Vedic Sadhana Foundation (Sadhana App)’s Post

What is spirituality? Is there a difference between being religious, and simply being spiritual? At the beginning of the 8th chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asks Bhagavan some piercing questions as to the nature of spirituality, which leads Sri Krishna to expound on several concepts from the Upanishads. Sri Krishna has said, “स्वभावोऽध्यात्ममुच्यते”. That a person’s svabhava is their 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢. The word 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢 is often translated into English as ‘spirituality’.  A deeper introspection into the Sanskrit term reveals that it is composed of the words ‘𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘪’, meaning ‘to be the best of ’, and ‘𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢’ meaning ‘soul’, or ‘self’. While in 𝘥𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘵𝘢 (religiousness), we are still working to achieve something, when we achieve 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢, we have become what we have aspired to be. In such a state, our inherent nature, or our 𝘴𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘢, is the same as that of our 𝘐𝘴𝘩𝘵𝘢, the object of our worship. Such a pinnacle of development, the culmination of perfecting our own nature through diligent nurture, is 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢. It is when we become what we believe in, that we are truly spiritual– 𝘢𝘥𝘩𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘪𝘬. उदारा: सर्व एवैते ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम् | आस्थित: स हि युक्तात्मा मामेवानुत्तमां गतिम् || (7.18) “All those who are devoted to Me are indeed noble. But those in knowledge, who are of steadfast mind, whose intellect is merged in Me, and who have made Me alone as their supreme goal, I consider as My very self.”