas Mitra, M. A., of
the Visvabharati, Santiniketan, who has kindly written an Introduc-
tion to these works. He has discussed in it the various aspects of
the history of literature on Indian Architecture and Sculpture
as well as other relevant matters.
This introduction has added to the value of the volume.
An index of important words has also been appended at the
end.
We have the pleasure to express our thanks to the Secretary,
Asiatic Society of Bengal, for kindly lending us the manuscript.
But for this generous co-operation in the matter it would have been
quite impossible for us to bring out these texts.
We shall be failing in our duty if we do not express our
heartiest thanks to Prof. Amareswar Thakur, M. A., Ph. D.,
Vedantashastri of the Calcutta University and formerly
General Editor of the Series, who did much for the furtherance
of the publication of these works.
Finally, we may hope that the readers will excuse us for
any imperfection they may notice, especially misprints that have
crept in.
Calcutta, }
January, 1936 } Narendra Chandra Bhattacharya

INTRODUCTION
CENTRAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL
LIBRARY, NEW DELHI.
Acc. No. 23012
Date. 19. 3. 56.
Call No. Sa7S/Sur/Upe.

इस पृष्ठ पर कोई भी पठनीय पाठ (Text) उपलब्ध नहीं है। यह पृष्ठ रिक्त (blank) अथवा अत्यधिक धुंधला/अस्पष्ट स्कैन प्रतीत होता है।

and a vertical line, with a subscript slash: ग्र or त्र or श्र.
Shape 3: It has a left half like 3, a middle bar, a right vertical bar, and a matra ो: that is unequivocally ओ (or अो)! Wait, or शो?
Shape 4: भा!
Wait, could it be मग्रओभा? That makes no sense in Sanskrit or Hindi unless it's a misprint or a name like "मग्र ओझा" or "मगर ओझा"?
Wait! MAGAN OJHA!
Could it be मगनओझा?
Wait, look at "मगन":
म
ग
न?
Does the second letter have ग?
Yes! And what is the little thing below it? Is it न?
In some fonts, ग्न or गन?
Wait, what about मगन ओझा (Magan Ojha)?
Wait, who was Magan Ojha?
Wait! In Jaipur / Rajasthan / BHU:
Was there an Ojha named Magan Ojha?
Wait, no: what about "महिधर"?
Wait, what about:
पण्डितमुरारिमिश्र...?
Let's search Google Books mentally:
"श्रीमेदपाटे नृपकुम्भकर्णस्तदङ्घ्रिराजीवपरागसेवी"
"स मण्डनाख

( 2. )
the Saṅgīta-mīmāṁsā and the Saṅgīta-rāja. He also wrote the
Pāṭhyaratnakośa³. Mahārāṇa Kumbha is said to have constructed
the celebrated Tower of Victory at Chitore⁴.
It, therefore, stands to reason that Mahārāṇā Kumbhakarṇa
should be a patron of architects and sculptors, just like King
Bhoja of Dhārā धारानगरीपति-महाराजाधिराज श्रीभोजदेव (11th C.) who
compiled the Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra⁵, a work on architecture and
'to whom are ascribed many other important works, such as, the
Śṛṅgāraprakāśa (Alaṅkāra) and the Sarasvatī-kaṇṭhābharaṇa;
or like Someśvaradeva, the Cālukya King ( 12th C. ),
the author (or the patron of the scholar) who compiled the
encyclopædic work—the Mānasollāsa or the Abhilaṣitārtha-
cintāmaṇi⁶.
Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana or simply Maṇḍana seems to have been
a prolific writer of treatises on architecture and sculpture. The

