नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

24	THE NATYASASTRA	[ II. 41

of] Mantras should be made in [all the ten] different directions to deities presiding over them.

• 41-42. At [the time of laying] the foundation ghee¹ and Pāyasa² should be offered to Brahmins, Madhuparka³ to the king, and rice with molasses (guda) to masters [of dramatic art].

42-43. The foundation should be laid during the auspicious part of a happy Tithi under the asterism Mūlā (Lambda-Scorpionis).

Raising pillars of the playhouse

43-45. After it has been laid, walls should be built and these having been completed, pillars within the playhouse should be raised in an [auspicious] Tithi and Karaṇa which are under a good asterism. This [raising of pillars] ought to be made under the asterism Rohiṇī (Aldebaran) or Śravaṇā (Aquillae) [which are considered auspicious for the purpose].

45-46. The master [of dramatic art], after he has fasted for three [days and] nights, is to raise the pillars in an auspicious moment at dawn.

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41-42 (B.47b-48a, G.44). ¹ ghee—clarified butter.

² pāyasa—rice cooked in milk with sugar. It is a kind of rice-porridge.

³ madhuparka—‘a mixture of honey’ ; a respectful offering prescribed to be made to an honourable person in Vedic times, and this custom still lingers in ceremonies like marriage. Its ingredients are five : curd (dadhi) ghee (sarpis), water (jala), honey (kṣaudra) and white sugar (sitā).

42-43 (B.48b-49a, G.45).

43-45 (B.49b-51a, G.45-47). ¹ karaṇa—half of the lunar day (tithi). They are eleven in number viz.—(1) vava, (2) vālava, (3) kaulava, (4) taitila, (5) gara, (6) vaṇija, (7) viṣṭi, (8) śakuni, (9) catuṣpada, (10) nāga and (11) kintughna, and of these the first seven are counted from the second half of the first day of the śukla-pakṣa (bright half of the moon) to the first half of the fourteenth day of the kṛṣṇa-pakṣa (dark half of the moon). They occur eight times in a month. The remaining karaṇas occur in the remaining duration of tithis and appear only once in a month. See Sūryasiddhānta—II. 67-68.

45-46 (B.51b-52a, G.48).