SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.1
sri-bädaräyanir uväca
evam vyavasito buddhyä
samädhäya mano hrdi
jajäpa paramam jäpyam
präg-janmany anusiksitam

sri-bädaräyanih uväca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvämi said; evam—thus; vyavasitah—fixed; buddhyä—by intelligence; samädhäya—for concentration; manah—the mind; hrdi—in consciousness or in the heart; jajäpa—he chanted; paramam—a supreme; jäpyam—mantra he had learned from great devotees; präk-janmani—in his previous birth; anusiksitam—practiced.

TRANSLATION

Sri Sukadeva Gosvämi continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Krsna.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prahupada, in his purport, gives us two other mantras that we may want to try; It is imperative, therefore, that all devotees in Krsna consciousness practice chanting some mantra. Certainly one should chant the Hare Krsna mantra, which is the mahä-mantra, or great mantra, and also one should practice chanting cintämani-prakara-sadmasu or the Nrsimha strotra (ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho yato yato yämi tato nrsimhah).

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.3.33
taḿ vīkṣya pīḍitam ajaḥ sahasāvatīrya
sa-grāham āśu sarasaḥ kṛpayojjahāra
grāhād vipāṭita-mukhād ariṇā gajendraḿ
saḿpaśyatāḿ harir amūmucad ucchriyāṇām

SYNONYMS

tam — him (Gajendra); vīkṣya — after seeing (in that condition); pīḍitam — who was very aggrieved; ajaḥ — the unborn, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sahasā — all of a sudden; avatīrya — getting down (from the back of Garuḍa); sa-grāham — with the crocodile; āśu — immediately; sarasaḥ — from the water; kṛpayā — out of great mercy; ujjahāra — took out; grāhāt — from the crocodile; vipāṭita — separated; mukhāt — from the mouth; ariṇā — with the disc; gajendram — Gajendra; sampaśyatām — who were looking on; hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; amūm — him (Gajendra); ucat — saved; ucchriyāṇām — in the presence of all the demigods.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, seeing Gajendra in such an aggrieved position, the unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, immediately got down from the back of Garuḍa by His causeless mercy and pulled the King of the elephants, along with the crocodile, out of the water. Then, in the presence of all the demigods, who were looking on, the Lord severed the crocodile's mouth from its body with His disc. In this way He saved Gajendra, the King of the elephants.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK (from Shyam Amarnath):

Even though the baby tripped, it got back up and both elephants survived.

SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 8.2.32
na mām ime jñātaya āturaḿ gajāḥ
kutaḥ kariṇyaḥ prabhavanti mocitum
grāheṇa pāśena vidhātur āvṛto
'py ahaḿ ca taḿ yāmi paraḿ parāyaṇam

SYNONYMS

na — not; mām — me; ime — all these; jñātayaḥ — friends and relatives (the other elephants); āturam — in my distress; gajāḥ — the elephant; kutaḥ — how; kariṇyaḥ — my wives; prabhavanti — are able; mocitum — to deliver (from this dangerous position); grāheṇa — by the crocodile; pāśena — by the network of ropes; vidhātuḥ — of providence; āvṛtaḥ — captured; api — although (I am in such a position); aham — I; ca — also; tam — that (Supreme Personality of Godhead); yāmi — take shelter of; param — who is transcendental; parāyaṇam — and who is the shelter of even the exalted demigods like Brahmā and Śiva.

TRANSLATION

The other elephants, who are my friends and relatives, could not rescue me from this danger. What then to speak of my wives? They cannot do anything. It is by the will of providence that I have been attacked by this crocodile, and therefore I shall seek shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always the shelter of everyone, even of great personalities.

PURPORT

This material world is described as padaḿ padaḿ yad vipadām, which means that at every step there is danger. A fool wrongly thinks that he is happy in this material world, but in fact he is not, for one who thinks that way is only illusioned. At every step, at every moment, there is danger. In modern civilization one thinks that if he has a nice home and a nice car his life is perfect. In the Western countries, especially in America, it is very nice to possess a good car, but as soon as one is on the road, there is danger because at any moment an accident may take place and one will be killed. The record actually shows that so many people die in such accidents. Therefore if we actually think that this material world is a very happy place, this is our ignorance. Real knowledge is that this material world is full of danger. We may struggle for existence as far as our intelligence allows and may try to take care of ourselves, but unless the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, ultimately saves us from danger, our attempts will be useless.