Gajendra Moksha Stotra in English
Gajendra Moksha Stotra - Sri Vishnu (Gajendra Moksham Stotram)
Gajendra Moksha Stotra is given in the third chapter of the eighth chapter of Shrimad Bhagwat. It has a total of 33 verses. According to Hindu religion, chanting Gajendra Moksha Stotra provides instant relief from any kind of troubles in life. Lord Vishnu is also very pleased by reciting Gajendra Moksha Stotra and takes away all the sorrows of his devotees.
This strotra describes the battle of Gajendra with the crocodile, in which Gajendra praised Shri Hari to get free from the mouth of the crocodile and Lord Shri Hari freed him from the crocodile after listening to Gajendra's call. Describing the significance of Gajendra Moksha, it has been said that it has been called the destroyer of all sins, a sadhak.
Reciting it daily removes the troubles of a person and paves the way for salvation. This is such a strotra that rescues a person even from severe troubles. Before reciting this hymn, one should remember his problem and start reciting Gajendra Moksha Stotra to wish for freedom from it. Light a lamp in front of Lord Vishnu and start chanting this hymn. Gajendra Moksha recitation done with true heart and devotion removes all troubles.
Having decided through the intellect in the manner described in the previous chapter and fixing the mind in the heart, that elephant king started reciting in his mind the following hymn which he had learnt and memorized in his previous birth, which is the best and worth repeating again and again.॥1॥
Gajendra Uvaach Gajraj said (in his mind) –
On whose entry (on receiving whose consciousness) this inert body and mind etc. also become conscious (start behaving like conscious), we mentally bow to that all-powerful God who is indicated by the word 'Om' and who has entered the entire body in the form of nature and man.॥2॥
I take refuge in that God who is created by Himself, without any cause, on whose support this world rests, from whom it has emerged, who has created it and who is Himself manifest in its form – yet who is beyond this visible world and its causal nature and is superior to it. ॥3॥
He who has created this world in His own form through His willpower and therefore remains manifest during the time of creation and remains unmanifest during the time of destruction, and who keeps on observing this world of cause and effect as a witness due to His uninhibited vision, and who is not entangled in it, may that Lord, who is the ultimate illuminator of the eyes and other illuminators, protect me. ॥4॥
When all the worlds and Brahma and other world-guardians entered the Panchabhuthas with the passage of time and all the causes from the Panchabhuthas to the important ones merged in His supreme compassionate nature, then at that time only the incomprehensible and infinite darkness-like nature remained. May the omnipresent God who shines everywhere in His supreme abode beyond that darkness, protect me. ॥5॥
Just as ordinary spectators are unable to recognize the true nature of an actor who performs in different forms, similarly, even the Sattva-dominated deities and sages do not know His true nature, then who else but an ordinary being can know or describe Him - may that Lord with His difficult character protect me. ॥6॥
He who is always free from attachment, who has the self-consciousness in all beings, who is a benefactor of all without any reason and whose extremely saintly nature sages, with the desire to see His most auspicious form, live in the forest and follow supernatural vows like unbroken celibacy etc., that Lord alone is my path. ॥7॥
Salutations to that Supreme Brahma, the Supreme Being, who is neither born due to karma like us, nor through whom ego-inspired karmas are performed, whose attributeless form has neither any name nor any form, yet, according to time, He willingly accepts birth etc. for the creation and destruction of the world. ॥8॥
Salutations to that Supreme Brahma, the Supreme Being, who is endowed with infinite power. Salutations again and again to that God, who is formless and has many forms and who performs many wonderful deeds. ॥9॥
Salutations to the Supreme Being, who is the self-illuminating and witness of all. Salutations again and again to that Lord, who is beyond salutations, words and mental attitudes. ॥10॥
Salutations to the Lord, who is the form of the experience of the bliss of salvation, which can be attained by a prudent man by practising the virtue-specific Nivriti Dharma. ॥11॥
Salutations to the Lord who is calm by accepting Sattva Guna, fierce by accepting Rajo Guna and appears to be foolish by accepting Tamo Guna, without any distinction and therefore always situated in equanimity. ॥12॥
Salutations to you, the knower of all the bodies which are the group of body, senses etc., the master and witness of all. Salutations to the Lord who is the knower of all the senses, the ultimate cause of nature also, but without any cause yourself. ॥13॥
Salutations to you, the knower of all the senses and their objects, the cause of all appearances, the one who is informed by the entire material world and the fundamental ignorance of all and who appears as ignorance in all the objects. ॥14॥
Salutations to you, who is the cause of everything but without any cause yourself and despite being the cause, without any result, who is the unique cause as compared to other causes, salutations to you again and again. I salute that God who is the ultimate meaning of all Vedas and scriptures, the form of salvation and the ultimate destination of great men. ॥15॥
