ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. (1) The King of the elephants, Gajendra, said: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Su preme Person, Vāsudeva [oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya]. Because of Him this material body acts due to the presence of spirit, and He is therefore the root cause of everyone. He is worshipable for such exalted persons as Brahmā and Śiva, and He has entered the heart of every living being. Let me meditate upon Him. (2)
The Supreme Godhead is the supreme platform on which everything rests, the ingre dient by which everything has been produced, and the person who has created and is the only cause of this cosmic manifestation. Nonethe less, He is different from the cause and the re sult. I surrender unto Him, the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, who is self-sufficient in eve rything. (3) The Supreme Personality of God head, by expanding His own energy, keeps this cosmic manifestation visible and again some times renders it invisible. He is both the su preme cause and the supreme result, the ob server and the witness, in all circumstances. Thus He is transcendental to everything. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protection. (4)
In due course of time, when all the causative and effective manifestations of the universe, including the planets and their di rectors and maintainers, are annihilated, there is a situation of dense darkness. Above this darkness, however, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I take shelter of His lotus feet. (5) An artist onstage, being covered by attractive dresses and dancing with different movements, is not understood by his audience; similarly, the activities and features of the supreme artist can not be understood even by the demigods or great sages, and certainly not by those who are unintelligent like animals. Neither the demi gods and sages nor the unintelligent can under stand the features of the Lord, nor can they ex press in words His actual position. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead give me protec tion. (6)
Renunciants and great sages who see all living beings equally, who are friendly to everyone and who flawlessly practice in the forest the vows of brahmacarya, vānaprastha and sannyāsa desire to see the all-auspicious lo tus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. May that same Supreme Personality of God head be my destination. (7) The Supreme Per sonality of Godhead has no material birth, ac tivities, name, form, qualities or faults. To ful fill the purpose for which this material world is created and destroyed, He comes in the form of a human being like Lord Rāma or Lord Kṛṣṇa by His original internal potency. He has im mense potency, and in various forms, all free from material contamination, He acts wonder fully. He is therefore the Supreme Brahman. I offer my respects to Him. (8-9)
I offer my re spectful obeisances unto the Supreme Person ality of Godhead, the self-effulgent Supersoul, who is the witness in everyone’s heart, who en lightens the individual soul and who cannot be reached by exercises of the mind, words or con sciousness. (10) The Supreme Personality of Godhead is re alized by pure devotees who act in the transcen dental existence of bhakti-yoga. He is the be stower of uncontaminated happiness and is the master of the transcendental world. Therefore I offer my respect unto Him. (11) I offer my re spectful obeisances to Lord Vāsudeva, who is all-pervading, to the Lord’s fierce form as Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, to the Lord’s form as an animal [Lord Varāhadeva], to Lord Dattātreya, who preached impersonalism, to Lord Buddha, and to all the other incarnations. I offer my respect ful obeisances unto the Lord, who has no mate rial qualities but who accepts the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance within this material world. I also offer my respectful obei sances unto the impersonal Brahman efful gence. (12)
I beg to offer my respectful obei sances unto You, who are the Supersoul, the su perintendent of everything, and the witness of all that occurs. You are the Supreme Person, the origin of material nature and of the total mate rial energy. You are also the owner of the ma terial body. Therefore, You are the supreme complete. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. (13) My Lord, You are the observer of all the objectives of the senses. Without Your mercy, there is no possibility of solving the problem of doubts. The material world is just like a shadow resembling You. Indeed, one ac cepts this material world as real because it gives a glimpse of Your existence. (14) My Lord, You are the cause of all causes, but You Your self have no cause. Therefore You are the won derful cause of everything. I offer my respect ful obeisances unto You, who are the shelter of the Vedic knowledge contained in the śāstras like the Pañcarātras and Vedānta-sūtra, which are Your representations, and who are the source of the paramparā system. Because it is You who can give liberation, You are the only shelter for all transcendentalists. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto You. (15)
My Lord, as the fire in araṇi wood is covered, You and Your unlimited knowledge are covered by the material modes of nature. Your mind, how ever, is not attentive to the activities of the modes of nature. Those who are advanced in spiritual knowledge are not subject to the regu lative principles directed in the Vedic litera tures. Because such advanced souls are tran scendental, You personally appear in their pure minds. Therefore I offer my respectful obei sances unto You. (16) Since an animal such as me has surrendered unto You, who are supremely liberated, cer tainly You will release me from this dangerous position. Indeed, being extremely merciful, You incessantly try to deliver me. By your par tial feature as Paramātmā, You are situated in the hearts of all embodied beings. You are cel ebrated as direct transcendental knowledge, and You are unlimited. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (17)
