Light a lamp of pure coconut oil at the Bhrisha pad: if the devta is active it burns for a long time; if it goes out at once or the oil changes colour while burning, the devta is not active.
When bhog samagri is offered at a devta pad holding negativity, the defect tries to come out: tiles, plaster or ground may crack, or itching or heat appears in the body part linked to that devta.
Divide the 360 degrees around the centre of the house into 32 padas of 11.25 degrees each, one for each of the 32 guardian devtas of the outer ring, named E1 to E8, S1 to S8, W1 to W8 and N1 to N8. The pada in which the main door falls tells its result.
Chanting the Parjanya devta mantra on a silver or gold mala, facing East between 3:00 and 3:45 am, raises productivity and balances the energy of the pad.
Chanting the Shikhi devta mantra at its pad, facing East on a silver or gold mala in the devta's pre-dawn period, clears a blocked mind and brings vision and ideas. With aahuti the mantra ends in swaha.
Chant Om Bhaskaraya Namah from before sunrise until the Sun rises, sitting at the Surya pad or aligned towards it, to balance the fire element and Surya devta.
Parjanya, the cloud and rain devta (megh, badal) at E2 next to Shikhi, brings rain, productivity and fertility and fulfils plans and wishes like a kalpavriksha. It is the doctor of crops, people and animals.
E2 pad, 50.625 to 61.875 degrees from North, outer pishach bhoomi (North-East into East-North-East)
Shikhi, also called Shiva, is the first outer devta of the pishach bhoomi, at E1 near the North-East corner. A mahayogi and a highly sensitive maha-dowser, its pad reacts at once to anything done there; it governs vision, foresight and decisions.
E1 pad, 39.375 to 50.625 degrees from North, outer pishach bhoomi at the North-East corner
Bhrisha, the seventh devta of the East, is weighty and powerful with its own gravity; balanced, it awakens the nerves of the brain and raises thinking power, observation and one-pointed concentration, like a bird gazing fixedly at one point. Imbalanced, the mind gets confused, the nature turns dominating and kidney problems appear.
Pad E7 of the East side, 106.875 to 118.125 degrees (East-South-East zone)
Jayant, the third devta of the East (pad E3, in the outer paishachik ring), is the success-maker who completes any work by any means (saam, daam, dand, bhed) while following dharma, and converts knowledge into wealth. Its door is called the vipul sampada (abundant wealth) door because the grace of the Moon on this pad is very strong.
Pad E3 of the East side, 61.875 to 73.125 degrees (East-North-East zone), in the outer paishachik ring
Mahendra (Indra), the fourth devta of the East, is the king, sustainer and administrator who brings the energy of the planets, Sun, Moon and 27 nakshatras to earth and spreads it evenly through the house. It gives control over the mind and senses, right decisions, government support, contacts, name and fame.
Pad E4 of the East side, 73.125 to 84.375 degrees (East-North-East and East zones)
Satya, the sixth devta of the East, is the son of Dharma and stands for truth, goodwill and justice; like a village panchayat whose members speak the truth, it gives fair decisions. Balanced, it makes a person a good judge and advisor; imbalanced, lies spread through the house and honour is lost.
Pad E6 of the East side, the 11.25 degrees after Surya, 95.625 to 106.875 degrees (East and East-South-East zones)
Surya, the fifth devta at the centre of the East, lights the three worlds, destroys darkness and negativity, gives energy to all planets and never misses its time. Balanced, it gives fearlessness, good decisions, speaking power, fame, leadership, government support and perfect time management.
Pad E5, the centre of the East, 84.375 to 95.625 degrees (East zone)
Gandharva nagar are clouds that form shapes like cities and palaces; Parjanya devta is contained in them, and their colour and form foretell what is coming for the world.
A plot or factory map is divided into pishach, manushya, dev and brahma bhoomi. An important machine started on pishach bhoomi never runs properly, while shifting it slightly onto manushya bhoomi makes it work.
Every plot is divided into pads (sections) according to its use: 81 pads for a residence, 64 pads for a temple or religious place, and a separate layout for a town. Directions are further divided into 16 and 32 parts, down to 11.25 degrees, on which the 45 Vastu devtas are marked.
Every house, however small, carries the Vastu Purush's eyes, nose, ears, hands, feet, heart, navel and other parts, including the marma and ati-marma (vital) points. A column, pit or stud on these points harms the occupants, just as a speck of dust in the eye or an injury to a vital organ harms the body.
Marma and ati-marma points of the Vastu Purush on the plan
During the battle with Andhakasur a drop of sweat fell to the earth and produced a being whose rampage made the earth shake. Brahma had him lie face down and promised that he would be worshipped with offerings and that not an inch of land would be built on without remembering him.
The outermost band of a plot, the pishach bhoomi, is the seat of the 32 lokpals and bears the noise of the road. It is where the boundary wall and its gate, servant quarters, guards and pets belong, where flags are hoisted and where shilanyas (foundation stone laying) is done.
