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) v2.c13.s1.11

v2.c13.s1.11

³ The commentator Buddhaghosha has, however, submitted an explanatory note. *Vihāra* is the well known Buddhist monastery *Ardha-yoga*, which literally means 'half-joining', is stated by this commentator to imply *Suvarṇa-vanga-geha* or "gold-coloured Bengal house" as rendered by Oldenberg and Rhys Davids. There appear, however, no such houses in Bengal, nor is this class of buildings mentioned in the Śilpa-śāstras. It is clear, however, that these are meant to imply some sort of luxurious buildings of the then Bengal. Regarding *prāsāda* Buddhaghosha simply says that it is a long *Prāsāda*. Rhys Davids has made several conjectures,—"a long storied mansion, or the whole of an upper storey, or the storied buildings." Sir M M. Williams seems to explain this by "the monks' hall for assembly and confession." *Harmya* is stated to be a *prāsāda* with an upper chamber placed on the topmost storey. The references to the uses of *prāsāda* and *harmya* as found in the Śilpa-śāstras, general Sanskrit literature, and the archæological records will be found in the writer's *Dictionary* under those terms. *Guhā* literally means cave and would seem to refer to underground buildings. One of the Jātakas (*Ummagga*, p. 430) actually contains an elaborate description of an underground palace, and there are the rock cut temples as in the famous Ajanta caves. According to Buddhaghosha these *guhā* buildings are of four kinds, namely, those built of bricks, stone, wood, or earth. Rhys Davids has rendered *śilāguhā* by 'hut made in a rock, and left out the translation of *paṁśu* (Sanskrit *pāṁśu*, meaning sand, dust, or crumbling soil) *guhā*. Buddhaghosha has thus explained the *pañcha-lenāni* under Mahāvagga 1.30 4—