Universal Brotherhood The subtitle of the Theosophical Society, and the first of the three objects professed by it.

Upadhi (Sans.) Basis of something, substructure; as in Occultism-substance is the Upadhi of Spirit.

Upanishad (Sans.) Lit., "Esoteric Doctrine." The third Division of the Vedas, and classed with revelations (sruti or "revealed word"). Some 150 of the Upanishads still remain extant, though no more than about twenty can be fully relied upon as free from falsification. These are all earlier than the sixth century bc. Like the Cabala, which interprets the esoteric sense of the Bible, so the Upanishads explain the mystic sense of the Vedas. Professor Cowell has two statements regarding the Upanishads as interesting as they are correct. Thus he says:

These works have (1). one remarkable peculiarity, the total absence of any Brahmanical exclusiveness in their doctrine. They breathe an entirely different spirit, a freedom of thought unknown in any earlier work except the Rig-Veda hymns themselves; and (2) the great teachers of the higher knowledge (Gupta-Vidya ), and Brahmins, are continually represented as going to Kshatriya Kings to become their pupils (Chelas).

This shows conclusively that (a) the Upanishads were written before the enforcement of caste and Brahmanical power, and are thus only second in antiquity to the Vedas; and (b) that the occult sciences or the "higher knowledge," as Cowell puts it, is far older than the Brahmins in India, or even of them as a caste. The Upanishads are, however, far later than Gupta-Vidya , or the "Secret Science" which is as old as human philosophical thought itself.

Vahan (Sans.) "Vehicle," a synonym of Upadhi.

Vallabhachâryas Sect (Sans.), or the "Sect of the Maharâjas," a licentious phallic-worshipping community, whose main branch is at Bombay. The object of the worship is the infant Krishna. The Anglo-Indian Government was compelled several times to interfere in order to put a stop to its rites and vile practices, and its governing Maharâja, a kind of High Priest, was more than once imprisoned, and very justly so. It is one of the blackest spots of India.

Vedanta (Sans.) Meaning literally, the "end of all knowledge." Among the six Darshanas or the schools of philosophy, it is also called Uttara Mimansa , or the "later" Mimansa. There are those who, unable to understand its esotericism, consider it atheistical; but this is not so, as Shankaracharya, the great apostle of this school, and its popularizer, was one of the greatest mystics and adepts of India.

Vidya (Sans.) Knowledge, or rather "Wisdom-Knowledge."

Vijñana (Sans.) One of five Skandhas; meaning literally, "mental powers." (See Skandhas.)