Chapter 51 - Genealogy of the Prāsādas (Prāsādajāti)

[Note: This chapter corresponds to Chapter 52 of the original Samarāṅgaṇa-Sūtradhāra]

Brahmā, the first Lord, Vairāja the first chariot and so Vairāja was the first Prasāda [Prāsāda?].

The sublimest praise of this primordial type connected with the Primordial Creator Himself hints at the Brahmanic conception of the Hindu Temple in unmistakable sense, a notice of which is taken in the Study Proper (vide Denotation and Connotation of the Prāsāda and Planning of the Prāsāda (chap. II and X). The text has bestowed upon this first type of the Hindu temple all the ornamentation and decorative elements of Hindu Architecture (Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra 52. 79).

Next follow the series of temple-types springing from the Vairāja, the primordial type in the following succession

1st Series:

1. Svastika,
2. Catuśśāla,
3. Triśāla,
4. Hiraṇyaka,
5. Siddhārtha,
6. Dviśāla,
7. Ekaśāla,
8. Kumbhaka,
9. Vimāna,
10. Vana,
11. Vīra,
12. Caturmukha.

2nd Series:

1. Svastika,
2. Śrītaru,
3. Kṣitibhūṣaṇa,
4. Bhūjaya,
5. Vijaya,
6. Bhadra,
7. Śrīkūṭa,
8. Uṣṇīṣa,
9. Nandyāvarta,
10. Vimāna,
11. Sarvatobhadra,
12. Vimuktakoṇa.

3rd Series:

1. Svastika gave rise to Rucaka,
2. Śrītaru gave rise to Siṃhapañjara,
3. Kṣitibhūṣaṇa gave rise to Śāla,
4. Bhujaya gave rise to Gajayūthapa,
5. Vijaya gave rise to Avataṃśa,
6. Bhadra gave rise to Nandi,
7. Śrīkūṭa gave rise to Citrakūṭa,
8. Uṣṇīṣa gave rise to Pramadāpriya,
9. Nandyāvarta gave rise to Vyāmiśra,
10. Vimāna gave rise to Hastijātika,
11. Sarvatobhadra gave rise to Kubera,
12. Muktakoṇa or (Vimuktakoṇa) gave rise to Dharādhara.

All these varieties can be multiplied in the superior, middle and inferior types. Another special variety born of the Vairāja is the eight-fold Śikharottama Prāsādas (having the super-structure of the Śikhara, the characteristic feature of the Nāgara temples in month meats, the specimen of which are found in Khajuraho, Bhuvaneśvara and in so many other parts of Northern India).

They are:

1. Rucaka,
2. Vardhamānaka,
3. Avataṃsa,
4. Bhadra,
5. Sarvatobhadra,
6. Muktakoṇaka,
7. Meru and
8. Mandara.

These are all Brahmajātikas and belonging to one and the same family and are highly extolled—the superior most types of the temple types. They should be planned likewise. From these are born their sons and grand sons keeping their blood unmixed, multiplying their names and these temples are very auspicious bestowers of prosperity and fulfillers of desires. They should not be contaminated with the mixture of other family and if it is done, it is an augury of bad days.