Who is the fire of knowledge hidden in the wood of the three gunas, in whose mind the external tendency to create the universe is awakened when the above qualities are disturbed, and who is manifesting himself in the wise saints, who have risen above the scriptures of rules and prohibitions through the feeling of the soul, I salute that Lord. ॥1.6॥
Salutations to the eternally liberated Lord, who is most compassionate and never laziness in showing mercy, who completely cuts off the noose of ignorance of the surrendered animal-like beings like me. Salutations to you, the all-controlling, infinite Supreme Soul, who is present in the minds of all beings as the Antaryami (inner controller) through His own part. ॥17॥
Salutations to the omnipotent God, who is the embodiment of knowledge and is difficult to obtain by those attached to the body, son, friend, home, property and family, and who is constantly thought about in the heart of the liberated souls. ॥18॥
Those who worship Him in search of Dharma, desired pleasures, wealth and salvation, attain their desired destination, and who also gives them other kinds of undesired pleasures and an imperishable body, may that most merciful Lord save me from this calamity forever. ॥19॥
Whose exclusive devotees - who are in fact the only ones to take refuge in that Supreme Lord - do not desire Dharma, wealth, etc., but keep diving in the ocean of bliss while singing the praises of His most auspicious and extremely unique deeds. ॥20॥
I offer my praise to that indestructible, omnipresent, supreme, regulator of Brahma and others, who can be attained only through devotion even though he is revealed to the non-devotees, who appears very far even though he is very near, inaccessible to the senses and extremely difficult to know, endless but the root-cause of all and complete from all sides. ॥21॥
All the gods including Brahma, the four Vedas and all the living and non-living creatures, with different names and forms, have been created by a very small part of Him. ॥22॥
Just as flames emerge from a blazing fire and rays from the sun repeatedly and merge back into their cause, similarly the intellect, mind, senses and the bodies of various species – this quality-filled world emerges from the self-illuminating Supreme Soul and again merges back into Him. ॥23॥
That God is neither a god nor a demon, nor a human being nor a creature of the Tiryak (lower than human – animal, bird etc.) species. He is neither a woman nor a man nor a eunuch. He is not such a being that can be included in any of these three categories. He is neither a quality nor an action, nor an effect nor a cause. Whatever remains after the negation of all is His form and He is everything. May such a God appear for my salvation.॥24॥
I do not want to be freed from the clutches of this crocodile and live; because what do I have to do with this elephant's body that is covered with ignorance from all sides – inside and outside. I only want the removal of that ignorance that covers the light of the soul, which does not get destroyed on its own with the passage of time, but gets destroyed by the mercy of God or by the rise of knowledge.॥25॥
Thus, desiring salvation, I only bow before the creator of the universe, who himself appears as the universe and is beyond the universe, who plays with the universe as a toy, who pervades the universe as the soul, who is unborn, omnipresent and the best of all attainable things. I take refuge in Him. ॥26॥
Those yogis who have burnt their karmas through the yoga of devotion to God, those yogis who see Him manifest in their hearts purified by that very yoga, I bow to that Yogeshwar Bhagwan. ॥27॥
The force of attachment of whose trigunaatmak (sattva-rajas-tamas) powers is unbearable, who appear as the objects of all the senses, yet whose senses are engrossed in objects - it is impossible for such people to find the path, those protectors of those who surrender and are illimitable, I bow again and again to You, who are the protectors of those who surrender and are illimitable. ॥28॥
I have taken refuge in that God of infinite glory, whose true nature is covered by the ego, the result of whose power called ignorance, this living being is not able to know its true nature. ॥29॥
Shri Shukdev Ji said:
When none of the gods like Brahma etc. came near the elephant who had described the formless form of God in the above mentioned manner, who considers different types of special forms as their own form, then Shri Hari himself - who is the form of all gods because he is the soul of all - appeared there. ॥30॥
Seeing the above mentioned elephant sad like that and listening to the hymns recited by him, the Jagadadhar God, the bearer of Sudarshana Chakra, riding on the back of Garuda Ji, who had the speed as per his wish, while hymning, immediately reached the place where that elephant was, along with the gods.
That elephant, distressed at being caught by the mighty crocodile inside the lake, seeing Lord Shri Hari in the sky seated on the back of Garuda holding a discus, raised its trunk - in which it had carried a lotus flower (for worship) - and with great difficulty uttered the sentence, "O most revered Lord Narayana, I salute you".॥32॥
Seeing him suffering, the unborn Shri Hari suddenly left Garuda and came down to the lake. Moved by compassion, He immediately brought out that elephant along with the crocodile from the lake and in front of the eyes of the gods, rescued the elephant from its clutches by ripping its mouth with its discus.॥33॥
- Praise of the Lord by Shri Gajendra
