From self-study arises union with the chosen deity.

Deep svādhyāya leads to saṃprayoga (union, communion) with iṣṭa-devatā, the personally chosen deity.

This sutra has two levels of reading:

Externally, the study of sacred texts—especially the repetition of mantras—invokes the presence of the divine. Texts are vehicles of spiritual transmission.

Internally, deep self-observation reveals the divine presence within oneself. The true object of study is the Self, and to know it is to find God.

Iṣṭa-devatā recognizes that the divine manifests in many forms. Each practitioner has an affinity with a particular aspect of the sacred.