Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v1.c6.s32.845

v1.c6.s32.845

Concerning the qualifications of architects it will be noticed that the sciences (śāstras) mentioned in the Mānasāra and other records examined above are not enumerated. But by 'Sāstra' is generally meant (cf. M. W. Dict. loc. cit.) "any instrument of teaching, any manual or compendium of rules, any religious book or scientific treatise, any sacred book or composition of divine or temporal authority." It is sometimes known as Vidyā, meaning knowledge, science, learning, scholarship or philosophy. It also means practical arts, such as agriculture, commerce, medicine, architecture, sculpture, painting (cf. Śilpa-śāstra, Vāstu-śāstra, etc). Śāstra or Vidyā has 14 divisions, viz., the four Vedas, the six Vedāṅgas, the Purāṇas, the Mīmāṁsā, the Nyāya, and the Dharma or law; or with the four Upa-Vedas, 18 divisions; others reckon 33 and even 64 sciences, generally known as Kalās or arts.¹