08/02/2020
Hare Krishna and Namaste viewers, Vaishnava Astrology and team wishes you all a prosperous New Year ahead. Today let us see different method of calculating the charts using Upapada Lagna. Upapada Lagna is nothing but the Marriage Point.
The goal of this chapter is to first explain the Upapada Lagna (UL) so you understand what, how and why it represents relationship. Then learn how to interpret its significations as well as understand some traditional Vedic remedies regarding the Upapada. Finally having understood how the UL works and how it can be traditionally remedied, learn to understand it in a way where you will be able to give practical advise regarding a couple’s relationship.
The Arudha Lagna is the most important (pradhāna) Arudha. The second most important Arudha is the Upapada Lagna (the Arudha of the 12th house). Upa means near or relating to (as well as giving and ornament), and is calculated from the sign near and related to the lagna and shows the person who ends up near and relating to you.
Rishi Parasara begins the teaching of the Upapada in the Upapadādhyāya of BPHS
How does the UL differ in interpretation from other relationship points?
There are many places we can analyze for different aspects of marriage and relationship. It is good to understand the different points to be clear about what we are looking at. The karakas for relationship are Venus and Jupiter and their affliction will show blessings or curses in getting a healthy relationship or not. They also reveal overall tendencies towards relationships, it is important to see there placement in the rasi and navamsa. The Darakaraka shows the atma of the partner, shows what type of soul the person has and issues related to that level. The 7th house of the Rasi indicates how you relate to others, it is your doorway to the world and shows how you relate to the public (karaka Venus). The person you relate to the most and who reflects you the most is the love partner.
The 7th lord will show the physical conditions of relationship and whether they are fruitful or barren. The A7 is connected to business partners and to s*xual relations. The 7th house of the navamsa shows the skills, abilities and general nature of the partner which predominates over the 7th house of the Rasi. It will also show the partners s*xual tendencies. The Upapada will show about the marriage partner or a very serious relationship. It shows the nature of the family a person comes from, it shows how the people will relate to each other, and whether the relationship will last or not and what will make it last. It will show how many children are coming from that relationship verse a previous relationship. It is important for timing marriage and its break. The UL lord will indicate the nature of the family of the partner, and therefore will often indicate the status of the partner themselves.
Why does the UL represent the marriage partner?
First one needs to understand the 12th house more deeply and then see how the UL is the person representing this. The Upapada (also called guana pada) is that which rides the 12th house, it shows who is the image of the 12th house. The 12th house from the Lagna is what you have given, what you physically give,and where you give your intelligence/energy. The 12th house indicates jail, hospital, ashram, loss, pleasures of the bed, sleeping (loss of consciousness), as well as the bed where you sleep. Charity is a form of energy, and the 12th house shows where you give your energy. Benefics in the 12th are called shubha yoga and show giving to good things. Malefics in the 12th are called Ashubha yoga and indicate putting energy into negative things. The Sun is in maranakaraka sthana in the 12th house because is the house of Saturn, and there is no life/light there. When A3, A9, AS3, AS9 are 12th, 2nd, 6th or 8th from the Sun it indicates no ability to give life for this reason.
The 12th house is a house of loss or giving and the Arudha of it shows who you are giving to. Those you give to the most are often your wife and children. Marriage itself happens when one starts earning and one is able to give. Sometimes this giving might just be giving money for support, sometimes this giving will be home caring. The importance is that if there is no giving then there is nothing to sustain a relationship. If the partner didn’t do anything for you, you would not want to marry them.
The 7th house is the 8th from 12th house, it shows what is removing separateness and giving marriage. The 12th house doesn’t show s*x it shows being alone/celibate and the 7th house (8th from that) is what ends being alone. The 12th house is connected to sanyas and celibacy, the 8th from this ends that, and makes a person get married and removes celibacy, therefore the 7th house needs to be pure to maintain sanyas, and longevity of sanyas is seen from the 7th house. Therefore the A7 is used to see the s*xual partner and s*xual relations, not the UL.
