Energised yellow mustard is thrown towards each direction in turn while chanting the dig vandana mantra, or with a command and Om, to clear the negative energy coming from every side. It is done daily for a shop that is not running and before any work on unknown land.
Facing each direction in turn at the shop, house or land
A practitioner should know at least 20 methods of testing land energy, and the diploma teaches 25. They include the swar method (the change in one's swar on stepping onto the land), organic, inorganic, physical, chemical, biological, botanical, mechanical, water-movement and petrology methods, pendulum dowsing, nimitta and shakun.
Neighbouring ponds, hills, tall buildings and factories affect a property even though they are not in the owner's registry. A tall building to the North blocks the magnetic energy and one to the East blocks the sun's rays.
Surroundings of the plot, especially taller structures to the North and East
The trees on a plot show the nature of its energy by the direction in which they lean. Land where the trees lean toward the South-West, or all toward the South, is rejected, and land where they lean toward the North-West eventually brings bad debts.
Land where babool, thorny, poisonous or milky-sap trees dominate, where snake anthills (baambi) abound, or where insects and red ants swarm moving anti-clockwise, has poor energy and should not be used for living.
A chemical test in which a few drops of desi cow urine are added to soil samples from the four corners: a strong cow urine smell shows good land, and no smell at all shows a land that is not good.
Fragrant dhoop is burnt on the land or in the flat, alone or during havan: the more its fragrance grows, the better the place, while a foul smell or no fragrance at all marks a bad land.
Vastu is the balanced harmony of the five elements, so a land is checked for each one: fire at sunrise, air by holding the breath near a tree, water by the ground water condition, earth by how walking on it feels, and space by gazing at the sky.
The correct way to sample a land is to take five soil samples, one from each of the four corners (vidishas) and one from the Brahmasthan, so that the five elements are represented.
A flag with flowers tied inside is hoisted on the East side of a land, flat or industrial plot in an auspicious muhurta or in Chandra swar and then released; the direction in which it flies reveals the land's quality.
During aahuti with the Bhoomi Jagran Mantra, the flame takes the shape of whatever negative object lies in the land; photographing the flame and studying it shows what is buried there or what has been done to the land.
Where a bird's droppings fall on the visitor's body or clothes, where the visitor gets hurt, or where itching starts on the way to or while walking a land points to the matching part of the Vastu Purush where a defect or buried bone (shalya) lies.
The part of the plot that matches the body part, as mapped on the Vastu Purush
The root, bark, fruit, flower and leaves (panchang) of a tree growing on the land are boiled in water: calm boiling shows good land, while splashing, jumping or crackling shows negative energy, because the tree grows from the land's soil chemistry.
A pit is dug, first in the North-East, and its own soil is packed back into it: leftover soil shows a strong land, while soil that falls short shows a hungry (bhukkad) land that drains the energy of its occupants.
Pure water poured with a mantra into a small pit dug in the North-East, East or Brahmasthan swirls clockwise on good land and anticlockwise on negative land; the speed of the swirl and the place and behaviour of the air bubbles show the whole plot's energy and its buried defects.
Your pulse is measured before and after reaching a flat or land: if it stays in the normal range the place is very good, and if it is disturbed or the heartbeat rises the place is not good. The nadi active at that moment also shows whether the land is sattvic or rajasic.
Seeds of five grains sown in a small watered patch of the land show its energy by how fast they sprout: within three days is excellent, five days moderate, and no sprout in seven days marks an inferior, infertile land.
A 2 x 2 feet patch at the site of the planned building
A chemical test in which soil from the four corners is mixed with sindoor in glass bowls: soil that turns from black toward reddish shows a land able to change and improve, while soil that stays black is not considered good.
Samples from the North-East, South-East, South-West and North-West corners
The five soil samples are examined under a lens: golden or copper-like particles show a prosperous and healthy land, while sindoor-red, mica, glass-like or black particles warn of lost reputation, fire, disease or accidents.
Soil samples from the four corners and the Brahmasthan
Soil samples from all eight directions are mixed, smelt and brought near the tongue: a smell of flowers, ghee or honey and a sweet or astringent taste are auspicious, while a smell of excreta or liquor and a bitter taste are not.
Before entering a land, note which nostril is active and how far down and in what direction the breath flows; step onto the land first with the foot of the active side, walk one full round while watching the breath, and read the land's quality and defects from it.
