Varahamihira: the Brihat Jataka, the Brihat Samhita and the Panchasiddhantika · Chapter 19 of 22 · Part Three · The Brihat Samhita

#Building, arts, gems and features

Brihat Samhita, chapters 52–85

These chapters have little to do with the planets. They are the practical knowledge that the samhita branch of Jyotisha carried: how to build, plant, find water, make images, judge animals and gems, and read the human body.

#Marks on the body (52)

Pimples or marks on different parts of the body are given meanings — on the head, wealth; on the crown, good fortune — with their colours varying by caste (52.1–2). This chapter belongs to the old science of omens from the body.

#Building houses (53)

We shall now proceed to treat of the science of house-building, which has come down to us from the rishis who obtained it from Brahma (53.1).

The chapter begins with the myth of the Vastu Purusha: a vast being who covered the earth and sky, was pressed face down by the gods, and now has a god presiding over each part of his body (53.2–3). The plan of a house is laid over this figure, and the placing of rooms, doors and pillars follows from it. Chapter 53 is one of the oldest systematic statements of vastu shastra, with detailed proportions for houses of different classes, the choice and testing of building sites, and the times to begin.

#Finding underground water (54)

Just in the same way as there are arteries for the circulation of blood in human bodies, there are water courses running in all directions above and below within the Earth (54.1).

Varahamihira notes that rainwater changes colour and taste "with those of the ground through which it flows. This will be found to be the case on actual examination" (54.2). The chapter then gives signs — particular trees, termite mounds, soils, rocks, plants growing out of season — that indicate water at a given depth and direction, in great detail.

#Gardening and trees (55)

The sides of rivers and lakes and other water banks will not be pleasant and agreeable if devoid of shady trees. It is therefore necessary to form gardens on the banks of waters (55.1).

Soft soil is best; sesame should be sown first and ploughed in (55.2); the chapter gives the trees to plant, the seasons for planting and transplanting, the spacing of trees, and remedies for diseased trees — a small manual of arboriculture.

#Temples, cements and images (56–60)

• Temples (56): build them near water and gardens, "for the increase of one's fame and virtue" (56.1); the chapter gives the names and proportions of different kinds of temple.
• Cements (57): recipes for durable plasters and glues from plant juices, resins and other materials.
• Images (58): the proportions of images of the gods. It begins with units of measure built up from the atom:

The fine particles moving in the rays of the Sun coming into a room through the window opening are known as atoms. Is not the atom the first of all measurements? Eight atoms make a hair's end; eight hair's ends make a nit; eight nits make a louse; eight lice make a barley seed; eight barley seeds make an inch (58.1–2).

• Entering the forest to choose timber for images (59) and installing images in temples (60).

#The signs of good animals (61–67)

Chapters on the signs of good and bad cows and oxen (61), dogs (62), cocks (63), turtles (64), goats (65), horses (66) and elephants (67) — practical guides for owners and buyers, describing healthy and unhealthy features. For example, an ox with cat-like eyes, a rough brown body, black lips and tongue and snoring breath is "not fit" for the herd (61.6).

#The features of men and women (68–70)

• The features of men (68): the old science of reading character and fortune from the body (samudrika) — the feet, legs, loins, belly, navel, chest, arms, hands, face, voice and gait.
• The five great persons (69): the pancha mahapurusha — the person born when Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus or Saturn is powerful in its own or exaltation sign or a kendra: Ruchaka, Bhadra, Hamsa, Malavya and Sasa (69.1–2), with long portraits of each; the Sun and the Moon colour them all, and without them the person is "mixed" (sankirna) (69.3–6). (These portraits include ages and manners of death, which this book does not repeat.)
• The features of women (70), for a prince choosing a wife.

#Women and the household arts (71–79)

• The praise of women (74): "Gems derive beauty from women; women derive no beauty from gems" (74.2).
• Chapters on fans, umbrellas, amiability, medicines, perfumes (77, with detailed recipes for hair oils and scents), love, and beds and seats (71–79).

#Gems (80–83)

According to some, gems are the bones of the demon Bala, and according to others they are the bones of the sage Dadhichi. In the opinion of some, gems are various sorts of stones which naturally exist in the earth (80.3).

Chapters on diamonds (80), pearls (81), rubies (82) and emeralds (83) describe their sources, qualities, flaws and prices. A good gem brings prosperity, a flawed one misfortune (80.1). These chapters examine gems as objects of value; they contain no rule assigning gems to planets or telling anyone to wear a gem against a planet.

#Lamps and tooth-sticks (84–85)

The omens of a lamp's flame — a flame turning to the right, steady and bright, is good; one flickering, sparking and dying is bad (84.1–2) — and the choice of tooth-sticks (85).

#Summary

• House-building and the Vastu Purusha (53); finding water underground, checked "on actual examination" (54); gardens and trees (55).
• Temples (56), cements (57), images with units from the atom (58), timber and installation (59–60).
• Good animals (61–67); the features of men (68), the five great persons (69) and women (70).
• Women, perfumes and household arts (71–79); gems, examined for quality but not assigned to planets (80–83); lamps and tooth-sticks (84–85).

#Exercises

1. What is the Vastu Purusha?
2. What comparison does Varahamihira use for water underground?
3. Build up an inch from atoms by chapter 58.
4. Name the five great persons and their planets.
5. Do the gem chapters tell anyone to wear a gem for a planet?

Answers: 1. The vast being pressed face-down by the gods, each god presiding over a part of his body; the plan of a house is laid on him (53.2–3). 2. Arteries in the human body (54.1). 3. 8 atoms → a hair's end; 8 → a nit; 8 → a louse; 8 → a barley seed; 8 → an inch (58.2). 4. Ruchaka (Mars), Bhadra (Mercury), Hamsa (Jupiter), Malavya (Venus), Sasa (Saturn). 5. No: they judge gems for quality and value only.