The 12th house is the 8th from the 5th house, it will show the longevity of your kula/lineage/family. The UL shows who will help you give longevity to your kula/family/lineage. The 7th house is 3rd from the 5th house showing it is upachaya from the 5th, meaning it will make your kula grow. The 12th house is 6th from the 7th which is also upachaya for the 7th house, which means it will make s*x increase, it is therefore connected to the pleasures of the bed, the place to be alone to grow the 7th house, to mature it into real intimacy. The 6th house on the other hand is 2nd from the 5th and is therefore a maraka (death giver) to the 5th house, it is not good for children or increasing the kula and indicates celibacy. It is important to note that the twelfth house is important for relationship but it doesn’t represent s*xual desires.
The AL is the maya of the lagna and the UL is the maya of the 12th house. It shows something tangible that is being given or lost. It shows who will help increase the longevity of the kula (family). As the 12th house is 6th from the 7th it shows who gives upachaya to the 7th, who helps it grow, so it is the person who helps in the cultivation of what is shared as s*x in the 7th house. In Jyotish, this is seen as the marriage partner and the UL lord indicates the marriage partner’s family.
How is “marriage” to be defined astrologically?
The defining of marriage becomes very slippery and is generally given as a serious committed relationship for more than a year, but there are many variations to this. There are people who live together for a long time but lack seriousness, or people who do the full marriage process and divorce in a matter of weeks or months. The Upapada will show natural marriage not what a priest or judge might say. Two people are naturally married when the relationship reaches a level of seriousness. This is not be confused with relationships that may only be connected to the A7 (s*xual attraction/ physical relationship).
Old texts like Manusmriti list 8 types of marriage (ashta vivaha). Of these eight types, 4 were considered dharmic (righteous) while 4 were considered adharmic (not in line with natural order). This shows they weren’t the ways to get married but were ways in which a marriage-like bond was created between two individuals. These 8 types of marriage relate to the 8 planets other than Venus who is the natural karaka of marriage. This is important to keep in mind when seeing blessings and curses on the UL and Venus. These types of marriage are very ancient and must not be taken literally in modern times, but we must understand the essence of the marriage bond indicated by them.
How can different marriages and marriage partners be differentiated?
The first partner is seen from the UL, the second partner is seen from the 8th house of the UL (UL2), the 3rd partner is seen from the 8th to the second UL (UL3) and so on. Often times (in modern society) it takes a few questions to determine the exact partner of reference when interpreting a UL relationship. Some people may have had only one or two serious relationships but westerners can often have difficulty determining which relationships were serious, and which were just passing flings. This makes interpretation harder and will test your skills to determine the exact person one is referring to when discussing a UL relationship.
In the same way the UL is showing the marriage itself, the nature (abilities) of the 1st partner are seen from the 7th house of the navamsa, while the next partner is seen from the 2nd house in the navamsa (the 8th from the first significator). The 3rd partner is seen from 9th house (the 8th from the 2nd house).
When a person has multiple marriage partners at the same time, as many Mormons do, the UL2 (the second UL) is seen 6th from the first UL. Additional wives are again seen from the 6th house from that significator. The 8th house will show an end to the previous relationship. The 6th house is upacharya, it is growing, and shows the growth of the Upapada. The Upapada is a point of giving and this shows also that the amount needed to give (expenditure) is growing.
How do we use the UL in interpretation?
The UL is primarily seen as the partner and the relationship itself, it is used as a lagna in and of itself. It will show qualities of the partner, their career, their family, children from the relationship, longevity, as well as fructification of the relationship even becoming a marriage.
Upapada Signs and Conjunctions
Rishi Parasara gives his first teaching on interpretation based on benefic and malefic planets and signs relative to the UL.
The statements of Parasara must be looked at in their essence. Here we learn that the nature (malefic/benefic) of the planets with the Upapada shows the nature of relationship. A benefic lord will make a happy relationship as will the conjunction of benefics. In general, the more well placed a planet the better the significations it will give here.
The Sun supports relationship, but becoming neecha the Sun acts malefic as even the other benefic planets will do, they will not give shubha results at the same level. Numurologically, the the Sun is connected to the number 12, and the UL comes from the 12 th house, this is how the Sun is giving its blessings to the Upapada. The Sun also represents lineage and as the Arudha of the 12 th house shows who will help you give longevity to your kula (family) the Sun is a strong protector. For this reason the Sun is to be considered among the list of benefics. When the Sun is in an enemies sign it will have less support to protect the Upapada, and when neecha it will not help at all but instead may hurt the UL as every neecha planet will. When a planet becomes uccha it will protect the UL even if it is a malefic, as it will take on more sattvic qualitites. Though it will still have some negative attributes of that planet, while the Sun is a pure benefic for the UL.
