Gajendra continued, “The Lord blesses those living entities who worship Him seeking fulfilment of their three goals i.e. righteous duties (dharma), material earnings (artha), fulfilment of desires (kāma), by not only fulfilling their desires, but also by providing them with celestial bodies that cannot be destroyed until the end of the creation. He is an ocean of compassion. May such Supreme Lord grant me freedom!

Ardent devotees of the Lord who exclusively focus upon Him and who have surrendered totally to Him never seek any results. Immersed in singing His astonishing glories, which are the storehouse of all auspiciousness, they swim in the ocean of bliss.

Tam akṣaraṁ brahma paraṁ pareśam avyaktam ādhyātmika-yoga-gamyam Atīndriyaṁ sūkṣmam ivātidūram anantam ādyaṁ paripūrṇam īḍe

The indestructible Supreme Lord always retains illusory power under His sway. He is beyond the reach of the senses, mind or speech. Spiritual aspirants perceive Him as their inner Self. The Supreme Lord who is beyond the limitations of time, is far subtler than space. Although in the form of the Self He remains in close proximity, He illumines as if He is situated at a very great distance. Such Supreme Lord is the cause of all existences and is complete in all aspects. I worship such Supreme Lord.

This entire universe which consists of all Devatas beginning with Lord Brahma, the Vedas, the different planetary systems as well as all the mobile and immobile entities is nothing but different names and forms of that Lord. Such vast creation has been established with merely a tiny portion of the Lord’s aspect (amsha).

Just as sparks emitted by fire and rays emitted by the Sun merge back into their respective sources, this creation that is composed of the intertwining of trigunas, has its origin in that self-effulgent Supreme Lord and merges back into Him alone! Transformation within the trigunas has led to the creation of the various assemblages of minds, intellects, senses and bodies. The Supreme Lord is neither a Devata, nor demon, nor human, animal, bird, male, female, transgender, nor any one of the three attributes of Nature, nor any action, nor cause, nor effect. He is not any living entity. After rejecting every material object with the feeling ‘this is not God; that is not God’ then all that remains is that Supreme Effulgence, which is the residence for all the material objects. Such Supreme Effulgence itself is the Supreme Lord. May such Supreme Lord manifest before me!

O Lord, I do not seek to extend my longevity. Of what use is my birth as an elephant wherein inside and out I am covered with indiscrimination? I seek only the supreme liberation which destroys spiritual ignorance that has totally enveloped the Self’s illumination. Spiritual ignorance does not automatically vanish due to the influence of time. The Supreme Lord is the ultimate, auspicious goal for every living entity. I offer obeisance to such Supreme Lord.

The Lord who has created the universe manifests as this universe and yet remains distinctly separate from it. To this birthless Lord, this world is His wealth. He is the Self for this entire creation.

The Yoga called Self-knowledge helps the living entity merge into Him. Within their minds that have been rendered pure as a result of Yoga, Self-realized liberated saints, who have burnt the results of their past actions, see this Supreme Lord, the Lord of Yoga, as their inner Self. To such Supreme Lord I bow in reverence.

O Supreme Lord! Unimaginable is the speed of Your energies called sattva, rajas and tamas (the three attributes of Nature). You, who exist as the Self, are the root for all mental modifications. You are the object of all the senses i.e. this world which is composed of the subtle sensory perceptions such as sound and touch. You protect all those who surrender completely to you. Those who are totally unable to control their senses and who are overly desirous of worldly comforts can never reach you. To You, I offer many obeisances.

The Lord’s illusory energy has transformed into spiritual ignorance which covers the discriminatory intelligence in the entity. Due to this the living entity develops feelings of ‘I-ness’ towards his material body and forgets his inherent Consciousness. It is impossible to know the glory of the Supreme Lord. I now seek refuge in such Supreme Lord.”

Thus, elephant Gajendra prayed to the Supreme Essence in varied ways. He described the non-dual Lord and worshipped Him and surrendered completely to HIm.

Brahma and other Devatas have feelings of ‘I-ness’ towards their respective forms and symbols. As such none of them approached Gajendra. However Srihari, the Supreme Lord, who is the Self within everyone and who is an embodiment of all the Devatas, manifested in front of Gajendra.

The Lord of the creation came to know of Gajendra’s sufferings. He heard the hymn Gajendra had devotionally sung in his praise. Instantly He held his weapon known as the discus and mounting His vehicle, the eagle Garuda, He approached Gajendra in great speed.

All other Devatas followed Him singing His glories. Gajendra, who was caught by the crocodile and who was being tormented by excruciating pain, noticed the Supreme Lord coming towards him from the skies holding his discus. Despite his agonizing pain, Gajendra, with great difficulty picked a lotus using his trunk and said,

“Nārāyaṇākhila-guro bhagavan namas te – O Lord, you are the father of this entire creation. O Supreme Lord, I offer obeisance to you.”

The Supreme Lord, who is beyond birth and death, was filled with overflowing compassion towards Gajendra who was suffering piteously. Immediately He got down from the back of Garuda and in great haste pulled out Gajendra, together with the crocodile, from the waters. Using His discus he tore open the mouth of the crocodile and released Gajendra from its clutches.

Om namo Nārāyaṇāya! All the Devatas were overjoyed to see this astonishing sight! In great joy they extolled the Lord.

With this the third chapter of the eighth canto comes to an end.

Nārāyaṇaya namah