Glossary of Astrology & other terms   

UDANA

Vital air that rises up the throat and passes into the head. The Buddhists consider it an expression of joy and praise. (See Prana)

UDYAMA

Strenuous or assiduous efforts; firm resolve; striving hard. The 3rd house in a natal chart is related with Udyama or personal initiative and self-exertion.

UPACHAYA

Progress; expansion. The 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 11th houses in a natal chart.

UPADANA

Acquiring; withdrawal; material cause. Used in connection with assuming of a form or manifestation. Withdrawal of activities of the sense and perception from the external world and its object. The material out of which everything is made. Natural or immediate cause.

UPADHI

Upa (near) + dha (to place, offer). Disguise; body; attribute. Upadhi is of 4 kinds, viz., caste or category (jati), attribute (guna), action or function (kriya), and name, appellation (sanjana). A specific case for a general effect.

UPAGRAHA

Minor planets; invisible or shadowy planets or satellites, e.g., Dhuma (q.v.), Vyapata, Parivesh (q.v.), Indrachap (q.v.), etc.

UPAKETU

One of the invisible or shadowy planets (See Upagraha). It is one of the following 9 invisible minor planets: (1) Kala, (2) Parivesh, (3) Dhuma, (4) Ardhaprahara, (5) Yamakantaka, (6) Indrachapa, (7) Gulika, (8) Dyuteepath, and (9) Upaketu. They are related with Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu, respectively. The longitudes and their positions in a natal chart are calculated according to well-established rules. They produce results like other results.

UPANISHADS

Esoteric doctrine. The Upanishads are ancient religious discourses between the seer teachers and their earnest disciples. Many of the Upanishads form parts of the Vedas. There are probably more than 150 of these works. The objective of these treatises is to ascertain the mystic sense of the Vedic texts, so they enter into such abstruse questions as the origin of the universe, the nature of the deity, the nature of soul, and the connection between mind and matter. The discourses, often in the form of dialogues, are aimed at arousing the intuitive understanding of the wisdom rather than laying down well-defined doctrines.

The word 'Upanishad' signifies "seating together" as well as "that which destroys ignorance and leads to liberation." The central theme of all Upanishads is to provide an insight into this liberating principle.

The Rig Veda has an Upanishad called Aitreya. The Taittiriya Samhita of the Yajur Veda has an Upanishad of the same name. The Vajasaneyi Samhita has the Ishopanishad, and attached to the Shatapatha Brahmana it has the Brihad Aranyaka. Sama Veda has the Kena and Chhandogya. Atharva Veda has the Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya and others, about 52 in number. These are the most important of the Upanishads.

URDHWA

Zenith; upwards.

USHA/USHAS

The dawn. She is the daughter of heaven, and the sister of night. "Dawn, daughter of Heaven and Night, her sisters are obverse and reverse sides of the same eternal Infinite"-Sri Aurobindo. Often said to be a charioteer of Sun, she is sometimes referred to as his sister and sometimes his daughter. Dawn is said to be the image and godhead of the opening out of the supreme illumination on the night of our human ignorance: she rises with the radiances of her Truth, and with the bliss of her boons. She presents one of the most beautiful myths of the Vedas and is enveloped in poetry (Dowson). She does not despise the small or the great, she brings wealth; she is always the same, immortal, divine; age cannot touch her; she is the young goddess, but she makes men grow old.

Usha is also the name of a daitya princess who fell in love with a prince she saw in her dream. From a sketch done by one of her favorite companions, the prince was identified as Aniruddha, the grandson o Krishna. The prince, by magical powers, was brought to Usha, and was kept captive by binding him with serpent bonds. After a fight, Krishna rescued Aniruddha and took him and his wife Usha to Dwarka.

USHANASIKA

A period of malefic influence. It is personified as a black shining figure with 7 faces, 7 arms, and a tail with glowing hair standing erect, on the head. It moves forward destroying everything.

Ushanasika pervades for 7 ½ ghatis (or 3 hours) after the first ghati in Ashwini, for 5 ghatis after 55 ghatis in Bharani, and for 2 ghatis after 21 ghatis in Krittika; Ushanasika's periods are in the same order for the next four groups of three asterisms each till the 15th constellation Swati. The remaining 12 asterisms are divided into four group of 3 asterisms each. For the first group, this malefic influence pervades the first 8 ghatis of Vishakha, 8 ghatis after the 52 ghatis of Anuradha, and 10 ghatis after the 20 ghatis in Jyeshtha. In other words, for the first 15 asterisms the latter half of the Amsakas fall in Aries, the last ghatis of Amsakas fall in Scorpio, and the 9 ghatis after 6 ghatis for the Amsakas fall in Capricorn and form the Ushanasika period.

For the remaining asterisms, from Vishakha to Revati, the first 8 ghatis of the Amsakas falling in Aries, the last 8 ghatis of the Amsakas falling in Scorpio, and the last 10 ghatis of Amsakas falling in Capricorn are Ushanasika period.

The malignant influence of this malefic influence is avoided in all considerations under horary and elect ional (muhurtha) astrology. While examining charts in relation with diseases, accidents, losses, if the Ushanasika is taken into account, much accuracy is ordinarily claimed.

UTTAM-VARGA

Auspicious situation. [See Varga]

UTTARAYANA

The movement of Sun to the north of the equator; the period following summer solstice