A continuous lamp of desi cow ghee in the agneya (SE) of the kitchen, lit in sagun, drives away negative energy and increases wealth; it is called the biggest brahmastra, worth more than all other interior work.
A wife whose husband does not get along with her cooks his food for seven days in purity while holding only positive thoughts about him and recalling good moments; however much he is against her, he becomes positive towards her.
Whatever zone the kitchen is in, move the burner to the South-East of that kitchen and set it so the cook faces East, or North if East is impossible. This is the best kitchen treatment and removes many doshas.
When a toilet and kitchen share a wall, inject mercury into the ground at the middle of the common wall so bacteria cannot travel into the kitchen.
A closed kalash filled to the brim in sagun with turmeric knots, supari, yellow mustard and a sawa rupaya, kept in the kitchen's NE, ensures the kitchen never runs short however many guests arrive.
Fire and water in the kitchen should be at least four feet apart; when they are closer, stand a vertical slab of the same platform stone between them.
A set of swastik designs drawn with kesar for specific problems: low energy, bad energy, blocked energy, protecting energy, attracting energy, removing negative energy, gaining energy, fear and a wrongly placed kitchen.
At griha pravesh, the earthen kalash brought from the temple and carried in through the door is set on wheat in the North-East corner of the kitchen; the wheat sprouts from the kalash's moisture and shows the energy of the new home.
Sagun means doing an act while holding the breath. A lamp lit in sagun burns many times longer on the same ghee, and a shankh blown in sagun with a wish in mind drives negative energy out of the house.
Do not build a temple in the kitchen; keep a small Mangal kalash at the agneya kon with a small photo of your Guru or ishta, and draw a swastik in front of your eyes so the food cooked becomes like amrit.
The custom of boiling milk in a new home is a nimitta test: milk that boils over silently is auspicious, while crackling or popping sounds show that some ritual remained incomplete or a defect remains in the construction.
Shikhi, also called Shiva, is the first outer devta of the pishach bhoomi, at E1 near the North-East corner. A mahayogi and a highly sensitive maha-dowser, its pad reacts at once to anything done there; it governs vision, foresight and decisions.
Jayant, the third devta of the East (pad E3, in the outer paishachik ring), is the success-maker who completes any work by any means (saam, daam, dand, bhed) while following dharma, and converts knowledge into wealth. Its door is called the vipul sampada (abundant wealth) door because the grace of the Moon on this pad is very strong.
Surya, the fifth devta at the centre of the East, lights the three worlds, destroys darkness and negativity, gives energy to all planets and never misses its time. Balanced, it gives fearlessness, good decisions, speaking power, fame, leadership, government support and perfect time management.
No facing is good or bad for everyone. The direction of the house, the main door and each room are chosen from the owner's horoscope, so that the person lives in the zone of his strongest planet and avoids the zones of weak or afflicted planets.
In small homes of 700 to 800 sq ft, plots of 70 to 80 gaj and flats under 1000 sq ft, direction and element rules are not applied; instead the sizes of rooms, beds, tables and kitchen platforms are set by aay (mathematical Vastu) to generate the needed element.
The manushya bhoomi, the second band inward, takes the main door, windows, kitchen, bedrooms, dining room, puja room and stairs. No shilanyas, boring or pit should be made in it, and above all not at the corners of its transition with the pishach bhoomi, where the shishu pishach and pishacha points lie.
Stairs, the main door, a locker, a pit, boring or dug well, a basement confined to the centre, a store room, a garage or a kitchen must not be built in the Brahmasthan. Each causes serious harm, from illness in the family to quarrels and ruin.
The zone of an element can bear any amount of that element, so increasing fire in the South-East or South-South-East does not bring theft, fire or accidents, just as raising the South-West only strengthens its earth element.
The fire element is triangular, orange (red also represents it), located in the South-East, hot, dry and bright, and ruled by the Sun and Mars. Sunlight, gas stoves, transformers, generators and inverters represent it; balanced it gives name, fame and financial gain, imbalanced it takes them away.
Fire and water destroy each other, so fire placed in the North-East water zone, or a boring or water body in the South-East fire zone, causes loss of money, name and fame.
In the East-South-East the sun, moving from infancy towards youth, gives energy that churns the mind, opening its doors and acting most on the Ajna chakra. It is the zone of churning (manthan), contemplation and analysis, and of anxiety if one keeps thinking without reaching conclusions.
From 9 am to 12 noon the sun, in full youth, is in the South-East, with rays rich in vitamins (B12 and D) that make thinking positive, especially for women, and balance blood circulation. This is the fire and cash liquidity zone and the right place for the kitchen, with the cook facing East.
A basement without sunlight should not be used for sleeping or staying, a kitchen, a toilet, a patient or a locker; its entry should come from the North or East and its walls should be white.
Ati marma are the nine most sensitive points of the Vastu grid, formed where six devta-to-devta lines cross. In a regular, proportionate plot almost all of them fall in the Brahmasthan, and any piercing, load or dirt on them blocks the energy of the whole plot and brings severe, lasting trouble, above all to the owner (griha swami).
Drawing room, office, puja room, conference room, underground water tank, borewell and a bedroom for elders suit the Shikhi pad. A main door, kitchen or toilet here harms the residents.
E3 suits the main door, a library, a planning or meeting room, an office, a child's study and even a bedroom; a kitchen works only for an early breakfast, and a toilet cuts social and government support.
E5 is the ideal zone for a bathroom and suits administration, a manager's chamber, a locker, planning, meeting and conference rooms and a good office; a door here brings anger and a toilet brings disgrace.
The fire element has a triangular shape, red and orange colours, South-East location and copper as its metal; sunlight, the gas stove, transformer, generator, kitchen and anything red or triangular represent it.
The house facing, main door and common areas are chosen from the grih swami's (owner's) kundli, while each member's bedroom and study are planned from that member's own kundli.