Vstu

The science of Vstuvidya

Arun Naik

Arun Naik belongs to an ancient tradition of Indian mystics and Vstu masters. He teaches and
practices Yogashstra, Vstushstra, Tantrashstra. He is a certified Sivananda Yoga Teacher,
a Vstu teacher and practitioner, a certified Pranic Healer and hypnotherapist. When he is not
designing Vstu based buildings or talking on the subject, he is found either conducting
motivational trainings programmes on Yoga of Works and Management, or travelling in some
inaccessible part of India to meet mystics and yogis.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few months ago, when I was visiting Ahmedabad, I got a call from Akshay Nagardas to visit
his ancestral house, an expansive haveli which was designed as per Vstushastra a few
decades ago. I have always liked that haveli for its grandiose and the intrinsic harmonic beauty
which is woven in the layout. As I was entering the home, I noticed that above the entrance
where once stood a statue of Ganapati was now a hanging grid of nine small pyramids. In the
baithak decorated with rich traditional Gujarati furniture and vessels, I noticed a golden three
legged Toad with a coin in its mouth, resting on a corner table. His sister Bhama had done a
hobby course in Vstu and Fengshui and had decided to replace Ganapatis statue with the
pyramids and put the Toad in the baithak to attract wealth.

We know that a 3-lgged toad is a popular Chinese symbol in Fengshui to attract wealth, but
what was a grid of nine pyramids doing above the door? I am sure Lord Ganapati must be quite
relieved to be replaced by the pyramids, after having spent all those years above the door
warding off dark forces!

Are we a desperate lot, seeking solutions to problems of life, believing every soothsayer who
promises us a patchup solution, caring little to understand their authenticity? Besides, the

presence of the Toad in the baithak also announced the arrival of The Dragon, if not challenging
our traditional beliefs, then most certainly pushing his way into our living spaces, exploiting our
gullibility of becoming rich overnight.

But there was an essential point which, like most of us, Bhama, had missed out. She had
perhaps not realized that from an Indian perspective a toad with a missing limb is an incomplete
form, and therefore ominous. How could it attract wealth? Indian philosophy aims at perfection
of body, mind and spirit. Vstushastra and its allied sciences strive for beauty and
completeness in life within us and also around us. It believes that what is complete in its nature
will also be rich and beautiful. Beauty is in perfection: perfection of works, perfection of form.
Laxmi, the goddess of wealth is depicted as a full bosomed lady in full bloom with appropriate
proportions, the presiding deity of Sri Yantra is a goddess of 16 years in her full youth, Ram,
Krishna, Arjun, Siva, are so complete as masculine, even the fearsome Kali and Bhairav have
an untamed grace and a laya in their ferocity.

And are we to replace the comeliness and resplendent beauty of Laxmi with an incomplete
handicapped amphibian? And what does one do to fight the global cloudburst of new age
religions, spiritual practices, fortune telling, healings, neo yoga, spiritual guides and masters, the
2012 prophesies? In this overwhelming deluge the very nature and spirit of Vstushastra is
being run over by a pseudo Vstu which is hybridized with corrective ideas taken from fengshui,
promoting the use of hanging coins, dragon images, fountains, toads, hanging crystals, et al. A
system of architecture is being turned into a farce.

This column will highlight the truth about Vstushastra and allied sciences so that we
understand them in their proper perspective and respect them for being what they are.

Vstushastra is neither a magical science, nor occult, or a corrective science. It should not be
mistaken to be a vidya which offers a solution to everyday problems of life, because there isnt
one.
Vstushastra is a science of designing spaces, the oldest and highest form of architecture
holistic, logical and very effective. Its principles were derived thousands of years ago and are
valid even today. It replicates in a structure the same harmony which exists in the cosmos and
keeps it going like a well oiled clockwork, which maintains the equilibrium of the planets and the

stars and sustain life on earth and take evolution forward. Nature is at peace with itself. Peace
does not mean inaction or laziness. Peace in this context means doing the most intense action
while remaining calm inside. Vstuvidya designs an Outer Space - a Bhyksh - which bring
calm and peace to the inner space of the dweller - to his Chidksh. When the Chidksh is
calm and at peace, the mind is calm, the intellect is sharp, the intuitive faculties perform better,
so one can studies better, sleep better, remain healthy, take appropriate decisions in business
and life, and grow richer financially and socially.

The highly potent vibrating energies of such

outer Space of his dwelling not only give him the Pranic strength to work more efficiently, but
also help to convert the work and the effort into fruitful results, enabling him to enjoy the fruits of
his efforts, look well after his dependents, make good money in life. And finally, an attuned
Bhyksh sows the seeds of spiritual purity in the Chidksh. It is a cyclic movement, leading
to material and spiritual prosperity, peace and happiness.

This is the real magic of

Vstushastra

The practice of Vstu, therefore, is about understanding the causal relationship between Energy
and Form, between the shape, size and directions, then to use mathematical calculations to
design spaces which have the vibrations of the required type either academic, commercial,
creative, research oriented, curative, judicial, governance, defensive, productive, industrial,
domestic etc.

A Vstu practitioner is a Bramha in its own way, for he is carving out living space out of
Emptiness.

That is a delicate and pious task, a job which needs special skill sets.

The

conditions for being a Vstu practitioner are tough. Besides knowing the nuances of the Vidy,
the person has to a sadhak, a spiritual aspirant who is also learned, humble, at peace with
himself, not greedy, benevolent, doing works and deeds of charity, travelling to holy
places/tirthas, having a complete clarity of thought, confident, in command of his surroundings,
a worshipper of the Divine.

There has been a renaissance of Vastushastra in the past decade or so, and it is not a
haphazard development, but because Nature has a bigger plan. The time has arrived when the
need for Vstushastra is growing more than ever before. Not just because the pressures at work
are increasing and to counter them we need a finely tuned home to go back to, but the larger
reason is that we are witnessing a great shift in human consciousness, as if a new dimension is
opening up. All the prophesies of annihilation of human species and doomsday have failed to

stop the human consciousness from taking the northward route. Humanity has today reached a
peak from where it is about to leap into the spaces of higher consciousness. It is on the
threshold of a spiritual awakening, of the beginning of a journey to understand who we really
are, and not to reinforce the artificial sense of a derived or adopted social identity. The whole
nature is under a cycle of evolution. With it comes an intrinsic need for a holistic system of
architecture of Vstushastra - which can create environments

where this intellect can

blossom, where we can act seated in consciousness and inner strength, where we are free
from all selfish and egoistic movements, where we care for each other and love becomes the
uniting thread for all humans.
We are the worlds oldest surviving repository of ancient wisdom, and we must also take the
initiative of utilizing this wisdom. Those who reckon Vstushastra in line with hindutwa and
bhagwa must grow out of the frigid mindset of blocking all that is good in the name of
secularism, rise above this nonsense and

pave way for incorporating Vstu principles in

planning townships, housing, universities and institutions of learning, public buildings.

Because sooner or later the rest of the world will do the same.

End