History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c99.1340

v7.c99.1340

Maṇḍalas an item in Tāntrik worship which is also a feature of orthodox Hindu practices in medieval and modern times 1131-34; M and Cakra said to be synonymous by Jñānārṇavatantra 1133; Buddhist tantras like Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa describe M 1133; drawn with powders of five colours, acc. to Matsyapurāṇa and also figures of a lotus with 8 or 12 petals drawn with saffron, or red sandalwood paste or in various colours 1131, eight mandalas, Sarvatobhadra and others, referred to in Agnipurāṇa 1132, four characteristic items in Maṇḍala rites specified, 1133, in Puṣyasnāna a Maṇḍala with different coloured powders was to be drawn 1132; meaning of the word in Tai S, Śat Br. and Br. Up is 'circular form' and 'orb of the Sun,' and later any figure or diagram (generally circular) drawn on an altar 1131-32, means 'circle' in Śulba sūtras and reference to the squaring of a circle (maṇḍala) 1132, references in several purāṇas to invocation of the Sun on the figure of a lotus and also of Nārāyaṇa, and to images or paintings of Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa and to Maṇḍalas called Sarvatobhadra etc 1132, several Maṇḍalas-described in Jñānārṇava, Śāradātilaka and other tantras 1132, several M drawn in Ṛgveda-brāhma-karma-samuccaya (Nirn ed) 1134, Smṛtikaustubha mentions several names of M. 1134, twenty six M described in 26 chapters of Niṣpannayogāvalī 1133.