Anushthanas can be practised for a day, a week, a fortnight, a month, forty-eight days, ninety-six days, three months, six months or one year. The duration of time depends upon the ability and liking of the performer. One can choose any kind of anushthana according to one’s circumstances.
The rigour of the sadhana is dependent on the constitution and health of the individual. A sick person is not required to take a cold bath three times a day. An unhealthy person with a weak body is not required to observe a total fast. A person suffering from an acute disease is not required to forego taking medicine. Common sense is the fundamental factor in all sadhana. No rule is an eternal rule. Rules change from place to place, time to time and from one condition to another condition.
A sadhaka from Madras in South India may wear only a loincloth even in the dead of winter, but a sadhaka living in the icy Gangotri cannot be expected to practise the same method, even in summer. The Himalayan climate is not like that of Trivandrum or Madras. Holding an umbrella when it is raining heavily is not against the practice of anushthana. Wearing shoes when walking over the glaciers of Kailash or Manasarovar is not detrimental to anushthana.
Anushthana is rigorous mental discipline, not mere physical mortification. Absolute necessities of the body are not hindrances. Abnormal cravings are against anushthana, not the normal requirements. Strict brahmacharya is an absolute necessity for all anushthana. Speaking the truth and not harming others are absolute necessities, for these are mental disciplines.
Any action done against the feeling of the mind is not conducive to the rigour of the anushthana. One who feels one thing and does another is a mithyachari, for whom the fruit of sadhana will not accrue. The mind is the author of all actions. The body is only an instrument. Suppressing the effect when the cause is vigorously working will not help annihilate the cause. The mind has to be calmed, and for that all sadhanas are done in one way or other.
Generally, by anushthana the shastras mean only japa and swadhyaya. Meditation is not considered as an anushthana. It is a higher step where the word anushthana loses its meaning. Worship also can be considered as an anushthana, though it is not included in the orthodox conception. The rules for all anushthana constitute the central idea that the anushthatri should be exclusively occupied in the performance of anushthana to the total detachment from all family engagements or worldly activities. Even worldly thoughts should not enter the mind of the anushthatri. Anushthana is a great tapas or austerity and should be performed with great reverence, faith and care.
The japa sadhaka should start his anushthana in the early morning at brahmamuhurta on an auspicious day. He should bathe in a river or even in the water of a well if other water is not available. Mouna should be observed throughout, until the break of the day’s anushthana. The major portion of the day should be used for japa. The sadhaka should offer prayers to the sun and the ishta devata of the mantra he is using in anushthana. He should offer his daily prayers and perform sandhya. Then he should sit in a clean place facing east or north with a mala in his hand. His mind should be concentrated on the deity of the mantra. The purpose of the anushthana should be borne in mind throughout. Complete mouna should be observed. The eyes should be shut. The senses should be withdrawn. There should be no other thought except that of the ideal.