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The Limbs of Saranagati
18 September 2011
Continuing our series on saranagati, this post
presents the definitions of the six limbs of saranagati
given by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj in
his Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamrta.
The Scriptures explain that saranagati has six integral aspects:
ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlya-vivarjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa kārpaṇye ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ
(Vaisnava-tantra)
“Accepting everything favourable to devotion to Krishna,
rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion to Krishna, being
confident that Krishna will grant His protection, embracing
Krishna’s guardianship, fully offering one’s self to Krishna, and
realising one’s lamentable lowliness are the six limbs of
saranagati.”
Anukulyasya Sankalpah: accepting anything that is helpful for
obtaining Krishna.
kṛṣṇa-kārṣṇaga-sad-bhakti prapannatvānukūlake
kṛtyatva-niśchayaś-chānukūlya-saṅkalpa uchyate
(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 3.1)
“Resolute conviction to execute everything favourable to the
service of Krishna, to His devotees and to surrender, is called
anukulyasya-sankalpah—acceptance of the favourable.”
Pratikulya Vivarjanam: rejecting anything that is an obstacle to
obtaining Krishna.
bhagavad-bhaktayor bhakteḥ prapatteḥ pratikūlake
varjyatve niśchayaḥ prātikūlya-varjanam uchyate
(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 4.1)
“Resolute conviction to abandon everything that is opposed to
the service of the Lord, to His devotees and to surrender, is
called pratikulya-vivarjanam—rejection of the unfavourable.”
Raksisyatiti Visvasah: faith that Sri Krishna will assuredly
grant His protection.
rakṣiṣyati hi mām kṛṣṇo bhaktānāṁ bāndhavaś cha saḥ
kṣemam vidhāsyatīti yad viśvāso ’traiva gṛhyate
(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 5.1)
“‘Certainly Krishna will protect me, because He is the true
friend of the devotees. He will definitely bless me with all good
fortune.’ Herein, such faith is sustained.”
Goptritve Varanam: embracing the Lord’s guardianship.
he kṛṣṇa! pāhi māṁ nātha kṛpayātmagataṁ kuru
ity evaṁ prārthanaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ prāptuṁ svāmi-svarūpataḥ
goptṛtve varaṇam jñeyaṁ bhaktair hṛdyataraṁ param
prapatty ekārthakatvena tad aṅgitvena tat smṛtam
(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 6.1-2)
“‘Oh Krishna, please protect me! Oh Lord, kindly accept me as
Your own.’ This prayer to obtain Sri Krishna as one’s master is
the supreme source of satisfaction for the hearts of the pure
devotees, and is known by them as goptritve-varanam,
‘embracing the Lord’s guardianship’. Because it expresses one
and the same ideal as saranagati, goptritve-varanam is accepted as
the basis (angi) of surrender (and the other five elements are
considered its limbs).”
Atma-niksepa: Self-dedication.
kṛṣṇāyārpita-dehasya nirmamasyānahaṅkrteḥ
manasas tat svarūpatvaṁ smṛtam ātmā-nivedanam
(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 7.4)
“Atma-nivedanam is known as the condition of having offered
one’s self to Krishna (solely to satisfy Him), while being devoid
of possessiveness and false egotism.”
Karpanya: experience of one’s own lamentable condition.
bhagavan rakṣa rakṣaivam ārta-bhāvena sarvataḥ
asamorddhva-dayā-sindhor hareḥ kāruṇya-vaibhavam
smaratāṁś cha viśeṣeṇa nijāti-śochya-nīchatām
bhaktānām ārti-bhāvas tu kārpaṇyaṁ kathyate budhaiḥ
(Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam: 8.1–2)
“‘Oh Lord, please protect me, protect me …’ Praying thus in a
mood of distress, while remembering in all respects the
greatness of the mercy of the Supreme Lord, the unparalleled
ocean of compassion, and remembering in particular one’s own
extremely lamentable lowliness—this distressed condition of the
devotees is described by the learned as karpanya.”
In the invocation of auspiciousness within Saranagati, Srila
Bhakti Vinod Thakur sings:
dainya, ātma-nivedana, goptṛtve varaṇa
‘avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa’—viśvāsa pālana
bhakti-anukūla-mātra kāryera svīkāra
bhakti-pratikūla-bhāva varjanāṅgikāra
ṣaḍ-aṅga śaraṇāgati ha-ibe yā̐hāra
tā̐hāra prārthanā śune śrī-nanda-kumāra
“Sri Nanda Kumar hears the prayers of whosoever surrenders
unto Him in accordance with the six limbs of saranagati: (1)
humility, (2) self-submission, (3) embracing the Lord’s
guardianship, (4) maintaining the faith that ‘Krishna will surely
protect me’, (5) engaging only in activities which are favourable
to devotion, and (6) utterly rejecting everything unfavourable to
devotion.”
In his commentary on Saranagati, Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar
Dev-Goswami Maharaj notes that ‘Sri Nanda Kumar hears their
prayers’ means Krishna reciprocates with the surrendered souls
in accordance with their prayers. As an example of this, Srila
Sridhar Maharaj cites the following evidence from the scriptures:
sakṛd eva prapanno yas tavāsmīti cha yāchate
abhayaṁ sarvadā tasmai dadāmy etad vrataṁ mama
(Ramayana: Yuddha-kanda, 18.33)
[When Vibhishan, the brother of Ravan, prays to Him for shelter,
Ram Chandra proclaims before Hanuman and all His devotees:]
“Anyone who even once sincerely surrenders unto Me, declares,
‘I am Yours’, and prays for fearlessness—it is My vow that I will
always supply that to them.”
Scripture, Sharanagati, Surrender
Saranagati Defined Expressions of Saranagati in Srimad Bhagavatam
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