BPHS Ch.30 Upapada v1-16: 2nd from UL = Marriage Sustenance; Natural Malefic in 2nd = Wife Killed; Exalted Planet in 2nd = Many Beautiful Spouses; Gemini as UL/2nd = Multiple Marriages; Saturn+Rahu in 2nd = Scandal/Divorce/Death; Sthira Darakaraka (Venus/Jupiter) in Moon's Sign = Wifeless in Old Age

BPHS Ch.30 — Upapada, Verses up to 16

The recording opens in the middle of a verse. The class reads Parāśara's verses on the Upapada (UL) and the 2nd house from it, and stops after the 16th verse.

Verse — 2nd from Upapada in a nīca aṁśa or with a malefic → he "kills" the wife

Condition: the 2nd house from Upapada is in a nīca aṁśa, or is joined by a natural malefic.

What "nīca aṁśa" means here:

• One meaning of nīca is debilitation. But a house is not debilitated, so that cannot be the sense.
• Nīca also means bad, lowly. So: the aṁśa of a bad, lowly planet. (The planets he names as examples are garbled in the recording.)

Result: the person kills the wife.

The more plausible reading: he becomes the cause passively, not actively. The teacher's example is a man whose drinking ruins his mind while his wife is dying.

Wording of the verses: earlier Parāśara was saying śubha / pāpa, now he switches to krūra.

"The bottom line is, if Upapada or the 2nd house from it are afflicted, either by natural malefics or functional malefics, it is bad. Upapada and the 2nd house should be blessed by good planets."

The 2nd from Upapada — why it matters, and whom to propitiate

• The 2nd house is the source of sustenance, food. "First is your body, but if there is no food, there is no body. Very soon the body will decay."
• So the 1st and the 2nd are always the important houses — from the Upapada too.

The earlier thumb rule: always take the lord of the 2nd from Upapada — fast and worship him. "That is the simple rule that we have used."

The revision from these verses — it need not be the 2nd lord. Look at all the factors on the 2nd from Upapada:

• which aṁśa that house is in, and who associates with it in the navāṁśa
• who aspects it in the rāśi chart
• who is in that sign

Out of these one planet will stand out as the protector or as the trouble-maker.

• A natural malefic occupying or aspecting it → propitiate that planet.
• A strong functional and natural benefic in it, aspecting it or owning it → propitiate him, so that he protects.
• You can propitiate the bad one who is trying to ruin it, or the good one. If three factors point to one planet, pick that planet.

"It does not have to be the thumb rule of always taking the 2nd lord."

Verse — an exalted planet linked to the 2nd from Upapada → many good-looking, good-natured spouses

Condition: the lord of the 2nd from Upapada, or a planet in it, is

• in its exaltation aṁśa (exalted in navāṁśa), or
• exalted in rāśi, or
• an exalted planet aspects the 2nd from Upapada from its exaltation sign (tuṅga dṛṣṭi).

Result: several spouses, with good looks and good qualities (rūpa-lakṣaṇa).

How to read it:

• In the old days a man could marry several women. Several wives who were good-looking and of good character meant he was lucky.
• Today it is illegal; having several spouses means a loose character, not luck.
• So read it as: the person is lucky with respect to marital bliss.

Verse — Upapada or the 2nd from it in Gemini → multiple spouses

Condition: either the Upapada or the 2nd house from it is in Mithuna.

Result: the person gets multiple wives.

Why Gemini:

• Mithuna means "couple".
• It is a sign of Mercury, and Mercury shows multitude, many.
• The same thing is said for children: if Gemini shows a particular child, there may be twins or triplets.
• So a sign of Mercury, Gemini in particular, can show multiple wives or multiple husbands.

Verse — the lord in the Upapada / 2nd itself, or in his own sign → wifeless later in life

Condition: the lord of the Upapada, or of the 2nd from it, is

• in that very sign, or
• in his other own sign elsewhere. Example: Libra is the Upapada and Venus is in Taurus.

Result: uttarāyuṣi nirdāra — later in life he becomes wifeless. "There is no doubt in it."

A student's reading: Parāśara means the person is happy with his wife through the prime of life; the trouble comes only in old age.

The teacher's reading:

• The lord in the sign, or in own sign, is a good combination by what Parāśara himself said earlier.
• Parāśara is saying that even then the wife can be lost late in life — when that planet is a bad planet (an enemy of the 7th house or 7th lord, a functional malefic), or is afflicted by a malefic.
• Being strong, he saves the marriage as long as he can. The loss comes late.
• If the planet is a benefic and has no afflictions, the person may not become spouseless even in old age.

"Just because Upapada or the 2nd from there has the lord right there, do not jump to the conclusion that things are fine."

Verse — the nitya dārakāraka in own sign → also wifeless in old age

Condition: the nitya (permanent) kāraka of the spouse occupies his own sign. (The recording's "Moon sign" / "one sign" is speech-to-text for "own sign"; the teacher restates the verse as "the nitya dārakāraka in own sign".)

Result: even then the person can become wifeless in old age. It is the same turn as the previous verse: a strong significator, and still a late loss.

Which kāraka is "nitya"? Not the chara dārakāraka. The teacher first takes it as Venus, the naisargika kāraka, then revises:

• If Parāśara meant the naisargika kāraka he could have just said "Venus".
• Nitya means permanent; sthira means fixed. That gels better with nitya.
• The verse is about the death of the spouse, and sthira kārakas are the ones used for that.
• The next verse says sthira kāraka outright.

So it is the sthira kāraka of the spouse: Venus or Jupiter, depending on whose chart you are reading. That is why no planet is named.

Verse — Upapada lord or the sthira kāraka exalted → wife from a good family

Condition: the lord of the Upapada is in his exaltation sign, or the sthira kāraka of the spouse (Venus or Jupiter) is.

Result: sukulād dāra-lābha — he gets a wife from a good, respected family.

Reverse: if the planet is debilitated, she comes from an ordinary family, not a respected one.

Verse — a benefic linked to the 2nd from Upapada → a beautiful, fortunate wife

Condition: the 2nd from Upapada has a link (sambandha) with a benefic.

Result: the wife is sundarī (beautiful), bhavyā (well-disposed, lucky) and rūpa-guṇānvitā (endowed with good looks and good nature).

Caveat: if the benefic linked to the 2nd from Upapada is weak and other malefic influences are stronger, this may not come true.

The lesson of these two verses:

"The Upapada and the second house will show you what kind of spouse comes, where the spouse comes from."

Verse 16 — Saturn and Rāhu in the 2nd from Upapada → wife given up over a scandal, or she dies

Condition: Saturn and Rāhu are placed in the 2nd from Upapada.

Result: apavādāt strī-tyāgaḥ — he gives up his wife because of a blame, an unfair blame, a scandal; or nāśa, the wife dies.

Why: Rāhu is the planet of scandals and bad reputation. The marriage is lost over a scandal, in unfortunate circumstances.

Caveat (to a student's objection): you will find charts with Saturn and Rāhu in the 2nd from Upapada where the person is fine. It is a strong possibility, not a certainty.

"If you see malefics in the 2nd from Upapada, you should be careful."

Summary of the verses

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