Sadāchāra Smṛti – An Overview

Sadāchāra Smṛti , or “The Smṛti on Right Conduct,” is Madhvacharya’s concise exposition of how philosophical understanding is to find expression in everyday life. Rather than treating religious practice as something separate from ordinary existence, the work presents the entire course of the day as an opportunity to remember and worship Viṣṇu.

Madhva begins with the morning routine. One rises remembering Viṣṇu, attends to bodily purification, bathes according to the prescribed procedure, performs sandhyā and Gāyatrī-japa , and meditates upon Nārāyaṇa. The day then proceeds through worship, study, food, hospitality and other duties. Even eating is placed within this larger framework: food is first offered to Bhagavān and then consumed while remembering Viṣṇu within oneself. At night too, one goes to sleep contemplating Janārdana and remembers Hari upon waking during the night. Thus, remembrance of the divine is intended to run continuously through ordinary activity.

The central principle underlying these practices is stated with particular clarity: whatever one does through body, speech, mind, senses or intellect is to be offered to Nārāyaṇa. Madhva therefore shifts the emphasis from ritual action alone to the orientation with which every action is performed.

The later verses provide the philosophical foundation for this discipline. Viṣṇu is presented as Puruṣottama , the Supreme Being who transcends both the perishable and the imperishable and upon whom all others ultimately depend. Consequently, the numerous prescriptions and prohibitions governing conduct are subordinated to a more fundamental principle: Viṣṇu must always be remembered and never forgotten.

Sadāchāra Smṛti thus connects Madhva’s philosophy directly with lived practice. Right conduct is not merely conformity to a collection of rules; it is the ordering of one’s daily life around the continuous remembrance of, dependence upon, and dedication of all action to Viṣṇu.

- Madhukrishna Sudhindra

M.A. (Philosophy), B.E. (Computer Science)

30th Aug, 2026