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In short
Uchcha, or exaltation, is the sign where a graha is classically at its best: Aries for the Sun, Taurus for the Moon, Capricorn for Mars, Virgo for Mercury, Cancer for Jupiter, Pisces for Venus and Libra for Saturn. This app labels a planet anywhere in that sign "Exalted", except Mercury, which is exalted only in the first 15 degrees of Virgo.
What the term means
Uchcha means "high". A graha's exaltation sign is the sign in which the classical texts give it the highest dignity. Each of the seven visible grahas has one, and within it one degree of deepest exaltation. The opposite sign, seven signs on, is its debilitation. Rahu and Ketu have no exaltation in this app.
Where the term comes from
BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 lists the exaltation signs for the Sun through Saturn as Aries, Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo, Cancer, Pisces and Libra, with deepest exaltation at 10, 3, 28, 15, 5, 27 and 20 degrees of those signs, and puts the deepest fall at the same degree of the opposite sign. Sl. 51-54 split two of the signs: the Moon's exaltation in Taurus is the first 3 degrees, and Mercury's in Virgo the first 15. Sl. 59-60 say an exalted graha "gives fully good effects".
How this app uses it
- The engine labels the whole exaltation sign "Exalted", with one degree limit: Mercury is Exalted in Virgo from 0 to 15 degrees, then Moolatrikona to 20, then own sign. The Moon has no such limit in the table, and the exaltation test runs first, so a Moon anywhere in Taurus is labelled Exalted.
- An exalted planet gets the full 10 of 10 for position in the app's Shad Bala, the same as Moolatrikona. It also counts toward a Panchamahapurusha yoga when it sits in a Kendra.
- The deepest degrees are used, not as labels, but as anchors: the planetary-ray figure and the Isht Phala both measure how far a planet has moved from its deepest fall.
- Saravali Ch. 5 Sl. 14 reports a view that a retrograde planet in exaltation gives no good result. The engine does not apply it. In a 1985-06-05, 02:29 IST New Delhi chart, Saturn is exalted and retrograde in Libra and scores 15.96 of 20, Strong.
Pages that use this term
- Libra (Tula) rashi - Saturn's exaltation sign.
- Virgo (Kanya) rashi - Mercury's exaltation, split three ways.
- Pisces (Meena) rashi - Venus exalted, Mercury fallen.
- Saturn in Libra - an exalted placement, worked through.
- Shad Bala calculator - shows each planet's dignity and position strength.
- Yogas calculator - where exaltation in a Kendra forms a Mahapurusha yoga.
Related terms
- Neecha (debilitation) - the opposite sign.
- Moolatrikona - ranked equal to exaltation here.
- Swakshetra (own sign) - the next step down.
- Planetary rays - measured from the deepest fall.
Shad Bala calculator
Six components, one simplified score out of 20 for each of the seven grahas.
What it needs
Date, time and place
That is more than this article asks for - it only ever takes a date, and sometimes a time, and never a name or a birth place. So this one runs on its own page, which asks for exactly what it needs and stores none of it.
Run it on its own page