Gajendra Mokṣam
prasanna cittasyeva mokṣaḥ: Upaniṣad Brahmayogin.
prasanna:- true, right, plain, correct, just, soothed, pleased, gracious, kind.
citta:- thinking, reflecting, imagining, thought, intention, aim, wish.
mokṣa:- highest state of Viṣṇu, or liberation, which is free from all evil, the sorrowless state.
The story of Gajendra the elephant appears in Śrīmad Bhāgavadam. A Family of elephants lead by Gajendra takes bath in a pond. The elephants were playing and enjoying there time at the pond. Suddenly a crocodile catches Gajendra by his leg. After a long struggle Gajendra could not release himself from the crocodile.
The following verses are Gajendra's prayers to the Supreme. They are the very essence of the Vedas and Upaniṣads (Vedānta).
śrī-gajendra uvāca
oṁ namo bhagavate tasmai
yata etac cid-ātmakam .
puruṣāyādi-bījāya
pareśāyābhidhīmahi 8.3.2 ..
yasminn idaṁ yataś cedaṁ
yenedaṁ ya idaṁ svayam .
yo 'smāt parasmāc ca paras
taṁ prapadye svayambhuvam .. 8.3.3
yasmin = on which; idam = this earthly world , this universe; yataḥ = from which; ca = and; idam = this earthly world , this universe is created; yena = by which; idam = this cosmic this universe is created and sustained; yaḥ = He who; idam = this world; svayam = is Himself; yaḥ = He who; asmāt = base from which some forms are formed; parasmāt = from the cause; ca = and; paraḥ = beyond; tam = to Him; prapadye = take refuge with; svayambhuvam = self-existing supreme supreme.
nama ātma-pradīpāya
sākṣiṇe paramātmane .
namo girāṁ vidūrāya
manasaś cetasām api .. 8.3.10
kṣetra-jñāya namas tubhyaṁ
sarvādhyakṣāya sākṣiṇe .
puruṣāyātma-mūlāya
mūla-prakṛtaye namaḥ .. 8.3.13
so 'haṁ viśva-sṛjaṁ viśvam
aviśvaṁ viśva-vedasam .
viśvātmānam ajaṁ brahma
praṇato 'smi paraṁ padam .. 8.3.26
Synonyms: saḥ — that; aham — I; viśva-sṛjam — creator of this cosmic forms; viśvam — who is Himself the whole cosmic forms; aviśvam — He who is transcendental to the cosmic forms; viśva-vedasam — who is the knower of this cosmic forms; viśva-ātmānam — who is the principle of life and sensation of the universe; ajam — who is never born, existing from all eternity; brahma — the Absolute, Supreme; praṇataḥ asmi — I offer my respectful homage; param — who is beyond the cosmic forms; padam — the refuge.
Śrīmad Bhāgavadam says that the Supreme blessed him by his presence in the form of Vedic Hymns, chandomayena garuḍena.
taṁ tadvad ārtam
upalabhya jagan-nivāsaḥ
stotraṁ niśamya divijaiḥ
saha saṁstuvadbhiḥ .
chandomayena garuḍena
samuhyamānaś
cakrāyudho 'bhyagamad
āśu yato gajendraḥ .. 8.3.31
The prayer by Gajendra,
yasminn idaṁ yataś cedaṁ
yenedaṁ ya idaṁ svayam .
yo 'smāt parasmāc ca paras
taṁ prapadye svayambhuvam .. 8.3.3
Taitrīya Upaniṣad, Bhṛgu Valli holds the Supreme is that "from which these beings are born, that by which they live and that into which, when departing, they enter." (Reference:- S. Radhakrishnan introduciton to Bhagavad Gītā)
taṁ hovāca, yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante,
yena jātāni jīvanti, yat prayanty abhisaṁviśanti,
tad vijijñāsasva, tad brahmeti. T.U. 3.1
S. Radhakrishnan:- To him, he said further: 'That, verily, from which these beings are born, that, by which, when born they live, that into which, when departing, they enter. That, seek to know. That is Brahman.'
Another verse by Gajendra,
so 'haṁ viśva-sṛjaṁ viśvam
aviśvaṁ viśva-vedasam .
