YOGA SADHANA – Part 1

YOGA SADHANA
Sadhana means any spiritual practice that aids the aspirant to realise God. It is a means to
attain the goal of life. Without Sadhana no one can achieve the goal. Sadhana differs according to
taste, temperament and capacity.
You can realise the goal of life by four different paths. Just as one and the same coat will not
suit Mr. John, Mr. Smith, Mr. Dick and Mr.Williams, so also one path will not suit all people. These
four paths lead to the same goal, viz., the attainment of the Ultimate Reality. Roads are different butthe destination is the same. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna: “Howsoever men approach Me, even sodo I reward them, for, the path men take from every side, is Mine, O Partha.” The four paths are: the path of work (Karma-Yoga), the path of devotion or love (Bhakti-Yoga), the path of psychic control (Raja-Yoga) and the path of self-analysis and knowledge (Jnana-Yoga).
These divisions are not hard and fast. There is no line of demarcation between one another.
One path does not exclude the other. For instance Karma-Yoga is suitable for a man of active
temperament; Bhakti-Yoga for a man of emotional temperament; Raja-Yoga for a man of mystic
temperament; and the path of Jnana-Yoga or Vedanta for a man of will or reason. Each path blends
into the other. Ultimately they all converge and become one. Thus it is hard to say where Raja-Yoga
ends and Jnana-Yoga begins. All aspirants of different paths meet on a common platform in the
long run.
Religion must educate and develop the whole man—his head, heart and hand. Then only
there will be perfection. One-sided development is not commendable. The four paths, far from
being antagonistic to one another, indicate that the different methods of the Yoga System are in
absolute harmony with each other. Karma-Yoga leads to Bhakti-Yoga which in its turn leads to

Raja-Yoga. Raja-Yoga brings Jnana. Supreme devotion is Jnana only. Bhakti, it should be borne in
mind, is not divorced from Jnana. On the contrary, Jnana intensifies Bhakti. Karma-Yoga removes
the tossing of mind, Raja-Yoga steadies the mind and Jnana-Yoga removes the veil of ignorance
and brings in the Knowledge of Self. Every Yoga is a fulfilment of the preceding one. Thus Bhakti
is the fulfilment of Karma, Yoga of Bhakti, and Jnana of all the preceding three.

From – SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA