Sadhana Chatushtaya: The Four Spiritual Qualifications - Krishnaphani Kesiraju

Part I

A sadhaka is one who ardently aspires to pursue the goal of all human endeavor, which is to realize the True Nature of oneself, to the exclusion of everything else in the world. This deep and unabated yearning cannot be a vague or nebulous feeling of inadequacy but a discernment through a profound understanding of the futility of existence in the present state. The path of Self-realization is very arduous and as one of the Upanishads calls it – it is like walking on the razor’s edge (asidharavratam). This path is strewn with the wreckage of many a sadhaka, who ventured on to it without adequate preparation. Four qualifications are prescribed for the much needed inner preparation to enable the sadhaka to cross over to the ‘other shore’ as it were. These are:

1. Viveka – Discrimination

2.Vairagya – Non-attachment

3. Shatsampatti – The Six Attainments

4. Mumukshatva – An ardent yearning for freedom from bondage, an intense desire for liberation.

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