Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 8 Chapter 3 Verse 32

Canto 8: Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations | Chapter 3: Gajendra's Prayers of Surrender

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.32

so 'ntaḥ-sarasy urubalena gṛhīta ārto

dṛṣṭvā garutmati hariḿ kha upātta-cakram

utkṣipya sāmbuja-karaḿ giram āha kṛcchrān

nārāyaṇākhila-guro bhagavan namas te

SYNONYMS

saḥ — he (Gajendra); antaḥ-sarasi — in the water; uru-balena — with great force; gṛhītaḥ — who had been captured by the crocodile; ārtaḥ — and severely suffering; dṛṣṭvā — upon seeing; garutmati — on the back of Garuḍa; harim — the Lord; khe — in the sky; upātta-cakram — wielding His disc; utkṣipya — raising; sa-ambuja-karam — his trunk, along with a lotus flower; giram-āha — uttered the words; kṛcchrāt — with great difficulty (because of his precarious position); nārāyaṇa — O my Lord Nārāyaṇa; akhila-guro — O universal Lord; bhagavan — O Supreme Personality of Godhead; namaḥ te — I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

TRANSLATION

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 difficulty due to his painful condition, he uttered the following words: "O my Lord, Nārāyaṇa, master of the universe, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."

PURPORT

The King of the elephants was so very eager to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead that when he saw the Lord coming in the sky, with great pain and in a feeble voice he offered respect to the Lord. A devotee does not consider a dangerous position to be dangerous, for in such a dangerous position he can fervently pray to the Lord in great ecstasy. Thus a devotee regards danger as a good opportunity. Tat te'nukampāḿ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ. When a devotee is in great danger, he sees that danger to be the great mercy of the Lord because it is an opportunity to think of the Lord very sincerely and with undiverted attention. Tat te 'nukampāḿ susamīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaḿ vipākam (Bhāg. 10.14.8). He does not accuse the Supreme Personality of Godhead for having let His devotee fall into such a dangerous condition. Rather, he considers that dangerous condition to be due to his past misdeeds and takes it as an opportunity to pray to the Lord and offer thanks for having been given such an opportunity. When a devotee lives in this way, his salvation — his going back home, back to Godhead — is guaranteed. We can see this to be true from the example of Gajendra, who anxiously prayed to the Lord and thus received an immediate chance to return home, back to Godhead.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness