Nirṛta — Regent of the South-West

Nirṛta — Regent of the South-West  

The regent of the south-western direction is Misery (Nirṛta). Misery is the son of Vision (Kaśyapa) and Fragrance (Surabhi). He is also one of the eleven Rudras (Padma Purāṇa, Sṛṣṭi khāṇḍa, ch. 40).

He is the lord of elves (nairṛta), ghosts (bhūta), and night-wanderers (Rākṣasa) and also the lord-of- the-directions (Dikpāla).

People worship him to gain victory over their enemies. In Vāstu his direction is the place of the rubbish heap or re-cycling bins as he presides over decay and rot.

A legend says that once there was a virtuous king of the criminal tribe of the Śabara named Yellow- Eye (Piṅgākṣa). One day in the forest he heard people crying for help. He ran and found travellers being looted by a group of savages (dasyu).

He fought them and was killed — being killed in the defence of strangers is equal to a Vedic Yajña and as a reward he attained godhood and was made the regent of a direction.

The nairṛtas are the descendants of Nirṛta and are represented as a kind of elf associated with Kubera.