Devta Murtiprakaranam tatha Rupmandanam

Author(s): Upendramohan Sankhyatirtha
Publisher: Metropolitan Printing and Publishing House Limited

Page 75

CHAPTER VI THE CONTENTS OF THE DNP.
It now remains to give a short summary of contents of the work, which consists of eight, 8 chapters, Alhikūras.
Chapter I consists of 59, fifty-nine verses. The first section (31.1--10) deals with sila-pariksā, the examination and selection of suitable blocks of stone, timber etc., for the purpose of images (slukas 2—9); the auspicious time for selecting such stone, wood cte. (31. 10). The patimā-; namāṇam, the height of the superior, the medium and the inferior types of images in comparison with the height of (a) the temple, (b) the door, (-) the sanctum (sl. 21-25); the height of images to be fitly worshipped in dwelling houses or outside dwelling houses, the laksaņas, marks of inauspicious images and those of good ones. The omens and portents, albhutus of different types viz., the heavenly divya, the atmospheric, antariksa and the terrestrial, thauma (31. 36-41); and the effects of the celestial omens on the king (sl. 42); the omens of lingas (51. 43) and their special effects (sl. 44); the ominous signs of images and their effects (sl. 45—17); other kinds of omens (31. 48, 49); and the effects differently of the various types of disturbances on the living beings (sl. 50-5ta); the duration of their effects (54b); the propitiation or pacification of these disturbing omens (55, 56) and the effect of the same (57); instructions for commencement of journeys and for the entry of images etc. (58) ? ; the astronomical considerations for the installation of images (59).
Chapter II of DMP., dealing with the pratima-tāla-nirnaydi, determination of the respective heights for images, consists of 33, thirty-three verses.
The first few verses (1-3) give the units for measurement, which increase in multiples of ten. The highest working unit is the tala.