My Lord, those who are com pletely freed from material contamination al ways meditate upon You within the cores of their hearts. You are extremely difficult to at tain for those like me who are too attached to mental concoction, home, relatives, friends, money, servants and assistants. You are the Su preme Personality of Godhead, uncontami nated by the modes of nature. You are the res ervoir of all enlightenment, the supreme con troller. I therefore offer my respectful obei sances unto You. (18) After worshiping the Su preme Personality of Godhead, those who are interested in the four principles of religion, eco nomic development, sense gratification and lib eration obtain from Him what they desire. What then is to be said of other benedictions? Indeed, sometimes the Lord gives a spiritual body to such ambitious worshipers. May that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is unlimitedly merciful, bestow upon me the benediction of liberation from this present danger and from the materialistic way of life. (19)
Unalloyed devo tees, who have no desire other than to serve the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious. Thus they al ways merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. Such devotees never ask the Lord for any ben ediction. I, however, am in danger. Thus I pray to that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally existing, who is invisible, who is the Lord of all great personalities, such as Brahmā, and who is available only by transcendental bhakti-yoga. Being extremely subtle, He is be yond the reach of my senses and transcendental to all external realization. He is unlimited, He is the original cause, and He is completely full in everything. I offer my obeisances unto Him. (20-21)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead cre ates His minor parts and parcels, the jīva-tattva, beginning with Lord Brahmā, the demigods and the expansions of Vedic knowledge [Sāma, Ṛg, Yajur and Atharva] and including all other living entities, moving and nonmoving, with their different names and characteristics. As the sparks of a fire or the shining rays of the sun emanate from their source and merge into it again and again, the mind, the intelligence, the senses, the gross and subtle material bodies, and the continuous transformations of the dif ferent modes of nature all emanate from the Lord and again merge into Him. He is neither demigod nor demon, neither human nor bird or beast. He is not woman, man, or neuter, nor is He an animal. He is not a material quality, a fruitive activity, a manifestation or nonmani festation. He is the last word in the discrimina tion of “not this, not this,” and He is unlimited. All glories to the Supreme Personality of God head! (22-24)
I do not wish to live anymore after I am released from the attack of the croc odile. What is the use of an elephant’s body covered externally and internally by ignorance? I simply desire eternal liberation from the cov ering of ignorance. That covering is not de stroyed by the influence of time. (25) Now, fully desiring release from material life, I offer my respectful obeisances unto that Supreme Person who is the creator of the universe, who is Himself the form of the universe and who is nonetheless transcendental to this cosmic man ifestation. He is the supreme knower of every thing in this world, the Supersoul of the uni verse. He is the unborn, supremely situated Lord. I offer my respectful obeisances unto Him. (26)
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme, the Supersoul, the master of all mystic yoga, who is seen in the core of the heart by perfect mystics when they are com pletely purified and freed from the reactions of fruitive activity by practicing bhakti-yoga. (27) My Lord, You are the controller of formidable strength in three kinds of energy. You appear as the reservoir of all sense pleasure and the protector of the surrendered souls. You possess unlimited energy, but You are unapproachable by those who are unable to control their senses. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You again and again. (28) I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose illusory energy the jīva, who is part and parcel of God, forgets his real identity because of the bodily concept of life. I take shelter of the Supreme Personality of God head, whose glories are difficult to understand. (29)
ŚrīŚukadeva Gosvāmī continued: When the King of the elephants was describing the su preme authority, without mentioning any par ticular person, he did not invoke the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Indra and Candra. Thus none of them approached him. However, because Lord Hari is the Supersoul, Puruṣottama, the Personality of Godhead, He appeared before Gajendra. (30) After under standing the awkward condition of Gajendra, who had offered his prayers, the Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Hari, who lives every where, appeared with the demigods, who were offering prayers to Him. Carrying His disc and other weapons, He appeared there on the back of His carrier, Garuḍa, with great speed, ac cording to His desire. Thus He appeared before Gajendra. (31)
Gajendra had been forcefully captured by the crocodile in the water and was feeling acute pain, but when he saw that Nārāyaṇa, wielding His disc, was coming in the sky on the back of Garuḍa, he immediately took a lotus flower in his trunk, and with great diffi culty due to his painful condition, he uttered the following words: “O my Lord, Nārāyaṇa, mas ter of the universe, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.” (32) Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in such an aggrieved position, the unborn Supreme Per sonality of Godhead, Hari, immediately got down from the back of Garuḍa by His causeless mercy and pulled the King of the elephants, along with the crocodile, out of the water. Then, in the presence of all the demigods, who were looking on, the Lord severed the croco dile’s mouth from its body with His disc. In this way He saved Gajendra, the King of the ele phants. (33)
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