Untold Vaastu Shastra: Vastu Shastra, #1

By Gaurish Borkar

The Vastu Shastra is being looked at as a set of rules to be followed while constructing or buying a house. However, it is much more than this. The rules may mean different things in different contexts. If you want to apply the science in different contexts, the principles need to be well understood and applied according to the context. The whole purpose of this book is to explain the building blocks of Vastu Shastra so that they can be appropriately applied in various contexts. However, the book demonstrated the application to residential houses. This is also a handbook for those who want to construct their own house from scratch..It gives A to Z guidance on the construction of a house right from selection of a city and a plot to planning, construction, and developing a garden. It also offers Muhurta for each stage of the construction and remedies to blemishes in the already constructed house or an apartment.

This book also has some interesting topics like mentioned below:
1. Finding underground water resources,
2. Finding a compatible city, place, and apartment, most prospering areas in your city
3. Muhurtha or good times for every phase of construction
4. How to perform daily Pooja
5. Simple remedies for Vaastu blemishes without any changes in the house.
6. Blemishes in the house based on Horarry Chart.

I am confident that you will learn many new things and enjoy the subject much more than before. Your understanding will be much more and confidence will also be higher than before. You will be able to easily correlate the events with the design of Vaastu.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gaurish Borkar
• Release date: Sep 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201956332

Gaurish Borkar

Mr. Gaurish Borkar was first introduced to Vedic astrology when he was a teen and got his first degree in astrology when he was just 14. He comes from a traditional family and his grandfather Shree. Haribhau Borkar was well known astrologer from Goa India. Even though Gaurish could not get much guidance from his grandfather as he died when Gaurish was too young, inherited knowledge was always in the blood. Gaurish got guidance from his cousin grandfather for next few years. After practicing Vedic astrology successfully for more than 6 years, Gaurish realized that just ability of accurate prediction is not good enough but ability to provide a solution is more important. Therefore, he started learning various remedial measures like Reiki, gemmology, hypnosis and NLP along with traditional remedial measures. He started his practice of Vedic astrology again after studying various remedial measures for more than 16 years. Now days he enjoys to evolve people and help them to achieve their goals, rather than just predicting their future.

Book preview

1. the Purpose

According to Vedha, the universe is made from just five Mahabhootha. The 5 Mahabhootha are Pruthvi or earth, Aapa or water, Teja or Fire, Vayu or air, Aakasha or ether. Most of the time these Mahabhootha are bliss and at some other times, they create havoc on earth. That’s the power of these five Mahabhootha. Our body is also made of the same 5 Mahabhootha. Based on the principle ‘Yatha Brahmande Tatha Pinde’, the 5 Mahabhootha impact us considerably. This principle means the way it is in the universe the same way it is in our body.  The more we understand about the Mahabhootha the better we can use them for our prosperity. You may read more about Pinda Brahmanda theory in my book "Untold Vedic Culture". Our seers had a very good understanding of the Panchamahabhootha or 5 elements. They have been using the Panchamahabhootha in various sciences like Ayurvedha, Yoga, Astrology, and Vaasthu is no exception to that. I have explained the application of this principle to Vedhic Astrology in my book ‘Untold Vedic Astrology’ and I plan to explain its application to Vaasthu Shasthra in this book.

We spend at least 50% of our day inside the home and the environment at home has a large impact on our state of mind and body. It impacts our efficiency and performance. It even impacts our success and cheerfulness. Along with us our children and parents also live there and the wellbeing of the whole family is important.

Just like our body, any closed space creates a small world or Pinda and is a representation of a Brahmanda. Similarly, home being a closed space is also a Pinda. Therefore, if we connect it well to the Brahmanda then it could become a joyful place.

Even though the Vaasthu Shasthra has been there for thousands of years, it came into the limelight in recent times. Many of us have been reading about it either on various websites or books in the form of rules or guidelines. Many people are scared of certain positions of certain rooms or the particular direction of the main door. However, if we want to apply any science for our wellbeing then we shall understand it along with the fundamentals of the science. We may make mistakes or would not get expected results if we fail to understand the fundamentals of any science.

AnaokxsaMSayaaocCoid paraoXaaqa-sya dSa-kM |

sava-sya laaocanaM Saas~aM yasya naastyanQaeva sa: ||

Anekasavshayochedhi paroksharthasya dharshanam |

Sarvasya lochanam shasthram yasya nastyandhaeva saha||

- Hithopdhesh

Meaning: It cuts multiple doubts; it points what is unobvious. Science is the eye of everyone, and one who does not have it is very much like a blind.

Shasthra or science eliminates our doubts, points the unobvious, and shows us the right direction. The purpose of this book is very much aligned with this definition of Shasthra. Rather than just mentioning the set of rules I have explained the fundamentals and the source of this science.

This book starts with suggestions for selecting a lucky city for the native, it guides you to buy an appropriate land, it helps you to develop a plan, identify underground water resources, and guides you to construct a house. It also gives a framework for developing a garden and finally, it gives you simple remedies.

The purpose of this book will be well served if you understand the principles of Vaasthu and eliminate your fears. I will consider myself lucky if you construct the house based on the principles mentioned here.

The Purpose 

2. Who shall read this book?

This book is for everyone who has an interest in understanding the basic principles of Vaasthu Shasthra and their derivations. It is best suited for people who are constructing a new house on an independent piece of land or a plot. This would also help you if you want to move to a new city and check if the city would be lucky for you. This book is very helpful to astrologers who want to suggest Muhurtha for various occasions and want to answer questions about underground water resources.

You don’t need any preliminary knowledge of Vaasthu Shasthra or Astrology before reading this book. However, knowledge of Vedic Astrology and architecture or civil engineering is certainly helpful. This book will be very helpful to architects and civil engineers while developing the plans and constructing houses. It will also be helpful for interior decorators and landscape designers.

I would encourage you to read my book ‘Untold Vedic Culture’ along with this book. It will certainly help you to understand how Vedhic sciences were developed and their relevance to Vaasthu Shasthra.

Most important is your curiosity towards the basics and rationale of Vaasthu Shasthra. If you have applied the tips of Vaasthu Shasthra and they have failed then this book might be of utmost help to you. It might give you the exact reason for failure or ideas to search for the reason for failure.

If you are a Vaasthu expert with a fair amount of accuracy, this book shall help you to explain the rationale behind the principles. This gives more confidence to you and the person listening to you. It shall also help you to confirm your principles. In some cases, it might help you to develop new principles.

If you are an architect or a landscape designer this book will help you to add joy to many people’s lives. If you are an astrologer then this book shall help you to help people in identifying underground water resources and select one of the best Muhurtha for them.

Kindly DON’T use this book to prove Vaasthu Shasthra as a science. Before we do that, we need to collect a large amount of data and prove the consequences of certain positions of rooms or certain designs of houses. I have put forth a theory on how Panchamahabhootha affect us for a better understanding of Vaasthu principles.

I dream that any new principle in Vaasthu Shasthra gets validated on similar principles to confirm their effectiveness. Some common basis is applied while developing new principles and finally they are accepted by the scientific world. I dream to get acceptance of Vaasthu Shasthra in the scientific world.

Who shall Read this Book? 

3. Introduction

Vaasthu Shasthra has been there in Vedhic literature for a long time. There are dedicated books on Vaasthu Shasthra and you would also see its inclusion in Savhitha e.g., Bruhath Savhitha and Muhurtha e.g., Muhurtha Marthand books. If you go to the traditional areas of our country the high-level structure of Vaasthu Shasthra is very much followed. Even all the traditional temples follow the Rules of Vaasthu Shasthra. The Vedha and Upanishadh refer to the Vaasthu Shasthra and the structure of temples.

Over the period, this Shasthra lost the limelight due to the political and social conditions of our country. In the past, the temples were mostly constructed by the royal families and when many kings lost their kingdoms, they stopped constructing the temples. Additionally, the foreign rulers made conscious attempts to eliminate the Hindu culture and customs using either the stick or the carrot. In this attempt, many temples were flattened and sculptures were damaged. On the personal front, people continued to live in their family homes generation after generation.

As a result, the application of this Shasthra was very minimal before independent India. Recently due to industrialization many people moved to new places and started settling there. Naturally, the real estate industry started doing well and so many people bought new houses and this science was back in the limelight.

Just like other Vedhic sciences, this science was presented as a set of rules in classical texts. This naturally limits the evolution of this science because the fundamentals are not known. This also reduces the flexibility while applying principles and developing a plan for the new house.

It appears that Vedhic seers had a clear understanding of the 5 elements and they have developed many sciences around their understanding of Panchamahabhootha. These sciences are so generic that they are relevant even today and would remain relevant for many more years. Modern science is progressing at such a rapid rate that if we don’t learn the fundamentals of Vedhic sciences they would be easily outplayed or replaced by respective modern sciences. It is the need of the hour to work together and develop the Vedhic sciences further. We shall also be able to explain the fundamentals and prove the relevance.

Along with Panchamahabhootha or the 5 elements, a Sarvathobhadhra Mandala is also an important component of many Vedhic sciences including Vaasthu Shasthra. Sarvathobhadhra means goodness all around. It has many more things than just the Panchamahabhootha. We are going to learn the relevance of Sarvathobhadhra in the context of Vaasthu Shasthra. Even the remedies are going to be based on Sarvathobhadhra Mandala.

It is my effort to present something valuable and useful in your life and I hope that you would learn something more and different than you knew before. I have presented everything required for you to construct your own house independently and in case you need any help feel comfortable to reach out to me on my email [e-mail].

Introduction 

4. Building Blocks

As we start learning a subject, we shall also learn the basic principles of the subject. I presented the foundations of all Vedhic life sciences in my book ‘Untold Vedic Culture’. I suggest you read it for a better understanding of the foundations of all Vedhic sciences. Now I am presenting the key principles of Vaasthu Shasthra here.

Pinda Brahamanda Theory

One of the key principles of all Vedhic sciences is as follows:

yaqaa ipaMDo taqaa ba`ÝaMDo yaqaa ba`ÝaMDo taqaa ipaMDo |

Yatha Brahamande Tatha Pinde |

- Yajurvedha

Meaning: The way the body (Pinda) is, the same way is the universe (Brahmanda), and the way the universe is, the same way is the body.

Even though I couldn’t find this Rhucha in Yajurvedha such stanzas are included in most of the Upavedha like Ayurvedha and even in Upanishadha.

You might wonder which are the Pinda. The Pinda can also be called Purusha and in the context of this book, the Pinda is Vaasthupurusha. This principle implies that the Vaasthu is going to function like a universe in its realm. We are going to see how this would be possible throughout the book.

Relative Universe

Another important concept in Vedhic culture is the idea of a relative universe. What this means is your universe is everything related to you and around you. Therefore, you shall be the frame of reference. This idea is very much applicable to Vaasthu.

The relative universe is very important in the context of Vaasthu because the Vaasthu principles apply to a piece of land, a community, a house, and even a room. Similarly, it is also applicable to a country or a state based on the reference and the context defined to analyze the characteristics of a space.

The relative universe lets you fit the Vaasthupurusha in the region under consideration and identify the characteristics of the region. This may span across the globe or it can be specific to a continent. It can even be specific to the country or a state. Finally, we may apply it to the house or a piece of land.

The 10 Dhisha or Directions

We already know that there are 4 cardinal directions and 4 ordinal directions. However, there are 2 more directions mentioned in Vedhic culture and they are Urdhwa or up and Adhara or down. The 8 directions cover 2-dimensional space whereas the 10 directions cover 3-dimensional space. A house is a 3-dimensional space so we shall consider 10 directions rather than just 8. The below table explains the Vedhic names of all 10 directions and their meaning.

The 4 Purushartha

Purusha means the owner and Artha means meaning.  Therefore, Purushartha means the purpose of the owner. According to Vedic culture, all of us find the purpose of life in one of the 4 things mentioned below.

Generally, we focus on 2 Purushartha. The primary Purushartha suggests our goal and the secondary Purushartha suggests the means of achieving the goal. These 2 Purushartha drive our life. If the purpose of our life or Purushartha doesn’t match the Vaasthu then a conflict is created. Therefore, it’s important to match the purpose of the Vaasthu with the purpose of the family living in the house.

The 5 Mahabhootha

According to Vedha, the universe is composed of just 5 Mahabhootha. The Vedha even mentioned the sequence of formation of the Mahabhootha. ‘Bhootha’ means the one who exists. Therefore, Mahabhootha means the one who grossly exists. In modern terms, we can call them states of matter. Let’s look at the sequence of formation of matter according to Thaithariya Upanishadh.

AakxaSaaÓayau: | vaayaaorigna: | Agnaorapa: | Ad\Bya: paRiqavaI |

Aakashadhvayuhu | Vaayorgnihi | Agnerapaha | Adhbhyah Pruthivi |

Thaithariya Upanshadh 2.1.1

Meaning: The Vayu or air or gas is created from Aakash or the Plasma state of matter. The Agni or fire or heat is created from gas. The liquid state is created from heat or fire and the solid state is created from the liquid state.

There are 5 Mahabhootha and are Aakash, Vayu, Agni, Aapa, and Pruthvi

The 3 Thapa

There are 3 different types of challenges we generally face. These challenges are called Thapa. The names of these challenges are Adhibhouthik, Adhidhaivik, and Aadhyathmik challenges. The below table explains the Thapa and the cause of the Thapa.

Adhibhouthik challenges are the challenges caused by 5 Mahabhootha. Adhidhaivik challenges are the challenges caused by the energies or deities. The Vaasthupurusha consists of 45 various deities and they can bless or curse the owner or person living in the house. Aadhyathmik challenges are the challenges caused due to our limitation or lack of skills. The Vaasthu can primarily cause the first 2 types of Thapa or challenges viz. Adhibhouthik Thapa and Adhidhaivik Thapa.

Theory of Multiples, Patterns or Harmonics

In Vedhic philosophy, there is an idea of multiples. For example, the duration of Thretha Yuga is three times of Kali Yuga and Dhwapar Yuga is double of Kali Yuga. This is very much applied in the number system and unit conversion.