Sri Guru Gita – 16 March 2014 – Episode 86

Jaya Guru Datta. English summary

Jaya Guru Datta.

We discussed that the elders compared this samsara with a tree, it’s been variously called the “tree of samsara” or the “poisonous tree”. This tree of samsara grows with unstinting velocity. The infant grows up in to a little girl right in front of our eyes, wearing cute little dresses and then grows up to be a mother, and eventually turns into an old woman without any teeth. This is how the tree of samsara is. It doesn’t stop there. She also dies one day. Who is dying here? It means, she drops off from the tree. The tree doesn’t die, she just falls off from the tree of samsara. The only one who can save from this fate is the Guru. That is why, we should focus attention on the Guru. Everybody should prostrate to the Guru without fail. Many wonder how a Guru can help someone who is caught in the shackles of samsara. The story of the animal, Gajendra (elephant), is enough to answer this question.

Let us learn this story.

Gajendra was the king of Mount Trikoota. He had many wives. When he wandered the forests with his wives and sons, he was very pleased seeing his own grandeur and his great retinue. Filled with ego and immersed in the pleasures of life, he once went to the forests with his entire family, charged through the forest recklessly, uprooting trees, trampling with arrogance, leaving a trail of destruction in the entire forest. He entered a territory that didn’t belong to him. He lost all discretion. Without any caution, he entered a lake and got caught in the jaws of an alligator.

Once the alligator caught him, he struggled a lot. He fought for a thousand years. His arrogance, strength and ego diminished. He realized he was caught in the clutches of time. “I am finished. I couldn’t win even after fighting a thousand years. So, I am going away now.” He realized that his wives, sons and relatives were not able to help, he knew they could not save him. “Even though I have so many relatives and so many children, no one is able to save me. There is no use anymore. I am succumbing to death. No one is able to help”. Realizing that Lord Narayana was his only savior, he surrendered his intellect and cried out to the Lord. “You are my intellect, O Lord, there is nothing I can do. Please save me!” The Lord, moved by this prayer, immediately came to Gajendra. “Gajendra moksham (moksham=liberation) is a great episode. Even if we recalled this episode countless number of times, it will not be enough.

Jaya Guru Datta.