Sadhana (साधनम्)

Sadhana (Samskrit: साधना) 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. The realization of a thought is what sadhana yields us.

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 to understand Brahman in some schools of philosophy). 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.

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 ॥ brahmajñānasādhanantu nityānityavastuvivekehāmutra- phalabhogavirāgaśamadamādisampanmumukṣutvam । iti vedāntasāraḥ ॥

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.

Sadhya in Advaita Vedanta

The quintessence of Shri Adishankaracharya’s philosophy was stated by himself in half-a-verse:

Brahma satyam jagan-mithya, Jivo brahmaiva naparah

Brahman, the Absolute, alone is real; this world is unreal (maya); and the jiva or the individual soul is not different from Brahman.

The Upanisadik terms ‘Brahman‘ and ‘Atman‘ indicate the highest Reality, which is non-dual. Supreme Brahman is nirguna, nirakara, nirvisesa, that is, without the gunas or attributes, formless, without any special characteristics, immutable, eternal, and akarta (non-agent). Brahman is above all needs and desires; It is always the witnessing subject; It can never become the obiect as it is beyond the reach of the senses. It is non-dual. One without a second. In Brahman there is not the distinction of substance and attributes (undifferentiated). Brahman, the Absolute, is Existence (sat), Consciousness (cit) and Bliss (änanda); These form the svarupa of Brahman.

Sadhya in Visistadvaita Sampradaya

The Absolute of Visistadvaitam is characterised by its attributes of the sentient and the non-sentient unlike that of the undifferentiated Brahman of Advaita. Desika affirms that the study of vedantic reality as tattva relates to only one Absolute, the, Brahman characterized by its modal expressions of the chit and the achit.

अशेषचिदचित्प्रकारं ब्रह्मैकमेव तत्त्वम्। (Nyaya. Sidd. Page 187)

Sri. Ramanujacharya comes to the conclusion of one Supreme Reality on different grounds of visistaikya. ‘Brahman is qualified by plurality but is not itself plural. The individual selves as well as matter, though really different from Brahman, the Supreme self, form one with it being its attributes. Ramanuja explains the relationship of the world with Brahman in a realistic way following the parishkrita saktivada according to which the chit and the achit are admitted as the shakti of the Supreme or attributes inseparable and powerful of action. the philosophy of Ramanujacharya is established in the central thought that Brahman is the ground of all existence and that all other entities exist to glorify it.

Sadhya in Dvaita Sampradaya

Dvaita metaphysics considers the Supreme Reality, the Brahman, Vishnu is self-distinguishing Absolute Self. As such, He is eminently personal. Brahman is the ground (base) of the universe. The universe consists of chetana (consciousness) and achetana (matter). It is not superimposed on Brahman. Brahman is considered as the Atman of the world (body). The world is real and there are three senses in which a thing can be considered real. A thing is real if it has

1. an existence of its own (satta)
2. has knowledge (pramiti)
3. its own function (pravrtti).

Chetana is real in all the three senses, while achetana is real in the first and last senses (it has no knowledge). The reality of the world is dependent (asvatantra). The source is independent (svatantra) has independent reality. It has its existence (satta), function (pravtti), and knowledge (pramiti) quite independent of other things. Brahman is changeless, and perfect.

Sadhana Bhedas and Outcomes

Sadhana - Positive and Negative Aspects

Sadhana may broadly be divided into two important phases according to some ways of, as namely

1. Vairagya (desirelessness) which is the negative side.
2. Abhyasa (repetitive practice) which is the positive phase.

Both the phases are intermingled and complement each other. The negative aspect is only preparatory and creates the proper field for the positive Sadhana. The value of the negative aspect consists in withdrawing the mind from things other than the object of interest, so that the positive aspect of concentrating the entire mind on the topic at hand may be fully serviceable. Vairagya (dispassion, renunciation, non-attachment etc.,) represents the elimination of attachment to everything finite, while Abhyasa helps bring out infinitude in the vaccuum created by Vairagya. it should be noted that Vairagya is not mere absence of desire; it is knowing an object as unworthy of desire that is truly vairagya. These important phases to restrain the mind are mentioned both in Yogasutras as well as Bhagavadgita.

अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥ ६-३५॥ (Bhag. Gita. 6.35)

Meaning: Undoubtedly, the mind is difficult to control and is restless, O! Arjuna, it is to be restrained by Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya (dispassion).

अभ्यासवैराग्याभ्यां तन्निरोधः ॥ १.१२॥ (Yoga. Sutr. 1.12)

Meaning: Their (vrittis of the mind) control is by Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya (non-attachment).

