Also known asplot selectionbhoomi chayanchoosing land
Shilpa Ratna describes the types of land and their correction with minerals. Land holding asura (demonic) minerals, such as coal, lignite, manganese and other black minerals, lacks prosperity; placing gems inside such land (ratna prabha bhoomi) changes its chemistry and composition.
Inside the land of the plot
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.
The plot under consideration
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.
Trees on the plot under consideration
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.
The land under consideration
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.
Samples from the four corners of the land
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.
On the land or inside the flat
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.
On the land being tested
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.
Four corners and the Brahmasthan of the land
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.
East side of the land, flat or industrial land
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.
On the land being tested
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 tree growing on the land being tested
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.
First pit in the North-East (Ishaan) of the land
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.
North-East, East or Brahmasthan of the land
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.
Samples from all eight directions of the land
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.
On the land, starting from the point of entry
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 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.
From the Brahmasthan of an open plot
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.
Walk over the whole land, marking the spots
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.
On the plot being tested
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.
On the plot being tested
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.
Certain mangalik (auspicious) sights on the way to a property show that the plot or flat is very auspicious and will keep filling life with happiness.
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.
Threshold (dehleez) of your own home
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.
If your building is 16 feet high, a northern building up to 1 to 2 feet taller is acceptable, but one 4 to 5 feet or more taller, such as 20 feet, causes much harm. Distance removes the effect: a taller building or raised hill standing at least double your building's height away has no effect, so a 70-foot building is not affected by a building of double height 150 feet away.
From the deity. Imagine the deity seated facing out: do not live on the deity's own left side, while the deity's right side is very good. On either side your wall must not touch the temple wall; if you leave a gap and build your own separate wall there is no negative effect, though the right side still gives the better results. Many people living on the left, touching the temple wall, have been ruined.
No. With a road in between there is no defect.
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.
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.
An L-shaped plot is inauspicious in the first place. There is no special formula for its ratio; estimate it from its arms. The cut portion is a full loss, and how harmful it is depends on which corner is cut, which is best judged with the teacher case by case.