Text 29]
Gajendra's Prayers of Surrender
113
TEXT 29
नायं वेद स्वमात्मानं यच्छत्तयाहंधिया हतम् । तं दुरत्ययमाहात्म्यं भगवन्तमितोऽस्यहम् ॥२९॥
nāyam veda svam ātmānam yac-chaktyāham-dhiyā hatam tam duratyaya-māhātmyam bhagavantam ito 'smy aham
na—not; ayam—people in general; veda—know; svam—own; ātmānam—identity; yat-śaktyā—by whose influence; aham—I am independent; dhiyā—by this intelligence; hatam—defeated or covered; tam—unto Him; duratyaya—difficult to understand; māhātmyam—whose glories; bhagavantam—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; itaḥ—taking shelter; asmi aham—I am.
TRANSLATION
I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose illusory energy the jīva, who is part and parcel of God, forgets his real identity because of the bodily concept of life. I take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose glories are difficult to understand.
PURPORT
As stated in  Bhagavad-gītā , every living entity—regardless of whether he be human, demigod, animal, bird, bee or whatever—is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord and the living entity are intimately related like father and son. Unfortunately, because of material contact, the living entity forgets this and wants to enjoy the material world independently, according to his own plan. This illusion ( māyā ) is very difficult to surmount.  Māyā  covers the living entity because of his willingness to forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead and make his own plan to enjoy this material world. As long as this contamination continues, the conditioned soul will be unable to understand his real identity and will perpetually continue under illusion, life after life.  Ato gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittair janasya moho 'yam aham mameti