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AUGUST, 1876.]
SILPA SASTRA.
"Knowing all that is necessary about Vasthû, if one does not construct his house accordingly, his substance shall be consumed, he shall lose his life, the goddess of misfortune shall be with him, his women shall waste away, and the designer of his house shall perish by disease."
Having ascertained all that is necessary about Vasthu, we still have much to do before ascertaining the site for the contemplated house. We must ascertain the earth upon which to build. The rule is as follows:
Sweet earth is for Brahmans, Bitter earth for Kshatriyas, Sour earth for Vaisyas, Pungent earth for Sudras.
"Upon earth that smells like curdled milk, like clarified butter, honey, blood, hair, fish, birds, or buttermilk, sow no grain, for it will yield nothing, neither upon such land erect a house."
As correct time is a very necessary matter in this science, the author gives directions for the construction of sundials, but the preliminaries are many. He directs as follows:
"First determine the auspicious day; then the northern solstice, the right ascension of the rising point, or the arc of the equator that passes the horizon with each sign of the ecliptic, and the star or constellation at the time.
"Dials made of elephants' tusks are proper for Kshatriyas, of blackwood for Brahmans, and of heart of tamarind for others."
When the sun has passed the meridian, the position must be altered accordingly.
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Rule II.
Take a straw eleven fingers in length, place it on the ground, bend it, raising one part to serve as a gnomon, the gnomon being erected against the sun, east or west of the meridian. The height of the gnomon is found by raising the end of
the bent portion no higher than suffices exactly to throw its shadow to the extreme point of the recumbent portion of the remainder of the straw. The gnomon so found gives the time of day. Ascertain how many fingers it contains: the sum is the time in Indian hours.
N.B.-If the time is taken before twelve o'clock, the sum shows the number of Indian hours since sunrise; if after twelve o'clock, the sum denotes the number of Indian hours to sunset.
"Omens" are largely used in this Śâstra: thus, on your way to select a site
"Should a person with a broad head, or a bald head, should a snake, a sanyasi, a single Brâhman, a woman with no breasts, a new pot, a person without a nose, a bundle of firewood, a sick person, a barber, a blind person, an oilmerchant, should these or any of them meet you, it is an omen of evil."
"Should the architect, or the master about to build the house, meet a young handsome virgin, the sign is most auspicious."
Here, though not in the order of the book, we may give two very simple methods for ascertaining the time of day before the sun has reached the meridian :
Rule I.
Before commencing a building or wedding Stand with the sun to your right, join your pandál, a ceremony termed múkúrthan, or the fixhands horizontally-reject the thumbs-erecting the auspicious hour, is performed in a small the index-finger from the middle.-If the shadow hole or pit in the ground, and to the omens of the erect finger extends to the outer edge of that may be obtained in this hole or pit much the finger next adjacent to the index finger of importance is attached :the left hand-it denotes 48 minutes past sunrise, and so on.
"If a black ant, a scorpion, a white ant, a red ant, or a hair be seen in the pit, the house built on such a site shall be consumed by fire.
"If a bit of gold, a frog, a cow's horn, grains of any kind, a brick, or a bit of silver be seen in the pit, all happiness, prosperity, and pleasure, together with long life and boundless wealth, shall ever be found in the dwelling erected on such a site."
There are also omens obtained from flowers :
Omens are ascertained also by cocoanuts, and this form appears to be in great demand:
"If the crown of the cocoanut is large, and the opposite side small, this denotes wealth (in the proposed house); if on throwing it upward three parts fall on the head, and two on the foot, this denotes joy; if it break in pieces of five twos and five threes, this also denotes wealth; if a piece is attached to the inner fibre, this denotes long life; if it is dashed to pieces, diamonds will be discovered; if it fall splitting in the middle, great affliction will befall the householder."
