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.c42.s1.19

v6.c42.s1.19

Full recognition has already been accorded by all students of Indian Art and Science to the fundamental value of Professor Acharya's earlier contributions to the elucidation of the Sanskrit texts on architecture, and the invaluable character of his *Dictionary* is admitted on all hands. The three new volumes which are now available form an indispensable part of his undertaking. They present the material on which the results stated in his earlier works were based, and they afford the means for further investigation into the many obscure issues which still remain to be solved. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the difficulties of producing a satisfactory text of such a work as the *Mānasāra*. It has been necessary to prepare the edition from eleven manuscripts, not one of which presents a readable or trustworthy text. It is clear, however, that, even if we had much older manuscripts than those which have been preserved, we would still find a text written in very defective Sanskrit. It is plain that the writers on technical science, whether medicine, or mathematics, or architecture, were far from being proficient in Sanskrit, and, after making all those conjectures which the state of the manuscripts renders legitimate, we are left with a text which, in many places, not merely violates the rules of Sanskrit grammar, but offers the most serious difficulty of translation. The editor has most wisely shown the utmost caution in his reconstruction of the text. He has made such amendments only as are indispensable for the constitution of an intelligible text; he has marked these clearly in the text itself and he has given in full all real various readings in his authorities. It is most improbable that any manuscripts will ever come to light which will enable us substantially to improve the style of the *Mānasāra*.