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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.c40.s31: The Sanat-Kumāra-Vāstu-Śāstra

Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c40.s31

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English

The Sanat-Kumāra-Vāstu-Śāstra

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Another authority frequently referred to is Sanat-kumāra. There are several fragmentary manuscripts of his treatise. But they are incomplete.¹ In one of the manuscripts the following subjects are dealt with² :
(1) *Gṛiha-saṁsthāpana*—situation of houses, *M.*, XXXVI.
(2) *Nakshatra-graha-yoga-vidhi*—constellation of planets and stars (in determining the auspicious times) in connexion with the building of houses, *M.*, XXXV.
(3) *Graha-lagna-vidhi*—almost the same as (2).
(4) *Taru-tantra-vidhi*---on trees (wood, for building houses with), referred to in many places in *M.*
(5) *Bhū-parīkshā-vidhi*—examination of soil, *M.*, IV, V.
(6) *Nakshatra-tithi-vāra-śuddhi*—on auspicious time, *M.*, XXXV.
(7) *Nakshatra-lagna-phala-dvāra-bandha-śubha-sthāna-nirṇaya*—ascertaining auspicious time and place (in constructing doors), *M.*, IV, V, XXXV.
(8) *Gṛiha-praveśana*—first entry into the newly-built house, *M.*, XXXVII.

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¹ Egg., III, 3151, 2680, Oppert, Vol. I, no. 8239, p. 580. In the Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, there are nine manuscripts (Cat., Vol. XXII, nos. 13060–13068).

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² Madras manuscripts, no. 13060.

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This treatise of Sanat-kumāra is stated to have been based on the works of Brahman, Śakra, Yama, Bhārgava, Āṅgirasa, Maya, Gautama, Gārgya, Manu, Vyāsa, Bhṛigu, Viśvakarman, and others.

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The same list is differently given in another manuscript (no. 13064), where Śakra is replaced by Chandra, and Maya is omitted.

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But in other manuscripts (nos. 13062, 13068) Śakra is not replaced by Chandra, although Maya is omitted.

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As we have seen above, Viśvakarman acknowledges his debt to Maya. Sanat-kumāra mentions Viśvakarman as his authority; it is, therefore, not unlikely that of these lists the first one, which contains Maya, is correct. If the view that Maya is indebted to the *Mānasāra* be accepted on the grounds discussed above, it would be easy to infer that Sanat-kumāra may be also indebted, directly or indirectly, to the *Mānasāra*.

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