Talk:Saptabhumikās

By Swami Harshananda

Saptabhumikās literally means ‘seven stages of ascent’.

The tantras describe seven bhumikās or ācāras, gradually increasing stages or steps by which a spiritual aspirant rises to the highest level of spiritual illumination. They are:

1. Veda - Veda is the daily practice of the religious rites prescribed by the scriptures in accordance with the Vedas.
2. Vaiṣṇava - Vaiṣṇava is the cultivation of devotion towards God.
3. Śaiva - Śaiva is adding jñāna or knowledge to the sādhana or spiritual practice.
4. Dakṣiṇa - Dakṣiṇa is the stage wherein the gains of the first three stages are consolidated by meditation on the three aspects of Sakti or the Divine Mother viz., Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī and Pārvatī.
5. Vāma - Vāma is the stage of nivṛtti or renunciation.
6. Siddhānta - Siddhānta is the stage in which the aspirant comes to definite conclusions about the relative merits of the two paths of pravṛtti, nivṛtti and decides to pursue the latter path.
7. Kaula - Kaula is the state of realization of Kula or Brahman.

They are also termed as vedācāra, vaiṣṇavācāra and so on.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore