Vastu shastra is part of the Vedas and is believed to date back nearly four to five thousand years. Literates laid down the principles of Vastu Shastra during those days, which were based purely on the effect of sunrays during different times of the day. The Vastu concept differs from place to place and time to time. The Vastu rule applicable in summers is not applicable in winters, or the regulations for hot states and cold states differ.
Vastu means place where people dwell, and Vastu shastra clearly means the art of building any property where people reside or work in harmony with nature. There is a very interesting story behind the formation of Vastu Purush that few people know. The whole concept of Vastu Shastra is based on the Vastu Purush mandala. The story of Vastu Purusha is told in the Matsya Purana and is based on the mythological belief that the gods trapped Vastu Purusha in a specific position to create the Vastu Purusha Mandala.
The story of Vastu Purush creation:
A fierce war broke out between the Gods (devatas ) and the demons (asuras). In this war, Lord Shiva represented the devatas while Andhaka Asur was fighting for the asuras. During the war, some drops of sweat fell on the earth. From those drops emerged a gigantic being that scared both the devatas and the asuras. That demon was omnipotent and formless. He started terrorizing the whole of the world by blocking out the entire sky.
On the guidance of Lord Brahma, the gods gathered together and pressed this entity into the ground with its face towards the ground. Forty-five gods sat on this body at different body parts making it impossible to get up as a precautionary measure to stop his negative activities in the future. Lord Brahma himself named the demon Vastu Purush, who is omnipresent in every vastu. His body posture is aligned diagonally with the head in northeast and feet in southwest, lying face down on the earth. The right elbow and right knee are in the southeast, and the left elbow and left knee are in the northwest.
Sitting of gods on the body of this demon symbolizes stabilization and condensation of earth. Because we need stable earth for laying foundations. Vastu purush lies on the plot ready to bear the load on his non vulnerable points. The Vastu Purush represents the constant phenomenon inside each building. The Purusha means that which is stable and contains all possibilities of existence within him.
Lord Brahma then ordered that whoever reveres the Vastu Purush and performs the Vastu Purush pooja while constructing a temple, palace, house, pond, city, etc. will be blessed by the devtas.
The Vastu Purusha is the soul of the building. As soon as a building comes into existence, all the devtas and asuras occupy their respective positions. As a result, they create the effects and results that the inhabitants experience through their lives while living in that building. It exists in 100 sq. ft home to 50,000 sq ft office to whole town planning. Whether you believe it or not it is present everywhere. So by following the Vastu shastra we can please the Vastu purush and bring happiness, success, good health, and prosperity into our lives.
The existence of vastu purush is not just only mythological it has all the scientific prove also which if incorporated in our lives brings about 35% of change. If you visit years old monuments or palaces you will see everything is built with proper vastu shastra. Even when town planning is done vastu shastra is first and foremost step. But nowadays, due to the concept of modernization we have left behind our precious gift given by gods and thus face everyday problems. We can see the number of divorce cases has gone up or health issues are increasing day by day or even after working for hours with full intensity and focus not achieving what we want in our lives. Some people may not agree but 35% of all life problems are because of the vastu doshas.
Our vastu rishis considered a building as a living organism. They oriented building as a human body so that it can serve the purpose of protecting the human body and body in return can work efficiently for the betterment of soul. Vastu purush occupied with 45 dieties literally brings the whole cosmos down to earth.
Whenever we build the plot for any use vastu purush is ready to bear the load on himself. But there are some non-vulnerable points like back, hands, legs, and thighs on which we can construct, and some vulnerable points which need to be avoided for construction, such as the heart, head, and navel point. There should be minimum load on the head and face of vastu purush which is in the north-east direction, because the major seven openings in the body – eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth are on the face. The vulnerable points are called the marma sthana such as heart and navel point. Heavy constructions cannot be done in the marma sthanas such as columns, beams, or placing any heavy articles. The intelligent use of space not only helps us gain prosperity and success in life but also helps space utilization fully and gives an aesthetic look.
The forty five gods represent various forces of nature. Every deity present on the body of vastu purush represents the energy according to which the work done in that direction is considered. Let me make it more clear by giving some examples: the northeast is ruled by the supreme lord Ish or soma that’s why it is said to keep maximum openings in the northeast and the southwest is ruled by nirriti the goddess of devils which indicates the negative influence and thus southwest needs to be completely closed. Every forty five lords have their own energies if we work against those, it brings bad fortune.
And at last I would like to say that we should not forgot our roots. We have been gifted by the dieties with good health, wealth and prosperity and to maintain it we must follow the the vastu concept in the home and work places. With the concept of high rise buildings people say its hard to follow but try to follow it to the maximum. Even if a place is 75% vastu friendly its considered really good.
