At first I pay my innumberable prostrated obeisances to the lotus feet of my most merciful and worshipable Divine master, who is the redeemer of the fallen souls, the bestower of knowledge on the Absolute, the non-different manifestation of the Supreme Lord and the bestower of service of the Supreme Lord. I pray for his causeless mercy. I pay my prostrated obeisances to the lotus feet of the worshipable Vaishnavas and pray for their causeless mercy. I pay my due respects to all the devotees who are inclined to hear discourses on the Supreme Lord and are observing Damodar-vrata. May they all become satisfied.

mādṛk prapanna-paśu-pāśa-vimokṣaṇāya
muktāya bhūri-karuṇāya namo ’layāya
svāṁśena sarva-tanu-bhṛn-manasi pratīta-
pratyag-dṛśe bhagavate bṛhate namas te

ātmātma-jāpta-gṛha-vitta-janeṣu saktair
duṣprāpaṇāya guṇa-saṅga-vivarjitāya
muktātmabhiḥ sva-hṛdaye paribhāvitāya
jñānātmane bhagavate nama īśvarāya

yaṁ dharma-kāmārtha-vimukti-kāmā
bhajanta iṣṭāṁ gatim āpnuvanti
kiṁ cāśiṣo rāty api deham avyayaṁ
karotu me ’dabhra-dayo vimokṣaṇam

ekāntino yasya na kañcanārthaṁ
vāñchanti ye vai bhagavat-prapannāḥ
aty-adbhutaṁ tac-caritaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ
gāyanta ānanda-samudra-magnāḥ

tam akṣaraṁ brahma paraṁ pareśam
avyaktam ādhyātmika-yoga-gamyam
atīndriyaṁ sūkṣmam ivātidūram
anantam ādyaṁ paripūrṇam īḍe
(Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.17-21)

Gajendra is singing the glories of the Supreme Lord but he does not address the Lord by any specific name. Every time he is singing the glories of the Lord he is surrendering Himself unto His Lotus feet. The Supreme Lord is endlessly merciful by nature. The living entity comes to this world by forgetting the Lord and enjoys this world. After that when he falls into trouble and takes shelter to the Lord, the Lord never turns him down by saying, “I cannot show mercy to you.” The Lord is endlessly merciful by nature and forgives all the offences committed by the living soul. Bhūri-karuṇāya—He possesses lots and lots of mercy and compassion within Him. His compassion never perishes. Gajendra continues, “A conditioned soul like me who is trapped in the body of an animal and engaged in material life needs to be rescued by the Lord and for this very reason the Lord keeps on showering His mercy all the while.” Though the Lord bestows His mercy at all times, some accept His mercy and some reject it. The Lord bestows His mercy upon every individual living entity impartially.

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu
na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ
ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā
mayi te teṣu cāpy aham
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 9.29)

That He showers His compassion on someone and refuses someone else is not a fact. For this reason, Gajendra surrendered Himself at the lotus feet of the Lord Who is merciful by nature. He is never inattentive of bestowing His mercy upon anybody. While protecting His devotees the Lord never remains idle as worldly people do. When dacoits attack somebody’s house and the family members call the police for help, the police think like, “Oh let them die! We shall see later.” Also, the police have connections with thieves, dacoits and goons. So when somebody depends upon the police to protect themselves from danger then the police come only after everything is finished. But the Lord never does this. He will not come after Gajendra has been devoured by the crocodile. The Supreme Lord remains free from all sorts of idleness. The Lord resides in the hearts of each and every living being. Krishna says to Arjun, viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat—“With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.” So one doesn’t need to relate his problems to the Lord by means of words since, bhāva grāhi janārdhan—He understands what is going on inside the heart of the living entity. He rewards him with fruits accordingly. He is all-pervading, immanent and transcendental. He knows everything. You do not have to speak in the correct language to express your mind to Him. He is residing inside your heart and seeing what you are thinking inside. According to your thoughts, He will give you the fruits.