Interpretation can get specific, for example a benefic sign with malefic aspects can indicate a good person/relationship that will go bad due to malefic situations. If the UL was in Scorpio with the Moon and benefic aspects, it would show a bad person/relationship that will eventually evolve into a better situation. Always strengthen the benefics aspects or planets involved in the situation.
Jaimini gives upadesa (additional commentary) and says...
Subha (good), Bandhat (bound too, joined), Sundari (beautiful). When the UL is joined good (benefic) planets the partner/relationship is beautiful.
This is interpreted as the partner is a beautiful person (indicates beauty of character, as 7 th house of Navamsa is seen for outer beauty, chara darakaraka is seen for spiritual evolution beauty). This makes the relationship a good (beautiful) experience. The partner is happy receiving what you are giving. In this same way a malefic conjunct the UL will make the partner harsher (according to the planet and its state) and therefore make the relationship harsher and the partner is more demanding.
Upapada Lord
Rishi Parasara says that an exalted UL will bring a partner from a noble family, while debilitation will do the opposite.
Jaimini gives upadesa and says that
The Lord of the UL indicates the family the partner comes from. If the lord of UL is exalted the person will come from a well to do family and will have high standards the opposite will be the case with a neecha UL lord.
The conjunction of the UL with an exalted planet will lift it up, especially since it is in its own sign. The more well placed the Lord of the UL the higher the status of the family the spouse.
The navamsa 7th house is showing more the nature of the partner. The story of the partner’s family background will unfold according to the story of the UL lord.
When an arudha is placed in the signs of Scorpio or Aquarius. Both lords will have an effect. Sometimes just the stronger/most influential planet will give effect. Other times the weaker planet gives its results first, then the stronger planet gives its results.
The strength of the UL itself will often determine if the relationship turns into a legal marriage or not. Some serious relationships fail to fructify into a marriage due to lack of strength shown by the UL. Weak placements such as 6th, 8th, or 12th from the UL, curses, bhadak and bad positions can hurt the UL.
The second house from the UL is one of the most crucial houses for relationship. This section will talk briefly about classical reference to the second house from the UL, and the remedial measures will go into greater detail. It is the most crucial house as it is the sustenance of the relationship, it feeds the relationship. The second house is a natural maraka house and it shows the longevity of the relationship. Strong lord of the second from UL and Benefics conjunct and aspecting it will support marriage. Weak lords of the second and malefic association will destroy marriage. Rishi Parasara teaches:
The 2nd house from the UL will show the sustanence of relationship/marriage. If the 2nd is strong, even if the UL has malefics (giving a negative relationship) the 2nd house will hold the relationship together. In the opposite case, if there is malefic association in the 2nd house from UL, it will break the relationship even if it is with a good person and good situation (strong UL). The UL is evaluated to see the situation of the relationship. The 2nd from the UL is evaluated to see if the relationship will last.
The next few verses from Rishi Parasara’s Upapada Chapter show this concept in more depth. The amount of verses devoted to the UL is representative of its importance, and with in that is is worth noting the large number of verses on the 2nd house from UL as well.
“Oh excellent of Brahmins, if the UL or the 2nd therefrom be occupied by its own lord or if the said lord is in his own house, the death of wife will be at an advanced age. If a planet is being constant indicator of wife and is in its own house, there will be a loss of wife only at a later date.”
Jaimini says the same thing in slightly different words,
"If the second is conjoined by its lord or its lord is placed elsewhere in own sign or in exaltation,
loss of spouse, if at all, will be only in an advanced age. 1.4.8"
These verses are speaking of the wife as if she dies, but this is in a culture not overly using divorce (though they did have it). These indications for “age of the wife” are to be used for age of the relationship. Longevity relative to the UL is then to be taken as not how long the spouse will live, but how long they will live in your house. Malefics hurt the longevity of a marriage/relationship. A well placed/strong lord of the second from UL will make the relationship last. The sustenance for the relationship will be strong and therefore the union will stay together. Dynamics within that relationship are seen from synestry, but whether the people stay together or not is seen from the 2nd house from the UL.
