astrovastu

star and trres


zodiac is the band in the sky within which the planets wander. This is divided into 360 dgrees. There are12 zodiac signs and therefore, each zodiac sign (rashi) occupies 30 degrees. Concurrently there are 27 nakshatras and therefore each zodiac sign carries 2 1/4 nakshatras.

Hindu astrology is based on 12 zodiac signs, 9 planets (grahas) and 27 nakshtras. There is ascendant or lagna which in simplest words is the constelllation in which the sun is sitting at the time of birth of the person. Mapping of sky at the time of the birth is the first step of Hindu astrology. A jataka can be born with any of the 12 constellations in the ascendant, and the same way for nakshatras.

Nakshatras occupy only a marginal place in in the astrogical interpretation. Probably nakshatras should be employed more often in jyotish than they are today. In short, when nakshatras are well placed they display their positive indications and when afflicted, their negative indications can be displayed.

But all this introduction I have made to lead you on to NAKSHATRAVAN. Each nakshatra is suppposed to have a tree of its own, and it is believed the tree of nakshatra in which the person is born gives strength to him. I don't say that it should be believed, or for that matter astrology as such, but nakshatra van is an attractive idea and a way to encourage growing trees.

Several temples in the South India have developed gaardens with nakshatra trees. M. Sundararaman writes that Meenakshi temple at Madurai, Parthasarathi temple at Thiruvallikkeni, Chennai, Shankarnarainan Koil have edveloped gardens with nakshatra vanas. In addition, Bangalore Vidhan Soudha garden and Jharkhand Secretariat garden have also developed nakshatra vanas.

Which are the 27 trees? I took some time to search for the trees. There was some readymade material in indiantreepix website, and I matched the botanical and common names in Hindi and Tamil (which I got forom the beginning). I hope the list is correct. Comments are welcome.

I have also collected some photographs of the trees which I am sure people would find useful if they decide to develop such nakshatra van during the coming rainy season.

1 ASHWINI Strychnine Etti….. ?..... Nux vomica
2 BHARANI Indian Gooseberry PeruNelli…..Aonla….. Phyllanthus emblica
3 KRITTIKA Country Fig Aththi….Gullar…..ficus racemosa
4 ROHINI Jamun Naaval…..Jamun…..Syzigium cumini
5 MRIGASHIRSA Milmesha (or, Acacia catechu) Karungal (or, Khair/ Kattha**)
6.ARDRA Long pepper...Thippilli.....Piplamul....Piper longum
7 PUNARVASU Bamboosa Moongil.....Baans....Bamboo
8 PUSHYA Peepul Arasamaram…..Peepal…..Ficus religiosa
9 ASHLESHA Alexandrian Laurel Punnai....Sultana Champa....Calophyllum inopyllum
10 MAGHA Banyan Aalamaram….bargad…..Ficus bengalensis
11 POORVAPHALGUNI Flame of the Forest Palasu…Palalsh, Kinshuk…Butea monosperma
12 UTTARAPHALGUNI Rose Laurel Arali……Kanail....Nerium Oleander
13 HASTA Hog Plum Kaattuma………Amda…..Spondias pinnate
14 CHITRA Bengal Quince Vilvam…..Barna….Crataeva adansonii subsp. Odora (garlic pear)
15 SWATI Queen's Flower Marutham…..Jarul…..Lagerstroemia speciosa
16 VISHAKHA Wood Apple Vila….Kaith…..Limonia acidissima
17 ANURADHA Mimusops Maghizham….Maulshree…..Mimusops elengi
18 JYESHTHA Stunted Jack Kuttipala…..?.....Pinus Banksiana
19 MOOLA Hardwickia Acha…..Anjan…..Hardwickia binate
20 POORVASHADHA Tinospora Vanchikkodi…..giloya, guduchi, amrita.....Tinospora Cordifolia
21 UTTARASHADHA Jack Fruit Pala…..Kathal…..Artocarpus heterophyllus
22 SRAVANA Swallow Wort Erukku…..Madar, Ark...
23 DHANISHTHA Indian Mesquit Vanni…..vilayti kikar…..Prosopis juliflora
24 SHATABHISHA Indian Oak Kadambu…..Kadamba…..Neolamarckia cadamba
25 POORVABHADRAAPADAI Mango Maamaram…..Aam…..Mangifera indica
26 UTTARBHADRAPADA Neem Vembu…..neem…..Azadirachta indica
27 REVATI Maduca luppai…..Mahua…..Madhuca indica


