Vastu and Astrology in Modern Times...

[dattaswami]

Vastu and Astrology in Modern Times

Smt. Priyanka Sethepalli (USA) asked: I have a question that has been bothering me for a while now. It is advised that one should never buy a south-facing home as it is believed to lead to some problems. But it is also said that, depending on one's birth star (janma nakṣatram), a south-facing home is especially beneficial for certain people. To such people, the main door of the house facing south is more beneficial than a door facing any other direction. How true is this? Also, some business-owners particularly look for south-facing main entrances which they believe are lucky for them. There are so many variations in people’s beliefs and the Vāstu texts, all over India. I would love to have some clarity on this relation between the birth star of a person and the main door of the house facing different directions. Also, why does this matter seem to be so important in South India (especially for Telugu people) and not so important for people from other states of India? Expanding this further, do the same Vāstu rules apply everywhere, irrespective of the country you live in and the weather in that region? Thank you. Regards, Priyanka.

South-Facing House

Swami replied: O Learned and Devoted Servants of God! Vāstu Śāstram is the ancient Indian science of architecture. It is part of Vedic astrology or Jyautiṣa Śāstram. According to Vāstu, the main door of the house should not face the south because Lord Yama, the deity of hell, is situated on the south side. It also says that you should not sleep with your feet towards the south and that instead, your head should be towards the south. The residents in a south-facing house receive bad results, which are having a second marriage, financial loss, lack of issues and sometimes even the death of the house-owner (Tasya bhāryādvayaṃ dhananāśaḥ, putrābhāvaḥ, kvacit kartṛnāśaḥ). It is also said that a south-facing property is beneficial for people who regularly kill animals and are involved in the meat business (Kirātānāṃ dakṣiṇā). If a person has already received one of the negative results, then the person might not get any other negative results. This means that a person who has already married twice or who already has no issues might not undergo a financial loss, in spite of having a south-facing property. The person faces the said bad results because of some sin committed in the past. But when the person has already faced one punishment for the sin committed, other types of punishments will not apply to the person. This is because one crime committed by him cannot have two punishments!

Gaps in Understanding

People misunderstand the very basis of astrology by thinking that they are perfect people who have never committed any sin. They feel that it is the bad planets that are unnecessarily giving them bad results during the respective planetary periods (daśas) or during the transits of the planets through different zodiac signs (gocāra). The fact is that the past sinful deeds and the past meritorious deeds done by the soul cause the planets to give bad and good results respectively, in the prescribed periods, as per the judgment of God. Note that in astrology, when we say planets, we mean the deities corresponding to the inert planets. These deities are angels who are God’s executives. The astrological scriptures were written by sages, so, it is better to follow astrology. The sages were highly devoted to God and were interested in the well-being of mankind. So, in following their instructions, you are not being cheated or exploited. If someone is trying to cheat or exploit you through some false tradition, you should certainly analyze it using perfect scientific logic. You should reject the false tradition through which the person is trying to cheat you for his own benefit.

Modern people trying to interpret Vāstu do not perfectly understand the heart of the astrological scripture. It is said that one should select such a plot for constructing a house which has its south-west side at a higher level than the north-east side (Īśat paścima dakṣiṇonnata mahī…). This instruction was relevant to olden days when there was no common drainage system. As per Vāstu, the tradition was that elder issue should live on south-west side and younger issue should live on north-east side. This is assuming that the constructed house is divided between two issues. Only when this instruction is followed, will the water flow from the side of the elder issue to the side of the younger issue. But now, houses have a proper drainage system. So, this matter is not relevant and this instruction can be neglected.

Some Vāstu principles are scientific and are based on principles of civil engineering. For instance Vāstu says that a beam should be put after a length of 12 feet (Dvādaśa pade parighā). Another example is that it is said that a well must be located in the northeast corner and that staircases to the upper floor should not be located in the northeast corner (Īśānyāṃ kūpaḥ na nisśreṇiḥ). This is to ensure that a person climbing down the staircase does not slip and fall into the well! It is also said that a road should not run straight into the the main door of your house (Vīdhiśūlā mukhadvāre). This is to ensure that when you are going out through the main door, a vehicle coming from the opposite side does not hit you accidentally.

Astrology deals with the deities of planets, while astronomy deals with the inert planets. The deities are energetic beings or angels who have been blessed by God with divine powers. They deliver the fruits of both the past sins and the past meritorious deeds to souls, as per the prescribed schedule. They follow the judgment pronounced by God, the Supreme Judge. The deities of the nine planets are the executive powers of God. These planetary deities are ruled by higher deities. Whether you worship the planetary deities or you worship the deities who are above the planetary deities, you are ultimately worshipping God alone. There is no difference between the power and its possessor. The deities are God’s powers and God is their possessor. Astrology applies to the entire universe and it does not differ from one region to the other region on earth. But if you are a very strong devotee of God, you need not worry about Vāstu or astrology.

Five Parts of Astrology

Astrology is said to have five parts (pañcāṅga😞 (1) The first is jātakam, which is the horoscope prepared on the basis of the date and time of birth of a person. (2) The second is gocāra, which is the current or running chart of the planets, as applied to the zodiac sign based on the person’s name. (3) The third is vāstu, which is the plan of the person’s own house. (4) The fourth is muhūrtam, which is the time at which you start a certain task. (5) The fifth is mantra ārādhanam, which is the prayers to the planetary deities, to the deities above the planetary deities or to God Himself. When a person undergoes some form of suffering, the person should look for a defect in all these five parts. This is just like a disease, which could be caused by a defect in the blood, kidneys, lungs, heart or the digestive system. You have to try to diagnose where the defect lies before you attempt to remedy it through different forms of worship. There could be defects in one or more of the five parts listed above. For instance, your vāstu might be good, but the defect in your horoscope might be the cause for your present suffering. It is just like saying that your heart is fine, but your lungs might have a problem. There is also a special theory called Tājaka Siddhānta of Paṇḍita Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, which involves the direct application of the gocāra on the horoscope itself.

