Yantras or Mechanical Contrivances in Ancient India c2.144

c2.144

On smaller mechanical objects also we have some information in the *Ślokasaṁgraha* of Budhasvāmin (Chapter XIX, p. 287). At Campā, when Naravāhanadatta was staying with Gandharvadattā, they heard the story of the origin of a local water festival. An old King of Campā had a Queen whose *dohada* during pregnancy expressed itself as a desire to move about in waters filled with all sorts of aquatic beings. For her sake the King dammed a river, widened it into a big lake and fitted it with wooden replicas (*Dāru-yantras*) of crocodiles, fishes, etc., which moved freely in the water, and there let her sport in a vessel shaped like an aerial vehicle.