Vastuvidya, Vastu-vidya, Vāstuvidyā: 13 definitions
Introduction:
Vastuvidya means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Marathi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Hinduism
Purana and Itihasa (epic history)
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या).—Is architecture see Vāstuśāstra.*
- * Matsya-purāṇa 215. 40.
The Purana (पुराण, purāṇas) refers to Sanskrit literature preserving ancient India’s vast cultural history, including historical legends, religious ceremonies, various arts and sciences. The eighteen mahapuranas total over 400,000 shlokas (metrical couplets) and date to at least several centuries BCE.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या) refers to the “Knowledge of houses” and is the name of the seventeenth chapter of the Gārgīyajyotiṣa. It is similar to the 53rd chapter of Vārahamihira’s work known as the Bṛhatsaṃhitā. The Gārgīyajyotiṣa is one of the most comprehensive of Garga’s texts and written in the form of a dialogue between Krauṣṭuki (Ṛṣiputra) and Garga discussing astral and other omens, comprising a total of sixty-two chapters (viz., vāstu-vidyā), known as aṅgas and summarized in the Aṅgasamuddiśa (“enumeration of the divisions”, introductory portion).
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या) refers to “architecture”, according to the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (chapter 2), an encyclopedic Sanskrit work written by Varāhamihira mainly focusing on the science of ancient Indian astronomy astronomy (Jyotiṣa).—Accordingly, “A true Astrologer is also one who has thoroughly mastered the Science of Saṃhitā. [...] It treats of indradhvaja, of the rainbow and of architecture [i.e., vāstuvidyā]; of the prediction of events from casual words and gestures and from the cawing of crows; of the formation of zodiacal circles for purposes of horary astrology. It treats of the prediction of future events from phenomena connected with the deer, the dog and the motions of the wind; of the construction of temples, towers and palaces; of the casting of images and of founding the same; of the growth of plants and trees; of under currents; of certain annual ceremonies to be performed by princes for success in war. [...]”.
Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.
Vastushastra (architecture)
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या) refers to the “science of architecture” and is one of the technical subjects studied in ancient India. In the earliest texts, the word vāstu occurs in the sense of a building site or the building itself. Later on, other subjects such as temple construction, town planning, public and private buildings and forts were included in the discipline in which the construction of a structure was regarded as a sacred act.
Vastushastra (वास्तुशास्त्र, vāstuśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science (shastra) of architecture (vastu), dealing with topics such architecture, sculpture, town-building, fort building and various other constructions. Vastu also deals with the philosophy of the architectural relation with the cosmic universe.
Kama-shastra (the science of Love-making)
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या) refers to “architecture—the art of building”, and represents one of the sixty-four arts (aṅgavidyā), according to the Vātsyāyana’s Kāmasūtra: a Sanskrit text from the 2nd century dealing with eroticism, sexuality and emotional fulfillment in life belonging to Kāmaśāstra (the ancient Indian science of love-making).—Accordingly, “[While defending the standpoint that women should be allowed to learn theoratical science] [...] A female should study alone in private the sixty-four practices, arts and sciences (such as architecture—vāstuvidyā), together with the Kama Sutra. [...] A public woman, endowed with a good disposition, beauty and other winning qualities, and also versed in such arts (e.g., vāstuvidyā), obtains the name of a Gaṇikā (i.e., “a public woman of high quality”), and receives a seat of honour in an assemblage of men. She is, moreover, always respected by the king, and praised by learned men, and her favour being sought for by all, she becomes an object of universal regard”.
Note: Vāstuvidyā can be defined as follows: (1) “house furnishing and decoration” (2) “architecture—the art of building” (3) “the art of engineering” (4) “science of building homes”.
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या) or “architecture” refers to one of the “sixty four kinds of Art”, according to the Kāmasūtra of Vātsyāyaṇa.—Indian tradition, basically includes sixty four Art forms are acknowledged. The references of sixty four kinds of kalā are found in the Bhāgavatapurāṇa, Śaiva-Tantras, Kāmasūtra of Vātsyāyaṇa etc.
Kamashastra (कामशास्त्र, kāmaśāstra) deals with ancient Indian science of love-making, passion, emotions and other related topics dealing with the pleasures of the senses.
Languages of India and abroad
Marathi-English dictionary
vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या).—f S Architecture. See causaṣṭakaḷā.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या).—architecture.
Vāstuvidyā is a Sanskrit compound consisting of the terms vāstu and vidyā (विद्या).