Nakshatra Shaanti
According to astrological classical books every constellation is associated with certain plant or a tree. One can easily perform the propitiation of constellation called Nakshatra Shaanti by worshipping the associated tree.Following are the trees associated with each nakshataras

1) Ashwini-Vishmushti(Nux vomica)

2) Bharini- Amla

3) Kritika-Gullar

4) Rohini-Jamun

5) Mrigshira-Ber

6) Ardra-Baheda

7) Punarvasu-bamboo

8) Pushya-Peepal

9) Ashlesha-Nag Kesar

10) Magha-Vat

11) Porva Phalguni-Palaash

12) Uttar Phalguni-Pakar

13) Hasta-Reetha

14) Chitra-Coconut

15) Swati-Arjun/Jarul

16) Vishakha- Kaith

17) Anuradha- Maulsari

18) Jyeshtha-Devdaar

19) Moola-Anjan

20) Poorva aashada-Giloi

21) Uttara Aashada-phalsa

22) Shravana-Ark

23) Dhanishtha- Shami

24) Shatbhisha-Kadamba

25) Poorva bhadrapad-Aam(Mango)

26) Uttar Bhadrapad-Neem

27) Revati-Mahua





WHAT TREES SHOULD BE PLANTED IN THE HOUSE GARDEN ACCORDING TO VASTU SHASTRA?
Some of the auspicious trees according to Vastu, that are good for the inmates are described below along with their usefulness:
PEEPAL TREE - It is also known as the Aswatha tree. Scientists have found that oxygen is produced in large amounts by the leaves of this tree and it is found in high concentration under the branches, probably due to the thick foliage. Hence it is considered very healthy to circumambulate this tree in the morning. Probably it is for this reason that it is considered a sacred tree and is worshiped in India. It is usually found near temples or temples are erected near Peepal trees. It has a very long life and can survive for centuries. It is prohibited from being cut. However, it is not suitable near a house, since it has far spreading roots which can affect the foundation of the building.

NEEM TREE - This tree has great medicinal value and its extract is used in pesticides. Its twigs are used to brush teeth and neem oil is used in physiotherapy. Since neem leaves are very bitter, a mixture of neem leaves, tender green mango and jaggery is eaten on Ugadi or the New Year in South India, as a symbolic gesture, that one is prepared to face the sweet, sour and bitter experiences of the coming year with equanimity. Therefore, this is a good tree to have in a house garden.

MANGO TREE – Most parts of the mango tree have medicinal value. It’s leaves are used as a pesticide, and its twigs are used for brushing teeth. Its leaves are used for puja purposes. It is considered very auspicious if the dead are cremated using ma ngo tree fire-wood. Then of course, mango fruit is the king among fruits and very tasty. The raw mangoes are used for making pickles and as a vegetable. Mango trees also have a very long life and can survive for 400-500 years. Obviously, this is also a very useful tree to have in your garden.

JACK-FRUIT TREE - Like the ‘mango tree, the jack-fruit tree also produces very tasty, seasonal, fruit in large numbers. The yellow juicy kernels inside the jackfruit are used to make different types of sweets and halvas. The raw fruit kernels are cut into strips and made into tasty jackfruit chips, a speciality of Kerala. The Jack-fruit’s seeds are also nutritious and are used like a vegetable in South India. The beautiful yellow coloured wood from this tree is used to make furniture, doors, windows etc. Its leaves are considered auspicious and are used for puja. Therefore, it is useful and can be planted in your garden.

BANANA TREE – The tender saplings of the banana tree are used for decorating doors of houses, pandals etc, during functions and festivals as they are symbols o f prosperity and wealth. . Almost every part of the plant has some sort of economic or medicinal use. Bananas are available through the year and are very nutritious. Banana fruit is the best source for instant energy and are rich in potassium. Raw bananas are cooked and eaten like a vegetable. Banana leaves are used for eating traditional meals as they can be used and thrown and so are considered hygienic. The skin of the fruit is used in dyeing. The sap contains tannin and is used as marking ink. From the dried leaf stalks, fibres can be made and they can form a sound kind of string and are also used for tying fences, etc. A lot of illnesses can be treated with concoctions made from the roots, stem, flowers, and leaves of the tree. As far as usefulness is concerned, only one other plant can compete with the `Banana Tree` and that is the coconut. So this is a must-have in your garden.

