Also known asmitti parikshasoil testbhoomi pariksha
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
Plots that were used as brick kilns
Land heavy with metallic or black minerals carries more energy than most people can bear, so areas rich in surface minerals stay poor and troubled; minerals lying deep underground or bound with silicates are far less harmful.
Soil colour has long been linked to the work a land suits: red soil for the Kshatriya (hard-working people), yellow for the Brahmin, black for the Shudra and white for the Vaishya. Today a whole town often shares one soil type due to its geology, so colour is read together with texture, smell and taste.
A bone buried in a plot is the biggest land defect (shalya). It changes the chemistry of the surrounding soil, becomes a home for spirits and slowly destroys the peace, health and business of whoever builds there.
Any plot, house, office or industry
Besides bones, coal, ash, some animal fossils and kaudi in the ground act as shalya. A furnace (bhatti) left buried under a building ruins the family and the business, and kaudi must never be buried, although gomti chakra can be.
Underground in any plot
If the bubbles move to the sides and quickly vanish, merging into the water, the land does have a defect, but it will be resolved with treatment. The water then turning clear confirms this. Observing the practical properly takes about an hour.
No. The test is not possible everywhere: on sandy land, on land with very high porosity and permeability that absorbs the water as soon as it is poured, or on fractured land with many cracks, the water cannot show any movement. The test works on solid land.
Before pouring water, check the pit for insects and clear them; the process should not be done with insects in it. Insects living inside the soil come out when water is poured, and that is not an omen. What matters is the air bubbles: a bubble bursting suddenly with a cracker-like sound sometimes gives a negative indication.
The pit water test tells whether it will balance. If all the air bubbles in the pit merge and vanish, everything will become fine after treatment.
Panchang means the five parts of any tree: its root, bark, fruit, flower and leaves. Boil them in water and watch whether any sound comes, like the crackling heard when ghee or oil is used for tempering. Quiet boiling shows good land; jumping and crackling show negative energy.
The water mantra chanted while pouring water into the pit is not found in Jinvani; it was to be shared with the class group (exact words: refer to the class recording), and the Gayatri Mantra can be used instead. The Bhoomi Jagran Mantra used for aahuti on the land is found in the book Pratishtha Parag, a text on pratishtha (consecration).
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.
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.
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.
More bones remained in the case discussed. Bones are traced where the dowsing rod or pendulum turns anti-clockwise, or where the swar shifts into sushumna. Remove the soil over at least a 10 x 10 ft area around the spot, 5 ft from the centre in each direction, down to the depth where the bone lay plus another 1 to 1.5 ft, and throw it away. Then purify the land.
Itching below the navel indicates a four-legged animal and above the navel a two-legged one. For an animal the itching shows at both places: for a dog it first comes in the legs and then immediately on the head.
They are found by dowsing. Any shalya produces a vibration (spandan) in the body of the person checking.