Questions and Answers
114 questions on Astro Vastu
When several people live in a house, whose horoscope decides the facing and the main door, and how long does a house affect the family?
The griha swami's (house owner's) horoscope is used; the method is taught in the astro Vastu classes. The effect of a house carries on for up to three generations.
Is a camel statue good to keep in the house?
This is a subject of astro vastu. Different items represent different planets; if a planet is very negative in your kundli and you keep the item that represents it, the negativity grows further. Which item suits which home, and with what, is covered in interior vastu.
Does a toilet in the North-East always cause cancer, and is every South-facing house bad?
No. If it did, the owners of five and seven star hotels, which commonly have toilets in the North-East, would suffer first, and every South-facing owner would be ruined. Vastu must be read together with the planets of the person, which are exalted and which debilitated, instead of blindly applying one rule to everyone.
If the Sun is debilitated (neech) in the horoscope, is an E4 door right?
No, in that case an E4 door is completely wrong.
Can doors be opened anywhere by vastu, or must the birth chart be checked?
Check the birth chart. If the Sun in the chart is debilitated and you forcibly open an E3 or E4 door, it will be wrong and not appropriate at all.
How far does the influence of a devta reach beyond its own pad?
As in a kundli, where Jupiter blesses whatever it aspects with full drishti, a devta also aspects the devta opposite it; Surya, for example, balances Varun. If you cannot balance a devta directly, balance the devta whose full drishti falls on it, and its gaze will set it right.
In the case where all four family members had a weak Sun, why would four separate kundlis show the same pattern?
Members of one family almost always have nearly the same planetary placements; there is a symmetry among their charts, and that is why they are born into the same family. In that case the Sun was badly placed in all four charts, so the East-facing house harmed the whole family.
The kundli chart was shown with directions. How are those directions used, and what can a kundli tell about a house?
Go by the houses, not the numbers written in them: the top house is the 1st house (East) and the 4th house is North. If the planets on the North side are strong, the North direction is very good for the person. A kundli can even reveal where a person's house is, where its door is, how many windows it has and where a nearby river, pond or temple lies, so a map of the house can be drawn without seeing it.
If a house has four members, whose kundli should be used for its vastu?
Primarily the grih swami's, the person whose money is going into the house, because the house affects the owner and his next three generations; do not go by the name the property is registered in, such as a daughter. The facing and main door are chosen from the grih swami's chart, for example North if his Mercury is exalted or his North-side planets are strong. Where a child sleeps or studies is decided from the child's own chart: if the child's Mercury is weak, seat him in the South instead of the North, following the 180-degree rule for a weak planet.
If one family member has a planet exalted and another has it debilitated, should that planet's items be kept in the interior?
Decide room by room. In your own bedroom use the materials of your exalted planet and not of your debilitated one; your daughter's bedroom is designed from her kundli. The house facing and common areas such as the drawing room and kitchen are decided from the grih swami's kundli. Many people make the master bedroom in the South-West by default, which is wrong when Rahu is debilitated: such people suffered there and got very good results after moving to another direction.
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.
In the example of the Sun in the 8th house, would an East entrance have suited if the Sun had been retrograde?
Possibly, but then its degree and the aspects on it, such as a benefic planet's aspect, would have to be checked. A house is built only once, so such a risk should not be taken. Retrograde (vakri) planets are taught later in the course.
Each house of the kundli has a rashi in it. Does the rashi decide the direction?
No, the rashi plays no role here. The 4th house is North, the 1st house East, the 10th house South and the 7th house West, with the sub-directions in between. Real charts are then analysed, five a day from the student group, to decide each person's interior; the key is knowing what to do for exalted planets and what for debilitated ones.
Why do rashis 5 (Simha) and 11 (Kumbh) have no planet in the exaltation list?
There are only nine planets for twelve rashis, so Simha and Kumbh get no exalted or debilitated planet. A kundli need not have any exalted or debilitated planet, and some have as many as four exalted. The number in a house is its rashi: a 5 means Simha, so Venus there is Venus in Simha; an 11 means Kumbh, so Mercury, the Moon and the Sun there are in Kumbh, and with the Moon there the person's rashi is Kumbh.
For someone with no astrology background, what does an exalted or debilitated planet mean in practice?
Learn the twelve rashis in order and the rest is simple. If the Sun is written with rashi 1, it is exalted, very powerful, and blesses the house and direction it occupies. If the Sun sits with rashi 7, it is debilitated and very weak; if that falls in the 4th house (North), building a house in that direction ruins the person. Vastu without this is incomplete, which is why even a perfect East-facing house can fail.
Do the directions of the kundli houses shift when the rashis or planets in them change?
No. The 4th house is always North, the 1st East, the 10th South and the 7th West, with the sub-directions between them. Like water flowing in a river, planets and rashis keep moving, but the direction a house represents stays fixed whichever planet or rashi comes into it.
Why do CAs and accountants use green ink?
Green represents Budh (Mercury), and finance and accounts belong to Mercury. Using the colour of the planet that rules the work strengthens it; even clothes and pen ink act as interior vastu, which is also why lawyers choose black.
Is interior done only for beauty and maximum use of space?
No. Interior is done to use the maximum energy of the universe, balance the five elements, control particular emotions and achieve a particular goal. Every painting, artefact, idol, colour and orientation changes the mind through images (chitra se chitt), so the interior itself can balance the five elements, the nine planets and the three forces of a home, temple or factory.
A client has an exalted Saturn and a debilitated Venus. Can the bedroom be made in the West?
Yes, it will be very good. With an exalted Saturn, make the bedroom in the West without hesitation; WSW or even SW can also be used, but when Saturn is exalted the West gives the best results.
Which element does the blue colour represent?
As a planet colour, blue belongs to Shani (Saturn); as an element, it represents the water element.
Besides exaltation, debilitation and degree, how do we judge whether a planet is good or bad, for example in the 6th or 8th house?
The 6th and 8th house rule has not been given yet. The full rules will be taught later using example kundalis of five students. For now judge by exaltation and debilitation; not every 8th-house placement is bad.
If the ideal placement of a room is not possible, is there an alternative?
Yes, move to the second, third and further options. As a professional, give the client a written list: the first option according to the kundali and element, then the second, third, fourth and fifth options. This is covered with kundalis in the diploma.
My Moon is in the 11th rashi, Kumbh (Aquarius). Is my element air?
Yes. Your rashi is Kumbh and your element is air.
If the Moon is debilitated, is a North-West entrance bad?
Yes, not just bad but very bad; the North-West entrance will have to be closed.
Which planet is behind a South-South-West entrance?
If Rahu is bad, you will automatically get an SSW entrance. It has to be closed.