Positive and Negative Aspects in Different Ways of Sadhana

Summarized below is the divisional outlook of Sadhana into positive and negative aspects according to various ways

Text/Sadhana Line	Negative Aspect	Positive Aspect	Removal of Obstacles
Advaita Vedanta	Nitya-anitya vastu viveka (discrimination of the permanent and the transitory)	Shravana (hearing the sacred texts and understanding their meaning or arthānusandhāna)	Vichara
	Ihāmutra-phalabhoga-virāga (indifference to pleasure of every kind either in this world or the next)	manana (reflection and ratiocination or tattvānusandhāna)
	janma-mrtyu-jvarā-vyādhi-dukhadoshānudarsanam (constant perception of and reflection on the sorrows attending birth, death, disease and old age)	nididhyasana (constant meditation on the conclusions established by ratiocination)
Patanjali Yogasutras	Pratyahara (withdrawing from things other than the object of meditation)	dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (ecstasy)	Yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and pratyahara
Tantra	Bhuta-shuddhi (or purification of the gross, the subtle and causal bodies)	Matrka-nyasa (pure spiritual creative energy)	Puja, asana-shuddhi, bhuta-shuddi
Bhagavadgita	aratirjanasamsadi —absence of pleasure in the company of worldly people. Nothing worldly and finite can yield pleasure to one who is in search after the Infinite.	adhyatma-jnananityatvam —constant living in things spiritual
Bhakti (Vaishnava, Saiva, Shakta etc)	Recitation of the name of the Narayana, Shri Vishnu, or of Shiva, Devi etc.

Chittashuddhi - Chief Outcome of Sadhana

Great emphasis has been laid upon the negative aspect of Sadhana, not only by most sects of the Sanatana Dharma, but by other religions of the world. This negative side is described as the stage of purgation which is the essential preliminary to all illumination. The divine discontent, the unwillingness to be satisfied with the merely animal level of existence, is the first stage in the development of spiritual consciousness, and this, when earnest and real, cannot but lead to purgation or Chittasuddhi.

The purification of the chitta or mind is the one thing that is indispensable, and whatever differences might exist with regard to other points, all the different forms of Sadhana agree in holding that this is the basis of all true illumination. According to the Yoga school, the negative step precedes the positive and prepares the vacuum that is to be filled up by the positive.

Tantra also involves purgation or purification of the sinful body and the removal of all sins and taints, acquired and inherited. This is what prepares the vacuum that is next filled up by the Matrka or the pure spiritual creative Energy, which is the mother of all feelings and ideas (bhava).

Bhakti Marga Differs

The Bhakti line of Sadhana does not place much emphasis on this negative phase and regards - vairagya or desirelessness as not much helpful towards spiritual realisation.

तस्मान्मद्‍भक्तियुक्तस्य योगिनो वै मदात्मनः । न ज्ञानं न च वैराग्यं प्रायः श्रेयो भवेदिह ॥ ३१ ॥ (Bhag. Pura. 11.20.31)

Love of what is divine is the one thing that is essential, and indifference towards other things (vairagya) is not to be sought separately. God and all that is God’s are loved, and automatically everything other than God and the Divine ceases to be of any importance.

Trshnatyaga (desirelessness) comes as a consequence of filling up with Krishnanishta—(love of God). The Bhakti-marga points out that it is wrong psychology to try to drive out things from the mind and to make it a vacuum before filling it up with other things. If we fill up the mind with God, automatically other things disappear. This is the direct method of getting rid of worldly things and objects, and also of realising God. Similarly, reciting the name of Krishna, according to this school, also removes all obstacles. Thus in this system the separation between the positive and negative aspects is not distinct.

Sadhana - Bahiranga and Antaranga Aspects

Another principle of division of Sadhana involves the exoteric and esoteric aspects. A bahiranga or exoteric aspect and the antaranga aspects of Sadhana are closely associated with the positive and negative kinds discussed above.

The Bahiranga Sadhana is only preparatory and is rather remote from the spiritual experience. Antaranga Sadhana is vital for an aspirant, it is very near to and closely intimate with Anubhava or experience. Antaranga sadhana of almost all schools is Dhyana. It is

- nidhidhyasana with the Vedantist.

- dhruva smrti or smarana with Ramanujacharya.

- dhyana and samadhi with Patanjali.

- loving communion with the divine according to Sri Chaitanya.

- mantra-chaitanya according to Tantrika.

