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After 1000 years of slavery and 50 years of freedom, with new fond passion
of VAASTU , it appears now that we may have another theme of liberation
which could be "VAASTU MATHRUM".
It is a matter pride for us that our ancient Indians were learned and
enlightened people, and they have bestowed upon us the ancient knowledge
of VAASTU and other occult sciences which are commonly known as Shastras.
Like may other ancient knowledge's of our ancient culture, VAASTU also has
remained a secret and through the journey of 1000 years of slavery, the
process of guru shishya education suffered set back and valuable knowledge
of our ancient culture has come to a stage of mere traditions and rituals
which are followed without understanding; whether it is marriage ceremony,
or Deepavali pooja or Griha pravesh.
VAASTU is currently a fad in high society, and it is surprising that
there are millions of educated "VAASTU IDIOTS" who seek VAASTU experts
through yellow pages, and self styled VAASTU experts advertise in the
classified columns of financial news papers offering guaranteed results
and financial gains in the name of modern PRACTICAL VAASTU. It shows that
even modern educated and learned people belonging to wealthy circles are
quite superstitious and they are blind faith and "Andh Vishwasi".
Here is the case of a rich man who bought a duplex apartment in a swanky
Malabar Hill building facing the Chowpatty sea-face in Mumbai. The
apartment was designed in such a way that the living room and the bedrooms
faced the sea towards the south, since VAASTU is a fad, sure enough the
VAASTU expert came, but a bit late via the yellow pages and as predicted
the VAASTU expert put his foot down and said this was sacrilege. So what
if the building was designed in such a way that it faced the sea view
towards the south? He asked. The south was an awful direction, he
declaimed, it was the place of Yama (the God of Death) and of Agni (Fire),
and the apartment would bring misery to its owner.
Having invested a lot of money in the purchase of apartment, now what?
Was there a way out? Yes, there was a way out. The apartment with a sea
view (a feature that attracts a premium in Mumbai) had to be altered,
ruled the VAASTU expert. He proceeded to bring the kitchen, the servant's
room and the internal staircase on the sea-facing side and shifted the
bedroom to the service lane. Yet, the owner was quite pleased with all
these alterations and said, "Never mind the view, as long as I can
maintain my wealth".
It is surprising that today the learned and the successful people lack
basic conviction of logical reasoning and fall prey to superstitions and
dictates of the unqualified, smart, self-styled experts in the name of
VAASTU.
I decried such blind superstition and wondered why nobody stopped to ask
some simple questions such as "Why is the south considered to be
inauspicious?"
As an avid reader and eager student of architecture, I went back to my
books, I came upon a map of ancient India tracing Indian civilization to
the Indus Valley about 5,000 years ago. When the Aryans came to the
country they traveled along Taxila to Harappa to Mohenjodaro and so on,
moving from a north-westerly to an easterly direction and going down to
the south.
It is worthwhile to note that, all the rivers flowed from north to south,
from the northern Himalayas down the slopes and into the ocean. When the
Aryans came (from the north-west) they settled on the western banks of
rivers. Since the rivers flowed from north to south, the new settlements
were located in such a way that they could draw water upstream from the
river. The water here was clean and potable. This was also the place where
they built their holy ghats and their temples. As the town expanded, the
sewage lines flowed downstream to the south. This was a natural, hygienic
facet of town-planning. As a result, the southern side of the town was
dirty and the unhygienic part of the city. It was also the southern part
of the town where the cremation ghats were located to ensure that the
ashes flowed downstream and away from the town. The dirty river water, by
process of aeration and exposure to the sun, became clean, clear and
potable about 100 miles downstream. And the next town was usually located
about 100 miles downstream from the earlier one.
Such an environmental aspect of ancient Indian town-planning has lead to
the myth that south belongs to the God of Death, and it is followed as
BLIND RITUAL in the name of VAASTU.
Going by this logic, the Taj Mahal Hotel and Gateway of India in Mumbai
being to the south of the city - would have been the location for the
city's cremation ghats and Kanyakumari down south of India, the monumental
place of Swami Vivekananda, should be the abode of "Yama", but this is not
the case.
