Sadhana (साधनम्)

Sadhana (Samskrit: साधनम्) is a term widely used in the Vedantic and Yoga texts to primarily represent instruments or means which are helpful in leading an aspirant to experience the higher states of consciousness.

Sadhana in the practical context is always used to indicate the essential preliminary (human) discipline that leads to the attainment of the spiritual experience which is regarded as the summum bonum (the highest good or Siddhi, i.e., completion and perfection) of existence. Sadhana includes all the religious practices and ceremonies that are helpful to the realization of spiritual experience, and therefore may be regarded as the practical side of religion, as distinguished from the discussion of the theories of the relation of divinity to man and the universe and other such topics which constitute the theoretical aspects in the domain of philosophy. Sadhana is that by which "Siddhi" or perfection is attained i.e., the instrument of perfection.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

It is well known that there exist distinct theoretical and practical aspects of Indian philosophical systems as manifested in the different sampradayas. There is an essential connection between theory and practice, and Sadhana has a place in both philosophy and theology, emphasizing the true significance of the course of discipline prescribed by the different religious systems for the attainment of spiritual realization.

Philosophy grows out of an experience which is more or less intuitive, and a philosophical system is an elaboration of the experience through reason. Reason can justify the experience, can at best show the experience to be consistent, but cannot yield the experience itself which transcends reason. Here we find the need for sadhana. It is sadhana which makes the realization or the experience possible.

Sadhana: Its Place and Function

The inherent division between thought and being, idea and existence, which modern psychologists recently noticed, was long before perceived by the Indian Seers, and was sought to be healed up by Sadhana. All the theories on the nature of truth except the Vedantic one fail to recognize that the slightest interval between idea and reality is an impediment to the attainment of truth. The idea exists because of the real, not that the real exists because of the idea. But the Vedantic argument for the existence of Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is not open to any such charge. Brahman or the Absolute is not merely an idea that is supplied by reason, it is reality or "vastu" which is anubhava-gamya (realized in experience). While Brahmatattava is very subtle in its nature, it is to be recognized (as applicable in this present context) as svayamprakasa and svayamvedya - self-luminous and not revealed or proved by anything else (hence exclusion method of neti-neti is used). Here the Ontological Argument takes a different turn. It is not manana nor reason that reveals Brahman; they are hopelessly inadequate for the purpose. We have the Upanishadic references of Katha and Kena Upanishads to support that Brahman is beyond the thoughts in the manas and speech.

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 Karma (Karma-marga) or Knowledge (Jnana-marga), Devotion or self-surrender (Bhakti-marga) as the case may be, as the means for perfection.

व्युतपत्तिः ॥ Etymology

Derived from the root साधँ in the sense of संसिद्धौ, Sadhanam (साधनम्) is Kridanta term having the ल्युट् pratyahara.

According to Shabdakalpadhruma, Sadhanam is defined as

साध्यते कर्म्म निष्पाद्यतेऽनेनेति साधनम् । sādhyate karmma niṣpādyate'neneti sādhanam ।

That by which any work is achieved or attained. In general usage, Sadhanam literally means "that by which something is performed" or more precisely "a means to an end".

According to the Apte Sanskrit English Dictionary a few other meanings of Sadhana are given below.

--1 Accomplishing, effecting, performing; as in स्वार्थसाधनं.

--2 Fulfilment, accomplishment, complete attainment of an object; प्रजार्थसाधने तौ हि पर्यायोद्यतकार्मुकौ R. 4. 16.

--3 A means, an expedient, a means of accomplishing anything; शरीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसाधनं Ku. 5. 33, 52; R. 1. 19. 4. 36, 62.

--4 An instrument, agent; कुठारः छिदिक्रियासाधनम्.

--5 The efficient cause, source, cause in general.

--6 The instrumental case.

--7 Implement, apparatus.

--8 Appliance, materials.

--9 Matter, ingredients, substance.

--10 An army or a part thereof; Mu. 5. 10.

--11 Aid, help, assistance (in general).

--12 Proof, substantiation, demonstration.