Sadhana - Margas

There is yet another classification of Sadhana into different ways based on the important Sanatana Dharma tenets, namely,

1. Karma-yoga
2. Jnana-yoga
3. Bhakti-yoga

Sadhana may proceed by emphasizing the subject or the object. The emphasis is laid on the object-factor by the Bhakti schools, while it is on the subject by the Jnana and Yoga schools of thought. The Yoga-system, again, gives primacy to will, and the development of the subject is sought to be attained through the education of the will. It is the will that manifests the whole personality of man, and reason, being only a partial element in his constitution, need not be separately trained. The Kapila-Samkhya and the Vedanta, both preaching Jnana ascribe the primacy to reason which alone can control the other elements, because the other elements are subordinate to reason. Jnana and Yoga are thus two sub-divisions of the subjective form of Sadhana—one intellectualistic and the other voluntaristic, and they preach two distinctly opposite methods of attaining the end. It depends on the person choosing the way, as not all are fitted for one, and some are not for the other (way). As Vashista says

It is well-known that Vedas are said to have two important branches—Karma-kanda (Brahmana texts) and Jnana-kanda (Upanishads). The Bhagavad Gita also speaks of two divisions—Karma and Jnana.

लोकेऽस्मिन् द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ । ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् ॥ ३-३॥ (Bhag. Gita. 3.3)

Meaning: In this world there is a two-fold path, as told earlier, O sinless one, the ‘Path-of-Knowledge (ज्ञानयोग)’ of the Samkhyans and the ‘Path-of-Action (कर्मयोग)’ of the Yogis.

Bhakti or Upasana is placed under Karma-marga and is not given a separate place. The Ashtangayoga of Patanjali, all the Vaisnava schools, the Tantrika and Pasupata forms of Sadhana, and the yajna forms of Sadhana as prescribed in the Vedas would all be classified under Karma-marga. Under Jnana, the Samkhya and the Vedanta forms of Sadhana are included. In the present context, Bhakti-marga is elucidated separately.

Stages of Sadhana

One may note three distinct stages among various forms of Sadhana.

1. Vaidika Yajnas - Involves dravya-tyaga (physical offering of material things and objects) and propitiation of the governing Devatas who are considered as the Almighty Power. Utmost importance is given to reverence and minutest details involved in the actual physical processes of yajnas. This kind of sadhana is best portrayed by the Vaidika yajnas - mostly Shrauta yajnas - as seen in the Brahmana literature.
2. Upasana - Involves mental process of yajnas. Physical offering of materials and objects do not count as much as the feeling of reverence or worship. The bhava or the bhakti (devotion) becomes the most important element in worship (Bhavagrahi janardanah). Devatas who are the governing Almighty Powers, are also sought as the Holiest Personifications with divine love as the offering in various relationships between the worshipper and the worshipped. This is the basis of Sadhana advocated and elaborated in the Purana Literature. Here stuti of the devata, offering of phalam (fruits), patram (leaves), pushpam (flower) and toyam (water), along with love and reverence form the items of worship.
3. Jnana - Involves vichara and jnana which occupy the most prominent place. This is spoken of as Jnana-yajna in Bhagavad-gita and said to be superior to all other forms of worship. Here the externality of Devatas is replaced by internality and philosophy, and the constant meditation of the Absolute with a view to its realisation becomes the chief element in the course of spiritual discipline. This stage is elaborated in the Upanishadic literature. The Absolute is now recognised to be not merely consisting of feeling and love and intelligence, but is apprehended as transcending all these and hence to be reached by the Atman which also transcends intellect, feeling and love. The Almighty Power, termed Brahman is not any foreign Power or even any Person other than our own selves, but it is our own Higher Self termed Atman. The process does not involve "reaching" or "attaining," as in attaining things other than ourselves, but unfolding our own latent infinitude and gradually experience the higher states of expansion (Brahmabhavasca moksah). This form of Sadhana is peculiar to the Vedanta. The Jnanin or the liberated is not a ‘spiritual freak,’ as sometimes a mystic is wrongly supposed to be, but the man or the super-man “who has grown up to the full stature of humanity and united himself with that source of Life which is present everywhere.”

These three stages give us three different conceptions of God, viz. God as the Almighty Power, God as the Supreme Person with whom we can enter into relationship of love, and God as the Self. While religions of other countries belong mostly to the second type, Hinduism has elements of all three. The Bhakti form of Sadhana, be it of any deity, is essentially theistic, whereas a supra-theistic position advocated by the Upanishads and Vedanta is not fully appreciated by the theists of the West, primarily because the elements therein transcend theism. Thus differs the Indian thought, the mental state, philosophy and psychology.