The Lord is unattainable for the living beings who are attracted to this material world and its perishable objects. No worldly person can release a conditioned soul from the clutches of this material world. The term ‘conditioned’ (baddha) has got two implications. One is to be attached to house and family and the other one is to be attached to the mind (subtle body). They are called mano-dharmi, deha-dharmi, strain -purush, or vishaya-asakta. Crores and crores of conditioned living beings cannot impart devotion to even one living being of this world. Even infinite conditioned living beings cannot give devotion to one single living being of this world. Only by the mercy of a pure devotee who has got one-pointed devotion to the Lord and has got no material attachments, can one attain the Supreme Lord. He can liberate thousands and thousands of living beings of this world and give them causeless devotion at His feet.

naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat
(Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.32)

The person who gets the foot dust of a devotee who has got one-pointed causeless devotion for the Lord and has got not a tinge of attachment for material things can get released from the bondage of the illusory energy of the Lord and gets the service of His Lotus Feet. Getting foot dust means to get his mercy. If all are sleeping then they cannot awaken each other! Only an awakened soul can awaken other sleeping souls. Conditioned souls who are entrapped by the illusory energy of the Lord cannot rescue even a single conditioned soul and take him towards the Lord. So if I am myself a conditioned soul I cannot attain the Supreme Lord and also I will spend all my time pleasing the other conditioned souls of this world. We have received this rare human birth and the body can perish any moment. We see this every time,

ahany ahani bhūtāni
gacchantī yama-mandiram,
śeṣāḥ sthitam icchanti
kim aścaryam ataḥ param
(Mahabharat, Vana-parva 313.116)

Yudhisthir Maharaj says to the Yaksha, “Hundreds and thousands of living entities enter the temple of Yama (cremation ground) every day but the ones who are left back think that they shall survive eternally.” I see that someone of my age, someone older then me and someone younger than me has died but I think that I shall remain eternally. For this reason, we give so much of our energy to save our assets, deposit money in banks. But as soon as I shall die I shall be detached from everything else. We have got this human birth not to indulge in eating, sleeping, defending and mating like animals. We should not waste our time in worldly activities. We should engage our full time in performing worship of the Lord. So it is said that the one who is attached to worldly life is himself bound and will become the cause of binding for other living beings too. I have heard one incident from my Guruji. Once a man came to our Param Guruji (Srila Prabhupada). He renounced his worldly life and started performing Hari-Bhajan. After a few days, his father and some of his relatives came to Math. They were saying to Srila Prabhupada, “You please leave him. If he doesn’t stay in the family we will face many difficulties. What is the benefit of performing Bhajan? A son should serve his parents.”

Srila Prabhupada answered them, “Do you think that I am cruel? I am practically not a saint. I am only in the dress of a saint. But how do you think that I am so cruel? Ferocious! How can I prepare myself to do cruelty to the living soul! A living entity has come here after lakhs of births to perform Bhajan and I shall push him back to the fire of material life? Can I ask him to go away saying you do not have to perform Bhajan?”

Worldly people themselves remain bound to family life and bind others too. The Lord appears in the heart of that devotee who is not attached to material life and whose heart is pure.

There are other persons who say that the Lord doesn’t possess any form because if He possessed so, He shall become ‘Mayic’ (illusory) which suffers degradation. They will definitely have to suffer the fruits of not believing the personal form of the Supreme Lord. They will get an appropriate punishment one day. When they do not consider the personal form of the Lord, who will rescue them? They have not taken shelter of the Lord. Here Gajendra says, “I pay my obeisances to that Supreme Lord Who is All-Powerful, All-Knowledge. I take shelter to Him.”

