समराङ्गणसूत्रधार (महाराज भोज - वास्तु, स्थापत्य एवं यंत्र शास्त्र)

INTRODUCTION The Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra is an encylopaedic work on medieval Indian architecture written by King Bhoja of Dhārā ( c. 1000-1055 A.D. ) of the Para- māra dynasty. Bhoja was a great patron of learning and himself an author of distinguished reputation being responsible for such eminent works as the Sṛṅgāra- prakāśa and Sarasvatī-Kaṇṭhābharaṇa, in its versions of Kāvya and Grammar both being work of great merit. The Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra as now available in 83 chapters is a dimen- sional work and all the available manuscripts show that the present text is un- finished. This is the second revised edition of this great work on Indian Śilpa Śāstra. The first edition was published in 1924-1925 in two volumes as No. XXV ( pp. 1-290 ) and No. XXXII ( pp. 1-324 ) of the Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Baroda, and was edited by the Sanskrit savant Mahāmahopādhyāya T. Gaṇapati Śāstry of Trivandrum who took immense pains to wade through the three manuscripts then available to him and present as best a text as was possible. According to his entry in the Introduction to Volume One the following manuscript material was then utilised :— ( 1 ) The manuscript marked क belonging to the Central Library, Baroda which runs up to a certain portion in the 82nd adhyāya but is wanting in 19 folios, and which was copied, as mentioned in the colophon, in Saṁvat 1594. ( 2 ) The manuscript marked ख belonging to the same library which runs up to a portion in the 55th adhyāya. ( 3 ) The manuscript marked ग obtained on loan from the Bhandar at Pattan, which runs up to a portion of the 49th adhyāya but is wanting in 10 folios and which appears to be of the same age as the first. Fortunately for this edition one more manuscript was made available to me by the courtesy of Dr. B. J. Sandesara, present Director of the Oriental Institute where the manuscript is deposited. Its details are as follows:— The manuscript marked द belonging to the library of the Oriental Institute, Baroda which runs upto verse 237th of chapter 83. Omitting the scribal errors, I have taken only the material variant readings from this manuscript. The symbols for the three manuscripts used by Sri Gaṇapathi Śāstry were क, ख and ग and that for the new manuscript is द. All the variant readings of the previous manuscripts and the new one have been noted in the footnotes on each page of the printed texts aad the best reading has been incorporated in the print-