May the Grace of Shiva be with us,

The Science of Architecture, known as

The Treatise of Mayan’s Measurements

Invocation to the Divine

Verse

Praising the feet of the Holy One who created the world,
Who manifests as the four Vedas and the Three Forms The Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva,
I shall faithfully compose in the Tamil language
The treatise on Architecture as told by the righteous King Mayan.

(Meaning) I offer my prayers to the lotus feet of God, who created the universe and all its moving and non-moving beings to perform the three-fold tasks of creation, protection, and destruction, and who manifests as the Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas, as well as the Three Forms of Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra. I proceed to translate into Tamil the house-building treatise Manai Sastra: the traditional science of domestic architecture originally spoken by King Mayan, the first Vishwakarma The divine architect of the gods who appeared from the eyes of the five-faced Lord Shiva.
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Author’s Humility

If a stone is found within a mixture of fruit, ghee, milk, and honey,
Do the wise discard the whole? No, they remove the grit.
So too, when a poet speaks the colors of this sacred science,
Will the learned find fault, or will they embrace the essence?

(Meaning) Just as one would simply remove small stones found in a meal mixed with banana, ghee, milk, sugar candy, and sugar to enjoy the sweetness, the learned will overlook any errors in this book written by me—a man of simple intellect—and will instead embrace its superior qualities.
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The Treatise

Omens when going to lay the foundation.

When one comes to fetch you to measure the ground with Mayan’s rod,
If you see a beautiful woman as you set out with a melting heart,
Know that great fortune has arrived;
Proceed with devotion and sincerity, for goodness shall follow.

(Meaning) When a craftsman is invited by someone to measure a site for a new house, if he encounters a beautiful woman Literally "one with the form of Kama (Desire)" while walking with him, it is a sign of excellent luck. He should proceed quickly to lay the foundation, and the construction will result in prosperity.
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