Six Aspects Of Sharanagati

What is Sharanagati?

There are six aspects to Sharanagati (surrender). The surrender is sixfold. You should surrender by following all these six aspects of surrender:

1. Have humility.

2. Dedicate yourself completely to Sri Hari.

3. Accept Sri Hari as your only protector.

4. Have faith that you are under His care.

5. Do such things which will increase your devotion towards Sri Hari.

6. Discard everything that will take you away from Him.

This is the sixfold path of Sharanagati. You follow this path and He will always be there for you.

Surrender completely to Him. Confess all your offences to Him. Admit all your deficiencies to Him. Express your helplessness to Him. Accept your triviality in comparison to His greatness. Cry before Him. Confide in Him. This is humility.

Tell Him that you forgot to accept Him and honour Him. Tell Him about the sufferings that you are undergoing because of that. Tell Him that you are submitting yourself completely at His feet.

Complain to Him, you left Him, but He also abandoned you. He did not see to it that you do not forget Him. Complain to Him that it was He only who made Himself invisible to you. It was He only who took away your awareness of Him at the time you were born.

Complain to Him that it was He only who gave you the love and affection of your father, mother, brother, sister, and grandparents, and made you believe that the world is nice.

Complain to Him that it was He only who got you entangled in the pursuit of worldly knowledge, money, power, security, acting like a protector of your family, and all such illusions.

Accept that the more you read, the more you heard, the more you developed the false notion that you can grow, progress, gain wealth and respect, and achieve everything by acquiring knowledge. But now you realize how futile all that knowledge is, how limited all that knowledge is, how inconsequential all that worldly knowledge is. Tell Him that whatever you thought was adding to your knowledge ended up promoting your ignorance.

Admit to Him that you now realize that you have lived the life of a donkey, always and only carrying the useless load of worldly commitments and concerns.

Admit to Him that you have realized that all that you thought you were building up turned out to be useless. All that you worked towards day and night turned out to be a farce. Whatever you did thinking that you were doing noble deeds turned out to be sins.

Admit to Him, all throughout your life, you were giving pain to others, anxiety to others, disappointment to others.

Admit to Him that you have been living a life of vanity, egoism, and self-centredness.

Admit to Him that you never thought beyond the comfort, pleasure, and goodness of yourself and your immediate family.

Admit to Him that you never hesitated to tell lies or hide facts in your own interest and in the interest of your immediate family.

Feel sorry that you slept your time away and wasted your time away watching worthless movies and TV shows when the same time could have been spent taking His name and singing His glory.

Feel sorry that you were taking rounds of shopping malls and entertainment centres when you actually should have been visiting His temples and spending time at the feet of holy people and in the company of His devotees.

Feel ashamed how you mugged up a few verses of the holy Geeta and went around pretending that you are spiritually evolved, trying to preach and impart your rudimentary knowledge to others.

Feel ashamed that you were judgemental about others while your life itself turned out to be hypocritical.

Surrender your ego at His lotus feet. Surrender your conceit at His lotus feet. Surrender your knowledge at His lotus feet. Surrender your ignorance at His lotus feet. Surrender your past at His lotus feet. Surrender your present at His lotus feet. Surrender your future at His lotus feet. Surrender your body at His lotus feet. Surrender your mind at His lotus feet. Surrender your soul at His lotus feet.

• Why call surrender a six-part practice instead of one decision?
  Because real surrender shows up in attitude, choices, habits, priorities, relationships, and resilience.

• How does humility change the way I pray and act?
  It cuts ego, makes you honest, and opens the door for real help to reach you.

• Why insist on one protector?
  Split trust creates anxiety. Single-point trust creates stability and courage.

• What happens when I truly feel under divine care?
  Fear shrinks, guilt softens into responsibility, and decisions become calmer.

• How do I practically grow devotion day to day?
  Fix a daily slot for nama japa, read a few lines of scripture, serve someone, and keep good company.

• Why remove habits and circles that pull me away?
  You cannot fill a leaking bucket. Stop the leaks, then growth sticks.

• Is it OK to complain to the divine?
  Yes. Honest talk is intimacy. It beats polished, fake prayers.

• Why confess faults instead of just doing better from now?
  Naming the mess clears denial. Clean ground holds new seeds.

• What is the point of calling my past knowledge limited?
  It resets arrogance and makes space for wisdom that actually transforms.

• How do I stop living for image and start living for truth?
  Choose one small truthful act daily even if no one claps. Repeat.

• What should I do with wasted time and distractions?
  Own it, cut one distraction today, and convert that slot into practice.

• How do I surrender past, present, and future without becoming passive?
  Do your best now, let go of control over results, and keep moving.

• What is a clear sign that surrender is real, not talk?
  You choose truth over convenience, especially when it costs comfort.

• How do I restart after failing again?
  Return immediately, admit it, take one corrective step, and resume practice.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi