Chapter 1 - The Contents (saṃgraha)

1-2. He (Brahmā), while causing the creation, the preservation, and the destruction of the worlds, brings forth earth, water, fire, air, and the sky. I bow to (His) lotus-like feet kissed by the waving lines of bees like crowns of the kings of various gods.

3-4. The science of architecture, enunciated by all the great sages beginning with. Him (Śiva) who carries the Ganges on His head, the lotus-born (Brahmā), the lotus-eyed (Viṣṇu), Indra, Bṛhaspati, and Nārada, has been elaborated by the sage Mānasāra having made the subject-matter even more than complete.

5-6. In the first place (is described) the system of measurement preceded by (an. account; of) the qualifications of architects; then (comes) the classification of vāstu^[1], (and) likewise the examination of the soil.

7-8. Then is described the selection of the site, the rules for erecting the gnomon, (and) the arrangement of ground-plans for assigning the quarters of gods and others.^[2]

9-10. So also the rules regarding (architectural) offerings (to deities) and the details of (various) village-schemes, as also of the town-plans, together with the regulations regarding the dimensions of storeys.

11-14. Similarly the rules for laying the foundations as well as the details of pedestals, the rules for bases, as also a description of pillars, of entablatures, and of wood joinery, similarly, the general description of mansions, together with the details of the one-storeyed buildings.

15-20. The directions for the second storey, the description of the third storey, the rules for the fourth storey, the description of the fifth, storey, of the sixth and the seventh storeys, and also of the eighth and the ninth storeys, the rules for the tenth storey, and an account of the eleventh, storey, and the description of the twelfth storey, and the details of the courts (of a compound), the (temples of) attendant deities, and the description of gate-houses.

21-22. The description of the maṇḍapa buildings (i.e., pavilions) and of the śālā buildings (i.e., halls) together with the arrangement of buildings (in a compound) and the directions for the first entry into the house.

23-26. The directions for the location of doors and the description of door-measurement, so also the details of royal palaces, and an account of royal courts, and characteristics of kings, and the description of chariots, conveyaaces, etc., and the details of couches and the description of thrones.

27-28. The details of the arches, the central theatres and the ornamental trees, the description of (crowns and) coronations, as also an account of all kinds of ornaments (and articles of furniture).

29-30. The description of the images of the Triad consisting of Brahmā and others, the details of the phallus and the description of (its) pedestal, similarly an account of the female deities.

31-32. The description of the Jain images and of Buddhist images, as also the description of the images of sages, and the description of fche images of the (demi-gods,) Yakṣas, Vidyādharas and others, and of the devotees.

33-34. The description of the images of various riding animals of Brahmā and other deities, and the rules for images (in general) and an account of the large type of the ten tāla^[3] measurement.

35-38. The description of the intermediate type of the ten tāla system for the measurement of the images of female (deities), the details of the plumb-lines, as also the rales for casting (images) in was, similarly, is given an account of all defects of the component parts and (the directions for) chiselling the eyes (of images); all these descriptions are given in order.

39-40. This treatise composed by the professors of architecture^[4] was named (after) the sage Mānasāra. This has been accepted, c0mplete as it is in all details, by the best among the teachers of the leading architects.

Thus in the Mānasāra, the science of architecture, the first chapter, entitled: “The contents.”

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Vāstu comprises four things, namely, ground, building, conveyance, and couch (see chapter III, 3)

[2]:

Including divine and semi-divine beings, as well as demons.

[3]:

A technical term implying a kind of sculptural measurement.

[4]:

More literally ‘by the sages known as Mānasāra’ (literally essence of measurement), i.e., by those who specialize in mensuration or measuring which is a very important feature of the science of architecture. The term mānasāra has been used in three different senses: (i) as a generic name of architects, (ii) as the title of the treatise, and (iii) as the individual name of its author or compiler, cf. chapter XIXX, concluding lines, chapter XXXIII, 2, LXVIII, 11, chapter LXIX, 216. As the possible name of an architect it is mentioned in the Holal inscription (Epigraphist’s Report, 1914-15, p. 90) and the Agni-purāṇa (chapter XLII, 127), and as the name of a king in the Daśa-kumāra-carita (eel. Kale, pp. 4, 12, 43). For more details see the writer’s Indian Architecture, pp. 2, 3,4.