Whatever one seeks from the Lord, his prayers are fulfilled. He can give—‘Dharma’ (worldly pieties), ‘Artha’ (wealth), ‘Kama’ (Worldly desires) and ‘Moksha’ (liberation). He also can give His own self. But to whom does He give so? We know the life of Dhruva. Dhruva started worship of the Lord with the intention to attain a kingdom. When anybody worships demigods and asks from them any material benediction, they give it to the worshipper without considering whether it will be beneficial or harmful for the worshipper. Like if somebody may worship Ganesh and ask one crore rupees from him, the latter will give it to the worshipper. Now if dacoits attack the worshipper and snatch the money from him by slitting his throat, Ganesh will not take the responsibility for the consequence. But the Supreme Lord Krishna is not like this. Krishna says,

kṛṣṇa kahe, — ‘āmā bhaje, māge viṣaya-sukha
amṛta chāḍi’ viṣa māge, — ei baḍa mūrkha
āmi — vijña, ei mūrkhe ‘viṣaya’ kene dibo?
sva-caraṇāmṛta diyā ‘viṣaya’ bhulāibo
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 22.39)

An example can be given of a small boy who caught hold of a poison tablet which is red in colour and looking very attractive. He wants to eat that tablet but his mother is refraining him from eating it by throwing it out of his hand by shouting, “Leave it! Leave it!” The child may not know that it is a poison tablet but the mother is fully aware that it is a poison tablet and the child will die immediately if he eats it. She will not allow the child to eat the tablet under any circumstance. But those who do not have a love for the child will ask the child not to take the tablet initially but after some time when the child repeatedly insists they will not forbid the child to take the tablet. But the mother of the child who has a real love for the child will not allow him to take the poison under any circumstances. In the same way, the person who worships Krishna and asks for poison (material objects) from Him the Lord doesn’t give such benedictions to that person. He says, “This person is ignorant. He is worshipping Me and asking Me to give him poison. But I cannot do such a thing. I will make him drink the nectar of My lotus feet and make him forget the poison (material objects) which he is asking from Me.” This is the specialty of Krishna-bhajan.

But there is also a verse that says,

kṛṣṇa yadi chuṭe bhakte bhukti mukti diyā
kabhu prema-bhakti nā dena rākhena lukāiyā
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi 8.18)

“If someone wants liberation or material sense gratification from the Krishna immediately delivers it, but pure devotional service He keeps hidden.”

Where should this be applicable then? This is said for them who perform worship of Lord Krishna without taking shelter of the pure devotee. They will be rewarded with insignificant benedictions like ‘bhukti’ (enjoyment), ‘mukti’ (renunciation) etc. But those who perform worship of the Lord under the guidance of a pure devotee of the Lord will never be deprived from attaining the ultimate objective ‘Krishna-prema’ (Divine Love).

After being satisfied by the prayers of Dhruva, the Supreme Lord came to him in the form of a pure devotee, Narada. Narada first went to Dhruva’s father and then to Dhruva. Dhruva received the direct mercy of the Lord. The Lord showed His form of Narayana to Dhruva who immediately forgot all the material benedictions he was to ask from the Lord. Then Lord Narayan narrated to Dhruva all that has transpired with him, “Your stepmother spoke ill words to you. You wanted to attain a kingdom bigger than your father and so you came to Me. I am ready to give you anything you ask from Me.” Listening to the Lord saying so Dhruva said to Him,

sthānābhilāṣī tapasi sthito ’haṁ
tvāṁ prāptavān deva-munīndra-guhyam
kācaṁ vicinvann api divya-ratnaṁ
svāmin kṛtārtho ’smi varaṁ na yāce
(Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 22.42 taken from Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 7.28)

“I performed Your worship with the desire to attain a kingdom bigger than my father but what have I received? I have received You. If someone was searching for a piece of glass and he suddenly comes across a rare valuable gemstone, will he continue searching for that piece of glass abandoning the gemstone? Is there any fool who can do something like this?” Dhruva continued, “Infinite universes reside in the nails of Your Lotus Feet. Now that I have got You I do not wish to receive anything else.” So the Lord by His causeless mercy also gives away His own self to a devotee who has got one pointed devotion for Him.

Gajendra has humility in his heart. But at the same time, he also has the desire that the Supreme Lord Himself manifests directly in front of him. He does not have the courage to say this directly to the Lord but from within he has that desire.

In this regard, he further says,

ekāntino yasya na kañcanārthaṁ
vāñchanti ye vai bhagavat-prapannāḥ
aty-adbhutaṁ tac-caritaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ
gāyanta ānanda-samudra-magnāḥ

tam akṣaraṁ brahma paraṁ pareśam
avyaktam ādhyātmika-yoga-gamyam
atīndriyaṁ sūkṣmam ivātidūram
anantam ādyaṁ paripūrṇam īḍe
(Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.20-21)

The meaning of 'ekāntinaḥ' is 'ananya-prayojanaḥ'—the one whose desire is to have devotion to the Lord and nothing else. Such a person's mind is fully absorbed in the service of the Lord. He is one-pointedly devoted to Him. For such a devotee, śaranāgati (surrender) is his only wealth. The one who possesses śaranāgati possesses infinite wealth. Praṇatādi gamyam mudher avedyam—a non-surrendered soul cannot attain the Supreme Lord. The foundation of ‘Bhakti’ is śaranāgati. One can memorize the six limbs of śaranāgati but can only get it by coming in contact and serving a bonafide devotee of the Lord who has surrendered himself completely. Śaranāgati is the nature of the eternal self but it is to be awakened by the contact of a pure devotee of the Lord. Śaranāgati is transcendental, not mundane. It is beyond the comprehension of this material mind and other sense organs. The transcendental personality can awaken the transcendental nature of the enslaved souls. Gajendra says, bhagavat-prapannāḥ aty-adbhutaṁ tac-caritaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ gāyanta ānanda-samudra-magnāḥ—persons who are one-pointedly surrendered to the Lord remains absorbed continuously in the ocean of bliss by listening and singing the glories of His Names, Form and Pastimes which give the highest auspiciousness.

What is the intention of Gajendra praying like this? He says, “I am not such a devotee who remains immersed in bliss by hearing and singing your glories. I am a living being who is praying to You to get released from the clutches of this crocodile or from the bindings of this material world. I do not have much attachment for You. But there are devotees who have got so much affection for You that they remain immersed in bliss by hearing and singing Your glories. I am not eligible for this. But I can at least desire to get that state.” So Gajendra was expressing his feelings for the Lord in this manner and the Lord accepts one’s feelings.

tava kathāmṛtaḿ tapta-jīvanaḿ
kavibhir īḍitaḿ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-mańgalaḿ śrīmad ātataḿ
bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūri-dā janāh
(Srimad Bhagavatam 10.31.9)

When Krishna disappeared while performing Rasa Lila pastimes, the Gopis (cowherd girls) were tormented by His separation. These Gopis cannot lead their lives in separation from Krishna. So when they suffer separation from their Lord how do they survive? Though they do not wish to live in separation from their Lord, they survive only by thinking that if they die then Krishna will feel pain. So they survive in such times only by singing the glories of the Lord. The Gopis do not get worldly afflictions. They are viraha-santapta—only get afflictions out of separation from Krishna . So when they feel the pangs of separation from Krishna they sing His glories. The Supreme Lord and His glories are one and the same. There is no difference between them. The Gopis are crying out of separation and saying, “The nectar of glories of Your Names, Form, Pastimes, etc. give us life when we suffer pangs of separation from You.”

The meaning of ‘kalmaṣa’ is sins. But Gopis do not have any sins so here it refers to the separation pangs only. ‘Śravaṇa-mańgalaḿ’—when one hears the glories of the Lord from the lips of a bona fide pure devotee, auspiciousness comes to him immediately. ‘Śrīmad ātataḿ’—the Supreme Lord is All-Powerful and so His glories are also All-Powerful.

In Namastaka Srila Rupa Goswami writes, nām gokula mahotsavāya—the glories of the Lord is the great festival for the residents of Gokula. The Lord has a form which is completely filled with bliss. (ānanda-ghana-swarūp). Since the Lord is bliss personified so the glories of His Names, Forms, Pastimes, Attributes drowns the listener in an ocean of bliss. Our Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told us,

ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ
bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaḿ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaḿ
vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaḿ
prati-padaḿ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaḿ
sarvātma-snapanaḿ
paraḿ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-sańkīrtanam
(1st Verse of Sri Shikshastaka)

Congregational chanting of the Names, Forms, Pastimes of Radha Krishna immerses one in an ocean of bliss and makes them get a new taste at every step.

Gajendra further says, yasya vai bhagavataḥ sakāśāt na kañcanārthaṁ vāñchanti—the one who immerses himself completely in hearing and singing the Names and qualities of the Lord will never desire for anything else. Someone who sings the glories of the Lord but still possesses worldly desires has not practically sung the Names, Forms or Pastimes of the Lord. There are many professional speakers like me. They speak the glories of the Lord because that is their profession and their intention is not to please the Lord but something else. But those who speak the glories of the Lord only for His satisfaction speak spontaneously and not for fulfilling any ulterior motive. Na kañcanārthaṁ vāñchanti—not even a scent of desire will remain. If one gets the real taste of hearing and singing the glories of the Lord He shall forget the world immediately. Such is the power of the Holy Names of the Lord that it makes one forget all sorts of attachments for this material life. We have heard so many glories of the Lord but, still, we are attached to worldly things. Here Gajendra says, “I am have the desire to be rescued from the clutches of this crocodile but those who sing Your glories purely have no attachment or any desires.”

A devotee of the Lord who is one-pointedly surrendered to Him remains immersed in the bliss originating from singing of, and listening to, the Names, Forms, Pastimes and attributes of the Lord. Other than desiring the Lotus Feet of the Lord they want nothing else. The Supreme Lord is pareś which means He is the Lord of all Lords. He is nitya (eternal) and avyakta—not perceivable by the material senses like material mind, words, etc. When the Lord graces somebody then He descends to such a person as ‘śabda-brahma’ (sound manifestation of God). Both ‘śabda-brahma’ and ‘parabrahma’ are eternal and non-different. After the Lord manifests Himself everything becomes clear. Gajendra further says, ādhyatmika yoga gamyam—one Who is known only by bhakti-yogā. Krishna Himself, in the Bhagavad Gita does the comparative study of all the yogās. Everyone believes in Gita. So they also should accept the teachings of Gita. In the sixth chapter of Gita, it is seen at the end,

tapasvibhyo ’dhiko yogi
jñānibhyo ’pi mato ’dhikaḥ
karmibhyaś cādhiko yogi
tasmād yogī bhavārjuna
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 6.46)

If we study Gita but do not accept the teachings of Gita then what is the benefit of such study? A yogī is greater than a ‘tapasvi’ (ascetic). There are many kinds of ascetic practices. Some people remain under the scorching sun rays in extreme heat, some remain immersed in cold water in winter and some people do austeritys like staying near fire in the time in which others requires air conditioning to lower the temperatures. The Lord is saying that a yogī is better than a tapasvi (a person who performs the abovementioned ascetic practices). Even a yogī is greater than a gyāni (empiricist). Here, gyāni means those who worship the impersonal Brahman. A yogī is better than him since the former worships Paramatma (super-soul residing in the hearts of all living entities). In Paramatma we find two qualities sad (eternity) and chid (knowledge). If only the chid (knowledge) aspect is being considered then He becomes nirviśeṣ nirākār Brahma. In the case of Paramatma, He accepts the qualities of sad and chid and resides in the hearts of the individual living beings and the yogīs worship such Paramatma. The gyāni (empiricists) are better than the karmi (performers of fruitive activities). Now if the yogī is better than the gyāni then it is obvious that he is better than the karmi also. Now there are many varieties of yogī like haṭha-yogī, rāja-yogī, etc. The word yogīnām indicates many types of yogīs.