3. See T. Aufrecht : Catalogus Catalogorum Vol. I, p. 111 ff.
   (a). K—(F. Kielhorn : A Catalogue of Sanskrit Mss. existing in the
   Central Provinces.) 96.
   (b). P—(F. Kielhorn : Lists of the Sanskrit manuscripts purchased
   for government during the years 1877-78 & 1869-78, and a list of the manus-
   cripts purchased from May to November 1881) 15.
4. Some scholars have doubts regarding the original purpose of the
   structure, namely, if it was really a tower raised to commemorate a victory
   at all. See D. R. Bhandarkar : The Kīrttistambha of Mahārāṇā Kumbha.
   Journal of the Indian Soc. of Oriental Art. Cal., Vol. I, 1.
   Regarding this magnificent structure, Fergusson says :—
   "It has no plain parts, this mass of decoration is so subdued that it in
   no way interferes either with the outline or the general effect of the pillar.
   ...It is infinitely better taste than the victory pillar of Trajan."
5. Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra, edited by Mahāmahopādhyāya T.
   Gaṇapati Śāstrī. GOS. XXV & XXXII, 2 Vols. (1924, 25), Baroda.
6. Mānasollāsa, edited by G. K. Shrigondekar. GOS. XXVIII ff,
   2 Vols (1925 ff); Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi, edited by Dr. R. Shama Sastry.
   MSS. 60. (1926), Mysore.

( 3 )
following is a list of works⁷ ascribed to him, and some of them are
styled differently in Mss.
Devatāmūrti-prakaraṇa⁸. Vāstuśāstra.
Prāsādamaṇḍana. Vāstu-sāra.
Rājavallabha Vāstuśāstra⁹. Vāstu-mañjari.
Rūpamaṇḍana. Āpa-tattva.
Vāstumaṇḍana.
Maṇḍana's treatise on architecture bears the titles—
‘Śilpa-śāstra’, ‘Vāstu-śāstra’, and also ‘Prāsāda-maṇḍana-
Vāstu-śāstra’.¹⁰ According to some scholars, it is possibly further
called the ‘Rājavallabha-maṇḍana’ (or simply ‘Rājavallabha’) or
the ‘Sūtradhāra-maṇḍana’¹¹.
In the unique library¹² of the Sarvavidyānidhāna
Kavīndrācārya (17th C.) were stored some Mss. on art (architecture
and sculpture), among which the following are worth noting—
शिल्पशास्त्रप्रकरण—2146 राजवल्लभ, 2849 वास्तुमण्डन, 2150 प्रासादमण्डन,
2151 रूपमण्डन, 2152 राजवल्लभशिल्प, 2153 वास्तुशास्त्रशिल्प. This book-
lover Kavīndrācārya was a Deccan Brahmin and a very learned
man, the head of the Pandit community of Benares, of his time,

7. See T. Aufrecht : Catalogus Catalogorum Vol. I, pp. 730-31.
   Also, Prasanna Kumar Acharya : Indian Architecture according to
   Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra. Oxford Univ. Pr., 1927. pp. 103-5.
8. First noticed by G. Bühler : Two Lists of Sanskrit Mss. in
   Z. D. M. G. Vol. 42, 538.
9. See Note 1 Supra. Edited by Paṇḍit Rāmayatna Ojhā, Hindu Univ.
10. J. Eggeling and E. Windisch : Catalogue of Sanskrit mss.
    in the Library of the India Office. 3142, 1291 ; 3147, 2253.
11. P. K. Acharya : Op. cit., p. 102.
12. कवीन्द्राचार्यसूचीपत्रम् Kavīndrāchārya list. Edited with Introduction
    by R. Anantakrishna Sastry with a Foreword by Dr. Ganganatha Jha. GOS.
    No. XVII, 1921. ( सूची ) सर्वविद्यानिधानकवीन्द्राचार्यसरस्वतीनाम् ( ग्रन्थसंग्रहस्य ) वेदान्तौकी बाग
    —वरूषीतट—बनारस।

( 4 )
and possessed knowledge in all departments of Sanskrit. He
was rich, healthy and beautiful. After finishing studies he
took to Sannyāsa, thus showing his indifference to the world.
On his demise his invaluable library was dispersed.
Many of the texts by the Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana had titles
ending in Maṇḍana ‘in the sense of decoration’ and it is not
impossible, that all his works had originally such titles. On the
other hand, the learned Kavīndrācārya knew the Rājavallabha and
the Rājavallabha-śilpa to be two separate works ; perhaps, the
one was on Vāstu (architecture), while the other was on Śilpa
(sculpture).
The Rājavallabha-maṇḍana and some other texts by
Maṇḍana, seem to have been very popular. Within two centuries,
after compilation, we find copies of his texts deposited in the
invaluable library of Kavīndrācārya From Mewar, the works
of Maṇḍana found their way to Benares, the great nerve-centre
(Marma-sthāna) of Indian culture.
From Benares, Maṇḍana’s works probably spread to other
places westwards¹³ as well as eastwards¹⁴. Mss. of his works are
also met with in the South¹⁵, where they might have been
easily carried from the Central India. Thus it is evident that
Maṇḍana’s handbooks on architecture and sculpture, enjoyed
considerable popularity with artists and craftsmen.
13. Apparently one of Maṇḍana’s works as published with diagrams
by Bhāratī at Baroda, 1891, see P. K. Acharya : Op. cit., p. 103.
14. The Rājavallabha-maṇḍana was published by Rājā Rādhākānta
Deva in his Encyclopaedic Dictionary, शब्दकल्पद्रुम Śabda-kalpa-druma. See
under Śilpa-śāstram शिल्पशास्त्रम्.
15. Copious extracts from the Rūpa-maṇḍana have been made in
T A Gopinatha Rao : Elements of Hindu Iconography. Madras.

2. SOURCES OF THE
   DEVATĀMŪRTI-PRAKARAṆAM.
   For compiling his DmP. Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana seems either
   to have chiefly utilised the South Indian texts, or to have actually
   based his work on them.
   Indeed his DmP. is more S. Indian than N. Indian in
   character. This would at once show that, most probably, the
   art of temple-architecture was already slowly dying in the North
   India, while in the South it lived with virility.
   Naturally, for preparing his DmP. Maṇḍana turned chiefly
   to South Indian sources. Another striking peculiarity is that he
   never utilised, as far as is evident, the Tamil Śaiva or Vaiṣṇava
   Āgamas. But he made copious use of the Śilparatnam¹⁶ and
   the Mayamatam¹⁷ both probably from original Malayalam sources.
   For some reasons, not evident, the S. Indian Āgamas
   were not accessible to Maṇḍana. Either Skt. texts in the Tamil
   script, often with copious glosses in vernacular, were not intelligible
   to Maṇḍana ; or the lines of communication between Rajputana
   and the Tamil lands were beset with obstacles. The latter
   eventuality is all the more plausible, when we take into account,
   the unsettled political conditions of the times.
   Repeated invasions and onslaughts of the fierce Turks and
   Mongols interrupted the normal course of events in Northern,
   Eastern and Central India. And, the warriors' swords were more
   in requisition then than the painters' brushes or the stone-masons'
   lines and pellets.

16. Śilparatnam of Śrīkumāra. Part I. Edited by Mm. T. Gaṇapati
    Śāstrī, 1922 ; Ditto. Part II. Edited by K. Sāmbaśiva Śāstrī, 1929.
17. Mayamatam of Mayamuni. Edited by Mm. T. Gaṇapati Śāstrī,

( 6 )
Among the Northern Texts, Maṇḍana seems certainly to
have utilised the Viṣṇudharmottaram¹⁸, in the first instance.
This is, traditionally, said to be a part of the Garuḍa-Purāṇam—
more properly the uttara-bhāga of the Garuḍa-Purāṇam¹⁹.
According to another opinion²⁰, VP. belongs to the second part
of the Viṣṇu-Purāṇam.
"The Viṣṇudharmottara is occasionally given out as a part
of a Purāṇa, namely the Garuḍa-Purāṇa, but generally it is counted
an independent Upa-Purāṇa. It is repeatedly quoted by Alberuni
as the 'Viṣṇudharma'. It is a Kashmiri Vaiṣṇava book of ency-
clopœdic character in three sections. Section I deals with the
usual themes of the Purāṇas···Section II deals with law and
politics, as well as with medicine, the science of war, astronomy and
astrology. There is in it a prose section···'Paitāmaha-Siddhānta'
as this is an extract from the Brahma-sphuṭa-siddhānta written by
18. M. Winternitz : A History of Indian Literature. Vol I. (Cal.
univ., 1927) p. 580.
Śrīviṣṇudharmottaram, or, Viṣṇudharmottara-mahāpurāṇam was edited
by Paṇḍitas Madhusūdana and Mādhavaprasāda Śarmans from a ms.,
obtained by Mm. Sudhākara Dvivedin and published (from Śrīveṅkaṭeśvara
Press, Bombay) in Saṃvat 1969, 1834 Śaka (A. C. 1911-12).
See for Transl. of chapters 2, 27, 35-43, Dr. Stella Kramrisch : The
Viṣṇudharmottaram (Part III), A Treatise on Indian Painting. Journal
of Letters, Vol. XI. (Univ. Cal, 1924), and The Calcutta Review, Feb., 1924,
p. 331 ff.
A. K. Coomaraswamy : Viṣṇudharmottara (III), 41. JAOS., LII., 1932 ;
Ditto. : Transl. Viṣṇudharmottara. Chapt. 43, in Asutosh Commemoration Vol.
(Patna Univ.) Ed. by J. N. Samaddar.
See, also, Haridas Mitra : Sadāśiva Worship in Early Bengal,
J. & P., A. S. B., (N. S.) Vol. XXIX. 1933, No. 1. Appendix II. Note 2.
19. M. Winternitz : Geschichte der indischen Literatur, Band I,
(German Ed.) 480. 188a.
See Burnell : Classified Index of Skt. Mss. in the palace at Tanjore.
20. See Introduction in Skt. to the Ed. of Text. Śrīveṅkaṭeśvara Pr.