One important point must be noted because some say that the horoscope of the wife supports the husband. This is correct if the wife is unemployed and is dependent on the husband. But if the wife pursues her own profession, her horoscope is limited to herself alone. Similarly, the horoscope of a newborn child affects the parents. But as the child grows and develops its own life path, its horoscope ceases to have an effect on the parents. Among the five parts of astrology, the fifth part, which is devotion to God, is very strong, provided the person’s devotion is also very strong. My father was a great astrologer. He would often tell Me to concentrate on astrology because this subject is of great interest to everybody. Jyautiṣa Śāstram is the subject dealing with the jyoti or light (luminous planets). I would tell him that My focus is on the root light or Paraṃjyoti, who is none other than God (Paraṃ jyotirupa-sampadya…—Veda). He is the ultimate source that illuminates all the nine lights (planets). Finally, I revealed the correlation between astrology and spiritual knowledge. If the astrologer is helping society to believe in the unimaginable God through the unimaginable powers of the planets (deities), such an astrologer is basically a philosopher.

A very strong devotee of God could indeed be very well off in all aspects, even though the first four parts are very unfavorable in his case. His well-being is the result of his devotion to God, which is related to the fifth part of astrology. Just because the bad effects of the defects in the other four parts are not seen in that specific person, one should not mistake astrology to be false. The aim of the sages in writing the astrological scriptures was only to help an ordinary human being. The first step in helping the person is to create belief in the unimaginable power of God through the unimaginable powers of the planets. If this first step is well-established, the second step of developing the devotion to God becomes very easy.

Misunderstanding Leads to Blame for Astrology

Neither astrologers nor the people consulting astrologers fully realize the fact that astrology consists of five parts. This fact should be kept in mind before unnecessarily blaming an astrologer or astrology as a whole for a failed prediction. I will explain this with an example. Suppose an astrologer suggested a good muhūrtam (time) for a marriage. The muhūrtam might actually be good. The astrologer might have also rectified some vāstu-related defects in the house of the newly-married couple. With this, only two parts, namely muhūrtam and vāstu out of the five parts have become favorable. What about the other three parts, namely jātakam, gocāra and mantra ārādhanam? The horoscope (jātakam) and the planetary transits (gocāra) might still be defective. Hence, the couple might face bad effects from the bad planets, which, of course, is the result of their own sins. Basically, the couple faces bad effects due to unresolved defects in the other parts of astrology. But people thoughtlessly blame the astrologer by saying that even though they performed the marriage as per the prescribed muhūrtam and after rectifying the vāstu defects of the house, the couple faced the bad effects. They either say that the astrologer is good-for-nothing or that the field of astrology itself is false.

Before the marriage, if the elders in the family of the bride and the groom consult a good astrologer with the horoscopes of the couple, the astrologer can identify the defects in the horoscope. To rectify those defects he can suggest the couple to pray to the deities of the bad planets and to God. Note that the so-called bad planets (deities) are not bad. They are loyal servants of God. They only deliver the fruits of the soul’s bad deeds to the soul. Along with the prayers to the deities, the astrologer might prescribe some specific forms of charity to be done to beggars. The prescribed charity is related to the specific planets. This worship of the deities and the related charity comes under the fifth part of astrology called mantra ārādhanam. If the couple sincerely performs the prayers and also properly does the charity as prescribed, the problems will disappear. This is because the defects related to the horoscope (jātakam) and transits (gocāra) have been rectified and devotion to God or the deities (mantra ārādhanam) has also been developed. A good muhūrtam had already been chosen and the defects related to vāstu had already been rectified by the astrologer. Thus, all five parts become good and so, the problems of the couple disappear. Of course, it should be noted that the problems only disappear temporarily. They disappear permanently only when the souls attain complete reformation. But if the couple fails to do all the prescribed remedial procedures as suggested by the astrologer, they will face problems. Then they will again blame the astrologer saying that the astrologer is false or that astrology itself is false!

The above concept can be more clearly understood by taking the example of the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. The patient is similar to the human being suffering from worldly miseries. The doctor is like God and the assisting compounder is like the astrologer. The disease to be cured is like the worldly misery. The five main clinical tests can be assumed to be a blood test, an ECG for the heart, a test of the kidneys, a test of the lungs and a test of the digestive system. They are like the five parts of astrology. Suppose the patient is suffering from a fever, which represents worldly misery. Let us say that the blood test and the ECG tests show no defect. Do the family members of the patient blame the doctor asking him how come the patient still has a fever even though the two tests came out normal? Do they say that either the doctor is good-for-nothing or that medical science itself is false? The doctor asked the patient to undergo the other three tests as well. On getting those reports, the doctor even prescribed the corresponding medicines. If the patient properly takes the medicines related to the other three tests too, the fever will subside. But the patient does not take the prescribed medicines and simply blames the doctor that even though the blood and ECG reports were normal, his fever is not subsiding!

Astrology is a systematic science developed by sages for the temporary welfare of humanity. Even if a doctor fails in properly diagnosing and treating a certain patient, it does not mean that medical science itself is false. Since the public does not understand the overall framework of astrology as consisting of five parts (pañcāṅga), even a good astrologer gets misunderstood and blamed by the public. The remedies suggested by the astrologer involve prayers and the worship of God along with charity to beggars. Both worship and charity are good and they lead to an improvement in the person’s devotion to God. The devotion, in turn, leads to the reformation of the soul (Kṣipraṃ bhavati dharmātmā—Gita).

 

 

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-By Shri Datta Swami
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Universal Spirituality for World Peace