BHAKTI MARGA

KNOWLEDGE

THE SIX AṄGAS OF

ŚARAṆĀGATI
ṢAḌAṄGA (SIX-LIMBED) YOGA
BHAKTI MARGA THE SIX AṄGAS
KNOWLEDGE OF ŚARAṆĀGATI

PARAMAHAMSA VISHWANANDA’S
PATH TO GOD

Bhakti Marga offers a unique and holistic four-armed approach as taught

by Paramahamsa Vishwananda — a God-realised Master. Each arm offers
you different practices to enjoy loving communion with God.

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BHAKTI MARGA THE SIX AṄGAS
KNOWLEDGE OF ŚARAṆĀGATI

The Six Aṅgas of Śaraṇāgati –

Ṣaḍaṅga (six-limbed) Yoga
The doctrine of śaraṇāgati (surrender to the Lord) is given to us
by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Caraṁa-śloka of the Bhagavad Gītā:

sarva dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja

ahaṁ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

‘Abandoning all dharmas, surrender to Me alone. I will take care of all your
sins; I will liberate you. Have no fear. – Bhagavad Gītā 18.66

Śrī Rāmānujācārya taught this as the supreme method to

approach God due to its universal applicability. Irrespective of
one’s gender, skills, knowledge, social position or even species,
one can surrender to Śrīman Nārāyaṇa with a sincere heart and
the Lord will respond with His boundless mercy and compassion.
Paramahamsa Vishwananda has followed on from this great
tradition, emphasising śaraṇāgati as the highest spiritual state any
aspiring spiritual seeker should strive for.
However, to make this instruction of surrender more tangible and
practical, the Pāñcarātrāgama (scriptures of great importance in
the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition) have outlined six limbs that śaraṇāgati
is comprised of. These are outlined in the following verses:

ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ
prātikūlyasya varjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso
goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye
ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ

‘The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things which
are spiritually favorable, the rejection of unfavorable things, the strong
conviction that the Lord will grant His protection, the request for the Lord
to be one’s guardian, the pledging of one’s self to the Lord, and humble
self-awareness of one’s limitations. – Lakṣmī-tantra 17.59-61

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BHAKTI MARGA THE SIX AṄGAS
KNOWLEDGE OF ŚARAṆĀGATI

So, these six limbs are:

1. ānukūlya saṅkalpaḥ — The resolve to act in harmony with the
will of God and to act in a manner that is favorable to one’s
devotional practice.
2. prātikūlya-varjanam — The resolve to abstain from acts
which are not in harmony with the will of God and that are
detrimental to one’s devotional practice.
3. kārpaṇya — The realisation of, and acceptance of the absolute
impossibility to achieve God-realisation through one's own
personal efforts alone. It is a feeling of complete helplessness
and a humble recognition of one’s limitations in this respect.
4. mahā-viśvās — Complete faith in the protection and saving
Grace of God. It is the faith that He alone has the ability to
liberate and that He will fulfil His promise to liberate those
who take refuge in Him, as outlined in the Caraṁa-śloka.
5. goptṛtva-varaṇaṁ — The sincere request by the devotee for
the Grace and shelter of the Lord, establishing Him as our
object of worship and service. Although this is the inherent
position of the soul, this aṅga points towards a conscious and
mindful request for this inner reality to manifest outwardly.
This conscious choice/request also serves to avoid the
danger of presumptuousness and taking the Lord’s mercy for
granted.
6. ātma-nikṣepa — To pledge oneself fully to the Lord, placing
oneself completely and directly under Bhagavan's care. It is
the offering of oneself with the conviction that the Lord is the
true proprietor of one’s being, and thus one exists only to
serve His will at all times.

It is important to understand that the performance of these six

limbs does not immediately guarantee that one attains the state
of śaraṇāgati and receives the Lord’s Grace, and neither is the
Lord’s Grace necessarily withheld in the absence of these six
limbs. The Kathā Upaniṣad says:

nāya̍m ātmā pra̱vacane̍na labhyo na̱ medha̍yā na ba̱hunā̍

śrutena
yam-e̍vaiṣa vṛṇute te̱na labhyas tasyai̍ ṣa ā̱tmā vivṛ̍ ṇute
tanūguṁ svām

‘This Supreme Being cannot be attained by instruction, nor by intellectual

power, nor even through much hearing. It is to be attained only by the one
whom He chooses. To such a one He reveals His own nature.
– Kathā Upaniṣad 2.23

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BHAKTI MARGA THE SIX AṄGAS
KNOWLEDGE OF ŚARAṆĀGATI

As can be seen, God-realisation is only granted by the choice

of the Lord, and we are not privy to the reasons why this
Grace is granted or withheld. However, several Śrī Vaiṣṇava
ācāryas, including Śrī Rāmānujācārya and Vedānta Deśika, have
suggested that it is not simply merit (puṇya) which is the sole
cause for the descent of Grace. It is also the acknowledgment
of one's helplessness, one’s deep entanglement in māyā and
one’s inability to follow the path of yoga perfectly. If upon having
realised these limitations, one turns to the Lord seeking shelter
and mercy with great faith, then the Lord will undoubtedly answer
the call. There is an intimate relationship between the act of self-
surrender to Śrīman Nārāyaṇa and the flow of Divine Grace. The
act of sincere surrender opens the flood gates of Grace, from
which anything becomes possible.
Therefore, the practical adherence to these six-limbs is the
concrete step that can be made from the aspirant’s side to
properly position himself/herself to be Graced with God-
realisation and the attainment of Vaikuṇṭha itself, whenever the
Lord deems it appropriate.
As a closing remark, the Ahirbudhnya-saṃhitā (another text from
the Pāñcarātrāgama) offers a wonderful analogy to aid us in our
understanding of the relationship between our adherence to
the six-limbs and the attainment of the goal itself. It describes
śaraṇāgati using a passenger who wants to cross a river in a boat.
It is the passenger's responsibility to go and sit in the boat, and
that is the end of his responsibility; the job of rowing the boat
is not his, but that of the boatman (in this case God Himself).
So, practicing these six-limbs is akin to stepping into the boat,
at which point we patiently and humbly place ourselves at the
mercy of our glorious boatman, Guruji Himself.

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BHAKTI MARGA
KNOWLEDGE

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