The South, South-West and West build skill and capability. When the land there is low and the construction in these zones is also the lowest, skills and Saturn (Shani) turn against the owner, and the business does not get the wealth and opportunities it should.
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.
Each planet rules a direction (Sun East, Mercury North, Saturn West, Rahu South-West); if that planet is debilitated, badly placed or very low in degree in a person's kundli, a house facing, bedroom, office seat or study in its direction harms them.
Build a basement only in the North, NNE, NE, East and ENE, or as a full basement that lets sun rays in; never in the South, South-West or the Brahmasthan.
A boring, dug well, pit or underground water tank gives very different results in each of the 16 zones: the North and North-East zones attract wealth, while the South, South-West and the centre bring death-like suffering and money loss.
Each mulank (root number of the birth date) belongs to a planet, and the direction of that planet is the favourable door side: 1 East, 2 North-West, 3 North-East, 4 and 7 South-West, 5 North, 6 South-East, 8 West and 9 South.
A corner extended from both its sides gives strong results: an extended North-East makes residents healthy, wealthy and religious, while extended South-East, South-West and North-West corners bring disputes, illness, business collapse, mental illness and forced migration.
The earth element is golden yellow, square, located in the South-West and solid, heavy and dense by nature; in a house it is represented by the land energy, the plot shape and the slope. Balanced, it gives the greatest stability and success; disturbed, it brings business uncertainty and unhealthy relationships.
The earth element has a square shape, golden yellow colour, South-West location and brass as its metal; land energy, plot shape, slope, surroundings, POP plaster and the dehleez represent it.
The belief that the North-West, West or South-West must have no greenery is wrong: plants can go in every direction, and a vastu expert should never get a tree cut but should plant auspicious trees beside it instead.
The South-West holds the earth element, whose nature is solid, heavy and dense, so this zone is kept solid, heavy and compact with the fewest openings. Infrared rays also arrive from the South-West at a particular time of day, another reason to keep it closed.
A dug well in a wrong zone, such as the South-West, must not simply be filled up suddenly; it is closed through a proper method (vidhi), the vastu registry of a dug well. Closing it carelessly can increase the trouble.
The four directions arose from Brahma's four faces and the four corner directions from his four arms, or from his four manas putras. Each is linked to a Veda or Upaveda: East to the Rigveda, South to the Yajurveda, West to the Samaveda and North to the Atharvaveda; South-East to Ayurveda, South-West to Dhanurveda and North-East to Sthapatya Veda, with Gandharva Veda completing the four.
An overhead tank can be built anywhere from the West to the North-West; NNW and the South-West are wrong, and a tank over the staircase is best avoided.
The overhead tank belongs in the NW, the Moon's place, or in Varun's West. Most people wrongly build it in the SW, which is dry Rahu-Ketu territory with very intense infrared.
Photos of departed ancestors go in the South-West, but never inside a bedroom; family photos of the living go anywhere except the South and SSW zones, on a wall where their faces look North.
Files of bills awaiting payment face North, important files go to the West, WSW, North or NE, the cheque book to the NNE and the locker to the West or South-West.
The South-West is the zone of Rahu-Ketu. Its interior uses golden yellow, white or ivory, black stone, blue sapphire, amethyst and iron, a Nandi, awards and certificates, mountain and village sceneries, and tall outdoor trees.
A slope toward the North-East is best for homes, temples and schools, while business premises do best with a slope toward the North or North-North-East, then the North-East. Slopes toward the South, South-East, South-West, West and North-West each bring specific harm.
A permanently flowing river, channel or nala in the South, West or South-West of a property is very harmful, and even a seasonal one is wrong. A swimming pool or a very large underground tank in the South-West of a building is equally bad.
Make the septic tank in WNW as the first option and ESE as the second, never in the East or under the stairs, and run the underground drainage line clockwise from the South-West to the North-West.
Sleep is an activity of Saturn; Saturn is a friend of Rahu-Ketu, who rule the South-West, and the South is the seat of Yama, so sleeping in the South-West or South is recommended, while sleeping in the East is not.
In astro vastu any person can be placed in any zone according to the birth chart. Even the South-South-West suits a person whose Rahu is exalted, but a person with debilitated Rahu should not sleep, sit or run a business in the South-West.
In the South only S4 (Grihakshat) gives happiness, peace, prosperity and business profit. S2, S3, S5, S6, S7 (the debt door) and S8 bring lack of children, servitude, suffering, selfishness, debt and disease.
In SSW the Sun's energy is burnt out and its composition destroyed, so this is the zone of expenditure and wastage, where waste activities belong. It is the main zone for a toilet, dustbin and storage of useless goods.
In the South-South-West the scorching sun destroys vitamins and minerals, and the gravitational force, balanced in the South, becomes imbalanced 22.5 degrees further, so the energy here is poor. This zone is used for the dustbin, garbage and toilet.
The South-West is ruled by Nairitya, with Rahu-Ketu as its planets and gomed (hessonite) as its stone. Balanced, uncut and right-angled, it gives prosperity, stability and skill, and it must be the highest part of the property in both ground level and building height, which is why a dhwaj (flag) is raised there.
From about 4 to 4:30 pm the Sun reaches SW and the energy begins to cool and stabilise the mind; it strengthens relationships and skills, motivates hard work and gives stability to every work. It suits bedroom, drawing room, tijori and heavy items, subject to Rahu-Ketu checks.