Chapter 57 - The images of the sages (muni-lakṣaṇa)

1. The characteristic features of the (images of the) sages [viz., muni-lakṣaṇa] will now be briefly described according to the (lit., in this) science of architecture.

2-3. Agastya, Kāśyapa, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, Bhārgava, Viśvāmitra, and Bharadvāja: these are the seven sages in order (who will be described).

4. The limbs of Agastya should be measured in the seven tāla system^[1].

5. Both Kāśyapa and Bhṛgu should be measured in the eight tāla system^[2].

6. All other sages should be measured in the nine tāla system^[3].

7. Agastya should have a bright green complexion, and Kāśyapa a yellow one.

8. Bhṛgu should be dark in complexion, and Vasiṣṭha red.

9. Bhārgava should be brownish (lit., of a tawny colour), and Viśvāmitra reddish.

10. And Bharadvāja should be greenish (lit., of turmeric colour): these are known to be the complexions (of the seven sages) in order.

11-12. All these sages should be furnished with two arms, two eyes, jaṭā and jūṭa kinds of matted hair, and yellow garments.

13-14. He should be crooked in shape, possess a large belly, brownish, full, and befitting (the whole body): thus is described Agastya; thus should also be the (other) great personages (i.e., sages).

15-18. All the sages should be adorned with the sacred thread and the upper garment (ūttarīya); they should hold a staff in the right hand and a book in the left hand, or there may not be any staff in the right hand, both the hands being similarly disposed; they should be optionally made in the sitting or the erect posture in a worshipping pose.

19. Of the eighty-four parts of the height, the height of the crown should be three parts.

20. The height of the face should be ten parts^[4] and the height of the neck three parts.

21. The part (from the neck) to the heart should be ten parts, and thence the part down to the navel ten aṅgulas (pares).

22. The part (from the navel down) to the sex organ should be five parts; thus should be made up the fifty-one part (pīṭhāṃśa)^[5] height up to the buttocks (sroṇi).

23-24. The height of the knee-cap should be three parts, and the height of the foot should be equal to the knee cap (i.e., three parts), and the height of the thigh and the leg should be equally divided (into fifteen parts each); this is known aṣ the seven tāla (measurement).

25. The length of the arm should be twenty parts, and the elbow one and a half parts.

26. The fore-arm (lit., the part from the elbow to the wrist) should be sixteen parts, and the palm eight parts in length.

27. The length of the foot should be eleven parts, and the breadth of the face seven mātras (parts).

28. The width of the neṛk should be five parts, and equal to that the (width of the) root of the arm.

29. The breadth of the chest from one armpit to the other should be fourteen mātras (parts).

30- The breadth (i.e., width) down to (i.e., round) the heart is said to be twelve aṅgulas (parts).

31. The width round the middle belly should be made sixteen parts.

32. The width round the hips should be twelve parts, and the width of the thigh eight parts.

33. The width of the knee should be five parts, and the width of the leg four (three) parts.

34. The width round the lowest part of the ankle should be three parts, and the breadth of the solo four parts.

35. The width of the upper arm should be preferably four parts.

36. The width of the fore-arm should be four parts and a half, and of the wrist-joint one (three) part.

37. The breadth of the palm should be three parts and a half, and the length of the palm four aṅgulas (parts).

38. And the length of the finger should be one aṅgula (part): this is said to be (the seven tāla measure of) Agastya.

39. The (total) height in the eight tāla should be divided into ninety-six (equal) parts.

40. From the nimbus (uṣṇiṣa [uṣṇīṣa?]) up to the hair should be one part, and (thence) the height of the crown three parts.

41. The height of the face there from down to the chin should be ten parts and a half.

42-43. Thence the neck should be three parts downwards; the distance from that (neck) down to the heart should be ten parts; and equal to that should be the distance from that (heart) down to the navel.

44. The middle belly below that (navel) down to the sex organ should be equal to that.

45-16. Below that should be twenty-one parts for the height of the thigh and three parts for the knee-cap; the leg should be equal to the thigh and the foot equal to the knee-cap.

47. The length of the foot should be fourteen mātras (parts), and the breadth of the face nine aṅgulas (parts).

48-19. The breadth (? width) of the neck should be six aṅgulas (parts); the breadth (of the shoulder) up to the arm four parts and a half, and (the width at) the root of the arm six parts.

50. The length of the arm should be twenty-one parts, and the elbow one and a half parts.

51. The (length of the) fore-arm should be two-and-a-half times the face, and the palm equal to the length of the face.

52. Thus is described the eight tāla, the rest being carried out as before.

53. With regard to the nine tāla the height should be divided into one hundred and eight parts.

54. The height; of the crown, the neck, the knee, and the foot should be three parts each.

55. The height of the face, the chest, the belly, and the buttocks should be twelve parts each.

56. The length of the thigh, the leg, and the arm should be twenty-four parts each.

57. The fore-arm should be eighteen parts from that; (arm, i.e., elbow) down to the middle finger.

68. The distance from the waist-joint to the tip of the thumb should be made equal to the length of the face.

59. The length of the foot should be made fifteen aṅgulas (parts) as said before.

60. The characteristic features of the (images of the) sages are thus described; the rest should be made in accordance with one’s discretion.

Thus in the Mānasāra the science of architects, the fifty-seventh chapter, entitled: “The description of images of the sages.”

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See lines 19-38, and the writer’s Dictionary, pages 223-224.

[2]:

See lines 39-52, and the writer’s Dictionary, pages 224-225.

[3]:

See lines 53-59, and the writer’s Dictionary, pages 225-228.

[4]:

Either the crown should be two parts and the face ten parts or the crown three parts and the face nine parts, because in the seven tāla system the total height of 84 parts is to be seven times the total height of the crown and the face. But such an alteration does not make up the total. In the subsequent systems also the general rule is not strictly followed, owing to the fact that each system is farther considered in connection with the usual large, intermediate, and small sizes. It appears that the total height is to be as many times the combined crown and face as is indicated by the number of the particular tāla system in the email size of measure only.

[5]:

Pīṭha is intended to be taken to imply pīṭha-sthānasar[?] the fifty-one sacred places where the relics of Satī (the faithful), wife of Śiva, have been installed after her body was cut into fifty-one pieces by the discus of Viṣṇu as a result of her quarrel with the gods owing to her husband being not invited at the great sacrifice performed by her father.