17 verses
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The devatās, sages and Gandharvas, headed by Brahmā and Śiva, praising this activity of the Supreme Lord, began showering flowers.
In the sky, kettledrums resounded and the Gandharvas danced and sang, while great sages, Cāraṇas and Siddhas offered prayers to the Supreme Lord.
praṇamya śirasādhīśam uttama-ślokam avyayam agāyata yaśo-dhāma kīrtanya-guṇa-sat-katham
The crocodile, being freed of Devalas curse, assumed the most astonishing form of the best of the Gandharvas, King Hūhū. He offered his respects with his head and began to praise the indestructible Lord, the shelter of all good qualities, whose topics have qualities worthy of chanting.
Hūhū was cursed by Devala. Hūhū, playing in the water with some women, grabbed the foot of Devala and pulled it. Devala became angry and cursed, Become a crocodile! But begin pacified by Hūhū, he spoke. The Lord will free you when you attack Gajendra. The Lord (adhīśam) is the shelter (dhāma) of fame.
Having been favored by the Lord, King Hūhū circumambulated the Lord and offered his obeisances. Then, while the devatās watched, he returned to Gandharvaloka, freed of his sins.
Because Gajendra had been touched directly by Supreme Lord, he was freed from the bondage of ignorance and received the same bodily features as the Lord, with yellow garments and four hands.
By the Lords contact with his mind and voice, Gajendra achieved liberation from ignorance. By the Lords touch, like a touch stone, upon his physical body, he attained a spiritual form, just as Dhruva did. This was because he had previously prayed for a spiritual body in verse SB 8.3.19
This Gajendra had formerly been a Pāndya king, the best in the southern states, name Indradyumna. He was dedicated to Viṣṇu.
Indradyumna, living in a Malaya mountain hermitage, wore matted locks on his head and always engaged in austerities. Once, while observing a vow of silence, with controlled mind, he worshipped the Lord after bathing.
He lived in a hermitage in the Malaya mountain range.
The sage Agastya arrived there, surrounded by his disciples. When the sage saw Mahārāja Indradyumna, sitting silently engaged in worship in a secluded place without offering him a reception, he became angry.
The sage was Agastya.
Agastya uttered a curse against the King. This person does not have proper conduct. He is degraded, without intelligence. He has insulted a brāhmaṇa today. May he therefore enter darkness just like an elephant with low intelligence! Let him become an elephant.
His intelligence has not been given instruction (akṛta-buddhiḥ). Let him become an elephant!
āpannaḥ kauñjarīṁ yonim ātma-smṛti-vināśinīm hary-arcanānubhāvena yad-gajatve 'py anusmṛtiḥ
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O King! After Agastya had cursed King Indradyumna, the sage left that place along with his disciples. The King accepted the curse as his fate. He obtained the body of an elephant, which generally destroys memory of the Lord, but because of devotional service he remembered his past.
The King understood that it was his bad destiny. Yad means yasya: he had memory of his past life, even as an elephant.
Upon delivering Gajendra from the crocodile, the Lord, whose act was praised by Gandharvas, Siddhas and the devatās, awarded him the status of being his associate, and returned with him to his astonishing abode.
Vimokṣya means freeing him from the crocodile.
O King! Best of the Kurus! I have described to you the action of the Lord concerning the deliverance of Gajendra. Those who hear this story attain Svarga, fame, destruction of the impurities of Kali-yuga and destruction of bad dreams.
Therefore, after rising from bed in the morning, those who desire their own welfarethe brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyasafter purifying themselves, should chant this narration as it is, without deviation, to counteract the troubles of bad dreams.
Yathā means as it is.
O best of the Kuru dynasty! The Supreme Lord, the Supersoul of everyone, being pleased, spoke to Gajendra as follows while everyone listened.
śṛḍgāṇīmāni dhiṣṇyāni brahmaṇo me śivasya ca kṣīrodaṁ me priyaṁ dhāma śveta-dvīpaṁ ca bhāsvaram
śrīvatsaṁ kaustubhaṁ mālāṁ
gadāṁ kaumodakīṁ mama
sudarśanaṁ pāñcajanyaṁ
suparṇaṁ patageśvaram
śeṣaṁ ca mat-kalāṁ sūkṣmāṁ
śriyaṁ devīṁ mad-āśrayām
brahmāṇaṁ nāradam ṛṣiṁ
bhavaṁ prahrādam eva ca
matsya-kūrma-varāhādyair
avatāraiḥ kṛtāni me
karmāṇy ananta-puṇyāni
sūryaṁ somaṁ hutāśanam
praṇavaṁ satyam avyaktaṁ
go-viprān dharmam avyayam
dākṣāyaṇīr dharma-patnīḥ
soma-kaśyapayor api
gaḍgāṁ sarasvatīṁ nandāṁ
kālindīṁ sita-vāraṇam
dhruvaṁ brahma-ṛṣīn sapta
puṇya-ślokāṁś ca mānavān
utthāyāpara-rātrānte
prayatāḥ susamāhitāḥ
smaranti mama rūpāṇi
mucyante te 'ṁhaso 'khilāt
The Lord said: Freed from all sinful reactions are those who rise from bed at the end of night and fully concentrate their minds with great attention upon my form, your form, this lake, this mountain, the caves, gardens, cane plants, bamboo plants, celestial trees;, my abode, the abodes of Brahmā and Śiva, three peaks of Trikūṭa Mountain; the ocean of milk, Śvetadvīpa, which is always brilliant with spiritual rays, Śrīvatsa, the Kaustubha gem, my garland, my club named Kaumodakī, my Sudarśana disc and Pāñcajanya conchshell, my bearer named Garuòa, the king of the birds, Śeṣa Nāga, my expansion of energy the goddess of fortune who takes shelter of me, Brahmā, Nārada Muni, Śiva, Prahlāda, the pure, unlimited activities performed by Matsya, Kūrma and Varāha, the sun, the moon, fire, the mantra oṁkāra, the Absolute Truth, the material energy, the cows and brāhmaṇas, devotional service, the wives of Soma and Kaśyapa, who are all daughters of King Dakṣa, the Rivers Ganges, Sarasvatī, Nandā and Yamunā, the elephant Airāvata, Dhruva Mahārāja, the seven sages, and pious human beings.
One should remember all these items. Avyaktam means prakṛti. Avyayam dharmam means bhakti. The daughters of Dakṣa were the wives of Soma and Kaśyapa. Sita-vāraṇam means Airāvata.
O King! I give an eternal residence in the spiritual world at the end of their lives to persons who rise from bed at the end of night and offer me the prayers offered by you.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After giving this instruction, the Lord, who is known as Hṛṣīkeśa, blowing his conch, gave joy to the devatās and climbed on the back of his carrier, Garuòa.
Thus ends the commentary on the Fourth Chapter of the Eighth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
The Fourth Chapter describes how Gajendra becomes an associate of the Lord, how the crocodile becomes a Gandharva, and as well the Lords beneficial instructions for human beings.