Vastu Chintamani (Based on Lectures of Arya Bhushan Shukla)

About the Author Shri Navneet Kaushik is an Ex IRSSE officer on Indian Railways. He is the Honarary Additional Controller of Examinations of Indian Council of Astrological Sciences (ICAS) . He teaches Vastu and Jyotisha in ICAS - Secunderabad Chapter. Earlier he taught in Delhi Chapters.

He has been studying Vastu and Astrology under Shri Shukla for more than 20 years.

He has been awarded with Jyotish Kovid, Vachaspati, Kalamani & Brihadacharya by ICAS.

Foreword My astrologer friends and I have been taking classes in ICAS for the past 25 to 30 years and have been teaching various subjects of astrology to the inquisitive students. The exchange of astrological knowledge has been continuing unabated. Strange things happen in the journey of teaching. The one, who teaches, due to his age and experience, keeps progressing to the various levels of teacher (shikshak, acharya or pracharya) but the reason for his progress, the student, always remains a shishya, as if no progress has happened in him. But it's not true. Guru's grace can be measured by the number and quality of students he has taught. I can say this with pride today that due to my student Navneet Kaushik, I have been able to repay some of the debt I owe to my organisation.

I have always wished that whatever little I have learnt from my gurus, I should be able to share that with my students. That's not quite possible without a book. Navneet has not only written and presented my lectures in this book beautifully; he has also added his own experience. Had I attempted to write a book, it would have been completed in a few pages but Navneet has presented the lucid explanations of the Vastu principles and converted a simple book into a Grantha. This effort of his deserves huge admiration.

Being the President of ICAS, it is my duty to write foreword and present the complete deliberation on the work of Navneet. It is generally believed that Religion and Science are two totally different things. Their bases and beliefs too do not match; however one thing is common that both try to answer 'why'. Both streams attempt to give liberty to man to decide 'when', 'what' and 'how'. It is correct that once we get the answer for 'why' it becomes easy to choose between the various options available.

Navneet Kaushik through Vastu Chintarnani has tried to answer most of the 'why' so that Vastu experts have freedom to choose between various options. Most of the books do speak about location of activity centres within the house but do not explain the reason behind locating them at those places. Even in famous Vastu classics, like Vishwakarma Prakash, Samarangan Sutradhar etc., we find the principles but 'why' remains missing. It is therefore essential that we tell the reasons behind the principles to the new generation of Vastu students.

In this book, attempt has been made right from the beginning to explain the rationale behind every principle. For example Vastu gives lot of emphasis to Dwar vedha but it will not be applicable to a house located on higher Floor. Similarly there should not be in North or East directions such plants that over a period of time grow into huge size creating vastu defect.

Preface Vastu Chintamani is my humble offering to the lovers of the Science of Indian Architecture. It provides a basic introduction to the core principles of building construction.

It is not sufficient to remember the principles of Vastu if the rationale behind them is not understood. In every construction, a different situation might arise which may not be covered in the book. At such a juncture, unless the invisible reasons behind the principles are known, the decision in regard to new situation cannot be taken. This is an attempt in the direction to equip the reader to handle any kind of situation.

This is a book of basics as it attempts to explain the rationale of the Vastu principles behind every building. It is neither too detailed a text nor just an enumeration of the laws of Vastu Sastra. Rather it draws attention to some of the indispensable features which have their roots in the sacred scriptures like Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads and Srimadbhagavad Gita.

The book also emphasizes the paramount need of harmony between nature and living. It also presents how the Vastu principles are developed over the foundation of nature and its forces. Once these basic principles are understood, one can modify them based on Desh, Kaal and Patra' (region, time and nativity).

Vastu Chintamani is primarily aimed for the students of ICAS for their Vastu Praveena and Vastu Acharya exams. The book is structured according to the syllabus prescribed by ICAS; however, the style and content of the book is such that others can also benefit.

This book is a compilation of thoughts and knowledge received by me from my revered Guru Shri A B Shukla, Hon. National President of Indian Council of Astrological Sciences (Regd.). I have collected these thoughts of Shri Shukla from his lectures, class notes, private discussions and the classical literature he suggested me to refer.

I started writing this book by repeating Shri guru charan saroj raj, nij man mukur sudhari (Tulasidas). I have tried to gather the beautiful pearls of wisdom that flowed from Shri Shuklaji's teachings and make a garland out of it. Needless to say, if there are any unwanted pearls in this garland, they are purely because of my limitations. This is the third edition of the book (first one was in English in 2017, second in Hindi in 2018). This book has more information compared to earlier editions. I beg pardon from the learned readers for the mistakes that I might have committed due to my ignorance and may not have presented my Guru's thoughts properly.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages