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hindu-devotionfeatured in 1 work

Devotional Meditation (Upāsanā)

To 'sit beside' the divine in steady loving contemplation until it fills the mind.

Upāsanā means 'drawing near' or 'sitting beside' — a sustained, worshipful meditation in which the seeker dwells repeatedly on a chosen form, symbol, or quality of the divine until it fills the mind. The Upaniṣads are full of such prescribed meditations on Brahman under one aspect or another. In the theistic Vedānta it becomes the loving, continuous meditation on the personal Lord that matures into devotion; the term thus bridges meditation and worship.

How it traveled

  1. Bhagavad-gītā
    Kuru-Pañcāla region · -150
    applies

Key passages(20)

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

Very high

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Chāndogya Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Bhagavad-gītā · Vyāsa (Yoga-bhāṣya commentator)

High

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

High

Śiva-stotrāvalī · Utpaladeva

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Upadeśasāhasrī · Ādi Śaṅkara

High

Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)

High

Spanda-kārikā · Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa

High

Stotraratna · Yāmunācārya (Ālavandār)

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Gheraṇḍa-saṃhitā · (attributed to Gheraṇḍa)

Moderate

Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā · Svātmārāma

Moderate

Kaṭha Upaniṣad · Vedic Revelation (śruti)

Moderate

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

Moderate

Vijñāna-bhairava · Anonymous (Bhairava Āgama / Tantra)

Moderate

Śiva-stotrāvalī · Utpaladeva

Moderate

Brahma-sūtra · Bādarāyaṇa

Moderate