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
sa me yukta-tamo mataḥ
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 6.47)

“Out of all the yogīs, the one who performs worship of My transcendental form by indulging his mind fully unto Me is the highest.”

Here, Krishna is saying that one who worships 'HIM', meaning His personal form not nirākār-nirviśeṣ-brahma. He says, “One who worships Me with firm faith is topmost.” Krishna is the cause of Impersonal Brahma also—brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca. Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotional service) is the only path to attain Krishna. There is only one way to attain Krishna and not a thousand ways to attain Him. There are many ways to reach Bhatinda (the name of the city in which the Kartik-vrata is observed). Now one can think like this that the Lord is obviously not smaller than Bhatinda. The Supreme Lord is unlimited and infinite and so there must be infinite ways to attain Him. So one may choose any one of the infinite paths to attain Him. The above-mentioned example is incorrect. Bhatinda is the transformation of the five material elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether. Who is the living entity? He is a minute part of the marginal potency of the Lord. He is aṇu sad-chid-ānanda (infinitesimal spark of All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss). The living entity is superior to the five material elements. The one who is superior can dominate inferior things. One can come to Bhatinda following any way since the place is composed of the five material elements since it is inferior to the living entities. The living being is an outcome of the ‘parā potency’ of the Lord. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that the living beings are the outcome of the marginal potency of the Lord. They are not outcomes of the internal potency of the Lord. The internal potency constitutes the transcendental realm of the Lord. If anybody is there he will never come to this material world. We, the living beings, are situated in the margin. We have to cross the margin and go to the transcendental realm of the Lord. So, the individual living soul who is aṇu-cetan (infinitesimal part of consciousness) is eternal by nature. He cannot die and shall remain forever. The Supreme Lord is the cause of the individual living soul. The nature of the individual soul is to perform causeless devotion to the Lord. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is said that the best path is to perform causeless devotion to the Lord. Performing such bhakti is the natural tendency of the soul. After speaking about all the paths like karma, gyāna, etc. the Lord said that the path of bhakti is the best.

sarva-guhyatamaṁ bhūyaḥ
śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ
iṣṭo ’si me dṛḍham iti
tato vakṣyāmi te hitam

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ’si me

sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 18.64-66)

The Lord said to Arjuna, “Abandon all the paths of religion I have spoken to you and surrender yourself unto Me completely.” Bhagavad Gita contains the most secret Knowledge. After reading Gita if one doesn’t accept the teachings then what is the use behind such reading? What is the path of bhakti in actuality? The Supreme Lord is All-Powerful and nothing is equal to Him and greater than Him—He is asamordhva. For this reason, without His desire, nobody can attain Him. If I can attain the Lord by my own desire then the Lord becomes subordinate to me. But this is not the case. For this reason, one can attain the Lord only by His desire. Bhakti means to act as per the Absolute Will of the Lord. One can attain the Lord only by bhakti and not by karma. The path of karma (fruitive activities) is mentioned in the Vedas. But the one who follows the path of karma does his practices for his own self or for others related to him. He does not perform those activities for the satisfaction of the Lord. If there is no activity for the satisfaction of the Lord, how can the Supremacy (Bhagavattā) of the Lord remain there? Karmis perform karmas for material happiness and not for the satisfaction of the Lord. Even the gyānis perform their austerities for attaining liberation (mukti). They do not desire perishable material happiness like the karmis because they know that such happiness perishes with time and ultimately they will be left with nothing. For this reason, they desire liberation but they too do not want the Lord. Now if the Lord submits Himself to them then His Bhagavattā will be lost. Yogīs desire kaivalya (merging into impersonal brahman) or siddhis (mystic perfections) but even they too do not desire the Lord. Only in the path of bhakti, the aspirant acts as per the Will of the Lord.

