SHAILESH SHINDE
Deccan College, Pune shailesh.shinde@dcpune.ac.in
SPATIAL DESIGN AND SACRED GEOMETRY: TRACING VĀSTU TRADITIONS WITHIN THE MAHĀBHĀRATA
The Mahābhārata is often read as a grand narrative of yuddha, dharma, and rājanīti, yet it also preserves a subtle and sophisticated sense of space and spatial organization. Descriptions of movement, encampment, and strategic arrangement are not incidental; they reflect an underlying logic that resonates with ideas later systematized in Vāstuśāstra. These narrative spaces suggest how direction (dik), proportion, and order were understood in relation to both practical needs and cosmological frameworks. This study explores the extent to which such spatial thinking in the Mahābhārata aligns with vāstu traditions. It asks: which elements of Vāstuśāstra can be identified in the epic, and how many of these principles are meaningfully reflected in its descriptions? Through close textual reading, the paper maps key concepts—such as orientation (dik), geometric planning, proportionality, and hierarchical zoning—onto the spatial logic embedded in the narrative, revealing recurring patterns that point to a shared cultural understanding of space. At the same time, these correspondences are approached critically. Rather than assuming direct borrowing from codified vāstu texts, the study situates the epic within a broader intellectual milieu in which such spatial principles were already in circulation. The Mahābhārata thus emerges not as a technical treatise, but as a text that reflects lived and practiced knowledge of spatial design. In doing so, the paper demonstrates that sacred geometry was not confined to permanent architecture, but informed wider conceptions of space in early Indian thought.