Parasara gives another shloka, saying what was mentioned later by Jaimini, but adding the 2nd house. He says that a benefic will make the wife sundar (beautiful) placed in the UL or 2nd house from it. Jaimini said the same thing relative to the UL only, Parasara speaks of Sundari (beauty) relative to the UL and the sustenance of the relationship.
“Oh Brahmin, if the UL or 2nd from the UL is related to a benefic, the wife will be beautiful, fortunate and virtous.”
There are often only slight differences between what Parasara taught and Jaimini’s upadesa (commentary). After giving the results of benefics in the 2nd from UL, Jaimini mentions some of the results of malefics.
If the 2nd from Upapada has malefic aspects or conjunctions the native loses his wife or renounces the world. 1.4.2
If the 2nd from UL has beneficial conjunction/aspect, pravrajya/loss of spouse may not occur. 1.4.5
Malefics in the 2nd from the UL will show a relationship not lasting and ending negatively. Indications associated with the UL and the 7th lord will show why and how the relationship is breaking. This leaves an individual with a bad taste for relationship and often they do not wish to get involved again, hence the statement that the individual renounces the world (they give everything to the spouse and run away). Malefics second from UL alone will not make a renunciate. The indications must already be present in the chart for sanyas. When the indications for sanyas are present but the UL is strong the person will get married. If the 2nd house from UL is strong, the person will not be able to get out of marriage, so they are not able to take sanyas. If the UL and its second are afflicted, then the native cannot keep marriage and then marriage cannot stand in the way of renouncing. If the indication for Sanyas is not indicated in other ways, the person will continue with relationship but with another UL, calculated 8th from the previous UL.
Early death of the UL partner is indicated by combinations for death of spouse seen from the 7th lord and in the navamsa, and the 2nd house from the UL should be connected to the 3rd house from the sthira karaka for spouse (Venus for men, Jupiter for women). This shows that their death is the reason for the ending of relationship.
Jaimini reiterates what Parasara said previously, that and an uccha planet 2nd from the UL will give many wives.
If the planet in this second is exalted
there will be many wives. 1.4.6
This is again a concept coming from a society were divorce was very uncommon and multiple wives was common. The uccha planet is showing the first marriage will not break, and so if another person comes along, the native marries them as well without breaking the first marriage. In Western society, this will have to be interpreted slightly different depending on the belief system of the person, as well as their s*xuality (in the Rasi, 2nd house in navamsa, navamsa trines, and Somanath drekkana). It was believed in Vedic times that either a man or a woman could have multiple spouses, it was not limited to only men. In the Vedas, there are marriage hyms where the prayers are to more than one husband. Later only men could have multiple wives and presently in the westernized world monogamy is the most socially accepted type of relationship.
Indications for a sustained relationship are always nice to share with people during a reading. Other times there are malefic combinations that promise a tough end to the relationship. Parasara teaches that the malefic associations on the 2nd house from the UL show the causes and situation of the relationship end.
“Should Saturn and Rahu be in the 2 nd from the UL, the native will desert or lose his wife on account of calamity/scandal or through death.”
Jaimini gives upadesa, he first states the same thing but he adds that benefic aspects can mitigate the evil effects.
Beneficial aspects on the conjunctions given in the previous stanza mitigate the negative results. 1.4.22
When the 2nd from UL is weak, the relationship will break. When malefics are present they are showing harsh reasons and circumstances breaking the relationship. Saturn and Rahu in the 2nd from UL will show death or scandal, calamity or deserting the wife (relative to other indications in the chart). If a benefic is there but the lord is neecha, the relationship may break but the situation will not be as bad. When the relationship breaks the negative indication of the graha will come into the native’s life. When the astrologer sees the negative indications of the planets 2nd from UL coming into the life through dasas, they can also predict that those indications will end the relationship.
It is important to take into account the teaching of Jaimini relative to this situation. The problems will exist as the malefics will be in the 2nd house from the UL, but the aspects of benefics will help improve the situation, it will give the partners the ability to work through the situation. This will be very important in showing if a remedial measure to the relationship is possible, and also indicate what that remedy may be. On the other hand, it shows that benefic combinations can be severely hurt by the aspect of malefics. Rasi drishti will show circumstances that are a problem, while graha dristhi will show more the mental issues involved.
