Glossary · concept
Uchcha & Neecha
Also written exaltation and debilitation · exalted · debilitated · dignity
Every graha has a sign of Uchcha (exaltation), where it stands at the peak of its strength, and the sign exactly opposite, its Neecha (debilitation), where it is weakest. Guru (Jupiter), for instance, is exalted in Karka (Cancer) and debilitated in Makara (Capricorn).
These are two of a graha's dignities — along with ruling its own sign and its moolatrikona (a favoured zone) — that tell you how freely it can act. An exalted graha gives its best; a debilitated one works against its own grain (though there are classical cancellations, neecha bhanga, that can lift it).
When a slow graha changes sign by gochar into its exaltation, it is a year-shaping moment — the Jupiter-into-Cancer transit being the textbook example.
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