Choose the direction the head end of your bed points and this checker sets it against the one classical sleeping rule, which is verse 124 of chapter 53 of the Brihat Samhita. It then shows what popular modern Vastu adds, in a separate row, because the two are often mixed up. Nothing is scored, nothing is predicted, and no claim is made about sleep or health.
The verse
Varahamihira’s chapter on house-building ends with a short verse of advice on sleeping. In the Iyer translation of 1884, a person who wants prosperity should not sleep with the head to the north or west, nor under a beam, nor on a level higher than grain, cows, a teacher, fire and the gods, nor naked, nor with wet feet. The Sastri translation of 1946 gives it a little differently: where Iyer has the beam, Sastri has “along the diagonals”, which probably refers to the diagonal lines of the Vastu mandala. This tool reports both.
Most of the verse is manners. A person does not lay a bed above the grain store or the household fire, and does not go to bed with wet feet. The direction is the item that has lasted. The head is not to point north or west, which leaves south and east.
How the checker reads your answer
You give three things: the direction of the head of the bed, whether a beam crosses over it, and whether the room is directly above a kitchen, a puja room or a grain store.
The direction is placed against the verse. South and east are clear of it. North and west are the two directions it names, so they carry the caution. North-west lies between the two, so it touches both. North-east touches north and south-west touches west, so those two are shown as partly touching. The verse names only the main directions, so what happens on a diagonal is our reading and the result says so.
The beam and the level are shown as the verse words them, with the translators’ difference marked. A fact about your room, such as a beam, is never turned into a prediction.
What modern Vastu adds
Modern guides mostly go further than the verse. South is the usual first choice for the head, east a close second, and many guides advise against north, often with the reason that the body should not line up with the Earth’s magnetic field. This site has not found good evidence for any effect of that kind on sleep and does not make the claim. The tradition’s own reason is symbolic, with the gods and the ancestors linked to particular quarters.
Guides also disagree among themselves, for instance on west. The result shows the modern view in its own row with a label, so you can tell which advice has a verse behind it and which is convention.
If your bed cannot turn
Many beds cannot. The bed may be fixed by a door, a window or the only wall long enough, and in a rented room or a flat the layout is not yours to change. The verse gives no result to fear for a head to the north or west, and the bedrooms article sets out why. Where turning the bed is easy, a head to the south or east is the classical choice. Where it is not, leave it, and read remedies without demolition before spending money on anything.
For the whole room, not only the bed, the room placement guide keeps the classical texts and modern Vastu apart, and the phone compass reads the direction of the bed if you are not sure which way it points.
A note on sleep and health
This is a tradition, offered for reflection. It is not a treatment for poor sleep and it does not tell you how to sleep well. Sleep difficulties have many causes, and a persistent problem is a matter for a doctor. Ordinary habits such as a dark, quiet room, regular times and no screens in bed help most people whichever way the bed faces.
Frequently asked questions
↳ Which direction should the head point while sleeping in Vastu?
The Brihat Samhita advises against the head to the north or west (53.124), which leaves south and east. Modern guides often prefer south. The classical verse allows east as well, and it gives no result to fear for the other directions.
↳ Is sleeping with the head to the north really harmful?
No text read for this site says so. The verse advises against it as a custom of its time. Some modern guides give a magnetic reason, but we have found no good evidence for an effect on sleep or health.
↳ What if my bed can only face west?
It is an ordinary case. The verse attaches no result to it, and a bed that cannot move is not a fault to fix. If turning it is easy, south or east is the classical choice; otherwise leave it.
↳ Does the beam rule apply to ceiling fans or false ceilings?
The verse speaks of a beam, or in one translation the diagonals, and says nothing of fans or ceilings. A heavy beam directly over the bed is best avoided on either reading, and moving the bed slightly aside is easy.
↳ Does this checker give a score?
No. It shows what the classical verse says and what modern guides add, side by side, with the translators' differences marked. It makes no claim about sleep, health or luck.