Vastu Purusha: The Fascinating Story

It all started when Lord Brahma created The Universe and was experimenting to make some creatures.

He thought that a” man” would be the best option for this and so he created a man.

But this was no ordinary man, he was huge and had enormous powers to grow.

Soon after his creation the man started growing.

As time passed, he became extremely huge and with his size, his hunger also increased.

He started to eat anything and everything that came his way.

In no time he became so big that his shadow had cast a permanent eclipse on earth.

This whole episode was enough for Gods (Shiva and Vishnu) to press the panic button.

They immediately rushed to God Brahma and requested him to stop the man from spreading chaos.

God Brahma understood that he has made a terrible mistake, and he needs to rectify it.

But the man was too powerful for God Brahma, hence he requested the Gods of eight directions (Astha Dikapalakas) to come and help him.

Upon hearing his request, Gods came for rescue, they grabbed the man and overpowered him.

They pinned the man against ground with his head in North-East and legs in South-West direction.

During all this event God Brahma jumped into the centre and held the man down.

Going through all this the “Man” started crying and asked God Brahma, “Why are you doing this to me?”,

“You have created me and now why this treatment is done to me?”

As soon as the “man” realized that he has been pinned down he started to cry and asked God Brahma “You created me, and now you are doing this treatment to me?

What’s my fault?”

Hearing his question God Brahma thought for a moment and answered “I know its not your fault, but you have become a threat to everyone.

I don’t want to destroy what I have created and hence you have to remain like this forever.”

“But what’s my benefit in all this?” the man asked.

Brahma said “I will make you immortal and all mortal people who build any sort of structure on earth will worship you.

You can tease, devour and trouble these people if they don’t worship you and don’t keep you happy.

You will be present in all the land, and you are from now onwards known as Vastu Purusha”.

To this deal, the man (oops Vastu Purusha) agreed and became an inseparable part of earth forever.

This was the interesting story about Vastu Purusha, but you might be wondering about Vastu Purusha Mandala?

From the story of Vastu Purusha you can recollect that Gods have pinned down Vastu Purusha to ground, hence the section of the ground where Vastu Purusha was pinned down is called as Vastu Purusha Mandala.

Since God Brahma said that Vastu Purusha will be worshiped all over earth hence any plot or land used for construction is automatically a Vastu Purusha Mandala.

You might have heard the saying “A picture is worth thousand words”, hence a better way of understanding Vastu Purusha Mandala is to have a look at the image below.

Vastu Purusha Mandala

Having seen the diagram, let’s start to understand what actually Vastu Purusha Mandala means and how can we keep Vastu Purusha happy at all times.

Vastu Purusha Mandala: Detailed Explanation

In the diagram we see Vastu Purusha pinned down facing earth with his head in the North-East direction and leg towards South-West direction.

It was a collective effort of 45 Gods (including Brahma) to pin Vastu Purusha down.

Imagine how powerful he was!

Vastu Purusha Mandala is divided into 9×9= 81 parts (as shown in the diagram), each part names the God holding Vastu Purusha down in respective part.

There are 32 Gods in outer part and 13 Gods in inner part.

This means that there is presence of different Gods in Vastu Purusha Mandala and each of these Gods rule different parts of a human life as per their qualities.

This is the reason why while making rooms in a home, we make sure not to offend any deity of that area.

Vastu Shastra lays guidelines and principles to keep all deities happy at all times.

Hence as per vastu shastra if any building is constructed as per Vastu Purusha Mandala then prosperity prevails in the building and inhabitants are always happy, healthy, wealthy and satisfied.

As humans, depending upon the time, we perform many functions throughout a day.

For example, we sleep at night, get-up in the morning, work in daytime and again go to sleep at night.

Also, we perform all these activities at different locations in a home or any other building, such as office, workshop etc.

We all know that we have 24 hours in a day due to rotation of earth on its axis and the position of sunlight changes constantly during 24 hours due to this rotation.

Depending upon the position of Sun in relation to earth during a 24 hour period, our ancient Sages structured various rooms of a home in such a way so that during anytime in a day, depending upon the location of work, humans get the best rays of sun on them.

Let’s understand the importance of location of rooms based on direction: -

North-East: In morning, from 3:00 am to 6:00 am, Sun is in the North-East part of house. This patch of time between 3:00 am to 6:00 am is called as Brahma Mahurat and is best for meditation, yoga, exercise or study. Hence North-East part of a home is best suited for a pooja/prayer room, living room or even study room.

East: The Sun remains from 6:00 am to 9:00 am in East portion of a home, this time is best to get ready for the day ahead and hence East is best suitable for a bathroom (only bathroom, not toilet). However, this portion can also be used for living room, unmarried children’s bedroom, guest bedroom, dining room, pooja room and even study room.

South-East: 9:00 am to 12:00 noon is the time when Sun is in the South-East part of home and this time is best for preparing food and going to job. Hence this location is best suited to place a kitchen, office or unmarried son’s bedroom in a home.

South: The time between 12 noon and 3:00 pm is time to work, during this time the Sun is in southern portion of a building and hence this location is good for office. In this portion, the intensity of sunlight is very high and hence South can also be used as a storeroom, staircase and even toilets.

South-West: Post lunch is the time to rest i.e. from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. During this time the sun is in South-West portion of a home and hence this location is best for master bedroom. Also, a staircase or strong room can be located here.

West: The time between 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm is best time to relax and dine. Thats why this is the best location to have dining room in a home. One can also use this portion to locate children’s bedroom, prayer room, study room or a staircase.

North-West: The time between 9:00 pm to 12:00 am is the time to relax and sleep. Hence this location is best suited for a bedroom. However, this portion can also be used as living room.

North: The time between 12:00 am and 3:00 am is the time of secrecy and darkness; hence this portion of home is best suitable for cash room or strong room. However, this portion is also used as living room or dining room.

I know, it would be difficult for you to remember each direction along with favourable rooms, but you can always look at the diagram (even print it) for a handy and detailed reference.