If bhakti and ethical cultivation are direct means within Viśiṣṭādvaita, Śaṅkara's demotion of them to 'indirect means' reflects a sectarian metaphysical commitment, not a neutral phenomenology of practice.
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Methods or practices that help achieve a goal only by supporting or preparing the way for more direct methods; something that aids progress but doesn't itself directly produce the result.
phenomenology of practice(as a neutral way of studying religious practices)
An unbiased, careful description of how spiritual or philosophical practices actually work and feel to the people doing them, based on real experience rather than theory.
sectarian metaphysical commitment(as a critique of philosophical bias)
A belief about reality (metaphysical) that belongs to a specific religious or philosophical group (sectarian), chosen because it supports that group's particular teachings rather than based on neutral observation.
Śaṅkara(as a historical philosopher being compared to Rāmānuja)
An influential Indian philosopher (8th century) who founded a major school of Hindu philosophy teaching that only God (Brahman) is ultimately real and everything else is illusion.