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) v6.c39.2

v6.c39.2

Art is synonymous with *Śilpa* and *Kalā*, or more precisely, with *Śilpa-kalā* and is the subject-matter primarily of the *Śilpa-śāstras*. The traditional list of sixty-four arts is, however, referred to in at least three other classes of our literature. The mythological group includes the *Śrīmad-bhāgavata*, the *Harivaṁśa* and the *Vishṇu-purāṇa*. The Buddhist-Jain group is represented by the *Lalita-vistara* and the *Uttarādhyāyana-sūtra*. And the erotic group consists of the *Kāma-sūtra* of Vātsyāyana and others. The mythological group makes mention of arts in connexion with the various kinds of knowledge acquired by Kṛishṇa and Balarāma. In the text of the *Śrīmad-bhāgavata*, however, only the number, not the specification of the arts, is given. It is stated that the sixty-four arts were learnt in so many, that is sixty-four, days.¹ But of its numerous commentators, some supply both the number and the specification, while others only the number.² The commentators Vīra-rāghavāchārya and Vijaya-dhvaja-tīrtha, who make mention only of the traditional number of arts as sixty-four, do not disclose the source of their information. Viśvanātha-chakra-vartin also does not specify the sixty-four arts, but he mentions the