The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2
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Utkutikasana<br />
a vow <strong>of</strong> celibacy, particularly a lifelong<br />
vow. In the Hindu tradition, celibacy is<br />
important not only for removing one<br />
from enjoying the pleasures <strong>of</strong> the flesh<br />
but because on a more basic level,<br />
semen is considered the concentrated<br />
essence <strong>of</strong> a man’s vital energies.<br />
Expending semen is necessary for procreation,<br />
but otherwise it should be<br />
retained, as a way to conserve one’s vital<br />
forces. In popular belief, when a man<br />
has been celibate for a certain time, the<br />
semen is drawn upward to the brain,<br />
where it nourishes one’s intellectual<br />
and spiritual faculties.<br />
Urushringa<br />
Architectural detail in the temple architecture<br />
<strong>of</strong> Khajuraho, one <strong>of</strong> the major<br />
forms <strong>of</strong> the northern Indian Nagara<br />
style. <strong>The</strong> Nagara style’s primary feature<br />
is a shikhara, or tower. This primary<br />
shikhara is <strong>of</strong>ten surrounded by smaller,<br />
subsidiary towers, to lead the eye up to<br />
the highest point, which is directly over<br />
the image <strong>of</strong> the temple’s primary deity.<br />
<strong>The</strong> urushringas are turrets built on the<br />
sides <strong>of</strong> these towers, whose shape replicates<br />
that <strong>of</strong> the tallest central tower and<br />
that serve to draw the eye upward to the<br />
highest tower.<br />
Urvashi<br />
In Hindu mythology, a particular celestial<br />
nymph (apsara) who is most famous<br />
for her association with King Pururavas.<br />
Urvashi comes to stay with Pururavas<br />
under several conditions, including that<br />
she should never see him naked. When<br />
she has been gone from heaven for a<br />
while, the god Indra notices her absence<br />
and schemes to get her back. One night<br />
he sends several minor deities to steal<br />
two lambs <strong>of</strong> which Urvashi is very fond,<br />
and when Pururavas leaps up to regain<br />
them, a flash <strong>of</strong> lightning reveals him<br />
naked, and Urvashi leaves him. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />
separate for some time but are eventually<br />
reunited—in some accounts for good,<br />
and in others for only one night a year.<br />
Ushas<br />
In the Vedas, the oldest and most<br />
authoritative Hindu religious texts,<br />
Ushas is a goddess associated and<br />
sometimes identified with the dawn.<br />
She is described as lighting the path for<br />
the sun and driving away the darkness<br />
and evil; her presence is thus associated<br />
with the regularity <strong>of</strong> the cosmic order.<br />
Ushas is most notable not for what she<br />
does—she is a minor deity, mentioned<br />
in only a handful <strong>of</strong> the Vedic hymns—<br />
but because she is one <strong>of</strong> the few goddesses<br />
in the Vedas. <strong>The</strong> virtual absence<br />
<strong>of</strong> female divinities in the Vedas is one <strong>of</strong><br />
the factors behind the notion that the<br />
great Goddess, one <strong>of</strong> the three major<br />
deities in later religious life, has her<br />
roots in indigenous goddess worship.<br />
For more information on Ushas and all<br />
the goddesses <strong>of</strong> Hinduism, see David R.<br />
Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, 1986.<br />
Utkala<br />
Northern Indian brahmin group that<br />
makes up one <strong>of</strong> the five northern brahmin<br />
communities (Pancha Gauda); the<br />
other four are the Kanaujias, the<br />
Maithilas, the Gaudas, and the<br />
Saraswats. Utkala brahmins are found<br />
only in the coastal regions <strong>of</strong> Orissa, on<br />
the Bay <strong>of</strong> Bengal, but their ritual control<br />
over the pilgrimage sites there, particularly<br />
the city <strong>of</strong> Puri, have helped<br />
them remain a significant group.<br />
Utkutikasana<br />
Sitting posture (asana) in yoga practice<br />
in which the legs are contracted, with<br />
the soles <strong>of</strong> the feet pressed against each<br />
other and the outer part <strong>of</strong> the feet and<br />
legs flat on the ground. This posture is<br />
the one in which images <strong>of</strong> the deities<br />
are portrayed in Hindu iconography,<br />
and it seems to be the position called<br />
samasthana in the commentaries to the<br />
Yoga Sutras. This position is also<br />
notable because it appears to be portrayed<br />
on one <strong>of</strong> the seals from the<br />
Indus Valley civilization; the figure in<br />
this position is the mysterious horned<br />
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