--13 The hetu or middle term in a syllogism, reason, that which leads to a conclusion; साध्ये निश्चितमन्वयेन घटितं बिभ्रत्सपक्षे स्थितिं व्यावृत्तं च विपक्षतो भवति यत्तत्साधनं सिद्धये Mu. 5. 10.

--14 Subduing, overcoming.

--15 Subduing by charms.

--16 Accomplishing anything by charms or magic.

--17 Healing, curing.

--18 Killing, destroying; फलं च तस्य प्रतिसाधनं Ki. 14. 17.

--19 Conciliating, propitiating, winning over.

--20 Going out, setting forward, departure.

--21 Going after, following.

--22 Penance, self-mortification.

--23 Attainment of final beatitude.

--24 A medicinal preparation, drug, medicine.

--25 (In law) Enforcement of the delivery of anything, or of the payment of debt, infliction of fine.

In the context of this article, sadhana is used in a technical sense as the means of achieving Brahmajnana, and here the discussion is about the essential characteristics of a sadhaka (such as nitya-anitya-vastuviveka, vairagya, etc.) to be developed as a means for the attainment of the highest spiritual experience.

ब्रह्मज्ञानसाधनन्तु नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकेहामुत्र- फलभोगविरागशमदमादिसम्पन्मुमुक्षुत्वम् । इति वेदान्तसारः ॥

Thus, though the word Sadhana has a very wide connotation and implies all kinds of means for attainment of all types of aspirations both worldly and spiritual, in this article its connotation is restricted to means for achieving spiritual perfection.

Sadhana related to Sadhaka and the Sadhya

A Vedantic aspirant may be termed as a Sadhaka (साधकः) who has a goal (eg., Srimaha Vishnu, Brahman) or Sadhya (साध्यम्) and the means to attain the goal is Sadhana (साधनम्) which could include Bhakti, Jnana and Yoga margas.

Who has the Adhikara for Sadhana?

The entire humanity is meant for Sadhana as the animal world bereft of rationality is beyond its purview. The theory of evolution both ancient and modern acclaims the human being as the finest product of creation endowed richly with an enormous power of thought and deed that could be directed towards the attainment of perfection.

Man is not a mere compound of certain elements that appears by chance at certain times and disappears at certain other times without a permanent phase. Man has been the subject of study and speculation from very early times and seers with wisdom have arrived at the fundamental truth that he is an eternal principle different and distinct from matter. This revelation of the eternality of the self is the fulcrum on which the entire superstructure of Sadhana rests. So the psychology of the Jiva has to be studied and his relationship with the Universe has to be understood. This leads us to the understanding why Moksha (includes the Atma jnana), the Paramapurushartha, is considered the highest among the four Purusharthas and is a unique goal of a human being alone.

A Sadhaka

The philosophy of Sadhana therefore centers around the Sadhaka, the aspirant human being, who is called the embodied Self (finite) or Atman in Vedantic terminology. Sadhaka is related to the Sadhya or the Universal Self (infinite) or Brahman. In Kathopanishad (1.1.20) Nachiketa questioned Yamadharmaraja only about the three problems namely

• the Sadhya or the Universal Self
• the nature of the Sadhaka or the aspirant
• the means or Sadhana to attain the Universal Self

Seers of the past therefore urged all the aspirants to get a thorough knowledge of the five factors implied in the above three problems before taking up any Sadhana.

1. The nature of the Brahman who is to be attained.
2. The nature of the individual Self (Atman) who has to attain the Brahman.
3. The means of attaining the Brahman.
4. The fruits of attaining the Brahman or the summum bonum (Moksha).
5. The obstructions for the attainment of the Brahman.

The Sadhya

It is indispensible for a Sadhaka to have a thorough understanding of the nature of the goal he aspires to achieve. He must know very precisely the full content of his ideal with all its implications so that his efforts may not be wasted or misdirected.

Sadhana in Dvaita Sampradaya

Dvaita outlines the means, sadhana for realization of the supreme end, moksa. 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 Epics 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. ‘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 God 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 works of grace of Narayana are manifold. 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.’ Grace 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. Dvaita tradition defines bhakti thus: ‘Mahatmya-jnana pursvastu sudrdhah sarvatodhikah; sneho bhaktriti proktahtaya muktih nacanyatha’. 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.’