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.c16.143

v2.c16.143

There is yet another curious similarity between Vitruvius and the *Mānasāra*. It is regarding the titles of both the works. Both are hidden in a mystery. Vitruvius’s work bears practically no title. It is called by his translators 'The architecture of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio.’ It has been pointed out in the Preface that the term ‘Mānasāra’ also admits of various interpretations. For a sage, *Mānasāra* is a very unfamiliar name No such sage is mentioned in the various branches of Sanskrit literature except in this newly discovered Vāstu-śāstra. A king of Malwa, however, bore this name. As a derivative name, *Mānasāra*, meaning essence of measurement, and suitable for the title of a work like this, has some philological resemblance with *mensuration*. The derivative meaning of the term ‘Vitruvius’ is uncertain. The point, however, to which attention is invited, is the curious similarity between the treatise of Vitruvius and the *Mānasāra* in respect of the uncertain signification of their titles.