'Anushthan' Is Effort to Build Foundation of Divine Possibility within Ourselves, Says Sadhguru, Praises PM Modi

The whole country is agog about the Ram temple in Ayodhya because people have been waiting for 500 years, said Sadhguru. “The process of establishing or consecrating a deity is about stabilising an energetic or chronic form that exudes prescribed qualities. The qualities that we ascribe to the deity are the same qualities that we hold high and aspire for,” said the founder of Isha Foundation in a video posted on social media site X. “In this civilisation that we call Hindustan, we do not wait for divinity to descend but nurture and cultivate that possibility within us. In this effort, creating a stable base within is vital and that is called ‘anushthanam’ in Sanskrit, ‘anusthana’ in southern India, and Hindi-speaking people call it ‘anushthan’. This is an effort to build a foundation of the divine possibility within ourselves or turning this body into a living temple with purificatory processes and life-enhancing methods, making the body fit enough to house the divine.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12 announced that he was observing an 11-day anushthan, a spiritual endeavour wherein he would be offering prayers at various temples across India closely associated with Lord Ram, ahead of participating in the pran pratishtha (consecration) ceremony at the grand temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

As part of his 11-day rituals, PM Modi will sleep on the floor if possible, wake up early to pray to God, do jaap and meditation, exercise calm, stay silent for some part of a day, eat little and only satvic food, read religious scriptures, maintain cleanliness, and do his own work.

“For all consecrations that we do, there is always an appropriate yog sadhana for the participants. These sadhanas are a way of creating a stable base within to manifest the deity or the energy form that is manifested through pran pratishtha,” said Sadhguru.

This process of anushthan is done for various periods, he added. “There are sadhakas who do it for an entire solar cycle, which is just short of 12 years. There are those who do it for 36 months, 90 days, 64 days, 33 days, 28, 21, 12, 11, 9, 7, 5, or 3 days depending on the type of pran pratishtha,” he said.

These sadhanas, said Sadhguru, are designed to enable the participant to imbibe and form the nature of the deity beyond the imprints of memory and associated emotion, to make an impression upon the “pranamaya kosha and vijnanamaya kosha of who we are”.

“That means beyond the physical body and mental structures, we want to take this imprint of both this form and its qualities at a deeper level. In other words, to store or show the divine possibility into the deeper space of oneself that the general rigour of life cannot deny or contaminate that possibility. In one’s search for liberation or moksha this is an important step,” he said.

The process of anushthan is not only relevant at the time of consecration but can be done at any time convenient for individual people, said Sadhguru. It was common practice for individuals with significant activity in their life to take up periods of anushthan, he added.

“It is well-documented of kings practising anusthana before venturing into war or important campaigns. Because success doesn’t come due to one’s desire but by ensuring one’s own pravritti or set patterns of function do not become an impediment to taking on great challenges of the world. The first thing to ensure is that you are not the problem,” he said. “Anushthana is a powerful way that involves various methods. As for the evolution of the individual, for every type of human being a specific anushthana can be worked out. It can be prescribed in terms of physical processes, breath-related, ritualistic, energetic, or very consciousness-oriented.”

Every human being needs to do or find a way to do anushthana if wanting to live a life of impact and fulfilment, Sadhguru said. “It is very heartening to see that the elected leader of Bharat, this great crucible of civilisation, is doing anushthana upon Ram, who is held as the epitome of a just and stable leader,” he said. “Not just one leader, but all leaders and citizens of Bharat should engage in anushthana to create Ram Rajya.”