‘Sadhna’ by Swami Shivanand
Author of this book Swami Shivanand’s name doesn’t need an introduction. Apart from being the founder of the Divine Life Society and several other societies, he was an adept in yog and Vedanta. Born in the family of renowned saint Appayya Dikshita, he was a doctor by profession. At the young age of thirty seven years, he took the vow of renunciation and settled in Rishikesh. He devoted his entire life to the service of mankind. He guided innumerable travelers on the path of spirituality.
This book is neither the memoir of a saint nor a theoretical analysis of some spiritual-philosophical concept. The tag line of the book itself gives the introduction. It says - “a text book of the psychology and practice of the techniques to spiritual practices” and the content of the book matches it perfectly. It deals with almost every practical aspect of the spiritual journey. On one hand. he has explained the philosophical concepts of yog and Vedanta in detail. On the other hand, he has explained the basics of sadhna in an equally painstaking manner including the daily routine of sadhna or the practice of mantra. He has touched every hurdle that the spiritual seeker may face during the course of practice and prescribed its solution also. The book contains the description of several theoretical aspects of sadhna such as the stages of sadhna and the correct method of practice. He has explained them according to the scriptures without any distortion, but the explanation is such that a person without any background of spirituality can understand it with ease. This has been made possible because of his own acute understanding of the scriptures. Throughout his life, he dealt with practitioners of different background and abilities and this made him well aware of the difficulties faced by both novices and advanced seekers. Other systematic methods of meditation like pranayam, control of the mind and its attribute (vrittis) are also described in intricate detail with a lot of practical tips.
The language of the book is lucid. Even the layout is quite attractive. The spiritual vocabulary used in the book is also less abstruse. The Sanskrit text as given in Devanagari can also be termed as faultless.
The most important feature of this is that it is a practical hand book for serious spiritual seekers. Every page of this book urges the reader to embark upon spiritual pursuit. Shivanand never encourages any weakness of character or any compromise in sadhna. For him, there is no a shortcut or soft path for the spiritual aspirant. He has narrated a story from the Mahabharata in appendix 4 that can infuse any seeker with spiritual fervor.
Name of book : Sadhna Publisher : Divine Life Society, Shivanand Nagar Uttarakhand, India Writer : Swami Shivanand