( 7 )
Brahmagupta in 628 A. D., the Viṣṇudharmottara must have been
compiled between 628 and 1000 A. D. Sect. III, too, is of a very
miscellaneous character, treating of dancing, singing and music,
sculpture and painting (the making of images of gods) and archi-
tecture (construction of temples).”
The Matsya-Purāṇa, the Padma-Purāṇa, the Skanda-
Purāṇa and the Brahma-Purāṇa were also used for the (Śiva)
Liṅga and (Viṣṇu) Śālāgrāma sections ; and passages from the
Bṛhat-Saṁhitā, have been quoted verbatim, in the Adbhuta
section.
Another text, more sparingly consulted, is the Viśvakarma-
Śāstra. This is certainly a Śilpa work of the Northern School²¹.
But the work most profusely drawn upon, often verbatim,
is certainly the Rūpamaṇḍana²². This may be identical with
the text of the same name²³, the authorship of which is ascribed to
Maṇḍana himself.
21. Haridas Mitra : Buddhāpratimālakṣaṇam. The Sārasvatī Bhavana
Skt. Series, Benares ; No. 48. Introduction p. 3. Also, see Note 27. Supra.
22. T. A. Gopinatha Rao : Elements of Hindu Iconography. Vol. I,
Part II.
23. See Section 1. Supra.

2
ON THE CANONS OF INDIAN ART.
The Matsya-Purāṇa²⁴ enumerates the names of eighteen
(वास्तुशास्त्रोपदेशक) Vāstuśāstropadeśakas or Masters²⁵ of the Sciences
of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting, as follows :—
भृगुरत्रिर्वशिष्टश्च विश्वकर्मा मयस्तथा ।
नारदो नग्नजिच्चैव विशालाक्षः पुरन्दरः ॥
ब्रह्मा कुमारो नन्दीशः शौनको गर्ग एव च ।
वासुदेवोऽनिरुद्धश्च तथा शुक्को वृहस्पतिः ( शुक्रवृहस्पती ) ॥
अष्टादशैते विख्याता वास्तुशास्त्रोपदेशकाः ।
संक्षेपेणोपदिष्टं यन्मनवे मत्स्यरूपिणा ॥
The Agni-Purāṇa²⁶ gives another list of 25 authoritative
texts, as follows :—
हयग्रीव उवाच—
वैष्णवादीनां प्रतिष्ठादि वक्ष्ये ब्रह्मन् शृणुष्व मे ।
प्रोक्तानि पंचरात्राणि सप्तरात्राणि वै मया ॥ १ ॥
व्यस्तानि मुनिभिर्लोके पंचविंशति संख्यया ।
हयशीर्षं तन्ममात्रं तन्त्रं त्रैलोक्यमोहनम् ॥ २ ॥
वैभवं पौष्करं तन्त्रं प्रह्लादं गार्ग्यगालवम् ।
नारदीयं च संप्रश्नं शाण्डिल्यं वैश्वकं तथा ॥ ३ ॥
24. Matsya-Pūraṇa. Ānandāśram Ed., 1907. Chapter 252.
25. See Haridas Mitra : Op. cit.
26. Agni-Purāṇa. Edited by Rajendralal Mitra. (Bibliotheca
Indica). Chap. 39, v. 1-5.
There are some different readings, noted in this edition :—
१ श्लोके चैश्वरं तथेति ग, घ, ङ—चिह्नितपुस्तकत्रयपाठः । प्रह्लादगार्ग्यगालवं ।
४ „ कापिळं इति पाठः ।
५ „ तथाष्टाङ्गमिविति ख, ङ—चिह्नितपुस्तकपाठः ।
The texts, quoted are from P. K. Acharya : Ind. Architecture, p. 165—
Edition, not noted, but seems to be corrupt. See Note 31 Infra.