viśvātmānam ajaṁ brahma
praṇato 'smi paraṁ padam .. 8.3.26
is the very essence from nārāyaṇa sūktam
ॐ॥ स॒ह॒स्र॒शीर्॑षं दे॒वं॒ वि॒श्वाक्षं॑ वि॒श्वश॑म्भुवं । विश्वं॑ ना॒राय॑णं दे॒व॒म॒क्षरं॑ पर॒मं प॒दम् । वि॒श्वत॒ पर॑मान्नि॒त्यं॒ वि॒श्वं ना॑राय॒ण ह॑रिम् । विश्व॑मे॒वेदं पुरु॑ष॒स्तद्वि॒श्वमुप॑जीवति । पतिं॒ विश्व॑स्या॒त्मेश्व॑र॒ शाश्व॑त शि॒वम॑च्युतम् । ना॒राय॒णं म॑हाज्ञे॒यं॒ वि॒श्वात्मा॑नं प॒राय॑णम् । ना॒राय॒णप॑रो ज्यो॒ति॒रा॒त्मा ना॑राय॒णः प॑रः । ना॒राय॒ण प॑रं ब्र॒ह्म॒ त॒त्वं ना॑राय॒णः प॑रः । ना॒राय॒णप॑रो ध्या॒ता॒ ध्या॒नन् ना॑राय॒णः प॑रः । यच्च॑ कि॒ञ्चिज्ज॑गत्स॒र्वं॒ दृ॒श्यते श्रूय॒तेऽपि॑ वा ॥
अन्त॑र्ब॒हिश्च॑ तत्स॒र्वं॒ व्या॒प्य ना॑राय॒णः स्थि॑तः । अन॑न्त॒मव्य॑यं क॒वि स॑मु॒द्रेऽन्तं॑ वि॒श्वश॑म्भुवम् ।
Commentary by R. Nagaswamy,
śahasra śīrṣam devam
viśvākṣam viśvasambhuvaṁ .
viśvam nārāyaṇaṁ devaṁ
akṣaraṁ paramaṁ padam ..
This dēva with thousand heads, and innumerable eyes, (referring to sun's rays), is the eye of the universe; he makes the universe auspicious; he shows the supreme path to humanity (narasya ayanam), he is immortal, and he is the supreme abode.
It suggests Sūrya has innumerable rays (sīrṣam), and is the eye of the universe. Sūrya is called jagad eka cakṣuh in the Vedas; the term viśvākṣa is echoed in several passages. The term Nārāyaṇa could be understood here not as the name of the god but as the path of man as he is said to carry men in their path mitrō janān yātayti prajānan (Veda). Sun is eternal and is also the supreme abode.
The second verse is as follows.
viśvataḥ paramān nityaṁ
viśvaṁ nārāyaṇam harim .
viśvame vedam sarvam
tad viśvaṁ upajīvati ..
This dēva is in ever present beyond what is conceived by man as this world, he is the path of mankind and the remover of all difficulties (hari: harati iti hariḥ); he makes the universe live.
Man looks at the world as consisting of this earth (bhūmi) with its land, waters, plants, living beings, the planets and the stars, constituting the universe. This verse suggests that not only these constitute the universe but also there are greater powers beyond all these that are yet to be comprehended by man. So sun is said to be beyond what we consider as universe. It is this supreme force that makes all the universal bodies exist.
So far these two verses speak about the universe and what is beyond all these constitute the universe that exists outside an individual and man looks at them, lying outside him.
The second part of the Nārāyaṇa sūkta postulates that this Sūrya is the chief, soul and lord of this universe, who is eternal, whose power is auspicious and never fails. He is the ultimate to be understood.
patiṁ viśvasya ātmeśvaraṃ
śāsvataṃ śivaṁ acyutam .
nārāyaṇaṁ mahā jñeyaṁ
viśvātmānaṁ parāyaṇam ..
Here it introduces the word Ātmā - the soul. Sūrya is conceived as the soul of the universe (viśvasya ātmā); he is the chief among the universe (viśvasya patim) and he is the lord of the universe (viśvasya Īśvaran). He is eternal (sāsvata) Śiva auspicious. Sun's rays are also called Śivātamā, the most benign. Sun's never fails in his path as his course never changes (accyuta). He is the soul of this universe (viśvātmā) who is the supreme path (para-ayanam) that constitutes the great knowledge (mahā-jñeyam) that deserves to be known as the path of humanity (Nārāyaṇa).
nārāyaṇa parō jyōtih
ātmā nārāyaṇah paraḥ
nārāyaṇa param brahma
tattvam nārāyaṇah parah
nārāyaṇa parō dhyātā
dhyāyan nārāyaṇah parah
yad ca kiñcit jagad sarvam
dṛsyatē sruyatepi vā
antar bahiśca tat sarvam
vyāpya nārāyaṇa sthitaḥ
anantam avyayam kavim
samudre antam viśva sambhuvam
This Nārāyaṇa is the supreme effulgent light paro jyōtiḥ, Nārāyaṇa is the supreme soul (ātmā nārāyaṇah paraḥ). Nārāyaṇa is the ever expanding (nārāyaṇa param brahma). Nārāyaṇa is the ultimate reality (nārāyaṇah paraḥ). Nārāyaṇa is one to be meditated (nārāyaṇa paro dhyātā) and Nārāyaṇa is the supreme form of meditation. (dhyānam Nārāyaṇa paraḥ)
Man can visually see many things but there are many that he can learn only by hearing. Nārāyaṇa pervades all that is seen and heard. This Nārāyaṇa, remains both inside and outside.
He is endless (ananta) he never decays (avyaya), all beautiful (kavi), he is also in the depth of the ocean (samudrē antam) and is the origin of this universe (viśva sambhuvam). As the sun emrges from the ocean in the morning he is spoken of being inside the ocean (samudre antam)