When Lord gave Moksha to Gajendra

Lord not only protects his devotees but also gives, Moksha or Eternal Life in His abode to His Devotees. Now it does not matter whether devotee is a human being, a divine being, an animal or bird also. God protects every creature of this universe if that being asks for Lord’s help. Here below is a story from Srimad Bhagvatam in which an Elephant was saved by the Lord when a crocodile attaked him when he went to have water in the river.

“Once there was an elephant named Gajendra who used to live in a garden called Rtumata which was created by Varuna. This garden was situated in the beautiful mountains of Trikuta in ancient India. Gajendra ruled over all the other elephants in the herd. On a hot day, he proceeded with his herd to a lake to cool off in its fresh waters. Suddenly a crocodile living in the lake attacked Gajendra and caught him by the leg. Gajendra tried for a long time to escape from the crocodile's clutches. All his family, relatives and friends gathered around to help him, but in vain. The crocodile wouldn't simply let go. When they realised that ‘death’ has come close to Gajendra, they left him alone. He trumpeted in pain and helplessness until he was hoarse. As the struggle was seemingly endless and when the last drop of energy was also sapped, Gajendra called to Lord Vishnu to save him, holding a lotus up in the air as an offering. 

Hearing his devotee's call and a prayer, Lord Vishnu rushed to the scene. As Gajendra sighted the Lord coming, he lifted a lotus with his trunk, seeing this lord was pleased and with his Sudharshana Chakra separated the crocodile's head from its body and Gajendra prostrated before the Lord. Vishnu informed Gajendra that he, in one of his previous births, was the celebrated King Indradyumna, a Lord Vishnu devotee, but due to his disrespect to the great Sage Agastya, he was cursed and had to undergo this life.

Because Indradyumna was a chosen one, Lord Vishnu had him born as Gajendra and made him realize that there is something called, "Moksha / Kaivalya" which is beyond Svarga and Urdhva Loka. Indradyumna could attain Moksha finally when he (as Gajendra) left all his pride and doubt and totally surrendered himself to Lord Vishnu.

The prayer made by Gajendra on this occasion became a famous hymn in praise of Lord Vishnu called the Gajendra Stuti.

शुक्लांबरधरं विष्णुं शशि वर्णं चतुर्भुजं ।

प्रसन्न वदनं ध्यायेत सर्व विघ्नोपशान्तये॥

So the story even though it is known as 'Gajendra Moksha', actually the moksha was given to the crocodile also. And crocodile got the 'rare privilege'(same as in the case of Ravana, Kamsa,etc.) of getting killed by the hands of Lord Vishnu and was given moksha before the Gajendra."

In Bhagwat Gita, God assures his disciple Arjuna in many ways & asks him to take refuge in Him. Lord says that He shall emancipate him of sin in all ways, shall rescue him in his life always. Through Arjuna, God is giving a message to all people that they should be devoted to Him, as through devotion, they shall reach Him easily. Below are verses of Bhagwat Gita where God assures Arjuna through these verses. Firstly, it is written, as it is written in original Sanskrit in Bhagwat Gita & below that is English translation of that verse.

'Api chet su-duracharo
bhajate maam ananya-bhak
sadhurev sa mantavya
samyag vyvasito hi sah' ( Gita: Chapter IX verse 30 )

'Even if the vilest sinner worships Me with full devotion, he should be considered a noble soul or saint; as he has taken the right step by worshipping me.'

Through above verse 30, God is telling Arjuna that even if the most sinful of person worships Him with full devotion, then He considers him to be a saint only as he has rightly resolved in his life. So many times we too think that we have done many sins in life & how God shall accept us, but here God makes very clear that once a person become devoted to Him, He does not considers that person a sinner, rather God considers that person to be a Saint as he has taken the right decision in his life to become devoted to God. Let's all be devotees of God.

'kshipram bhavti dharmatma
shasvac-chantim nigachati

kauntey pratijanihi
na me bhaktah pranashyati' ( Gita: Chapter IX verse 31 )

'He speedily becomes virtuous and secures lasting peace. O son of Kunti, know it for certain that My devotee never falls.'

Through above verse 31, God is telling Arjuna that such a sinful person after becoming His devotee becomes a person of good virtues and always remain in peace & such a peace is not temporary but is ever lasting. God is assuring the son of Kunti ( another name of Arjuna, his disciple) that his devotee never falls again in life as He always protect him. So let's all worship the God always so that He can protect us always.

'man-mna bhav mad-bhakto
madhyaji maam namaskuru
maam-evaishyasi yuktvaivam
atmanam mat-parayanah' ( Gita: Chapter IX verse 34 )

'Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to me, worship Me & offer obeisance's to Me. In this way, linking to Me, you shall surely come to Me.'

Through above verse 34, God is asking Arjuna to fix his mind on God as after worshipping Him & paying obeisance's to God, he shall automatically come to Him. We should also follow the same path & let's become devoted to him by praying Him daily. God is very clear that once a person comes in God's refuge, then all his problems are solved & God becomes his protector in this life & life beyond.

Jai Sri Krishna

Four Blind men Describe an Elephant - Story that Analyses God

Do you know how God's Face look like?? May be no one can answer this question properly, as no one has come face to face with God anytime & we all have seen His pictures, idols etc. only in which God's face looks like, whatever, the painter or craftsman imagined it while making that picture or idol. There are others who believe in unmaniifest aspect of God i.e. they believe in faceless, nirakar aspect of God. So we have different perceptions of God as per our thinking & faith.

In general God is the faith of human beings that a Supernatural Power exists in this universe which has created us & all other universal forms. He is having supernatural powers, who is omniscient (knows everything), who is omnipresent (who is present everywhere), omnipotent (who is having all the powers & is all powerful), who is imperishable & indestructible. Faith of humans in such a big & great entity having all the powers is known as God.

When God is someone Superhuman, having Infinite size, knowledge & powers, then it is very difficult for a human being with limited knowledge & power to fully understand & describe the God. In this respect there is an analogy as to how differently we each understand or experience the God. There is this story about four blind men and the elephant:

There are four blind men who discover an elephant. Since the men have never encountered an elephant, they grope about, seeking to understand and describe this new wild being. One gets hold of the trunk and concludes that it is a snake. So for him elephant is like a snake. Another explores one of the elephant's legs and describes it as a tree. So for him elephant is like a tree. A third one finds the elephant's tail and announces that it is a rope. So for him elephant is like a rope. And the fourth blind man, after discovering the large body of the elephant, concludes that it is, after all, a wide mountain.

Each in his blindness is describing the same thing: an elephant. Yet each describes the same thing in a radically different way. We all are like those blind men only in our knowledge of God who describe the God as per our own understanding. Now say a fifth man (who could see) comes to the scene and he were to describe the elephant as an elephant, then he would tell clearly about the elephant as it is. Same is the case that only a true master who has seen God actually can tell how God looks like. Let's seek such a True master, Great soul or Guru who shall tell us about the true nature of God & shall lead us to Him.

"jyotisam api taj jyotis

tamasah param ucyate

jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam

hridi sarvasya visthitam" (Bhagwat Gita: ChapterThirteen verse 18)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, God is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is un-manifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge,and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart."

Jai Sri Krishna

Godly Knowledge is not for Bad People

"Once a caretaker of an elephant took it to the River side and gave it a nice bath for more than an hour. He applied loads of soap and scrubbed the whole body of elephant nicely with water. Caretaker was fully satisfied with the cleaning of the elephant. He took the elephant out of the water and was driving it home. The moment elephant reached the bank of the River, it too k with its trunk a large quantity of dust and dirt and smeared its whole body with it. The caretaker realized that all his effort has gone in waste. He took the elephant back to the forest and made it lift logs of wood. Caretaker extracted lots of work from the elephant. Whatever effort he put forth in this direction was not wasted at all! He realized that the elephant was fit only to do the hard work, and it was wiser to take work from the elephant than to waste time in bathing it."

In religious sense same is the case with people of bad nature. Bad people who are given to all kinds of vices are comparable to elephant in the story. The caretaker is a saintly soul. The saint tries to clean the bad habits of the vicious people with the soap of scriptural knowledge and bathes them with divine knowledge, divine songs like Japa, Kirtan, etc. But the moment he finds a chance, the bad, vicious person sprinkles the dust and dirt upon himself with his bad habits & bad karmas.

The saint understands the vicious man's nature. He puts him to hard work only & not imparts the divine knowledge to him. He extracts much useful work from him. The vicious man works like the elephant. Work eventually purifies the bad person.

Bhagwat Gita also says that we should not unnecessarily teach & preach the people of vicious nature:

"idam te natapaskaya
nabhaktaya kadachana
na chasusrusave vacyam

na cha mam yo ’bhyasuyati"(Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 67)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, This confidential divine knowledge should never be explained to those who are not pure, austere, or are not devoted to God, or are not engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of God."

"ya idam paramam guhyam
mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param kritva

mam evaishyaty asamsayah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Eighteen verse 68)

"Sri Krishna said: O Arjuna, one who explains this supreme divine knowledge secret to the devotees of God, pure devotional service is guaranteed to that person, and at the end he will surely achieve the God."

So we should not unnecessarily teach & preach the people of bad nature who hate God. Such people cannot be changed of their bad nature as they are engrossed always in bad karmas & are always envious of God. We should let such people live in their own world. But if we shall impart divine knowledge to the people who are devoted to God then it shall be the real beneficial service to God. In this way God shall endow us with devotional energy through which we shall finally attain Him.

Jai Shri Krishna

Our Understanding or Perception of God

Can anyone tell, how God's Face look like?? May be no one can answer this question properly, as no one has come face to face with God anytime & we all have seen His pictures, idols etc. only in which God's face looks like, whatever, the painter or craftsman imagined it while making that picture or idol. There are others who believe in unmaniifest aspect of God i.e. they believe in faceless, nirakar aspect of God. So we have different perceptions of God as per our thinking & faith.

In general God is the faith of human beings that a Supernatural Power exists in this universe which has created us & all other universal forms. He is having supernatural powers, who is omniscient (knows everything), who is omnipresent (who is present everywhere), omnipotent (who is having all the powers & is all powerful), who is imperishable & indestructible. Faith of humans in such a big & great entity having all the powers is known as God.

When God is someone Superhuman, having Infinite size, knowledge & powers, then it is very difficult for a human being with limited knowledge & power to fully understand & describe the God. In this respect there is an analogy as to how differently we each understand or experience the God. There is this story about four blind men and the elephant:

There are four blind men who discover an elephant. Since the men have never encountered an elephant, they grope about, seeking to understand and describe this new wild being. One gets hold of the trunk and concludes that it is a snake. So for him elephant is like a snake. Another explores one of the elephant's legs and describes it as a tree. So for him elephant is like a tree. A third one finds the elephant's tail and announces that it is a rope. So for him elephant is like a rope. And the fourth blind man, after discovering the large body of the elephant, concludes that it is, after all, a wide mountain.

Each in his blindness is describing the same thing: an elephant. Yet each describes the same thing in a radically different way. We all are like those blind men only in our knowledge of God who describe the God as per our own understanding. Now say a fifth man (who could see) comes to the scene and he were to describe the elephant as an elephant, then he would tell clearly about the elephant as it is. Same is the case that only a true master who has seen God actually can tell how God looks like. Let's seek such a True master, Great soul or Guru who shall tell us about the true nature of God & shall lead us to Him.