Thus, it is clear that the "location" of the God of Death to the south is
a mere myth and there is no sense in blindly following all old rituals
without logical interpretation. "We are carrying our rituals too far
forwards".
There is another example of ritualistic approach of the modern VAASTU
Pandit, that south west side of the house or office should be heavier and
higher being good for the welfare and prosperity of the master, and
sometimes in the Office layout, part of the room is raised just by an inch
or so by use of little raised wooden floor, or thicker carpet just as a
ritual of VAASTU.
Nobody asks why south or south-west side should be higher and heavier,
and how does this brings prosperity to the master of the house hold?
Tracing back the history of living habits, and living environments, it
has been observed that due to social customs, and safety security of the
inmates of the family, houses were built inward or enclosed around walled
structures, mainly in southern states, and hot region like Rajasthan and
north west India. These houses were generally built with a courtyard which
served as a protected space for use of ladies, children and family
activities and house hold occupation, when the men folks were out of the
house for their work, or on long trading journeys. Since sunrise in the
north east side is at lower angle, the north east section of the house was
at low height to receive the comfortable morning sunlight into the
courtyard of the house. The south-west of the house was made higher so
that in the afternoon when it is hot, the higher portion of the south-west
corner of the house will cause shadow in the courtyard giving protection
from the hot sun for comfort and welfare of the inmates. Such an
architectural planning based on environmental aspects has been distorted,
by the modern VAASTU Pandit and hence the interior of an enclosed office
space or office floor, raised by couple of inches in the south-west corner
as specified by the VAASTU is nothing but a superstitious ritual in the
name of VAASTU.
We do realise that our ancient Indians were learned and enlightened
people and we must take advantage of inheritance of our ancient texts,
which come to us in the form of VEDAS, SHASTRAS and various other SUTRAS.
We must explore the mysteries and interpret logically our ancient
knowledge and rationalize the applications of ancient principles in the
present day context for the betterment of society.
What is VAASTU? Is it a Faith? but Faith is a product of imagination
rather than logical conclusion. Belief is a popular concept which is not
necessarily true. Since VAASTU cannot be believed without logical
reasoning, hence it cannot be termed as FAITH. Also since faith is a blind
phenomenon then there should be no further question and matters settles
itself that VAASTU is not a FAITH.
What next? Is VAASTU a science or (Vigyan)? Science is based on tested
truths and is built on proven facts. Some VAASTU experts advocate that
Science of VAASTU pertains to mystique of cosmic influence on humans and
their dwellings - but science does not consider natural causes without
explanation of phenomenon as science, and hence VAASTU cannot be
considered "Science as a Whole".
Most People refere VAASTU as a SHASTRA? Is VAASTU a SHASTRA?
Research of our ancient culture reveals that there were 4 vedas, 6
shastras, 18 puranas, 24 upanishads and VAASTU is not listed among any of
these compilations or listings, that means VAASTU is not among the listed
shastras. Perhaps it is the manipulation of the clever mind of the media
or the pandits who propagate VAASTU as Shastra to call themselves as
Shastri or VAASTU Shastri, perhaps to attach greater significance or value
addition to their qualification in the name of Shastra.
If VAASTU is neither a Shastra nor a faith, and not even science (Vigyan),
then what is it? It has to be some thing. Atleast it has to be either
VIGYAN or GYAN or some kind of knowledge. THE QUEST MAY END UP AT THE
STAGE OF GYAN - THAT MEANS COMPOSITE KNOWLEDGE. VAASTU is composite
knowledge of our ancient Indians, which was evolved during the process of
development of our ancient society.
Unfortunately our modern educated society is still under the influence of
western culture, and western media. Interpretations of our ancient culture
and our ancient sciences has been motivated by the objectives of profits
to be derived from the publications, and hence it is subject to saleable
interpretations by the manipulation of the clever mind of the western
media.
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