||Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 97 – The legend of Gajendra Moksham -3

Gajendra who was completely exhausted with pain could see the deafening strike of lightning in the sky; he could witness the supreme Lord Vishnu mounted on the celestial vehicle, holding disc, conch, mace, and lotus on four arms.  Gajendra gravely looked at the compassionate eyes and radiant face of Lord Vishnu; he agonizingly stretched his trunk and plucked a lotus flower from the pond and cried out “Oh! Narayana Oh! Akhilaguro Oh! Bhagavan, I shall prostrate before you” he raised the trunk towards the supreme Lord Narayana.  Instantly, the head of the crocodile was sliced down with the powerful disc of the Lord Narayana, and Gajendra was pulled out from the pond.  The crocodile liberated from the curse was attained the radiant form of an attractive celestial Gandharva and eulogized Lord Narayana with folded hands “ Oh! Natha, Oh! Govinda, Oh! Jagathkarana, Oh! Anandathmaka, Oh! Pankajavilochana, I shall take surrender at your lotus feet.  You are the creator of the Universe and its living beings with your Maya and you are performing various pastimes in it. Oh! Jagathprabho kindly blesses me with intense devotion and faith to worship at your lotus feet. Oh! Bhakthavathsala, I should not be in the association of evil-minded, I should be able to recite your endless myths and glories at all times.”

Maharishi Shuka Bhramam continued “Oh! Rajan, Gajendra/soul got liberated from the clutches of ignorance/crocodile, with the touch of supreme Lord Narayana. It is not the legend of Gajendra an elephant; it is the story of all the living beings on the Earth.  In the previous birth, Gajendra was the King Indradhyumna in the clan of Pandya.  King Indradhyumna was a righteous ruler, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.  He went to Mount Malaya and conducted penance.  Once, Sage Agastya arrived at Malayadhri and saw the King Indhradhyuma immersed in the meditation upon the Supreme Lord, eventually entered into a transcendental state, so he could not realize the presence of Agasthya mistook the King who did not show the minimum gestures of respect and cursed him to become an elephant.  The King opened his eyes and saw the Sage leaving the hermitage; he followed him and begged for forgiveness, and sincerely explained the situation and begged to pardon him.  Sage Agastya controlled his anger and advised the King that the curse cannot be taken back, but whatever happens that would elevate his soul and blessed him that he would attain liberation at the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.   Thus the King Indhradhyumna became King of the elephant in his next birth.  The crocodile was a celestial Gandharva Huhu in his previous birth.   The immature souls like Gajendra soak in material affairs and bondage and get stranded, finally locked themselves in extreme sorrows and agony like the crocodile in the worldly existence.   The elevation of the soul is possible only with the constant contemplation upon the supreme Lord, eventually, the soul would be liberated from ignorance of worldly bondage, like a lotus flower even though it has grown in the muddy pond, it remains pure and unblemished, not even the touch of water.”

Whoever recites or listen to the legend of Gajendra would attain the abode of Lord Vishnu and whoever remembers the oceans, hills, woods, mountains, and mother Earth, on a daily basis, immediately after waking up in the morning,  would definitely attain the abode of Lord Vishnu.

||Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 96 – The legend of Gajendra Moksham -2

Shuka Bhramam speaks “ Oh! Rajan,  Gajendra, the leader of the elephant herd who was rejected by his own family, was caught hold by the crocodile,  was began to eulogize supreme Lord  “ Oh! Bhagavan, I shall surrender to the supreme Lord who is absolute bliss, Oh! Purusha who resides as a soul in living beings, Oh! Adhibeeja, Oh! Paresha who is beyond description or comparison, Oh! Chithathmaka who is supreme bliss and intellect, I shall meditate upon the Supreme Lord who symbolizes mind and intellect which causes to experience happiness as well as sorrows, he is the protector of the mind and intellect in the three states of awakening, dreaming and sleeping, he is the ‘Drik’ who causes to recognize the visuals, therefore the mind and intellect is an instrument that works at the instruction of the Supreme Lord who resides as a soul in us, Oh! Bhagavan, kindly protect me.  Oh! Boothathmabhootha, who is compassionate, not visible even for the deities or Rishis, then how shall it possible for me to visualize you? All that we are witnessing around is your pastimes; I shall take refuge at your lotus feet.  The Supreme Lord has no birth or death; he is not bound by the Karma, or names or forms or qualities or impurities.  He incarnates on the Earth for the welfare of the Universe and its people, I shall prostrate before the supreme Lord who is absolute Bhramam and  Ananthashakthi as well, He assumes marvelous forms even though he has no form, he is omnipresent, and performs various amusements.  I shall prostrate before the Athmapradheepa/who illuminates the soul of the living beings, Oh! Sakshine, who witnesses all that happenings in this Universe, Oh!  Paramathma who is beyond words and intellect, therefore we could not witness your presence in us but experience the same, Oh! Kaivalyanatha, Oh! Nirvanasukhasamvithe, Oh! Kshethrajja who resides as a soul in living beings, I shall prostrate before you. Oh! Sarvadhyaksha who is present in living as well as non-living things,  I shall prostrate before Akhilakarana who is the cause of Universe and its living beings, he is Nishkarana and Adhbhuthakarana who symbolizes supernatural activities as well.  He is Maharnnava who symbolizes ocean and Apavargakarana/ who is the path of liberation, I shall prostrate before you.  Oh! Bhagavan, I was soaked in illusion, I was taking extreme pleasure in the association of my family, relatives and the material world, I was under the false impression that my attractive and powerful physique would protect me from the troubles, I was under the wrong impression that my family and relatives would protect me from the troubles, therefore I did not make an effort to realize the supreme Lord who resides as a soul in me.  Oh! Bhagavan, I have learned from this harsh experience that nothing could protect me, neither my powerful physique nor my family or possessions, I have thoroughly understood that no one to protect me other the supreme Lord who resides as soul in me.  Oh! Lord, I have seen many saintly men who are immersed in the contemplation of supreme and drenched in the ocean like supreme bliss, therefore I shall contemplate upon the supreme Lord who is absolute Bhramam, he is eternal, he is Paresha who is invisible, you are beyond the Indriyas, You are flawless.  The presence of the Supreme Lord can be experienced with meditation, I have been ignorant, and I did not learn the supremacy of the Lord who resides as soul in me, due to my ignorance, ego, swollen pride and selfishness.  Oh! Bhagavan, who is the protector of the distressed soul, not attainable for the ignorant ones, I shall take refugee under your lotus feet.”

||Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 95 – The legend of Gajendra Moksham -1

The human intellect has the inexplicable skill to search happiness and comfort in the outer world as well as within oneself, the Srimad Bhagavatham teaches about the search of happiness within oneself and achieves a balanced state of mind that could handle any challenging situation and remain untouched by happiness or sorrow. The human intellect can effortlessly switch over from happiness to sorrow, positive thoughts to negative thoughts and weakness to courage, etc. it can confront the situation with extreme fear and courage as well. 

The legend of Manvanthara talks about “who’s the eminent one?” A person who is sacrificed all the material comforts and undergoes penance in the woods, or person living in all the material comforts without giving importance to it, performing his duties and responsibilities and contemplating upon supreme Lord.

Shuka Bhramam speaks “ Oh! Rajan, Swayambhuva Manu after ruling the Kingdom wisely for several years, withdrawn to woods with Devi Shatharoopa,  in order to contemplate upon supreme Lord.  Swayambhuva Manu speaks “ Oh! Devi, The supreme Lord who illuminates the whole Universe, but the Universe cannot shed light on him, he is all-pervading, witnessing all that happening in the Universe, and even the Vedas are incapable to describe the ultimate truth, Drik and Dhrishya are two different things, He is Drik/who makes us understand what’s seen/it is neither eyes, nor the intellect, but the existence of supreme soul causes to understand what has been seen, Dhrishya is the scene.  The intellect can absorb sounds and visions, the supreme soul is beyond sounds or vision, it can be experienced, not seen or heard.  Oh! Devi, the presence of supreme Lord as a soul in us causes to experience all that happening in and around us.  The Supreme Lord who resides as a soul has no beginning or end, everything in the universe undergoes constant transformations, he is eternal, he is not bound by the changes, he is permanent truth.”

Shuka Bhrama continues “ Oh! Rajan, listen to me carefully, there was Mount Thrikoota which was flourished land with rich natural resources, inhabited by the wild animals.  The mountain was surrounded by beautiful landscapes, lush green land, rivers, ponds and streams, trees and plants in abundance.  It was the shelter place of all the wild animals, birds and reptiles; they took great pleasure in that attractive wood of Mount Thrikoota.  There was a large number of elephants led by a strong and powerful elephant Gajendra, he was Indra of Gajas indeed.  The elephants took great pleasure in the company of Gajendra and enthusiastically moved all over the woods.  The years passed, the forest started to face calamities and destruction of natural resources.  They had to face extreme famine and drought, so the elephants decided to leave the place under the guidance of Gajendra who led them to a lush green land.  As soon as they entered in the new forest, they could sense the fragrance of lotus flowers, chirping of birds, etc.., they saw a beautiful pond crammed with fully bloomed lotus flowers.  All the elephants were overjoyed and took great pleasure in the beautiful pond.  Gajendra took a trunk full of water and sprayed over the elephants accompanied and they have passed hours and hours taking great enthusiasm in the water sport while spraying water upon his children and wives, Gajendra forgot to notice sometimes wedged on his leg.  Soon he realized that it was a crocodile, he withered in pain, moved the leg here and there.  In the meantime his children and wives finished their water sport, quenched their first and got on the land, they did not notice Gajendra who was withering in pain, the water has changed its color, gave out the appearance of a pool of blood.  Gajendra understood, even though he is a powerful animal on the land, the crocodile is small in size has great strength in the water.  Gajendra put all efforts to pull out the leg from the mouth of the crocodile were ended in failure, he looked upon the large number 0f elephants on the land started to move on their way.  Suddenly, the elephants turned back and saw Gajendra in the pond filled in the blood; he has no more strength to get out of the pond.  The family of Gajendra, a group of elephants put an effort to pull him with their trunk, but nothing could get him out of the water, instead, he was drowning to water with great speed.  Ultimately elephants left their hold, finding their efforts are unsuccessful, and they pitifully looked at Gajendra and left the place.  Gajendra realized that no one could help him other than the supreme Lord; the piousness earned in the previous births reminded him to call out supreme Lord for help.  His intellect encouraged him to fight against the trap of crocodile, he understood none could help him other the supreme Lord.  Gajendra contemplated upon supreme Lord and eulogized."