Aahuti (oblations) are offered with fragrant dhoop to each of the 45 Vastu Devtas on the land; the devta at whose aahuti a sneeze, itching, crackling, harsh words, a frightening sound or crying is noticed marks the zone where the land holds a defect.
On the land, over the zones of the 45 Vastu Devtas
A water-filled coconut is carried on the palm across the land; where it keeps moving and feels lighter the energy is very good, and where it stays still and grows heavier the energy is locked and not good.
A water-filled coconut is thrown at least 10 feet straight up from the centre of the land; where it lands, drawn by the land's positive or negative force, shows whether the land is good for living, for labour or for industry.
Walking a land with two copper L-rods in Surya swar, the intensity of their turning shows how energetic the land is; an anticlockwise turn marks a negative-energy element buried below, and rods that stick still and heavy mark an obstructed, cursed land.
A built-in scanner: in Surya swar the arms are spread wide and the palms brought slowly together; the distance at which a tingling current stops them shows the energy of the land or flat.
A coconut thrown up on a land falls towards the direction of its strongest gravitational force; falling in an auspicious direction shows good energy, falling towards the South-South-West, West or South shows bad energy.
The body is the best scanner: with the right nostril (surya swar) active, hold the breath, rub the palms and slowly bring the outstretched arms together; the width at which a resisting current stops the hands shows the land energy.
The taste of fruit grown on a land, its leaves, the tilt of its trees and the movement and health of its animals and insects reveal its energy; red ants moving anticlockwise mark a negative land.
An ashtang nimitta method that reads where on the body the person asking about a plot feels itching. The spot tells whether the buried bone is of an animal or a human, male or female, and which animal.
What is the logic behind a cat crossing the path from the left or the right?
This belongs to ashtang nimitta. A cat coming from the right side gives an auspicious sign and one coming from the left an inauspicious sign; if the cat crosses and then stands in the middle staring at you, the land is very bad and you should not go there at all, as even the visit brings negativity. Cats and dogs are the biggest dowsers: they react first even before an earthquake, and a cat senses that you are on the way to a wrong task and tries to stop you.
Why is left eye twitching auspicious for women when right eye twitching is auspicious for men?
The left part of a woman is always considered auspicious, which is why she is called vamangi, and moles or marks on her left side are also auspicious. In swar vigyan the Chandra (left) nadi represents the female and the Surya (right) nadi the male, so an active left side or a good sign on the left of the body is favourable for a woman and the right side for a man. If a man's left eye or a woman's right eye twitches on reaching a land, the land is very bad, because the sign is working against that person.
From where, and how many, soil samples should be collected from a land?
Take five samples, representing the five elements: one from each of the four corners (vidishas) and one from the Brahmasthan. Take the soil from about 4 inches (4 angul) below the surface.
Is a highly metallic, mineral-rich soil good or bad for a land?
It is bad. Where metallic minerals, and especially black ones such as coal, are plentiful, negative forces settle: mineral-rich Bihar and Jharkhand and diamond-bearing Panna district are not prosperous, because few people can bear such strong energy, just as a 400 carat neelam or 20 paracetamol harms instead of helping. Minerals at the surface act on the house directly, while metals bound with silicates or lying deep underground, as at the Kolar Gold Fields, are not as harmful.
How should the energy of a plot bought for investment be checked?
Use the pit water method taught in the previous class. With swar, walk the whole land: if the same swar keeps running with the water or earth element throughout, whether it is Chandra swar or Surya swar, the land is good.
Is there any length to width criterion for the centre, for example in a 250 x 50 feet plot?
There is no criterion for finding the centre; the centre is always the centre. The proportion matters for the plot itself: up to 1:1.5 is good (30 x 45 feet is ideal), up to 1:2 (30 x 60) is neither good nor bad, and longer than that is not good, with more loss the longer it gets. In such long plots many devtas fall outside or get cut, and they need treatment.
If a person's date of birth is not known correctly and no kundli can be made, how are their land and house planned?
The planets are still there even if the kundli is lost. A perfect kundli can be made from the thumb through Bhrigu Samhita, and Nadi astrologers also prepare it. A Prashna kundli can be cast, and Samudrik shastra (reading the body) also shows which planets are exalted or debilitated. Get this worked out by an astrologer.