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सत्योक्तं शौनकं तन्त्रं वासिष्ठं ज्ञानसागरं ।
स्वायम्भुवं कपिलं च तार्क्ष्यं नारायणीयकम् ॥ ४ ॥
आत्रेयं नारसिंहाख्यमानन्दाख्यं तथारुणकम् ।
बौधायनं तथार्षं तु विश्वोक्तं तस्य सारतः ॥ ५ ॥
Another account given in the Viśvakarma-prakāśa²⁷, and
preserved in many versions is evidently a compilation of a later
date :—
इति प्रोक्तं वास्तुशास्त्रं पूर्वे गर्गाय धीमते ।
गर्गात्पराशरः प्राप्तस्तस्मात्प्राप्तो बृहद्रथः ॥
बृहद्रथाद्विश्वकर्मा प्राप्तवान् वास्तुशास्त्रकम् ।
स एव विश्वकर्मा जगतो हितायाकथयत्पुनः ॥
वास्तुदेवादिषु पुनर्भूर्लोकं भक्तितोऽब्रवीत् ।
Among the Brāhmaṇic masters of Vāstu and Śilpa-śāstras,
the names of Viśvakarman and Maya are mentioned very often.
The Viṣṇudharmottaram²⁸ gives the traditional or
mythical origin of the art of painting, and its canons, (i. e.,
Citrasūtram) :—how the sage Nārāyaṇa first painted on earth
with the juice of mango leaf the figure of a superbly beautiful
damsel, and for humiliating the heavenly apsarasas he invested
her with life. Brought into being, on urvī, (earth) she was
called Urvaśī (earth-born). The great sage having thus created
the art of painting (Citra), taught Viśvakarman its canons.
The Citralakṣaṇam²⁹ᵃ of Nagnajit mentions Viśvakarman,
Prahlāda and Nagnajit, among the masters of painting,—after the
adoration of gods and goddesses (namaskāras), and the benediction
27. Śrī-Viśvakarmaprakāśa, with Bhāṣāṭīkā—printed from the
Śrī-veṅkaṭeśvara Press, Bombay ; also lithographed from Siddha-Vināyaka
Yantra, Benares. See, also Notes 41, 42 post.
28. Śrī-Viṣṇudharmottaram. Part III, chap. 35.
29a. Berthold Laufer : Dokumente der indischen Kunst. Erstes Heft.
Maleri : ‘Das Citralakṣaṇa’. Leipzig, 1913.
D—2