The sign of the UL is important as well as the sign of the 2nd house from the UL. When these two signs are inimical, there will be a want to break the relationship. These relationships are already predetermined to be more difficult. Whether they break or not will depend on the condition of the 2nd house from UL.
How do we time relationship with the UL?
The Marriage should be timed from the Upapada and the 7th house in Rasi and Navamsa.
What is the situation when a relationship breaks?
When the second house from the UL breaks the signifcations of that house will break. If the UL is in the 9th and the 2nd from that is the 10th house. When the relationship breaks the 2nd house from UL will break and all significations of the tenth will be hurt, so the person may also suffer job problems or loss, loss of fame, and status due to the relationship break. If the UL is in the 3rd, the person may lose their home and all happiness when the relationship breaks. If the UL is in the 4th house, the person may lose the stability of their chitta when relationship breaks, or may lose the bhakti of the 5th house. Some significations will be damaged.
If there are planets in the 2nd from the UL, they will show damaged significations with situations related negative significations of those planets at the time of the relationship break. If Saturn and Moon are second from the UL, the person will experience great depression at the time of relationship break. If Mercury is 2nd from the UL, the person’s memory, studies, or business will be severely afflicted. If the lagna lord is in the 2nd from UL, the health will be damaged and the person will fall sick out the time a relationship break. The fundamental concept is that when the relationship breaks, the 2nd house from it is afflicted and any significations related to that house will also show affliction.
When the relationship broke, the native fell sick for some time, this is because the lagna lord had to break when the 2nd house from UL broke. When the relationship breaks, it is because of a weakness of that house and everything there is afflicted. The 2nd house from the UL is also the chitta, the mental state, and the native was very unbalanced for some time after the relationship break.
This will help determine Upapadas and also help predict the end of relationship. Benefics placed here sustain relationship, but if heavily aspected by malefics will first give good results that slowly deteriorate. If there are malefics 2nd from UL, it shows negative experiences in the relationship and will make the UL break. If aspected by benefics it will show the ability to overcome these negative experiences and therefore experiences and emotions related to those aspects should be strengthened. If Moon is aspecting a Saturn second from the UL then the person needs to be more nurturing in relationship to help it be sustained. Remember that Sun and Ketu are benefics relative to relationship. Ketu will indicate the need to be more spiritual and indicate bringing spiritual practice into the relationship. The Sun will show Dharma, and the following of a Dharmic path is very important. If the Sun is 2nd from the UL, and the relationship breaks, be sure the person has followed some adharmic path which is helping to break the relationship.
An exalted planet generally has more sattva to it. So an exalted Saturn will not break the relationship. Instead it will hold the relationship together with an iron fist, it will not allow the relationship to break. Sometimes a person is trying to leave a relationship but unable to. This is often because of the strength of the 2nd from the UL. If it is strong, the person cannot leave the relationship even if they want to. If the 2nd from the UL is weak the person cannot sustain the relationship even if they want to. When a person wants to break a relationship and cannot, there are various harsh ta***ic remedies to break the 2nd house from UL.
When a person wants to improve a relationship they should strengthen the UL and its second house.
The Upapada of the native should fall into trines or the opposite sign from the lagna of the spouse for good compatibility as a marriage partner. The Lagna of the native should fall into trines or the opposite sign from the Upapada of the spouse to be compatible. This gives 4 signs which are compatible for any nativity. If the UL was in Cancer, then Cancer, the other water signs in trine (Scorpio and Pisces) or the opposite (Capricorn) would be compatible lagnas for the spouse. Both the native and the partner should have UL and Lagna compatibility.
The planets strongly connected to the UL of the native should match planets strongly connected to the partner’s lagna to show a karmic connection in the compatibility. For example, if the UL is in Leo, with a strong Sun, the partner should have a strong Sun in lagna or trines to it. Some similarity between these points will show a karmic bond that will make the relationship compatible, so that the partners perceive each other as marriage partners.
The Arudha Lagna represents externalities, and when the Upapada is trines with the AL it shows the marriage is based on externalities like beauty, position or money of the spouse. It does not show a deep connection, or a happy long term relationship.
When the Upapada Lagnas are the same it often indicates an arranged marriage.
