God Siva is unmanifest in His formless perfection, Parasiva.

God Siva is unmanifest in His formless perfection, Parasiva. See: formless. unoriginated: Never begun or created. God Siva is unoriginated as He has no beginning. See: atattva, Parasiva, Primal Soul. unpretentiousness: Modesty, humility. Not having false pride about oneself. unrepressed: Open and honest, not marked by thoughts or feelings that are hidden or held back. Not repressed, pushed back or controlled to excess. Free of subconscious impulses, compulsions and inhibitions.

unshrouded: Uncovered. Made visible or knowable. unwind: To undo something wound, as to unwind the thread from a spool. upa: (Sanskrit) A common prefix conveying the meanings: "towards, near to (as opposed to apa, away), by the side of, with, below." upadesha: (Sanskrit) "Advice; religious instruction." Often given in question-and-answer form from guru to disciple. The satguru's spiritual discourses.

upadeshi: (Sanskrit) A liberated soul who chooses to teach, actively helping others to the goal of liberation. Contrasted with nirvani. See: nirvani and upadeshi, satguru. Upagama: (Sanskrit) Secondary Agama. A large body of texts and similar in character to the principle Agamas. Each of the 28 Siddhanta Saiva Agamas has as many as 16 Upagamas associated with it, giving more specific or elaborate information on the basic text; their total number is given as 207 or 208.

upagrantha: (Sanskrit) "Secondary text." Appendices or additional resources of a book. See: Grantha. upanayana: (Sanskrit) "Bringing near." A youth's formal initiation into Vedic study under a guru, traditionally as a resident of his ashrama, and the investiture of the sacred thread (yajnopavita or upavita), signifying entrance into one of the three upper castes. The upanayana is among twelve samskaras prescribed in the Dharma Shastras and explained in the Grihya Sutras.

It is prescribed between ages 8-16 for brahmins (who received a white thread), 11-22 for kshatriyas (red thread), and 12-24 for vaishyas (yellow thread). At present the color white for the sacred thread has been adopted universally. The upanayana is regarded as a second or spiritual birth, and one so initiated is known as dvija, "twice-born." Until about the beginning of the common era, the upanayana was also afforded to girls.

Great value was placed on their learning the Vedas in preparation for the duties of married life. See: samskaras of childhood.