Liberation of Gajendra
In 1984 in the mandir (temple), Swami gave a discourse on the Gita. Following is a brief account of the episode of Gajendra moksham (liberation of the elephant), contained in the Bhagavatam, and its allegorical meaning.
You must control your tendency to look outwards toward the body and its deeds and the mind with its thoughts and its feelings. Instead, develop the inward vision of the sacred atma. This is the good vision, the integral vision (sudarshana).
A fine example of this is found in Srimad Bhagavatham. It is a story of Gajendra, an elephant who was caught by a crocodile. Gajendra had a strong ego and was convinced that with his great strength he would be able to free himself from the crocodile. But two facts must be understood: elephants are very powerful on land; crocodiles are very powerful in water. When an elephant enters the water, he will not have as much strength, and when a crocodile comes onto land, he will be less mighty than in his natural habitat, water. In this story, the crocodile was in water and thus could exercise all his great strength. But the elephant, Gajendra, was very arrogant. With his over-blown ego, he felt sure no crocodile could be his equal. After all, the elephant was the lord of the forest. He didn’t know that in the water, a crocodile would be more than a match for an elephant.
For a long time, they fought fiercely. Finally, the elephant, tired, lost both his physical strength and his mental strength. He had placed all his confidence in the power of these two strengths and having exhausted them, he began to pray to the Lord. As long as his vision had been directed to his body, he did not look toward God. As long as he had confidence in his own bodily and mental strength, the thought of God did not arise–and the Lord’s grace did not descend. When the elephant lost his power and turned to God, then immediately Lord Vishnu sent His sudarshana (discus) wheel and freed Gajendra from the catastrophe that had befallen him. Note that the sudarshana mentioned here does not refer to a mere disc used by the Lord as a weapon. Sudarshana refers to the sacred vision. Once you turn your vision toward God, God turns His vision toward you. Sudarshana refers to evoking the grace and the vision of the Lord upon yourself. When will you acquire God’s vision so you can bask in His grace? When you renounce all your egocentric beliefs in your own strength of body and mind, and—as the elephant Gajendra did – surrender yourself completely to God, putting yourself in His hands and turning your vision wholly toward Him.
Whois this elephant? This proud elephant is arrogance and pride. When a person is full of arrogance and pride, he develops desire. Desire may be compared to thirst. When this proud one develops thirst, he goes to the waters of the world to drink. He enters samsara (world). Even before he enters these waters completely, attachment catches hold of him. Attachment and possessiveness are the powerful crocodile that robs you of all your strength and makes you cry so pitifully. Before entering the waters of samsara, before having gained so many attachments, you will have only rarely cried. For example, before marriage, a young man will feel free and unencumbered. But after marriage comes a continuous growth of attachments. One has to take care of wife, children, parents, in-laws, and quite a few other relatives. Soon it feels as if the whole world has hold of him and is pulling him down under the water.
When you do not look to God, then surely you will not be able to see God. If I am standing directly in front of you and you are standing directly in front of Me, and we are looking at each other, what is it that we see? Whom will you see in My eyes and whom will you see in your eyes? We will see each other, in each other’s eyes. When we stand face-to-face, I can see My vision in you and you can see your vision in Me. But if you stand behind, how can I see My vision in you, or you see your vision in Me? It would be impossible. Therefore, come and be directly in front of Me and concentrate your vision on Me. When the sight of the elephant, Gajendra, was turned toward God, God’s sight met with it, because then God’s sight turned toward him. Once that happens, all problems automatically are solved.
Source: “Baba’s Allegorical Interpretation of Scriptures,”
From Necklace of Nine Sai Gems, pp. 28-30
