clarification from Shyamasundara Prabhu on vastu

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My dear Goloka Candra Prabhu,

 

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

 

>

> > > if not south or west, but avoid north, and similar in sleeping, by the

> > > way.

>

> For sleeping yes, but avoid the north for auspicious/spiritual

> activities???

>

> Unless some written evidence is given, it is difficult to accept that this

> came from Srila Praphupada. Especially when this Vastu fundamental is

> already well-known to the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. I was informed that many of

> the Gaudiya temples in East India are facing either the east or the north.

> It's not by accident. Unless somebody can present some hard quotes,

> consider the possibility that Srila Prabhupada is again being misquoted

> here as in the last text (although the moderator has not posted our reply

> to the conference).

>

> Srila Prabhupada said everything is there in his law books. True enough,

> even Vastu principles are there. I did a quick check on Folios to find out

> whether Srila Prabhupada wrote anything about facing the North. He did.

> And what he wrote is perfectly in line with Vastu and other sastras and

> the opposite of what Tejyas prabhu and Shyamasundara prabhu portrayed him

 

In the quotation that BVKS gave of **my** opinion of Vastu (found below) had

nothing to do with Srila Prabhupada's views on Vastu but were my personal

opinions based on my own study of Vastu (I have a small library of titles

starting from "Maya Matam" onwards).

 

Nor have I said that Vastu should not be followed, rather I said it was a

good addition to a positive lifestyle for an individual.

 

Nor did I say that Srila Prabhupada was unaware of Vastu or that he was

against Vastu. Srila Prabhupada was certainly aware of at least the basics

of Vastu as would be any learned Brahmana. How can one who is knowledgable

of sastras not be aware of Vastu as the principles are sprinkled everywhere.

For example in Manu Samhita we are told that we should stand facing East for

the morning and noon sandhyavandanam but sit facing West for the evening

sandhyavandanam. And in the directions for chanting the Narayana Kavaca were

are also told to face north.

 

I made no mention of temple construction or city planning. Certainly temples

should be designed according to Vastu as should towns and homes. We read in

the Valmiki Ramayana that Lord Rama even laid out His simple cottage

according to Vastu principles.

 

My comments to BVKS were general but especially in regards to individual

persons. Maharaja had mentioned how some people on the advice of some

dubious Vastu expert will spend lots of money to block off a window or

relocate a door, without knowing if it will even have a positive effect

which they could check via Prasna sastra. Such persons are simply being

cheated.

 

I did say that many of the claims made today by many purveyors of Vastu are

grossly exagerated and I stand by that. So my comments were in regard to

beginners in the study of Vastu claiming to be experts and wrongly advising

people to foolishly spend money that would have been better spent

subsidizing the distribution of Bhagavad Gitas. For a mere $500-1000 you can

now take a short course and graduate with a certificate as a Vastu

consultant.

 

Regarding directions that deities should face in a temple I asked this

question sometime ago to a friend of mine, Niranjan Babu, son of the late BV

Raman the doyen of astrology. It was because of Niranjan Babu's own interest

in Vastu that his father organized a symposium on the subject in the mid

90s. As a result there has been an explosion of interest in Vastu with a

resulting glut of Vastu "experts" of varying quality. As one pandita

recently commented, "it takes about 20 years of solid study, practice and

experience to really know Vastu most of the Vastu experts out there are

cheaters."

 

Niranjana Babu is one of the few actually qualified Vastu experts out there

and he has just published a book on Vastu for Temples called "Devalaya

Vastu." Niranjana Babu is humble enough to admit that he is not nearly on

the level of Vastu scholars like Ganapaty Stapathi of Chennai. Here is

Niranjan Babu's letter to me:

 

 

Niranjan Babu Bangalore

Monday, February 02, 2004 8:16 AM

Shyamasundara Dasa

Temple Orientation

 

 

Dear Mr. Dasa,

 

Namaste.

 

Regarding temple orientation:

 

Primarily every structure, whether a temple or a human habitation, was

oriented to the cardinal directions and never to the angular directions.

General guidelines advise us that temple deities may orient to the east.

However the classical treatises do not prohibit orientation of dieties to

any particular direction. The orientation is also based on the principal

dedication of the deity. For instance Dakshinamurthy, a manifestation of

Lord Shiva may face South. Janardhana, a manifestation of Lord Vishnu may

face North. Many Devi temples also face north. Temples are also referred to

as Tirthasthala in that they face the ponds or rivers of the area. For this

reason they may face west.

 

When it comes to human habitations, the northeast of the structure is

referred to as Devamoola or Eashanya. A prayer room or meditation hall in

this corner is advised. Here the orientation for the residents is important

and they generally are advised to face east, the direction of the rising Sun

(bestower of health) which means the main deity will be facing the west.

However if the room is placed in the center of the structure, the deity can

face east. The reasons can be galore with reference to the various energies

- physical and metaphysical. Perhaps the ancients considered solar energies

when speaking of east-west orientation, perhaps they considered magnetic

energies when speaking of north-south orientation and perhaps they

considered gravitational energies when speaking of identifying a temple in

the center of an area.

 

My book on Devalaya Vastu is almost ready and will go to the publisher very

shortly. By the way have you read any of my books. Two more books, one in

Kannada and the other in English titled Vastu - Directional Influences on

Human Affairs are in print.

 

How are your activities going on? As a very serious student of Sthapatya

Veda, I am interested in big projects like creation of temples,

sub-divisions, etc.

 

Regards,

Niranjan Babu BangaloreCEO & Publisher: The Astrological Magazine

Consultant: Vastu — Ancient Science of Indian Architecture

 

<end quote>

 

 

The original statement I made that was quoted by BVKS.

 

-------------

 

Re vastu, consider 26 Second Avenue. Many before and after lived there who

did nothing big but Srila Prabhupada started ISKCON from it.

 

While good Vastu is a plus, a part of a healthy lifestyle, it doesn't

supercede a person's free will or destiny. If a person has a daridra yoga

then Vastu will not give him Dhana yoga.

 

In the military it is strategic to choose favorable ground in order to have

a good outcome but it is not sufficient. You could have a very favorable

position but if deficient in some other way you will still lose. Whereas

many very skilled tacticians have won decisive battles even when the ground

was not in their favor. In fact Alexander the Great purposely chose to fight

in some battles like Granicus where the ground was totally against him

(charging across a river and up a steep embankment to fight an enemy that

was 3 times bigger) simply to show the superiority of his troops and win.

This had a devastating effect on the Persians. They had superior numbers and

superior position but were still butchered.

 

So in comparison to Vastu a good man will do well no matter what the Vastu

is and vice versa. Vastu is more like dessert than the main course but it is

advertised as the main course. Its importance has been extremely

exaggerated.

------------

 

I hope it is now clear that I am not aginst Vastu or that I have said that

Srila Prabhupada was against it. What I am against are the cheaters posing

as Vastu experts who rob credulous people by making exagerated claims about

the benefits of Vastu.

 

 

Yours in the service of my eternal spritual master Srila Prabhupada

 

Shyamasundara Dasa

 

www.ShyamasundaraDasa.com