Sādhya / Sadhyas

Multiple textual traditions record differing origins. One Vaishnava/Purāṇic attestation in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (cited in secondary archive material) states that Brahmā evolved hosts of Sādhyas (together with Pitās) from his own invisible form, an account used in that text to explain their connection to śrāddha oblations. Other Puranic and Upaniṣadic references place the Sādhyas among the organized gaṇas of semi-divine beings without supplying a single uniform cosmogonic origin.

Sources surveyed emphasize the Sādhyas' station and function rather than a consistent physical description. Puranic lists (e.g., Agni Purana lists cited in summaries) provide names of individual Sādhyas in some enumerations, but the provided excerpts contain no sustained iconographic or bodily description; the Sādhyas are usually described as a host or class rather than by corporeal detail.

Attested roles and behaviours in the sources include: embodiment or conceptual association with Vedic rituals and hymns (described as embodiments of ritual power); serving as attendants of Śiva under Ganeśa's command and dwelling on Gaṇaparvata (Shiva Purāṇa citation in the summaries); participation in mythic combat episodes (e.g., fighting with Kārttikeya against Tārakāsura in Mahābhārata citations); and appearing among classes of divine beings who witness and are awed by Kṛṣṇa's viśvarūpa (Bhagavad‑Gītā citation). In Śrīmad‑Bhāgavatam passages cited in secondary material, they are among the hosts evolved by Brahmā and are linked to the invisible medium through which ritual specialists offer śrāddha oblations.