The Hindu Temple v1.c5.s7.8

v1.c5.s7.8

The places which must not be encroached upon by doors, walls or pillars, beams, etc. and windows (gavākṣa, vātāyana; Bṛ. S. Comm.; LII. 57, ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, XIII. 10-16), at the concurrence of the lines (sūtra) are listed on p. 55.⁸⁸ They are avoided by shifting for example the position of the respective parts of the building, to the right of the vulnerable points.⁹⁰ Similarly also nothing (no ‘dravya’) may be placed on the border or middle lines and the consequences are serious too, though not fatal, if the other orthogonals and the 2 diagonals are infringed (ib. XII. 23-36).⁹¹ The earlier texts however limit the tender spots to the concurrences of lines: (Br. S. LII. 57; ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’, Pt. II, ch. XXIX. 45-46)⁹² : The spots which are the most vulnerable and which must be avoided with great care, are in and around the Brahmasthāna, the centre of the square.