Slokam 7

Gajendra,  because of his continual spiritual leanings and his natural residence in his consciousness,  his knowledge  of his previous lives reveal themselves. He realizes the consistency of his spiritual practice.  Gajendra picks up a white lotus, and chants the hymn on the Paramathma that he used to chant in earlier lives – “the universal being of no attribute”.

This slokam  acknowledges the final surrender to the Paramathma  to request His intervention to disengage from the crocodile.

Gajendra realizes the need for the intervention of the Paramathma.  The realization comes even when he is under terrible pain and a seemingly hopeless situation. This is the same point that we will all reach at the end of our lives.  Bhishma was on a bed of nails at the end of the Kurukshetra war,  drawing in his last breaths, when he reaches out to invoke the Paramathma  through his mind.  Gajendra can also be said to repeat the slokam repeatedly in His mind,  since he does not have the capability to speak.  Reaching out when in pain, in the last stages of life to the Paramathma is the ultimate attainment,  that will surely endow moksham on us.  It cannot be overemphasized,  that our last thoughts should only be directed towards invoking the Paramathma and surrendering to Him.  The Paramathma has repeatedly emphasized this requirement in both the Bhagavatam and in the Bhagavath Gita. 

Ajamila gets a new lease of life just because he calls out the name of the Paramathma,  even though he meant to address his son.  Ajamila had deviated from the dharmic path for a long time.  Such is the power of the name of Sriman Narayana.

On the other hand, Bharatha,  although a powerful king loses his chance at attaining moksham,  simply because his focus is fixated on the welfare deer that he brought up, to the exclusion of everything else.

Gajendra, on the cusp of defeat and death,  invokes the Paramathma,  to a perfection,  with all his faculties dedicated to the Paramathma. 

May we also, like Bhishma and Gajendra,  keep our thoughts firmly fixed on the Paramathma in our last moments