---
type: Concept
bundle: mimamsa-dharma
bundle_version: 0.10.0
id: anga-pradhana
title: Aṅga-Pradhāna
iast: Aṅga-Pradhāna
devanagari: अङ्गप्रधान
description: 'The for-the-sake-of relation between subsidiary acts (aṅga) and the principal rite (pradhāna), analysed as śeṣa-śeṣin (accessory-principal); the structure that orders a complex sacrifice; NOT a ranking of importance, NOT physical part and whole, NOT a hierarchy of persons.'
darshana:
- Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā
text_source: Mīmāṃsā Sūtra 3.1.2
tags:
- anga-pradhana
- sesa-sesin
- mimamsa
- ritual-structure
not:
- term: 'a ranking of importance or prestige'
  why: 'Aṅga-pradhāna is not about which act matters more socially; it is a functional analysis of which act exists for the sake of which, determining how results and duties flow.'
  instead: 'Render aṅga-pradhāna as the for-the-sake-of relation between subsidiary and principal acts, not a prestige ranking.'
- term: 'mere physical part and whole'
  why: 'An aṅga is not a spatial part; it is an act performed for the sake of another act, related by purpose, even when separable in time and place.'
- term: 'śeṣa as leftover or remainder'
  why: 'Here śeṣa means accessory, that which is subordinate to a principal (śeṣin), a relational role, not a physical remnant.'
related:
- /concepts/yaga.md
- /concepts/viniyoga.md
- /concepts/kratvartha-purusartha.md
timestamp: '2026-07-08'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Aṅga-Pradhāna -- अङ्गप्रधान

**Not:** a prestige ranking, physical part and whole, sesa as leftover

## What It Actually Means

A great sacrifice is a hierarchy of acts. The pradhāna is the principal, enjoined for its own phala; its aṅgas are subsidiary acts enjoined for the sake of the principal. The general relation is śeṣa-śeṣin: the accessory (śeṣa) exists for the principal (śeṣin). Determining this relation is one of Mīmāṃsā''s central tasks, because it fixes which act carries the fruit, which mantras and materials attach where (see viniyoga), and whether an act is done for the sacrifice or for the person (see kratvartha-purusartha).

## Audience Metaphor

In a symphony the tuning, the page-turns, and the conductor''s upbeat all exist for the sake of the performance, not the other way round. Aṅga-pradhāna is the score''s grammar of what-serves-what: which acts are the music and which are in service of it.

## Citations

1. Mīmāṃsā Sūtra 3 (the śeṣa books) -- see [references/mimamsa-sutra.md](../references/mimamsa-sutra.md)
2. Śāstra-dīpikā on aṅga and pradhāna -- see [references/sastra-dipika.md](../references/sastra-dipika.md)
