In love
Love the good for its own sake, and blessing gathers that nothing can block — what was lost is restored by the same law. Full love reading
Hexagram 42 · Line 2
The Increase None Can Oppose
Hexagram 42 · Line 2 meaning
"Someone increases him indeed; ten pairs of tortoise shells cannot gainsay it. Constant steadfastness brings good fortune. The king presents him before God: good fortune."
Parent hexagram
42
I is the season of blessing in full flow: what is above sacrifices to what is below, and the people rejoice; wind and thunder amplify one another as gales feed storms. Progress that lately cost everything now comes with help — a sense of inner and outer independence, and a following wind behind every worthy undertaking. Great crossings, long deferred, are open.
Direct answer
Hexagram 42 line 2 means blessing so aligned with the order of things that no oracle could contradict it — the receiving side of Decrease's fifth line. It comes to whoever loves the good for its own sake, not just for relief from hardship. Hold that love with constant steadfastness, and what was lost is restored.
The image explained
Line two is the inner centre of the lower trigram, and the blessing that arrives here mirrors exactly the fifth line of Decrease — the same gift, now seen from the side that receives it. The ten pairs of tortoise shells, the ancient oracle-bones, could all be cast and none would argue against it: this increase is decreed, not negotiated. And the final image lifts it higher still — "the king presents him before God" — the blessing shown at the summit, co-signed by heaven. What earns it is not need but love of the good held steadily, for its own sake.
What to do now
Do love the good for itself, and keep loving it — the blessing is drawn by constancy, not by how badly you want relief. Do persevere steadily; what you lost returns on that same steadiness. Don't chase the increase as a cure for a hard patch — the line is clear that it answers genuine love of the good, not desperation. And don't grasp once it comes; receive it, stay constant, and let it be presented, not seized.
Transformation
The change toward Hexagram 61
When this line moves, the situation travels toward Hexagram 61, Inner Truth — sincerity held at the open centre. The link is the source of the blessing: what no oracle can gainsay is exactly what Inner Truth describes, a good so genuinely loved that it aligns you with the order of things. The blessing presented before God and the truth that reaches pigs and fishes are one thing seen twice. Keep the heart true and constant, and the increase isn't luck — it's the natural answer to what you already are.
This line in context
In career
Love the good work for itself, persevere, and advancement gathers that no one can argue away; whatever was lost is returned. Full career reading
For a decision
Blessing so aligned with things that no oracle could contradict it — hold the good steadily rather than chasing relief, and let it come. Full timing reading
Reflection
Do I love this good for itself, or only for the relief it might bring?
Can I stay constant long enough for what was lost to find its way back?
Read this line well
Keep the line inside the full reading
A changing line becomes useful when you read it in the right order and keep it tied to the wider hexagram pattern.
1. Start with Hexagram 42
Read the parent hexagram first so Line 2 stays anchored in the actual situation rather than floating as a detached slogan.
2. Stay with Line 2
Let this line show where the pressure, correction, or opening is most active right now. It is usually the sharpest instruction in the cast.
3. Then read the direction of change
Only after that should you compare the transformed figure and decide what movement this changing line is pointing toward.
If you want the wider method behind this sequence, read how to consult the I Ching or go deeper with the changing-lines guide.
All six lines
Read the full line sequence
Line 1
Great Deeds Are Favoured
"It is favourable to accomplish great deeds. Supreme good fortune. No blame."
Hexagram 42 line 1 means the increase has reached even your low starting place, and it comes with a commission: help received obliges great undertakings. Act on the scale the season permits, selflessly and for the general good, and the extraordinary succeeds. There's even room for honest error — mistakes made in sincere effort correct themselves now. Build large.
Read line 1 in full
Line 2
The Increase None Can Oppose
"Someone increases him indeed; ten pairs of tortoise shells cannot gainsay it. Constant steadfastness brings good fortune. The king presents him before God: good fortune."
Hexagram 42 line 2 means blessing so aligned with the order of things that no oracle could contradict it — the receiving side of Decrease's fifth line. It comes to whoever loves the good for its own sake, not just for relief from hardship. Hold that love with constant steadfastness, and what was lost is restored.
Current line
Line 3
Enriched Through Misfortune
"One is enriched even through unfortunate events. No blame — if you are sincere, walk in the middle, and act with the authority of a true commission."
Hexagram 42 line 3 means the season's strangest gift: in a time of increase, even the blows enrich you. Adversity now carries instruction and strength — but only under three exact conditions: stay sincere, walk the middle path, and act as if sealed by a true commission rather than improvised by the ego. Met so, misfortune itself joins the increase.
Read line 3 in full
Line 4
The Trusted Intermediary
"Walking in the middle and reporting to the prince, one is followed. It is favourable to be used in great removals."
Hexagram 42 line 4 means you are the trusted intermediary — the mediator between powers, the translator between above and below, entrusted with the weightiest transfers because of your proven balance. Walk the middle, report faithfully, and you'll be followed. Everything rests on impartiality that never bends the message toward your own desire. Serve the transmission, not yourself.
Read line 4 in full
Line 5
Kindness That Does Not Ask
"A truly kind heart need not ask — supreme good fortune. Kindness will be recognised as your virtue."
Hexagram 42 line 5 means the apex of increase: generosity become nature. A kindness this real springs from inner necessity — it doesn't calculate returns, seek recognition, or require penitence before it forgives. It never asks to be acknowledged, and precisely therefore it is. Act with such unmeasuring goodness, and the virtue unadvertised becomes the virtue known everywhere.
Read line 5 in full
Line 6
Increase Withheld
"He brings increase to no one — indeed, someone strikes him. He does not keep his heart steady. Misfortune."
Hexagram 42 line 6 is the season's terminal warning: increase hoarded at the top, passed to no one below. The heart, unsteadied by acquisition, forgets the law that began the flow — the above giving downward — and the current reverses. Isolation comes first, then a blow from an unexpected quarter. This is misfortune. The correction is to resume the giving.
Read line 6 in full
Situation meanings
Read this hexagram in context
Love meaning
Love's season of increase — build boldly and give generously.
Open interpretation
Career meaning
A season of increase — build boldly and pass the gains downward.
Open interpretation
Business meaning
A tailwind season — build boldly, and pass the gains downward.
Open interpretation
Family meaning
The household's season of increase — build boldly and give downward.
Open interpretation
Money meaning
Money's season of increase — build boldly, keep it flowing.
Open interpretation
Personal growth meaning
The wind is with you — imitate good, root out faults, build.
Open interpretation
Learning meaning
Learning flies with a tailwind now — attempt the hard thing.
Open interpretation
Creativity meaning
A fertile season with a tailwind — build boldly, give freely.
Open interpretation
Decision and timing meaning
Act now — the wind is with you; cross the great water.
Open interpretation
Spirituality meaning
A season of blessing — use it, and pass it downward.
Open interpretation
Friendship and community meaning
A season of growing circles — build boldly, give generously.
Open interpretation
Life transitions meaning
A change with a tailwind — build boldly, and pass it on.
Open interpretation
A gift to keep
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Return to steadiness
A quiet place to keep returning
Beyond a single reading: True Essence is a daily pause to steady the mind and return to clearer judgement — a seven-day return, free to begin, then a practice that continues day by day.
Begin the 7-day return →Oracle
Consult the I Ching with Hexagram 42 in mind
If Line 2 is active in your reading, use the oracle to revisit the full pattern and any additional changing lines in your live situation.