The Sadhana Panchakam of Sri Adi Sankaracharya is very popular. In that, forty sadhanas (साधना) or spiritual disciplines are given in five verses.
Here is a set of five slokas in the Bhagavad Gita that gives a sequence of about twenty sadhanas. The beauty of these five slokas is that they are arranged in a sequence gradually taking the spiritual aspirant from basic external disciplines to advanced inner ones. These are the slokas 7 to 11 in the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.
Karma Yoga
The first sloka gives a list of external disciplines that must be followed in behaviour and speech. The spiritual aspirant should have the basic morality in life like truthfulness (satya), non-violence (ahimsa) and self-control (brahmacharya). On top of that, the spiritual aspirant should follow cleanliness, humility, forbearance and tenacity. Such a person who seeks spiritual development will get the contact of a spiritual teacher (or institution) and get the opportunity to do service. That will lead to the subsequent internal steps.
अमानित्वमदम्भित्वमहिंसा क्षान्तिरार्जवम् ।
आचार्योपासनं शौचं स्थैर्यमात्मविनिग्रहः ॥ १३-७॥
amānitvamadambhitvamahiṃsā kṣāntirārjavam ।
ācāryopāsanaṃ śaucaṃ sthairyamātmavinigrahaḥ ॥ 13-7॥
अमानित्वम् – Humility in behaviour
अदम्भित्वम् – Not bragging about oneself
अहिंसा – Not taking advantage of weakness of others
क्षान्तिः – Forbearance of the ups and downs of life
आर्जवम् – Alignment of words and deeds with thoughts
आचार्य-उपासनम् – Service to the spiritual teacher
शौचम् – Cleanliness and orderliness
स्थैर्यम् – Steadiness in righteousness
आत्म-विनिग्रहः – Self control
Dhyaana Yoga
The next two slokas give a list of internal disciplines that must be followed in thought and attitude. These will come as a result of following the disciplines mentioned in the previous sloka. Here we can see the gradual shift from sense objects in the world (jagat) to body (annamaya kosha) to physiological events (pranamaya kosha) to emotional attachments (manomaya kosha) to situations in life due to karma phala (buddhimaya kosha). Thus the sadhaka should develop vairagya step by step. If it is done in the sequence mentioned, it becomes easy and natural.
इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार एव च ।
जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ॥ १३-८॥
indriyārtheṣu vairāgyamanahaṃkāra eva ca ।
janmamṛtyujarāvyādhiduḥkhadoṣānudarśanam ॥ 13-8॥
इन्द्रिय-अर्थेषु वैराग्यम् – Dispassion towards the objects of the senses
अनहंकारः – Absence of identification with the body
जन्म-मृत्यु-जरा-व्याधि-दुःख-दोष-अनुदर्शनम् – Deep understanding of the physiological defect of birth, death, old-age and disease as being sources of sorrow
असक्तिरनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्रदारगृहादिषु ।
नित्यं च समचित्तत्वमिष्टानिष्टोपपत्तिषु ॥ १३-९॥
asaktiranabhiṣvaṅgaḥ putradāragṛhādiṣu ।
nityaṃ ca samacittatvamiṣṭāniṣṭopapattiṣu ॥ 13-9॥
असक्तिः अनभिष्वङ्गः पुत्र-दार-गृह-आदिषु – Non-attachment and non-identification with the roles related to children, wife, home, etc.
नित्यम् च सम-चित्तत्वम् इष्ट अनिष्ट-उपपत्तिषु – Constant even-mindedness in the occurrence of desirable and undesirable incidents
Bhakti Yoga
After gaining vairagya as mentioned in the previous two slokas, the spiritual aspirant gets into meditation upon God and Truth as taught by the spiritual teacher. The higher Bhakti of a spiritual aspirant does not have any worldly things as the goal. He has already given them up in the steps mentioned in the previous two slokas. Now God or Truth is the only goal. Such a person prefers to meditate in solitude than to be in the company of worldly people. By this deep meditation upon God and Truth, the spiritual aspirant gains spiritual Knowledge.
मयि चानन्ययोगेन भक्तिरव्यभिचारिणी ।
विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि ॥ १३-१०॥
mayi cānanyayogena bhaktiravyabhicāriṇī ।
viviktadeśasevitvamaratirjanasaṃsadi ॥ 13-10॥
मयि च अनन्य-योगेन भक्तिः अव्यभिचारिणी – Devotion to Me (God and Truth), seeing Me in everything, without expecting any worldly benefits
विविक्त-देश-सेवित्वम् – Seeking secluded places (to meditate upon God and Truth)
अरतिः जन-संसदि – Shunning the company of worldly people (who do not have God and Truth as the spiritual goal of life)
Jnaana Yoga
The first quarter of the next sloka covers sravana (hearing about the Truth) and manana (clearing all intellectual gaps in understanding). The second quarter covers nididhyasana (imbibing the practical implications of the Knowledge of the Truth). The last line emphasizes that this full sequence of spiritual practices is the way to Knowledge. Anything else will lead a person astray.
अध्यात्मज्ञाननित्यत्वं तत्त्वज्ञानार्थदर्शनम् ।
एतज्ज्ञानमिति प्रोक्तमज्ञानं यदतोऽन्यथा ॥ १३-११॥
adhyātmajñānanityatvaṃ tattvajñānārthadarśanam ।
etajjñānamiti proktamajñānaṃ yadato’nyathā ॥ 13-11॥
अध्यात्म-ज्ञान-नित्यत्वम् – Ever established in the intellectual conviction of spiritual Knowledge
तत्त्व-ज्ञान-अर्थ-दर्शनम् – Having a clear vision of the tangible benefits of spiritual Knowledge
एतत् ज्ञानम् इति प्रोक्तम् – This is called the way to Knowledge
अज्ञानम् यत् अतः अन्यथा – What is different from this is the way to ignorance
Thus, in five slokas, Bhagavad Gita gives a summary of the sequence of spiritual practice. Memorizing these five slokas and chanting them while thinking about the meaning of the words is a good sadhana. This will help us to have the goal and the way clearly in mind.
(Thanks to sanskritdocuments.org for the text of the Bhagavad Gita.)