Sahetuka-Kṛpā — Grace Called Forth by Effort
Sahetuka-kṛpā ('grace with a cause/reason', sa + hetu = 'with cause') names the mode of divine grace that is evoked, stimulated, or conditioned by the devotee's own effort, virtue, devotion, or sādhana (spiritual practice). In this mode, Bhagavān's grace responds to — and is, in some sense, proportionate to — the soul's own striving.
The major sādhana paths — karma yoga (path of duty), jñāna yoga (path of knowledge), and bhakti yoga (path of devotion) — operate through sahetuka-kṛpā. In bhakti yoga especially, the devotee cultivates the nine forms of devotion (navadhā bhakti), maintains unbroken concentration on Bhagavān (ananyacintana), and gradually — through prolonged practice — reaches the state where Bhagavān's grace grants liberation. The grace is real and genuine; the devotee has not 'earned' liberation as a transaction. But the grace was evoked by the sādhana — it came in response to effort.
The theological issue with sahetuka-kṛpā is its accessibility: it requires the capacity for sustained, unbroken spiritual effort — a high standard that only certain souls with the requisite qualifications (adhikāritva) can meet. The Āchāryas noted that this path is extremely difficult for souls bound in saṃsāra, whose ability to concentrate and sustain effort is severely compromised by their own karmas.
This is precisely why the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition, following Nammāzhvār and especially Piḷḷai Lokāchārya's Mumukṣuppadi, emphasizes nirhetuka-kṛpā — Bhagavān's unconditional, causeless grace — as the true vehicle of liberation for the ordinary soul. In prapatti (śaraṇāgati), the devotee is not performing a sādhana that evokes grace; rather, the devotee is removing the obstacles (virodhis) that were blocking Bhagavān's already-present, already-flowing nirhetuka-kṛpā. The distinction is subtle but profound: nirhetuka-kṛpā was always there — prapatti doesn't create it, it receives it.