Vastuvidyā (वस्तुविद्या).—read so (or with [Boehtlingk] 7.373 vāstu°, but see vastu) for vastra-v°, science of sites: Divyāvadāna 630.22 (see s.v. śivā-vidyā), not architecture (Sanskrit vāstu-v°, [Boehtlingk and Roth]); = Pali vatthu-vijjā, the art of determining the qualities of sites proposed for houses or parks, Dīghanikāya (Pali) commentary i.93.14.
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Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या).—[, see vastu°.]
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या).—[feminine] = vāstujñāna.
Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या) as mentioned in Aufrecht’s Catalogus Catalogorum:—archit. Oppert. 6199.
—[commentary] Bp. 276.
1) Vāstuvidya (वास्तुविद्य):—[=vāstu-vidya] [from vāstu > vāstava] mfn. ([from] next) relating to architecture [gana] ṛg-ayanādi
2) Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या):—[=vāstu-vidyā] [from vāstu > vāstava] f. ‘science in building’, architecture, [Mahābhārata; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]
Vāstuvidya (वास्तुविद्य):—(vom folgenden) adj. die Baukunst betreffend u. s. w. gaṇa ṛgayanādi zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 4, 3, 73.]
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Vāstuvidyā (वास्तुविद्या):—f. Baukunst gaṇa ṛgayanādi zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 4, 3, 73.] [Mahābhārata 1, 2029.] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 2, S. 7, Z. 1.] [ 34. fgg.] [WEBER, KṚṢṆAJ. 266.] [Oxforder Handschriften 217,a,12.]
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): Vidya, Vastu.
Starts with (+0): Vastuvidyakushala.
Full-text (+329): Vastuvidyakushala, Bhagyapanca, Mritanandana, Manabhadraka, Yamabhadra, Ratrinatha, Nyastavya, Nakshatrapatinandana, Buddhisankirna, Kotapala, Grihakshata, Ghrishtinetra, Jayavaha, Pushpabhadra, Prithvidhara, Pancabhadra, Kota, Kaushalya, Bhuvanamatar, Manjari.
Relevant text
Search found 47 books and stories containing Vastuvidya, Vastu-vidya, Vāstu-vidyā, Vastu-vidyā, Vāstu-vidya, Vāstuvidyā, Vastuvidyā, Vāstuvidya; (plurals include: Vastuvidyas, vidyas, vidyās, Vāstuvidyās, Vastuvidyās, Vāstuvidyas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Mayamata and Building Construction (study) (by Ripan Ghosh)
Part 4.2 - Measurement of the Rafter (Lūpa) < [Chapter 5 - Core Construction of the Building]
Part 2.2.1 - Vāstu (architecture) in the Rāmāyaṇa < [Chapter 2 - Vāstuvidyā in Sanskrit Literature: a Survey]
Vastu-shastra (Introduction to Indian architecture) (by D. N. Shukla)
Chapter 5 - Pre-Samarāṅgana Classification of Temples < [Volume 5 - Temple Architecture]
Chapter 6 - General remarks (on temple-classification) < [Volume 5 - Temple Architecture]
(v) The character of the building aspect etc. (Patākādi-ṣaṭ-chandas) < [Chapter 6 - Fundamental Canons of Hindu Architecture]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 312 < [Hindi-Malayalam-English Volume 3]
Page 898 < [Marathi-Hindi-English, Volume 2]
Page 149 < [Hindi-Malayalam-English Volume 3]
Informal Education of Sanskrit in Kerala (by Jayasree M.)
18. Vastu Shastra (architecture) in Kerala < [Chapter 3 - Informal Education of Sanskrit in Kerala: the Traditional Streams]
17. Mural paintings (chumar chitram) in Kerala < [Chapter 3 - Informal Education of Sanskrit in Kerala: the Traditional Streams]
Isanasivagurudeva Paddhati (study) (by J. P. Prajith)
6. Shilpa Shastra and Tantra < [Chapter 1 - History and scope of Tantric Literature]
8. Summary of the Kriya-pada of the Isanasivagurudeva-paddhati < [Chapter 2 - A Textual analysis]
1. The Concept of Worship (introduction) < [Chapter 4 - Worship of Gods and Goddesses]
The Structural Temples of Gujarat (by Kantilal F. Sompura)
2.1. The Works on Architectural Canons (dated up to 1500 A.D.) < [Chapter 1 - Sources of architectural canons]
1. Early reference to architectural Canons < [Chapter 1 - Sources of architectural canons]
2.2. Vishwakarma and his works on Architecture < [Chapter 1 - Sources of architectural canons]