adhikari
Adhikari – one who is competent or qualified – i.e. to perform a particular Sadhana or to receive a particular teaching – the wider implication being that the aptitude of an individual to understand a particular practice or teaching plays a vital role.
For example, some texts place emphasis on a four basic qualifications for a student:
- Discrimination
- Dispassion towards the objects of pleasure
- Observance of the seven values
- Earnest desire for liberation
Texts such as the Tantrarajatantra specify that a sadhaka is only qualified to perform the rituals described if he/she is (a) initiated and (b) is performing the daily rites. There is often the suggestion that if the secret rites are undertaken by those who are unfit to do so, their bonds (i.e. attachments) will become all the more stronger.
