Upāsana

views updated

Upāsana (Skt., ‘act of sitting’). A word of varied though related meanings in Indian religious thought. It can mean ritual worship, devotional worship, and meditation. In his commentary on the Vedānta Sūtra, Rāmānuja equates upāsana with devotional meditation and knowledge of Brahman (5. 1. 1). This is a higher kind of knowledge which has the character of devotion (bhakti) and consists in direct intuition of Brahman.

More From encyclopedia.com