prana-bodydraftschool: pan-indian· Bṛhat Saṁhitā

Marmas of the site (vulnerable points)

vāstu-marma
pra-vastu-marma

Definition

Sensitive points of the plot defined geometrically: the meeting points of the diagonals and the exact mid-points of the squares (53.57); nine intersections of the six great lines are the most vulnerable, each marma measuring one-eighth of a pada (53.63).
Classical

Prāṇa relevance

The marma is where the homology becomes operative: a salya lodged at a site-marma afflicts the owner's CORRESPONDING limb (53.58) — explicit root-text physiology of place. Whether site-marmas were coordinated with Ayurvedic body-marmas is NOT stated here [Q5].

Cross-book attributes (5) — fill / concur / diverge

Land Marma ExtensionFilledper txt-svoboda-vastu
⚑ Svoboda extends site-marmas to LAND-marmas and ROOM-marmas in a subtle-prāṇa register: 'terrestrial nāḍīs (ethereal vessels in which prāṇa moves) create earth marmas (critical energy points) where they intersect.' Building on a land nāḍī — or worse, at a land marma where the land nāḍīs intersect — 'destabilizes the energy of both the nāḍīs and the structure.' Heavy objects on the marma points of a ROOM likewise 'damage those marmas, and the prāṇa that flows through them.' One may locate the nāḍīs by an expert, or oneself 'using your breath, your instinctive gut feeling, or some similar method.'
Nadi Intersection Geometry SvobodaFilledper txt-svoboda-vastu
⚑ Svoboda gives the marma a PRĀṆA-PHYSIOLOGY geometry BS left as bare line-intersections: 'Marmas arise at the intersections of the Vāstu Puruṣa Maṇḍala's many lines. Each of these lines is a nāḍī, a vessel in which prāṇa moves, a breathing channel for the Vāstu Puruṣa. Currents of prāṇa meet where the nāḍīs meet, and to build upon one of these junctures is to obstruct those currents.' Afflict a marma → obstructed prāṇa.
Prana Circulation AvoidanceFilledper txt-svoboda-vastu
Marma/vulnerability-avoidance for prāṇa-flow: the head of a bed must NOT line up with any door or window (a strong prāṇa-current would 'move through' the sleeper); furniture (esp. a bed) should not touch the house walls, 'for reasons of good pranic circulation', because during sleep one relies more on the room's configuration to circulate prāṇa; a toilet must not be opposite the front door (prāṇa entering flows 'right out again, down the gurgler'), and bathroom/toilet doors kept only slightly ajar to restrict prāṇa-loss.
Remediation SvobodaFilledper txt-svoboda-vastu
marmas 'must not be afflicted' by heavy items, but MAY host small prāṇa-enhancing articles (plants, light fixtures) — the most significant being the line-crossing points; furniture should avoid loading them.
Shula Layer SvobodaFilledper txt-svoboda-vastu
⚑ Svoboda's vulnerability layer is the śūla ('pranic spear'), DISTINCT from BS's buried-śalya catalog: 'anything suspended above you will act as a śūla, a pranic spear that pierces whatever it points at. Body, prāṇa, and mind alike perceive pointy things as weapons.' Sources of śūla: a light hung over a bed/sleeping head, models suspended over a bed (the fighter-planes insomnia case), acutely angled walls, any pointed object/surface. Remedy: cover with a curtain/screen/wall, or take the wall down and create a more benign angle. Particularly dangerous over a bed (prolonged exposure while vulnerable in sleep). NB a light over a DINING table is tolerable (it hangs above the table's centre, away from head/heart).

Connections (2)

disturbs · 2
  • →Sharira (the human gross body)Classical
  • →Prana (life-force / breath)Modern
    Svoboda: a building or heavy object that sits on a marma — where terrestrial nāḍīs (prāṇa-vessels) intersect, whether a LAND-marma or a ROOM-marma — 'damages those marmas, and the prāṇa that flows through them', and 'destabilizes the energy of both the nāḍīs and the structure'. The obstruction of a prāṇa-carrying nāḍī-intersection disturbs prāṇa-flow.

Sources

  • txt-brihat-samhita53.57Classical✓ verifiedDefinition; the wise must not hurt them
  • txt-brihat-samhita53.58Classical✓ verifiedHurt at a marma afflicts the owner's corresponding limb
  • txt-brihat-samhita53.63–64Classical✓ verifiedNine mahamarmas from six named lines; marma size 1/8 pada; line breadths
  • txt-utpala-vivrtion 53.57 (via Bhat)Classical✓ verifiedTwo further verses on marmas quoted from what appears to be Utpala's own architectural work (title garbled in our copy)

Notes from other books

  • brihatThe salya-divination procedures of 53.104–109 (see rul-salya-divination) operationalize marma/salya detection at survey time: limb touched by the owner + animal cries from sun-heated quarters locate the buried bone and its species; depth = height of the touched limb (commentary).
  • txt-svoboda-vastuDIVERGENCE/EXTENSION flagged: BS's pra-vastu-marma marmas are diagonal/midpoint intersections of the plot grid afflicting the owner's CORRESPONDING LIMB via a buried śalya (53.57–58); Svoboda recasts the same 'marma' as the intersection of PRĀṆA-CARRYING terrestrial nāḍīs, damaged by a building or heavy object sitting on it. Same word, different (subtle-prāṇa) mechanism. See the cross-book corroboration question.
  • txt-svoboda-vastuSvoboda's marma-cluster is reframed as PRĀṆA-FLOW protection (don't pierce it with a śūla, don't let it drain through aligned door/window/toilet, don't pin it against a wall). This is the on-thesis dwelling↔ prāṇa face of BS's geometric site-marma + śalya catalog. The śūla≠śalya distinction and whether BS's site-marmas and Svoboda's overhead-spears are the same point-class are the two flagged questions (cf. BS Q5, Ayurveda body-marma coordination).
  • txt-svoboda-vastuSvoboda's marma-as-nāḍī-junction is the strongest prāṇa enrichment of Book-1's geometric pra-vastu-marma: the maṇḍala lines become prāṇa-channels, marmas the prāṇa-confluences, and 'afflicting' one = obstructing prāṇa. The chief marma (Brahma Nābhi) is minted as a NEW pra- entity below (the centre, not a generic point). Q5 (are site-marmas coordinated with Ayurvedic body-marmas?) is touched but not closed — Svoboda treats the site-lines as the Vāstu Puruṣa's OWN nāḍīs, a body-of-the-site reading. Flagged.

Other attributes

System Of Origin
vastu
Geometry
{"general_marmas":"diagonal intersections and pada mid-points (53.57)","mahamarmas":"9 intersection points of: Roga–Anila and Pitr–Shikhin (the two vamshas/main diagonals) with the four rajjus Shosha–Vitatha, Mukhya–Bhrisha, Jayanta–Bhringaraja, Aditi–Sugriva (53.63)","marma_size":"1/8 of a pada (53.63)"}
Salya Catalog
{"wood":"loss of money","bone":"disease risk; cattle afflicted","iron":"trouble from weapons","skull_or_hair":"death","charcoal":"fear of thieves","ash":"constant danger from fire","husk_chaff":"obstructs influx of wealth (even outside marmas)","ivory":"misery","gold_silver_gems":"harmless — strengthen the foundation"}
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