Sādhanā, 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. is a generic term coming from the yogictradition 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. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain 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: The historian N. Bhattacharyya provides a working definition of the benefits of sādhanā as follows: B. K. S. Iyengar, in his English translation of and commentary to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, defines sādhanā in relation to abhyāsa and kriyā:
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, sādhaka or yogi. The goal of sādhanā is to attain some level of spiritual realization, which can be either enlightenment, pure love of God, liberation from the cycle of birth and death, 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. On the other hand, individual renunciates may develop their own spiritual practice without participating in organized groups.
Tantric ''sādhana''
The tantric rituals are called "sādhanā". Some of the well known sādhanā-s are:
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. Kværne in his extended discussion of sahajā, treats the relationship of sādhanā to mandala thus:
