Prayatnaḥ sādhakaḥ प्रयत्नः साधकः (sūtra II.2)

Prayatna – continued effort; sādhaka – adapted for the purpose of realization.

Persistent effort and dedicated practice is necessary to align his thought process with mantra and its deity. When one desires to advance spiritually, he has to align his thought process with the mantra of the deity. If this union is not established, there cannot be an effective spiritual progression of the practitioner. Śiva Sūtra-s have repeatedly emphasized the importance of one’s consciousness or awareness to realize Śiva, the Ultimate Reality. The previous sūtra is further expanded here. After having expatiated mantra in the previous sūtra, this sūtra provides practical guidance.

The practice is to be accompanied with dedication and desire to understand the Absolute. This can be achieved by forcefully directing his mind to concentrate within. Perseverance is more important than the desire to attain Him. With intense perseverance, inspirational thoughts arise in the form of internal flashes, provided a strong foundation is laid by effectively using the mantra. This has been already highlighted in sūtra I.13, where the will power of a yogi has been discussed. The foundational knowledge can be attained only by experience.

This sūtra stresses the importance of perseverance coupled with knowledge gained though experience to attain the highest goal of God realization.