COCONUT TREE - Every part of this tree is useful. The tender coconut water is a very healthy, cool, low fat drink. The coconut flesh is used in South Indian cooking in large amounts and gives it a distinctive flavour. The oil extracted from coconut is used in cooking as well as a hair oil. Coir is a very useful by-product which is used in making mats, carpets etc. The leaves of the coconut tree are weaved and used as roofing for huts by the poor. Its dry leaves are also used as fire-wood. It has a long life of about 100-150 years and is prohibited from being cut. Due to its usefulness it is considered a sacred tree. Hence it is considered a must, in every one’s garden.

SANDAL WOOD TREE- Sandal wood is very expensive as it is used to make exquisite handicrafts, and its oil is very fragrant. Sandalwood paste when applied on the forehead, cools the head, and so is used in temples and in hot places like Kerala. The sandalwood is used to make incence sticks. It is very rare to find sandalwood trees and hence there have been so many instances of robbers cutting down trees in the middle of the night, if found in any house compound. If you like this fragrant tre, it is a good idea to try and grow one- but you may need to secure it!

ACCORDING TO VASTU SHASTRA, WHERE SHOULD THE TREES BE PLANTED IN THE PLOT?
Smaller shrubs- may be planted on the East or North sides, but no trees should be planted in the North-East corner as they block the useful morning sun rays.

Tall trees- like Coconut can be planted in the South-West, West sides but should should not be too close to a building as they block the sunlight completely. A tree should be planted such that it’s shadow should not fall on the house, at least between 9.A.M to 3P.M.

Large trees- like Peepal, Banyan should not be located too near the house as their roots can damage the foundation and compound wall. Also, the large trees absorb most of the sunlight, meaning these positive rays will not be received by the building.

Good trees- that can be planted in a house compound are useful trees like coconut, neem, betel, sandalwood, lemon, pineapple, bilva, almond, jackfruit, pomegranate, mango, amla, and katha.

Trees with insects, worms, honey bees, bumble bee, owls, serpents, should be avoided for obvious reasons.

If a tree must be removed because it is inauspicious or for other reasons, the day before cutting the tree, one should express regret to the tree, and it must be removed from its rooting. A new tree should be planted in its place within the next three months. This is a way of conserving nature.

ACCORDING TO VASTU SHASTRA, WHICH PLANTS ARE TO BE GROWN IN THE HOUSE GARDEN?

TULASI (BASIL) - It is also known as holy Basil and it is always good to grow a Tulasi plant on one’s property. Tulasi should be located on the North, North-East, or East sides of the house, or in front of the house. Tulasi is a medicinal plant and is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicines. It purifies the blood and improves the digestive system. It is believed to be useful in treating many types of diseases. Hence it is recommended to eat a few leaves every day. Its probably for this reason, that it is considered a sacred plant and used in daily worship.

JASMINE - In general, plants with sweet smelling flowers like jasmine, red lotus, blue lotus etc are good in the house compound as they give out a pleasant perfume, and can also be used in daily worship. Flowers like the Jasmine are stringed together and used as a decoration on the hair by Indian ladies. Moreover, as these flowers are produced round the year, they are always available.

THORNY PLANTS - Thorny plants should not be planted near the house. Cactus should not be planted at all. Thorny plants other than roses have a negative energy. Ideally all thorny plants should be pulled up and destroyed. The reason could be that the thorns can hurt you when you brush past them.

CREEPERS – Creepers or other plants should not be grown using the building or compound wall as a support as their clingers will slowly creep into tiny cracks in the walls and gradually widen them as they grow, causing damage and seeepage of water through the walls. Creepers should only be grown in a garden, and they should have their own independent supports. A creeper like a money plant can be grown within the house but should not be grown outside, using a tree for support.

FLOWER POTS - Flower pots should not be kept on the compound wall in the North, East or North-East as they will block the useful morning sunlight coming in from these directions. Flower pots and decorative plants can be placed on the ground in these directions, but they should not grow taller than 3 feet.

LAWNS AND WATER BODIES- Lawns should be in the East or the North. A small water-fall of three to four feet or a water body can be constructed in the East or the North leaving the North-East corner. If there is a swimming pool in the garden, it should be in the North or North-East direction, so that the people using the pool benefit from the sun rays and also, the water will get purified by the U.V rays of the Sunlight.

BENCHES - Benches are useful in big gardens and can be placed in the open space in the East and the North direction so that people sitting in these directions, can benefit from the useful sun rays.

