Meditation as the Core of Bhakti-Yoga
Dhyāna ('meditation,' 'contemplation') is one of the central limbs of bhakti-yoga as taught in the Bhagavad Gītā and elaborated in the Bhāgavata Purāṇam. Rāmānuja defines it as smaraṇa — sustained, uninterrupted remembrance (anusmaraṇa) of Bhagavān — as clear, vivid, and intimate as direct perception.
Dhyāna in Bhakti-Yoga
In Rāmānuja's account of bhakti-yoga (Gītā commentary, ch. 12), the practitioner cultivates dhyāna through a carefully ordered process: study of scripture, then reflection (manana), then increasingly absorbed meditation (nididhyāsana) that grows into bhakti — a sustained, love-filled awareness of Bhagavān that becomes as natural as breathing.
Dhyāna and Prapatti
For a prapanna, dhyāna is not the upāya (means) as it is in bhakti-yoga, but it remains the natural expression of a surrendered heart. The prapanna meditates on Bhagavān's qualities (kalyāṇa-guṇānubhava) not as a means to liberation but as the natural activity of a soul already oriented toward its true nature as Bhagavān's servant.