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti
yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ
tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā
viśate tad-anantaram
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 18.55)

The only way to attain the Lord is to perform pure devotional service to Him. The Lord has not said gyānen mām abhijānāti or yogen mām abhijānāti. He has said bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. Krishna also says to Uddhava,

bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ
śraddhayātmā priyaḥ sataṁ
(Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.21)

"I am attained only by devotion."

So here Gajendra is praying, atīndriyaṁ—the Supreme Lord is situated beyond the comprehension of the gross and the subtle senses. Sūkṣmam—the Supreme Lord is more subtle than anything. The living entities are atomic (aṇu) and He is residing in the hearts of each and every living entity. So the Lord is minutest of the minutest. Similarly, the Lord is the greatest of the greatest. All kinds of qualities are there in the Supreme Lord. He is minute than the minutest, larger than the largest and also the One Who is between these two (madhyam). So He is sarva (All). He possesses all sorts of qualities. Nobody can catch Him. He is the sole controller of infinite universes. Externally the Lord appears in the form of a small boy ‘Gopala’. But He opened His mouth and showed entire universes inside His mouth. Once He was in the company of His cowherd friends when all of them complained to mother Yashoda, “See Kanhaiya is eating mud! Kanhaiya is eating mud!” Mother Yashoda started worrying, “This boy has no sense. He is eating mud and worms will start sprouting inside His stomach!” She did not rely so much on the statements made by the other boys and asked Balarama, “What did Kanhaiya do?” Balarama replied, “He consumed mud!” So she ran where Krishna was and saw that Krishna filled His mouth with mud. She started charging Him out of anger, “Did You take mud? Did You take mud?” In fear of being slapped, the Lord opened His mouth and she saw the full universe inside His mouth. Mother Yashoda became scared. She started pondering, “This child is a little boy. How is the universe inside His stomach ?” The Supreme Lord possesses avicintya-mahā-śakti—inconceivable supreme potency. Rabindranath Thakur said, ‘simar madhye asima’—He is unlimited inside His apparently limited form.

Gajendra further says, atidūram—bāhyadṛṣṭeḥ bahirbhūtam. The meaning of this is, externally the Lord appears to be situated far away, but in actuality, He is very near to us. But when we try to know Him with our finite sense organs, mind and intelligence, He is situated very far away from us. Anantam—externally He seems to be limited like a small boy but in reality, He is unlimited within the apparently limited form. The Lord cannot be understood even by the creator Brahma, who thought that He was a small cowherd boy in the beginning but finally saw infinite Vasudeva forms emanating from the body of the Lord. This is Lord's avicintya-mahā-śakti—inconceivable supreme potency. Ādyaṁ—the Lord is the root cause behind everything. Paripūrṇam—He doesn’t lack anything. Gajendra says, “I offer my prayers to the Supreme Lord Who is full in every aspect.”

yasya brahmādayo deva
vedā lokāś carācarāḥ
nāma-rūpa-vibhedena
phalgvyā ca kalayā kṛtāḥ

yathārciṣo ’gneḥ savitur gabhastayo
niryānti saṁyānty asakṛt sva-rociṣaḥ
tathā yato ’yaṁ guṇa-sampravāho
buddhir manaḥ khāni śarīra-sargāḥ

sa vai na devāsura-martya-tiryaṅ
na strī na ṣaṇḍho na pumān na jantuḥ
nāyaṁ guṇaḥ karma na san na cāsan
niṣedha-śeṣo jayatād aśeṣaḥ
(Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.22-24)

The Lord says that He existed before the entire creation and He shall remain after the entire creation dissolves. He also remains while the creation is going on. Gajendra says, “I surrender myself unto the Lotus feet of such Supreme Lord.”