The three stages described above would correspond roughly to the

1. Angavabaddha Upasana (अङ्गावबद्धोपासन): This is a many-sided form of worship involving a plurality of details. The course is not yet single-centred, and materials for progress and development are gathered from many sources, just as physical development. But although here the sources are many and separate, it is to be remembered that all of them have the same end in view. Shrauta yajnas, Anganyasa, Karanyasa, Mahanyasa, Laghunyasa, Kavacham of any deity such as Shiva, Vishnu, Devi etc., are a few examples of this kind of Upasana. Here the worship involves one (worshipper) to many forms.
2. Pratika Upasana (प्रतीकोपासन): It concentrates on one particular form. It regards one symbol as the representative of everything. Just as the brain is the centre of the organism, so also does the pratika symbolise the source of the universe, and the worship of the pratika symbolizes the worship of everything. Here the source is found out and worship is concentrated on this source, a transition from the ‘many’ to the ‘one.’ It is the common characteristic of all forms of Bhakti Upasana, viz., the Vaishnava, Saiva and Shakta. The pratika symbolises the one all-engrossing object of adoration, worship and love. It is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe and is present always in everything. The emphasis here is on the object and it is pre-eminently an objective Sadhana.
3. Ahamgraha Upasana (अहंग्रहोपासन): Here the object of worship is not different from the subject himself. The Self is not to worship any (Devata or Symbol) different from itself because there is nothing different from the Self as given in the Brahmasutras - न प्रतीके न हि सः।।4.1.4।। Here the transition is to 'One without any division.' The transition from the dualism of subject and object to the oneness or identity between the two, viz., the Self and the Brahman is to be achieved. Upanishads and Vedanta describe such upasana vividly.

In the first stage, the worshipper finds that ‘many’ are to be worshipped and worships them all ; in the second, the ‘many’ reduce themselves to the One and only the One Absolute is worshipped, but still the duality between the worshipper and the worshipped remains prominent ; in the third, even this duality vanishes.

Sadhana - A Psychological Approach

In the previous section, we saw how worship has transitioned from externality to internality, a quality most unique to the human being. Whatever may be the path a sadhaka takes, he realizes that the finite, individual human being has an element of divinity inherent in him; and that the experience of the Infinite is not a foreign experience to him. The gradual unfolding of the latent, capacities of man in the direction of knowledge, power and holiness is the function and purpose of Sadhana.

The mind is ordinarily engaged in diverse sense-oriented things, and because of its functioning in various directions its energy becomes diffused and fails to grasp truths clearly. However, when mental energy is conserved through concentration, un-common and wonderful powers are manifested by the mind. The highest development and purification of the intellect (Buddhi) seem to be the exact reflection of the Purusa or the Self which is omniscient. It is, however, only a reflection of the Self, and not the Self as it is in itself. Bauddik revelation is always dependent on some process, and Buddhi is only an instrument or rather a mirror for the revelation of truths. The atmic revelation alone is really free and independent, because it is revelation itself depending neither on any subject nor on any object. Buddhi becomes a fit instrument for revelation through concentration (dhyana), and in the samadhi or the sakshatkara state, the Buddhi merges into the Self which alone remains.

Sadhana and Indian Psychology (साधनं मनोविज्ञानं च) are thus very intricately related topics that have significant implications on the personality and perspectives of a human being. Sanatana Dharma is based primarily and fundamentally in the actual living experience, its aim and emphasis always being the realization or anubhuti of the ultimate truth. Sadhana most certainly involves many psychological processes such as thoughts, ideas, facts, cognition, reality, sensation, truth or falsity, distinction between the subject and object, reasoning, intuition, knowledge and so on to bring about this realization or anubhuti.

In modern parlance epistemology or theory of knowledge is about nature, origin (or source), scope (or limitations), and variety of knowledge, i.e., what knowledge is, how it is acquired, what its relationship to truth is, its relationship to belief (i.e., knowledge is true belief), and its relationship with justification (i.e., why and how do we know what we know, or how can we justify that we have the truth?). Ontology is about what the being is or it is the study of being. What is existence? Which entities are fundamental? What are it's characteristics?

The epistemology of Indian Psychology and philosophy merge with the general Indian worldview of knowledge, truth, and belief about making sense of the Self and the world. This is corroborated in the very first mantra of Ishavasopanishad -

ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् । तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्य स्विद्धनम् ॥ १ ॥ (Isav. Upan. 1)

It clarifies that

1. Everything in this universe is covered by or permeated by its controller or brahman.
2. Protect yourself through renunciation or enjoy through renunciation (Bhuj dhatu also means to enjoy).
3. Do not covet or desire, for whose is wealth (i.e., all that is accumulated is left behind when one dies)?

It answers the epistemological question of what knowledge is by stating that “Everything that is around us is covered by brahman.” Alternatively, what is considered knowledge can be broken down into three parts: the controller, self and everything around the self, and the controller covering or permeating self and each of the elements around the self. Knowledge, it is implied, is not only knowing what we see around us in its variety as independent entities and agents, but to realize that each of the elements is permeated and controlled by brahman.

Everything in this universe is covered by its controller also addresses the ontological quest – What is the being or self – by affirming that it is brahman or controller of the universe. The self and everything in the environment is brahman because brahman permeates everything. Thus, epistemology and ontology merge in Indian psychology.

Sadhana in Sampradayas

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. 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.’

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.