वास्तु मण्डन (मण्डन सूत्रधार - गृह, राजप्रासाद, दुर्ग एवं नगर-वास्तु सटीक)

INTRODUCTION xv Sometimes the descriptions are not vivid, and legible, some verses in between the lines are missing also. This book appears to be a compilation from other Vāstuśāstra books especially from Aparājitapṛcchā and Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra, but it has its own ingenuity in some chapters. Specially in the third chapter the portrayal of different types of yantras, is unique, though the picture is not legible in some places. The topic is not available in other recognized Vāstusastras. Again, in the description of gavākṣa, siṁhāsana, śivikā, he leaves marks of his originality. Descriptions of śāla houses are extremely analytical, elaborate and praiseworthy from which one can learn about his stupendous expertise over this technical aspect of architecture. CONTENTS Vāstumaṇḍana is a treatise on architecture of 15ᵗʰ century A.D. epitomizing secular architecture of that period. This book primarily reflects the architectural pattern and its technology prevalent in Rajasthan, by which the date and time can be easily ascertained. The author was the chief architect of the ruler Rāṇā Kumbhā, whose history is known from other literary sources. The very name Vāstumaṇḍana suggests either a treatise written by Śrī Maṇḍana or a sheer ornamentation of Vāstu. If this book is compared with other Vāstu texts like Aparājitapṛcchā, Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra, Mayamata and Mānasāra, it is found to be different from all of these. At first glance, this book seems to be a compilation from other Vāstu texts specially Aparājitapṛcchā and Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra. But deeper readings reveal its uniqueness and speciality. The book mentions few other Vāstu texts, Purāṇas and names of few authors of similar texts. These are Mānasollāsa, Sārasāgara, Mātsyapurāṇa, and Maya, Bhoja, Viśvakarmā, Varāha, etc. Unlike other Vāstu texts, this book contains only about 880 ślokas, divided into 8 chapters. Among these chapters, the first one Miśrakādhyāya embraces highest number of ślokas (207) and the fifth chapter Gṛhavinyāsa adhyāya is having only 32 ślokas. This book may be referred best as a guidebook or a handbook for an architect. The book must have been very popular in its period as manuscripts of it are found almost all over India. Rājavallabhamaṇḍana another treatise of the same author seemed to be very popular also, as large number of manuscripts of it could also be located. Few similar verses in both the books could be noticed, but Vāstumaṇḍana deals with each topic more elaborately. For example, in Rājavallabhamaṇḍana twenty- three ślokas describe one particular topic āyādi ṣaḍvarga, whereas in Vāstumaṇḍana eighty-five ślokas are written to describe the same topic. Although Rājavallabhamaṇḍana contains more chapters (14), yet the number of ślokas is found to be more in Vāstumaṇḍana.