SARANAGATI

Karpanya or the feeling of being helpless is another anga. A person is said to possess this anga when he is conscious of the fact that by himself he has no capacity either, to know other upayas or practise them. Absence of pride in the man consequent to his incapacity comes under this; or the humble act that invokes the pity of the Lord is also karpanya. All these induce the mercy of the Lord and make Him protect him.

This anga is useful in another way also. It keeps away the temptation in the person for resorting to other means of saving himself, forgetting for the moment his innate incapacity.

Atma-niksepa or the surrender of the self is the Angi or the important thing to which all the foregoing five are accessories. Whenever there is a Saranagati, all these six one angi and five angas will be found in some form or other. In some places some may be implicit and in others explicit. Such Saranagati can be performed for the attainment of all kinds of desires - be they of the world here or of the world beyond

Here is an illustration of the Saranagati that may be performed by a person for realizing some thing in this world. Suppose there is a person who has got some property or wealth which he is not able to keep safe, and wants to deposit it with some other person capable of doing it. It will be seen that the man intends to do what is pleasing to that other person and avoids doing things which will displease him. He believes that the person so trusted can keep it safe and will do so, if required. He tells him of his own inability to take care of it and begs him to be its custodian.