Outermost band (pishach veethi) of the plot, along the boundary
Pad vinyas divides a plot into equal squares (padas) occupied by the vastu devtas, and the number of padas depends on what is being built: 49 for reconstruction, 64 for towns and certain temples, 81 for houses and cowsheds, 100 for all temples, and up to 1000 for a fort.
In the 81 pad grid the exact cardinal points fall on the fifth pad of each side: North on Soma (N5), East on Surya (E5), South on Yama (S5) and West on Varun (W5). In the 64 pad temple grid they fall between the fourth and fifth padas, so using it for a house shifts every door position.
The 81 pad grid, used for any house, factory, business or office, has 32 devtas (the 32 digpal) seated around its outer ring in the pishach bhoomi. One round covers 360 degrees, so each outer pad covers 360 divided by 32, that is 11.25 degrees, and half a pad 5.625 degrees.
The colours shown for each zone on the shakti chakra are the colours of its devtas, not of the element, and are not meant for painting; the air element of the North-West has both green and blue as its colours.
Both grids hold the same 45 vastu devtas, but the 81-pada mandala is used for homes and business premises while the 64-pada mandala is used for temples, villages, palaces (raj mandir), towns and city gates.
Homes and businesses (81 pada); temples, villages, palaces, towns and city gates (64 pada)
When only part of a plot is built and land is left open around it, the 45 devtas are allocated on the whole plot from its centre. The open land becomes a large pishach bhoomi where the 32 outer devtas spread out happily, and the inner devtas get cross ventilation from all sides.
During Shiva's battle with Andhakasura a drop of his sweat produced a starving mahabhoot; devas and asuras laid him face down and 45 devtas sat on him, creating 45 places with separate functions on every plot. Brahma made him his manas putra and promised that whoever occupies land would remember and feed him.
The biggest pooja, havan and sthapana of the 45 devtas should be done at garbh vinyas or shilanyas, while the devtas are on open ground and can receive their samagri at their own pads; the building is then raised over them.
A doctor's chamber is the best use of the Parjanya pad, and a conference room, a bedroom for peace and deep sleep, or a bath (yog snan) also suit it. A toilet or a main door here causes delays and female dominance.
In which direction should the ghat diya method be done?
Do not think of it as a lamp burning for 24 hours in the Agneya (South-East). Use a small diya and place it in the Ishaan (North-East), because the devtas seated in the Ishaan, such as Shikhi, help a great deal.
What should be done if the shilanyas (foundation stone) has been laid in the wrong direction?
Fix a fresh auspicious muhurta for shilanyas, dissolve (khandit) the earlier one, and perform it again in the new muhurta. It is dissolved the way an installed kalash is removed: by addressing the devtas who supported the earlier shilanyas with a request about it.
A pad is one of the equal sections into which a plot is divided. For 81 pad vastu a house, for example 90 by 90 ft, is divided into 9 by 9 equal sections and each section is one pad; the larger grids, such as the 1000 pad grid, divide the plot into many more equal sections. Some areas such as the Brahmasthan cover several padas together even if the drawing does not show their inner divisions.
In 81 pad vastu, which devtas fall in the North and North-East zones?
Exact North falls on Soma (N5), with Bhallat at N4. The North zone is made of half of Bhallat (5.625 degrees), the full Soma (11.25 degrees) and half of Bhujang (5.625 degrees); North falling between Bhallat and Soma belongs to the 64 pad grid. The North-East zone is half of Diti (5.625 degrees), the full Shikhi (11.25 degrees) and half of Parjanya (5.625 degrees).
I learned elsewhere that in 81 pad vastu the East falls between E4 and E5. Is that right?
No. In 81 pad vastu exact East falls on E5 (Surya); East between E4 and E5 belongs to the 64 pad grid, so correct it. The reference is in Vishwakarma Prakash, with the page number given in the previous class; the Hindi translation from Sanskrit by Krishna Kumar Jugnu of Udaipur and the edition of Maharshi Abhay Katyayan give the same.
The North-West was given green as its colour, but the shakti chakra shows it in blue. Why?
The colour on the chakra is the colour of the devta of that zone, not of the element; the North devtas are shown in red, for example, which is not a colour to paint there. The air element has both green and blue as its colours.
How are the 64 pad grid and the padas of each devta worked out?
Every pad grid divides the plot into equal sections, for example 81 equal sections for the 81 pad grid; the number of padas each devta occupies is then assigned within that grid. Drawing the devtas by hand will be taught practically in the 81 pad class.
Is there any length to width criterion for the centre, for example in a 250 x 50 feet plot?
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.
Is there any AutoCAD software for marking the marma points?
No special software is needed. Draw the chakra and devta lines once in AutoCAD as short reference lines; for every new map just align them and join the lines, which takes about a minute.
If bhoomi vibhajan is not done in a flat, is devta marking still done, given that the 32 devtas lie in the Pishach bhoomi?
Yes. Devta marking is done in a flat exactly as usual, also to judge the main door location. What does not apply is the rule of leaving the Pishach bhoomi empty: inside a flat the corners and side spaces can be used.