Sadhana in Sampradayas (सम्प्रदायेषु साधनम्)

The different systems of philosophy have prescribed different means for attainment of spiritual perfection and these vary sometimes from person to person according to their mental and spiritual attainments. The different schools of Vedanta have expounded the philosophy of Sadhana in their own characteristic way and prescribed either Action (Karma-marga) or Knowledge (Jnana-marga), or Devotion, the self-surrender (Bhakti-marga) as the case may be, as the means for perfection.

Dvaita Sampradaya

Dvaita outlines the means, sadhana for realization of the supreme end, moksha. Sadhana is a progressive endeavour and it mobilizes all the resources of personality. Madhva assimilates into his scheme of sadhana the entire heritage of the Upanisadic thought, the bhakti literature such as the Puranas, the Agamas, and the Itihasas including the Bhagavad-Gita.

The foremost and the ultimate factor that brings about man’s liberation, attainment of moksa, is the grace, prasada of Narayana according to the Dvaita Sampradaya. ‘Without Narayana’s prasada, moksa is not possible’ says Madhva. There are several levels of grace that confers this boon. ‘The grace that responds to karma is the lowest, that, which is in answer to disciplines such as sravana, is of the middle level, and that which rewards the precious possession of knowledge is the highest’. This prasada is an ever-existent reality. All that is required of human effort is to actuate it towards the granting of moksa. It is ultimately Himself through His grace, which is indistinguishable from His essence because of the principle of Visesa, that effectuates the summum bonum of man, moved towards that end, by the spiritual endeavour of the aspirant.

The Visnu-tattvavinirnaya lays down that ‘Visnu grants knowledge to the ignorant, grants liberation to the man of knowledge, and grants ananda to the liberated individual.’ Prasada is a continuously operative factor in spiritual life, and does not cease to be required even when the goal is accomplished. What brings grace to operational manifestation is bhakti of the aspirant. The two constituents of bhakti are knowledge of the greatness of God and love towards Him. This love must be steadfast and surpass in its intensity all other love including self-love. It is that height of bhakti that could invoke the necessary grace of Narayana for the purpose of moksa. There are different levels of bhakti, four levels stated in the Gita. Only the highest bhakti is what brings about the prasada for moksa.

Madhva is one of the greatest philosophers of bhakti. For him, bhakti is omnipresent, as it were, in spiritual life. His work Anuvyakhyana records thus: Bhakti generates knowledge; knowledge, in its turn, generates bhakti, which, in its turn, generates the direct perception of God. This perception generates bhakti, which brings about mukti, liberation.’ It is the first means, and the constituent of the last end itself. Jayatirtha says that ‘parama-bhakti’ is the level of bhakti that brings about the final liberating grace of God.

This bhakti must spring from knowledge, not mere emotion. Madhva characterizes it as a particular form of knowledge ‘Jnanasya visesa’. Its character and qualitative level depend upon the knowledge on which it is founded. The highest bhakti can spring from only the highest level of knowledge. Therefore, this bhakti must ensue from the immediate, direct and perceptual or intuitive apprehension of God. Madhva calls it aparoksa-jnana. This cannot be mere meditative imagination. Madhva insists that this bhakti must exceed the imaginative immediacy as stated in Brahmasutra-bhashya. Only the love engendered by the direct communion with the object of love can have the appropriate height and intensity. Hence, aparoksa-jnana is a necessity.

The means prescribed to achieve perceptual experience of God is upasana or nididhyasana. This is meditative contemplation of God with love and longing for the vision. It paves the way for the direct experience of God through the invariable means of grace. The meditation should not be mixed with fear or animosity. It must be of the nature of ardent seeking. The intellectual understanding of God derived from revelation and philosophical investigation can be converted into direct experience only through loving meditation. Aparoksa-jnana is the final phase in the process of knowing God. To effect the transition from mediacy to immediacy, upasana is the essential means. Trivikrama Pandit explains it thus: ‘The accumulated karma, which prevents the emergence of the vision of Ananta, cannot be eliminated except through uninterrupted contemplation.’

Visishtadvaita Sampradaya

All Bhakti schools agree in thinking that the Absolute cannot be reached by knowledge, as the Jnanavadins hold. They regard devotion to be the most effective means to realization. Jiva is in bondage because it does not know the truth that Vishnu is the Ultimate. The knowledge of this truth (Jnana) leads to His Prasada and through it to freedom from bondage. However, a certain level of fitness is required on the part of the Jiva for the knowledge to be acquired. A course of discipline for the Jiva is of absolute necessity and consists of several stages of mental and physical purificatory aspects.

1. Karma-yoga - At this stage the individual obtains the knowledge of his own self and Ishvara by means of studying the sacred literature (shravana). A sadhaka acts with dispassion, avoids bad actions and performs only those actions such as worship, dana (charity) in the divine name and meditation on Ishvara's nature. Both knowledge and actions thus purify him to make him fit for the next stage.
2. Jnana-yoga - It is totally the way of knowledge. At this stage the individual has the conviction (chinta-visesha) that he is dependent on Ishvara and different from Prakrti. This leads him to Bhakti yoga.
3. Bhakti-yoga - It is the way of devotion. At this stage the sadhaka is required to have incessant thought of Ishvara. Such thought happens when the eight-fold condition (ashtanga-yoga) is satisfied namely, yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. According to this school of thought, seven-fold discipline has to be practiced, Sadhana-saptaka, and Ramanujacharya quotes in his Sribhashya the Vakyakara who describes them as follows: तल्लब्धिः विवेक-विमोकाभ्यासक्रियाकल्याणानवसादानुद्धर्षेभ्यः संभवान्निर्वचनाच्च। They are viveka (विवेकः), vimoka (विमोका), abhyasa (अभ्यासः), kriya (क्रिया), kalyana (कल्याणम्), anvasada (अनवसादः), anuddharsha (अनुद्धर्षः). While ascertaining the fimdamental factors leading to Bhakti, Vedanta Desika points out that four factors namely (1) Viveka, (2) Nirveda, (3) Virakti and (4) Bhiti are essential for developing Bhakti.
4. Prapatti: It is the same as complete self-surrender to Ishvara (saranagati). It is the disposition of knowledge. It happens once at the death of the body. It puts an end even to prarabdha karma. With it the Self is liberated to go back to Vaikuntha. Every Jiva is fit to have it.