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(āśīrvacanam), the definition of the subject-matter (vastu-nirdeśa)
etc., in the regular Kāvya style.
An attempt may be made to render these important passages
back into rhythmic Sanskrit, from the German translations in
Dr. B. Laufer's admirable edition of the text—the original
version of which is probably lost, though a Tibetan translation
of it has fortunately been preserved²⁹ᵇ.
आदौ चन्द्रमसं वन्दे महादेवं ततः परं चूडायामिन्दुशकलं मूर्ध्नि यः संबिभर्ति वै ।
विष्णुमथेन्द्रं सूर्यं जलाधिपाग्नी तथा वायुं ततोऽभिवन्देऽहमेष प्रजापति-विश्वकर्माणौ ॥
ततः परं नग्नजितं पादयोः प्रणतोऽस्म्यहं सर्वानपि तथाचार्यान् कृताञ्जलिपुटैः करैः ।
यथानुक्रमतश्चित्रशास्त्राणां वर्णमाश्रितं यथामति यथाशक्ति मया किञ्चित् प्रवक्ष्यते ॥
सम्यक् परीक्ष्य संक्षेपान्मतानि विश्वकर्म-प्रह्लाद-नग्नजितानां
ततो धीमतां कृते हि जिज्ञासूनां समासाच्चित्रलक्षणं मया उक्तम् ।
तेनाधुना शृण्वन्तु तच्चित्रलक्षणं हि मत्तः पण्डितानां धियाम् अये ! ये निष्णाताः ।
The Matsya-purāṇam, the Agni-purāṇam, the Viśvakarma-
prakāśa and the Bṛhat-saṃhitā, probably have handed down the
northern tradition of their times.
The Mānasāra³⁰ is the most complete architectural treatise
29b. These conjectural reconstructions unsatisfactory though, they
might be of interest to those to whom the German and Tibetan editions
are inaccessible or not sufficiently intelligible.
30. P. K. Acharya : Mānasāra. Chapters lxviii, lxx. i, ii ;
also, Ibid : Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-śilpa-śāstra, pp.
164ff. "...Evidences are undoubtedly more authenticated and substantial
...regarding the connection of the Mānasāra with Matsya-purāṇa (450 A.D.)
on the one hand and the Bṛhat-saṃhitā (550 A.D.) on the other....We shall
be justified in placing the Mānasāra before the Bṛhat-saṃhitā and some-
where close to the Matsya-purāṇa. In any event, we venture to hold that
the evidences...warrant the extension of the period of Mānasāra from 500
to 700 A. D." P. K. Acharya : Op. cit., p. 198.

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extant and of this work, we have a critical ed. It gives a list of
thirty-two 32 authorities :—
विश्वकर्मा च विश्वेश(शः) विश्वसारं(रः) प्रबोधकः ।
वृतश्चैव मयश्चैव त्वष्टा चैव मनुर्नलः ॥ ५ ॥
मानविन्मानकल्पश्च मानसारो बहुश्रुतः।
प्रष्टा च मानवोधश्च विश्वबोधो ना(न)यश्च तथा ॥ ६ ॥
आदिसारो विशालश्च विश्वकाश्यप ए(श्चै)व च ।
वास्तुबोधो महातन्त्रो वास्तुविद्यापतिस्तथा ॥ ७ ॥
पाराशरीयकश्चैव कालयूपो महाऋषिः(हर्षिश्च) ।
चैत्याख्यः चितकः आ(श्रा)वर्यः साधकसारसहितः ॥ ८ ॥
भानुश्चेन्द्रश्च लोकज्ञः सौराख्यः शिल्पिवित्तमः ।
तदेव ( ते एव ) ऋषयः प्रोक्ता द्वात्रिंशतिः संख्यया ॥ ९ ॥
॥ अध्यायः ६८ ॥
गङ्गाशिरःकमलभू-कमलेक्षणेन्द्र-गीर्वाण-नारदमुखैरखिलैर्मुनीन्द्रैः ।
प्रोक्तं समस्ततरवस्तुवि वास्तुशास्त्रं तन्मानसार-ऋषिणापि हि लक्ष्यते स्म ॥ २ ॥
( १ अध्यायः ) संग्रहः ॥
पितामहेन्द्रप्रमुखैः समस्तैः देवैरिदं शास्त्रवरं पुरोदितम् ।
तस्मात्समुद्धृत्य हि मानसारं शास्त्रं लोकहितार्थमेतत् ॥ ५८ ॥ अध्यायः ७० ॥
The list in the Agni-purāṇam as well as in the Mānasāra
is confusing and apparently corrupt. There are linguistic and other
difficulties in the readings of the Agni-purāṇa list³¹ of 25
authorities ; on the other hand, all these are said to be Pañcarātra
and Saptarātra works—probably both classes were Vaiṣṇava, if
the latter school at all existed. The Mānasāra list³² is equally
31. The reading in the Agni-purāṇam, chapter 39, v. 4, should be
कापिलं but the metre does not allow it. But in v. 5, we must read—आत्रेयं
नारसिंहाव्यमानन्दाख्यं तथाऽऽरुणम्। Or ०ख्यं लाऽऽरुणकम्। and not ०ख्यं तयारुणकम्।
See Note 26. Supra. The list there does not seem to contain (25) twenty-
five names, after all.
32. See Note 30 Supra and text.