This post was about the Vastu guidelines regarding the useful trees and plants that can be planted in a House garden. One passes through the front garden to reach the front Verandah and it is adjacent to the Car Porch. Read about the Vastu guidelines for these spaces, here:



. 30. Effects of Planets in Bhavas

1. In order, that the effects of physique etc. for the various human beings are understood, I explain below things relating to (various) Bhavas (of a horoscope) in a special manner.

2. The Sun in the Ascendant denotes, that the native will have less hair (on the head), be lazy in function, given to anger, will have prominent personality, be honourable, will have weak sight and coarse physique, be courageous, impatient and unkind. If the Ascendant is Cancer and is occupied by the Sun, the native will have swollen eyes, if it be Aries with Sun therein, his sight will be weak and in Leo the Sun makes him night-blind. One suffers poverty and loss of children, if the Sun occupies Libra.

3. SUN IN 2nd. If the Sun is in the 2nd Bhava, the native will be endowed with servants and quadrupeds, will suffer facial diseases, will be deprived of happiness and wealth and will lose money through royal displeasure, or through thieves.

4. Should the Sun be in 3rd, the native will be valorous, strong, will lose co-born, be dear to people, good-looking, very learned and will conquer his enemies.

5. Should the Sun be in 4th, the native will be devoid of conveyances and relatives, will suffer heart diseases, will destroy paternal house and wealth and will serve a bad king.

6. If the Sun occupies the 5th, the native will be bereft of happiness, sons and wealth, will live by husbandry, will move in hills and fortresses, be fickle-minded, scholarly, devoid of strength and be short-lived.

7. If the Sun is in 6th, the native will be very libidinous, will have powerful digestive fire (capable of digesting fast), be strong, affluent, famous for virtues and be either a king, or an Army chief.

8. If the Sun is posited in 7th, the native will be poor, insulted, will suffer bodily diseases, royal displeasures and imprisonment, will take to bad ways and will not be well-disposed to his wife.

9. If the Sun occupies the 8th, the native will have deformed eyes, be devoid of wealth and happiness, be short-lived and will suffer separation from his relatives.

10. If the Sun occupies the 9th, the native will be endowed with wealth, children and friends, will be very interested in worshipping Gods and Brahmins, will not be well-disposed towards his father and wife and be not calm.

11. Should the Sun be in 10th, the native will be extremely intelligent, rich, strong and will be endowed with conveyances, relatives and sons, will succeed in his undertakings, be valorous, unconquerable and great.

12. Should the Sun be in 11th, one will be interested in gathering money, be strong, will hate others, be devoid of servants, be himself a servant, be devoid of affection, be modest and will be successful in
undertakings.

13. If the Sun is in 12th at birth, he will have a deformed physique, be one-eyed, fallen (morally), will marry a barren lady, be inimical to his father, weak and mean.

14. The Moon in the Ascendant identical with Cancer, Taurus, or Aries indicates, that the native will be liberal, beautiful, rich and enjoying pleasures greatly. The Moon in the Ascendant identical with other Signs indicates, that the native will be intensely passionate, base, deaf, distressed, dumb and will decline (in prosperity).

15. Should the Moon be in 2nd, the native will enjoy incomparable happiness and friends and be wealthy. If the said Moon be Full, the native will be very affluent and will speak less.

16. Should the Moon be in 3rd, the native will protect his co-born, be always delighted, valorous and will be endowed with learning, robes and food.

17. If the Moon be in 4th, the native will be endowed with relatives, paraphernalia and conveyances, be charitable, fond of travelling by water and will neither be very happy nor be miserable.

18. Should the Moon be in 5th, the native will be timid in disposition, will earn learning, clothes and food, will have many sons and friends, be a scholar and be passionate.

19. If the Moon be in 6th, the native will suffer stomachial diseases. If it be the weak Moon, he will be short-lived.

20. If the Moon is in 7th, the native will be amiable, happy, will possess a good physique and be sensuously disposed. If the weak Moon is in 7th, the native will be pitiable and weak.

21. If the Moon is in 8th, the native will be very intelligent, very splendourous and will suffer from diseases. If the Moon be weak, he will be short-lived.

22. If the Moon is in 9th, the native will be devoted to divine and paternal assignments, will be endowed with happiness, wealth, intelligence and sons and will attract the fair sex.

23. If the Moon occupies the 10th, the native will not suffer grief, be dutiful, successful in his undertakings, affluent, pure, very strong, valorous and charitable.

24. Should the Moon occupy the 11th, the native will be wealthy, will have many sons, be long-lived, will have attendants to serve, be intelligent, sharp, valorous and splendourous.