srimadbhagavtham skamdha 8 Chapters 1 to 4 Gajendra moksha

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Chapters1-4-

Gajendhramoksham

 

So far Suka was describing the first manvanthara ,

that was of Svaayambhuva Manu. Parikshith asked him to narrate the avatharas of

the Lord in other manvantharas. Then Suka started to tell him about

gajendhramoksha which happened in the 4th manvathara.

 

There was mountain named Thrikoota where in the

garden named rthumath, the apsaras used to play. The elephant Gajendhra, lived

in that place with his females and the herd to which he was the leader. During

the summer season he was emitting rut and was surrounded by bees

desirous of drinking it. Affected by thirst, the elephant, smelling the

lotuses, went to the lake to drink water . He drank and bathed there with his

females. Then a crocodile who was living in the lake caught hold of the foot of

the elephant and tried to drag him in and the elephant struggled to free

himself. The female elephants screamed for help and other elephants hearing it came and tried to

help him but with no effect. The elephant and the crocodile fought for thousand

years and the elephant became weak. Then

Gajendhra remembered the sthothra which

he learnt in his previous birth, by the grace of the Lord and thought of

Him and started saying the prayer.

 

The essence of the prayer of Gajendhra is as

follows:

 

1. In whom from whom and by whom all this is

caused. Who is above everything, I resort to Him.

 

(This reflects the upanishadic statement `yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe yena

jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamviSanthi ,' meaning , from whom all this

came about, by whom they are sustained and into whom all this enter into.)

 

2.To whom there is no birth, no action, no name and

form, no attributes or defects. But He manifests Himself by His maya.

 

(ajaayamaano

bahuDhaavijaayathe-Purusha suktham)

 

3. Who is self illumined, the witness Self and who

is beyond the cognition of words, mind and intellect.

 

( yatho

vaacho nivarthanthe apraapya mansaa saha- Upanishad- from whom the speech

returns along with the mind not being able to reach Him)

 

4. I salute the one who is the cause of everything

and who has not caused by anything and the wonderful cause, who is the ocean of

the Vedas, who is the salvation and goal of all.

 

5, He who is not a deva, manushya or animal, not

female , nor a male , nor eunuch, nor a indeterminate being.

 

( Nammazvar says in Thiruvaimozi that He is neither

male nor female nor eunuch, not visible nor existing nor non-existing- aanallan peNNallan aliyumallan kaaNalum

aagaan uLan allan illai allan)

 

The real purpose of this prayer was not mere

freedom from the jaws of the crocodile but moksha. This is made clear form the

subsequent sloka(SB.8. 3.25) Gajendra says that he did not want to live and

hence it was not his intention but he wanted to attain salvation.

 

Since Gajendra was praying to a nirviSesha thathva,

attributeless Supreme Being , no devas including Brahma went to His rescue.

Only Lord Hari who is the self of all, manifested on Garuda, with His chakra.

Seeing Him Gajendra raised his trunk with lotus in it and offered it to the

Lord saying, "naaraayana akhila guro bhagavan namasthe."

 

The Lord got down from Garuda with haste, perhaps

finding even Garuda slower than he wished, killed the crocodile and freed Gajendra. The

devas and sages showered flowers and praised the Lord and the crocodile who was

a gandharva named hoohoo, becoming a crocodile by the curse of sage Devala when

he went under the water and grabbed the feet of the sage, regained his normal

self and left after going round the Lord. Gajendra with the touch of the Lord

shed his ajnana and attained moksha.

 

Gajendra was a king named Indradhyumna in his

previous birth and went, malayaparvatha to worship Lord Hari and observing

mounavratha did not speak to the sage Agasthya who came there. The sage cursed

him to become an elephant as he was insensitive, sthabDha, like an elephant. Gajendra remembered his previous birth and

had devotion to Lord Hari. The mistake he had done was towards what is dharma and

what is not. To observe mouna vratha and worship the Lord is saadhaarana dharma but to honour the sages

and bhagavathas is visesha dharma for the sake of which the sadharana dharma

must be put aside.

 

This episode ensures heaven to the listeners and

removes the dhosha of kali and bad dreams.

 

The Lord said that among the auspicious things to

be remembered in the early morning, those who remember the scene of the gajendramoksha

will be given pure mind at the time of

death by the Lord Himself.