Locates bones and other shalya (harmful objects) buried in a plot. A dowsing rod or pendulum turning anti-clockwise over a spot, or the breath (swar) shifting into sushumna while standing there, confirms that something negative is buried at that point.
Any raw plot or existing building, at the spot where the rod turns anti-clockwise
What happens on the way to see a plot and at the moment of stepping onto it is itself a test of the land. Injuries, sneezing, frightening encounters, breakdowns and accidents are read as signs, along with what one meets on the way, such as a full kalash, a dog or a pig.
The threshold (dehleez) of the home acts as a testing machine: the moment you step over it to go and see a plot, flat or factory, your breath and body signal whether that property is good. Equal flow in both nostrils or left-side body signs warn against it; earth or water element in the breath and right-side signs approve it.
The behaviour of street dogs, jackals and crows at a plot or flat reveals its quality: a crow cawing while facing East or North is a good sign, while crying dogs and a crow on a dry tree are grave warnings.
Twitching of an eye on reaching a land shows its quality, read in opposite ways for men and women: the right eye is auspicious for a man and the left eye for a woman.
Shakun shastra (nimitta gyan) reads the signs met on the way to a property; certain sights and events on the journey warn that the plot or flat is not good. They arise because the land's energy is already acting on the visitor's body chemistry.
A chart cast for the moment someone asks about buying a plot, flat or land shows whether it is good: a fixed lagna, benefics in the kendras and a strong 4th house favour it, while malefics in the kendras warn against it.
When someone asks whether to buy a land, flat or house, the side on which they stand relative to the expert's active nostril and the manner in which they ask reveal whether the land is good. A trained swar expert can read the land this way even from far away.
What one first sees and hears on stepping onto a land or into a flat indicates its energy: black items, broken things, snake holes and harsh sounds are bad signs, while a conch, aarti or auspicious songs, a rainbow or a joyful sky are good ones.
Clothes that tear, get a hole, or get soiled with mud, dung or dirty water on the way to or at a land signal that the land is not good; the position of a tear shows how bad it is.
When someone comes with a coconut to ask about a land's energy, the quality of that coconut mirrors the land: a ripe, sound coconut means good land, while a light or rotten one means poor land energy.
Signs met while leaving home to see a land or building, such as body reactions, itching, dreams and sights on the road, foretell the energy and future of that property before you even reach it.
The word Vastu comes from the Sanskrit vas, the land of residence, so the condition of the land is judged before any direction. Land energy decides about 70 percent of the result.
A factory built on a river front was washed away by floods twice before a Vastu check showed that the site itself was wrong; a factory should never be built on a river front.
Never select a plot at a dead end, such as the last house of a colony, town or lane, especially when high boundary walls close it in, and never select one on a T-junction.
Land near a cremation ground (marghat), crowded gathering places (jamghat), gambling or satta dens, a dhobi ghat, a liquor shop, a police station or a large hospital should not be taken even free. The energy of such places enters the body with the breath and changes health, emotions and behaviour.
A gaumukhi (cow-faced) plot is narrow at the road and wide at the back, and a shermukhi (lion-faced, nahar mukhi) plot is wide at the road. Either is good only when its North-East is not cut, and a shermukhi plot gives results only when its North-East is extended.
Where a brick kiln has run for a long time, the chemistry of the soil is destroyed and its elements turn to ash. Such land should not be taken for any project even free; treatments exist for those who already own it.
A plot touching a temple wall on the deity's left side, or behind the deity's back, should not be taken even free, for a home or a business. The deity's right side is good if the walls do not touch, and the front is good only beyond double the distance.
A mountain in the North or East of a site ruins everything, and land at the foot of a hill (talhati) should never be used for a house. Such land is to be refused even if it comes free.
Mountains or hills in the North or East; land at the toe of a hill
A plot or house squeezed between two tall buildings on opposite sides, even South and North, gets neither balanced magnetic and gravitational force nor sun rays. Such a house wrecks every effort and should not be bought even if it is offered free.
Plots with tall buildings on two opposite sides (180 degrees apart)
Land is classed by its slope pattern. Kurma prishth (tortoise-back) land, raised in the middle and sloping on all sides, is the best for business and temples; Gaj, Daitya and Naag prishth slopes are unfavourable, and Daitya and Naag land destroy business.
A square plot with equal length and width is the best of all. In a rectangle, a longer North-South axis makes a Chandra bhedi plot that suits homes, while a longer East-West axis suits temples but brings some unrest to a home.
A tall building close to the North or East of a plot blocks its energy: in the North it causes money problems and in the East loss of name and fame. A tall building on the back side, in the South, South-West or West, gives strong progress.
North and East of the plot (harmful); South, South-West and West (helpful)
A trapezoidal plot is judged by the corner its slanting side extends. An extended North-East makes it very wealthy, while extensions toward the South-East or South-West, or widening from the West or North, bring fear, losses, depression or instability.
A triangular plot creates great trouble: name and fame are lost, enemies and court cases multiply and every task is delayed. Its intensity is reduced by building in a square form within it and by cooling its three fiery corners.
The swar a land brings on decides its best use: land that activates the Chandra (left) nadi suits homes, temples, schools and finance work, while land that activates the Surya (right) nadi suits business and industry. Land on which both nadis run is the worst of all.
When selecting a plot, flat or industrial land, the energy of the land itself decides about 70 percent of the result, more than slope, shape or surrounding structures. A building made fully as per directional vastu can still fail on land with bad energy.
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.