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use only. I learned the whole of Vishnu's 108 by heart once, but they wouldn't stay; I don't remember any of them now but John W.17
During Hinduism's long process of evolution, many of the Vedic deities connected to the vastu purusha mandala also receded into the background or were absorbed into the huge catalogue of new deities that are worshipped today. But some of the Vedic deities are still important in vastu: Lord Brahma, for one, who is considered the creative force in the Hindu trinity, and the deities known as the guardian deities. Brahma and four of the guardian deities are connected to the five basic elements, and it is important to understand how each of them "fits" into the vastu purusha mandala.
The Five Elements
Water
The element of water is in the northeast corner of the mandala, along with the Vedic deity Isa. In the course of the evolution of Hinduism, Isa became Rudra and much later became Shiva, the destructive force in the Hindu trinity. Spiritually, northeast, an intermediate direction, is considered the gateway to the godsa belief reinforced by a myth about Shiva, the god of destruction, and the Goddess Ganga. In this story, Brahma asked the river goddess to leave her heavenly abode and come down to earth where a king had begged for her presence. The goddess, who was reluctant to leave, decided that when she obeyed Brahma's order, she would descend in a heavy deluge.
Shiva caught her torrential waters in his long matted hair, which entangled the goddess and separated her into seven separate streams. One of them is known as India's sacred Ganges River, which runs from the north to
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17 Mark Twain, Following the Equator, Vol. 11 (New Jersey: The Ecco Press, no date)

 
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