Talk:Sādhanā

Not POV
This article seems very POV and makes a lot of claims without giving any reference. The only link that was on the page was a link to a commercial site selling malas. This is why I added the POV check template as well as the unreferenced template and the cleanup since the whole tone of this article seems inappropriate for an encyclopedia. At the very least other views should be included.TheRingess 07:13, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

About this text being POV
Whoever wrote the previous and "accussing" comment, ought to expand his/her horizon... the information given for such theme may not be very ample, but it is still good enough to understand what a Sadhana is... instead of pointing a finger, try expanding the information or providing other links for research... The Wikipedia site is one of the best one can find these days, and one ought to be grateful and applauding it! by the way... is the previous writer an expert? or just plain opinionated?

Thank you so much for the wonderful work,

Samsarin Agni


 * The amount of POV statements on this page seem a bit harsh. Obviously there are differences between 'Hindu' and 'Buddhist' forms of sadhana, but the universal meaning of the word remains the same in both. GourangaUK 18:17, 23 April 2006 (UTC)


 * haha, yes i agree that the universiality of the concept of putting effort towards spiritual endeavors seems like an issue that becomes trivialized through semantic discussions. i thought you question about opinion was a great joke, tho of course you were not talking of me, and of course it is not intended as a joke, but humorous no less because of the ignorance it would reveal if responded to by the intial complainer coupled with the seeming arrogance of such a warranted reflective question. i was gonna ask something but it seems silly now. i was going to ask of words for increments of progress, or is it all sadhana?
 * —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.108.39.26 (talk) 05:10, 15 February 2007 (UTC).


 * I have come across a nice book which differentiates sadhana according to the aim of the individual performing the sadhana. I have added it here. I don't know whether it fits in with Buddhism too but there are a lot of articles for sakaam and nishkaam sadhana.

--Harshavardhan83 (talk) 11:11, 19 April 2008 (UTC)


 * My last comment on this topic was in 2008 and no has taken this up. The label of "clean-up" still exists. The Marathi books that I have the reference from have now been translated to english. I will add the same sources with ISBN code. What is the process to remove the labels?
 * --Harshavardhan83 - 11th Jan 2013

Tantric Sadhana
Who wrote the portion on Tantric Sadhana? It's grossly wrong. There are three apaya's directly related to tantric sadhana, that are extremely vast. Also, Sadhana ties into saktipata which is extremely vast as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.70.218.24 (talk) 14:02, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Sādhanā in Sanskrit
Sādhanā, the "practicing which leads to a goal"? Is this it? I feel an explanation on the etymology would have its place in the article body, to avoid my type of confusion with the spelling of this word. For your reference, the full Monier-Williams venerable and venerated dictionary is on wiktionary.

साधनपाद - Sādhana Pāda

sa sa mfn. (fr. √san) procuring, bestowing (only ifc

sā sā (weak form of √san), giving, bestowing, granting (cf. ap-, aśva-sā &c.)

adhana a-dhana mfn. destitute of wealth

or dhana dhána n. the prize of a contest or the contest itself (lit. a running match, race, or the thing raced for   • hitáṃ dhânam, a proposed prize or contest    • dhanaṃ-√ji, to win the prize or the fight) RV.

sādhana sā́dhana mf(ī or ā) jn. leading straight to a goal, guiding well, furthering RV    effective, efficient, productive of (comp.) MBh. Kāv. &c procuring Kāv

Sādhanī or sādhanā is the practicing/exercising (that which procures or leads to a goal, that which is effective) itself, in the nominative form. Correct? What does "mf(ī or ā) jn." exactly mean? Forgive my ignorance, just seeking to know. Wakari07 (talk) 16:16, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

sādhanā or sādhana?
Is there really such a word in Skt. as sādhanā? Looks like http://www.buddhism-dict.net/ddb/ and http://spokensanskrit.de/ know a word "sādhana", but not sādhanā. – Greg Pandatshang (talk) 00:21, 30 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Greg Pandatshang has it. साधना (sAdhanA).-- Redtigerxyz  Talk 13:28, 30 December 2014 (UTC)
 * That is incorrect. Both are words, but the name here is sādhana, not sādhanā (which is a feminized version of the original word). Iṣṭa Devatā (talk) 21:00, 18 April 2022 (UTC)

Need an administrator to delete the 'sādhana' page so this page can be retitled as 'sādhana.'
An admin needs to delete the redirect page sādhana and retitle this page as sādhana. The proper spelling of this page is sādhana but I cannot move it myself because of a redirect page someone made based on the incorrect spelling. Iṣṭa Devatā (talk) 20:59, 18 April 2022 (UTC)
 * "Sadhana" is most common in English, based on a quick Google Books search. So the article should be at sadhana but with the IAST (sādhana) mentioned in the lead. Agree "sādhanā" is made up. Dāsānudāsa (talk) 07:46, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Need a broader definition
Right now, the definition of sadhana that we have here is somewhat skewed towards the transcendentalist/dualist view, in that sadhana is represented as a practice that aims to detach the practitioner from the world--the very first image is of a guy performing physical penance in a waterfall. But that's not all there is to it: there are types of nondual/Tantric sadhana out there that don't really focus on detachment or removing worldliness, but rather cultivating one's mind so that it can be more present in the world and to learn and find enlightenment through the senses (rather than deadening them). So, we do need to broaden the definition of "sadhana" here so that it can encompass those forms, too. Snowgrouse (talk) 10:01, 12 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Do you have any sources in mind that can support this? I'm happy to help improve this article. Whitestar12 (talk) 00:18, 8 November 2023 (UTC)