Arthashastra — Adhyakshaprachara, Sutra 7

Devanagari script

वास्तुहृदयादुत्तरे नवभागे यथोक्तविधानमन्तःपुरं प्रान्मुखमुदन्मुखं वा कारयेत् ॥ कZ_०२.४.०७ ॥

Transliteration

vāstuhṛdayād uttare navabhāge yathoktavidhānam antaḥpuraṃ prānmukham udanmukhaṃ vā kārayet

Translation

နေရာ၏အလယ်ဗဟို (site heart) မှ မြောက်ဘက်ရှိ ကိုးပိုင်းအနက် ကိုးမြောက်ပိုင်းတွင်၊ ဖော်ပြထားသည့် စည်းကမ်းအတိုင်း အတွင်းနန်းတော် (antaḥpura) ကို တည်ဆောက်ရမည်၊ အရှေ့မျက်နှာ သို့မဟုတ် မြောက်မျက်နှာဖြင့် ဖြစ်စေရမည်။

Word by Word

• वास्तुहृदयात्: from the centre of the site (vāstu-centre)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वास्तुहृदय
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; पञ्चमी एकवचन (अपादान)

• उत्तरे: in the northern (part)
• Type: Adjective (used substantively)
• Root: उत्तर
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (अधिकरण)

• नवभागे: in the ninth-part division / in a ninefold division (i.e., in the northern ninth)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नवभाग
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (अधिकरण)

• यथा: as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा
• Form: अव्यय

• उक्त: stated / prescribed
• Type: Participle
• Root: वच्
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (विधानम् इति विशेषणम्)

• विधानम्: the prescribed procedure/rule
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधान
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचन (कर्म)

• अन्तःपुरम्: the inner palace (harem/inner apartments)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्तःपुर
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचन (कर्म)

• प्राक्-मुखम्: east-facing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राक् + मुख
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचन (अन्तःपुरम् इति विशेषणम्)

• उदक्-मुखम्: north-facing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उदक् + मुख
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचन (अन्तःपुरम् इति विशेषणम्)

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा
• Form: अव्यय (विकल्पार्थक)

• कारयेत्: should have (it) built / should cause (it) to be made
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: लोट्/विधिलिङ् (आज्ञार्थ/विध्यर्थ); परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष एकवचन; णिच्-प्रयोग (causative)

Entities Mentioned

• antaḥpura
• vāstu-hṛdaya

More Details

FAQs

Why specify a precise sector for the antaḥpura?

Sectoring creates predictable security perimeters and access control, separating the ruler’s household from administrative and commercial flows.

Why mandate orientation (east/north)?

Beyond ritual considerations, fixed orientation standardizes entrances, guard placement, and circulation routes—useful for security routines.