Sādhanā

Sādhanā (Sanskrit साधना; Tibetan: བ་ཐབས་, THL: druptap;

Chinese: ⾏ ; pinyin: xiūxíng), literally means "methodical discipline
to attain desired knowledge or goal", Sadhana is also done for
attaining detachment from worldly things which can be a goal of a
Sadhu, Karma Yoga can also be described as Sadhana, so also Bhakti
Yoga & Gnyan Yoga, constant efforts to achieve maximum level of
perfection in all streams in day-to-day life can be described as
Sadhana. [1] is a generic term coming from the yogic tradition and it
refers to any spiritual exercise that is aimed at progressing the sādhaka
towards the very ultimate expression of his or her life in this reality.[2] Buddhist sādhanā (Japan)
It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu,[3] Buddhist,[4] Jain[5] and
Sikh traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual
or ritual objectives.

Sādhanā can also refer to a tantric liturgy or liturgical manual, that is,
the instructions to carry out a certain practice.

A contemporary spiritual teacher and yogi, Jaggi Vasudev, defines

sādhanā as follows:[6]

Everything can be sādhanā. The way you eat, the way

Shugendō sādhanā (Japan)
you sit, the way you stand, the way you breathe, the way
you conduct your body, mind and your energies and
emotions – this is sādhanā. Sādhanā does not mean any
specific kind of activity, sādhanā means you are using
everything as a tool for your wellbeing.

[EDITED :

"Sāādhana" is one of the common name found mostly across the south part of India. Which means a girls
blessed with enough beauty by lord Brahma. A girl born on such an auspicious day named Sāādhana will seek
the way by her own for success in her life. As like this iconic name, the person have individual character,
which makes her odd form other women. And most particularly she reacts and reflect the way you treat he]r.

The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sādhanā as follows:

[R]eligious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and molds the mind and
disposition (bhāva) into a form which develops the knowledge of dispassion and non-attachment.
Sādhanā is a means whereby bondage becomes liberation.[7]

B. K. S. Iyengar (1993: p. 22), in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,
defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:
 Sādhanā is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice
performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with
study and investigation. Therefore, sādhanā, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing.
A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice
towards a spiritual goal.[8]

Contents
Paths
Tantric sādhana
Buddhism
See also
Notes

Paths
The term sādhanā means"methodical discipline to attain desired knowledge or goal". Sadhana is also done for
attaining detachment from worldly things which can be a goal, A person undertaking such a practice is known
in Sanskrit as a sādhu (female sādhvi), sādhaka (female sādhakā) or yogi (Tibetan pawo; feminine yogini or
dakini, Tibetan khandroma). The goal of sādhanā is to attain some level of spiritual realization, which can be
either enlightenment, pure love of God (prema), liberation (moksha) from the cycle of birth and death
(saṃsāra), or a particular goal such as the blessings of a deity as in the Bhakti traditions.

Sādhanā can involve meditation, chanting of mantra sometimes with the help of prayer beads, puja to a deity,
yajña, and in very rare cases mortification of the flesh or tantric practices such as performing one's particular
sādhanā within a cremation ground.

Traditionally in some Hindu and Buddhist traditions in order to embark on a specific path of sādhanā, a guru
may be required to give the necessary instructions. This approach is typified by some Tantric traditions, in
which initiation by a guru is sometimes identified as a specific stage of sādhanā.[9] On the other hand,
individual renunciates may develop their own spiritual practice without participating in organized groups.[10]

Tantric sādhana
The tantric rituals are called "sādhanā". Some of the well known sādhanā-s are:

1. śāva sādhanā (sādhanā done while visualizing sitting on a corpse).

2. śmaśāna sādhanā (sādhanā done while visualizing being in a crematorium or cremation
ground).
3. pañca-muṇḍa sādhanā (sādhanā done while visualizing sitting on a seat of five skulls).

Buddhism
In Vajrayāna Buddhism and the Nalanda tradition, there are fifteen major tantric sādhanās:
 1. Śūraṅgama/Sitātapatrā
2. Nīlakaṇṭha
3. Tārā
4. Mahākāla
5. Hayagrīva
6. Amitābha
7. Bhaiṣajyaguru/Akṣobhya
8. Guhyasamāja
9. Vajrayoginī/Vajravārāhī
10. Heruka/Cakrasaṃvara
11. Yamāntaka
12. Kālacakra
13. Hevajra
14. Chöd
15. Vajrapāṇi
16. Avalokiteśvara
17.

Not within this list but a central sādhanā in Vajrayana is that of Vajrasattva.

All of these are available in Tibetan form, many are available in Chinese and some are still extant in ancient
Sanskrit manuscripts.[11]

Kværne (1975: p. 164) in his extended discussion of sahajā, treats the relationship of sādhanā to mandala thus:

[E]xternal ritual and internal sādhanā form an indistinguishable whole, and this unity finds its
most pregnant expression in the form of the mandala, the sacred enclosure consisting of
concentric squares and circles drawn on the ground and representing that adamantine plane of
being on which the aspirant to Buddhahood wishes to establish himself. The unfolding of the
tantric ritual depends on the mandala; and where a material mandala is not employed, the adept
proceeds to construct one mentally in the course of his meditation.[12]

See also
Chilla (retreat)
Guru–shishya tradition
Lojong
Mahayana
Transfer of merit
Vedic chant
Monasticism
Samyama (Holding Together)

Notes
 1. V. S. Apte. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. p. 979.
2. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996. pp.
92, 156, 160, 167. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
3. NK Brahma, Philosophy of Hindu Sādhanā, ISBN 978-8120333062, pages ix-x
4. http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sādhanā
5. C.C. Shah, Cultural and Religious Heritage of India: Jainism, Mittal, ISBN 81-7099-9553, page
301
6. http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/the-what-why-of-sadhana/
7. Bhattacharyya, N. N. History of the Tantric Religion. Second Revised Edition. (Manohar: New
Delhi, 1999) p. 174. ISBN 81-7304-025-7
8. Iyengar, B.K.S. (1993, 2002). Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Hammersmith, London, UK:
Thorsons. ISBN 978-0-00-714516-4 p.22
9. Bhattacharyya, op. cit., p. 317.
10. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996. p.
92. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
11. Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon – University of the West Archives of Ancient Sanskrit
Manuscripts (http://uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node/15) Archived (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20100612171717/http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node%2
F15) 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
12. Kvaerne, Per (1975). "On the Concept of Sahaja in Indian Buddhist Tantric Literature". (NB:
article first published in Temenos XI (1975): pp.88-135). Cited in: Williams, Jane (2005).
Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Volume 6. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-33226-5,
ISBN 978-0-415-33226-2. Source: [1] (https://books.google.com/books?id=Ypsz9qEzZjwC&pg
=PA137&dq=g.yu+sgra+snying+po&lr=&ei=HjXIS_SOJoOeMoP9sIEP&cd=21#v=onepage&q=
g.yu%20sgra%20snying%20po&f=false) (accessed; Friday April 16, 2010)

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