What is Vastu Shastra?

Vastu means that which is real a real one. It means a house or a nest or a dwelling place. That which relates to this kind of Shastra is called Vaastu Shastra. it has no match, it gives man infinite pleasures, it wipes out man's (sins or misdeeds), it provides man with suitable measurements to build his house, it gives knowledge of environmental and climatic conditions of a site, it provides knowledge of a dwelling place, land, village, dweilling house, double-storied house, a well and a tank, it deals with the systematic study of these things. That which teaches all these things and provides knowledge of these things is called 'Vastu Shastra'Vaastu is very ancient and it is said in Vedas and Puranas. Our culture lies in Vedas. Vodas are the sources of our traditions. For instance Rigvoda deals with Carpenters and masons and their occupations. Vastu Shastra is linked with Jyotisha Shastra (Astrology).

Vastu Sastra is divided into five parts. They are:

1. Theory part
2. Muhurta part or Lagna part
3. Jyotisha part
4. Question part and
5. Vaastu part.

There are many source books for this Shastra. They are:

1. Jyotis-Vastu,
2. Si-lpa Ratna,
3. Manasara,
4. Vastu Pradeepa,
5. Viswa Karma's Vastu Shastra,
6. Kasyapa Samhita,
7. Maya Samhita
8. Bhrugu Samhita etc.

The Condition of the Planets and the House in Vastu Shastra

From time immemorial, 'ndia has been a land of rich cultural heritage and educational activity. From such times till now existed the Sastras such as Astrology and Architecture.

It is generally opined that every object we find is a creation of God. Similarly, it is felt, that Astrology is a part and parcel of God's creation. People believe that the prosperity of man depends upon the house he builds. The impact of environment is clearly seen in man's life. The influence of the Grahas such Budha, Guru, Sukra and Ravi plays a vital role in man's life. Great Rishis like Parasara, Gowthama and Jaimini wrote books like Bruhatparasara Hora, Gowthama Samhita and Jaimini Sutra. All these are works astrology.

Nature is full of panchabhutas. It is the basis of these panchabhutas. Nature is the basis for all the life on earth and for the entire universe; it is full of five elements. There is life in this universe, it activates the entire world. Man has been trying to have control over the powers of nature, Man's trial has taken the shape of Mathematics. There is some power which regulates the movements of the Sun and the Moon. That power leads to Sukha and Dukha in the life of man.

We use numbers on many an occasion. Numerology gives regularity to our life. The first number i.e. '1' indicates the primary reason or it refers to creator or it indicates power. The numbers from 1 to 9 form the basis for Mathematics.

There is some power in these numbers. According these numbers from 1 to 9 the things of the past, future and the present are determined. Number '9' is the last number in the order. The entire, creation, the earth, the sky, the three lords, the four-headed Brahma and five elements, the seven seas, the eight devatas are presented. After '9' we start again with one to nine.

Example: This is the number 10. If we add this from right to left 10-0. It has no value. So the value of the numbers is '1'. If so 11 ( 1 + 1 = 2 ) 12(1-1-2 = 3) 13(1 ; 3-4). Like that from one onwards we may count thousands and Lakhs. But the value is from 1 9.

We believe that this humanbody is the creation of God. it has nine randhras (nine holes). According to man's time of birth and date of birth, Janmalagna can be decided. On Janma Lagna, his prosperity as well as his future depends. We can know many secrets of man's future from this science i.e. Numerology (Sankhya Shastra).

The birth and death of man based on the movement of stars at the time of his birth. Similarly vastu tells us about the good and the evil effects of a house. Man grows along with our civilization. We grow technically too. Vaastu also changed and developed from time to time. We, therefore, may say that Vastu plays a vital role in man's life.

The Rishis in the ancient past divided Jyotisha into five parts. They are:

1. Siddhantha Bhagha
2. Muhurtha Bhaga
3. Jataka
4. Question part
5. Vastu Bhaga.

The origin and development of this vaastu is told as follows:

In ancient times i.e. in the Treta Yuga a great man with a strong body was born. Devatas were afraid of this great bodied man and approached the creator' Brahma, Brahma advised the devatas to keep that man in a reversal order. They did it alike. It is said that the same man is called Vastu purusha. Then vaastu purusha approached Brahma and sought his help. Brahma told him that those who build cities, towns, villages and houses with out worshipping him would not succeed. The story which deals with his life vaastu Shastra. Viswa karma made this Sastra shine in this world. There are many books about this Vastu in Sanskrit Language. This sastra is changed according to social changes. This was written in those days keeping in view air and light The first four shastras are said to have been related to the planetary position and the fifth one i.e. Vastu Shastra relates to the position of the houses we build.

If a house is not built according to the rules in the Vaastu, all those who live in the house will facex. the evil consequences, it is, therefore, advised that people should give importance to the vaastu Shastra and build house to avoid evil effects.

Vastu Works of Great Rishis

The creator of this universe desired to create this Universe when the entire world was full of waters. Brahma created this universe with the earth and the sky, the sun and the moon, stars, and the eight disas (four sides e.g., West, South and North along with their four corners) and their rulers (Astadikpaias), the Panchabhutas (Fire, air, earth, water, and sky. and the seven seas along with the 84 lakh creatures.

The benign God views people according to their past deeds and looks at the comforts and discomforts of man and derives pleasure.

He arranges good and bad in the dwelling places of people. Human beings are unable to put up with the conditions either extremely cold or hot. So they think of building their houses according to the climatic conditions that suit thorn. They have created villages, towns and cities. They have learned to dig the land and arrange the wells etc. They did not build house taking liberty. They followed certain rules of house building and rods etc.

Great rishis like Viswa Karma, Vemana, Maya, Narada, Vasistha, Silpacharya and Sanat Kumara think that service to Man is service to God, They preserved their experiences relating house building in their ancient books made of Palmyra leaves. They wrote great works like Vaastu Chinta Mani, Vastu Pradoepika silpa Sastra etc.

In those days, a few people knew Sanskrit. People of the next generation wrote great works pertaining to Vastu Shastra. They were Bruhat Samhita, Aparajita prucha, Manushyala Chandrika, Vastu vidya, Bharateeya Vastu Sastra etc,

Some of the Pandits made a deep study of those works and expressed their opinions in Telugu.

At the very beginning of God's creation the Disas were formed. The D!sa in which the sun rises is the East. The direction in which the sun sets is the west. The right side is the south and the left side is the north. South east corner is the Agneya, the South west is the Nairuti, the North West is Vayuvya and the Northeast corner is Esanya, Thus there are eight disas.

We use these names some times. Basing on these eight disas we can build houses in any site. These disas are controlled by the eight rulers. One can predict the future especially fortunate or unfortunate events, health and wealth positions of the dwellers. A man may prosper or a man may see adversity in those places. There is in separable and invariable relationship between the movement of the stars in the skies and the movement of the human beings on the earth. Man's life depends upon these stars. We can understand the results that follow when we live in a house according to these eight rulers of these disas.