Text 33]
Gajendra's Prayers of Surrender
119
PURPORT
The King of the elephants was so very eager to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead that when he saw the Lord coming in the sky, with great pain and in a feeble voice he offered respect to the Lord. A devotee does not consider a dangerous position to be dangerous, for in such a dangerous position he can fervently pray to the Lord in great ecstasy. Thus a devotee regards danger as a good opportunity.  Tat te 'nukampām susamīkṣamāṇah.  When a devotee is in great danger, he sees that danger to be the great mercy of the Lord because it is an opportunity to think of the Lord very sincerely and with undiverted attention.  Tat te 'nukampām susamīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam (Bhāg. 10.14.8).  He does not accuse the Supreme Personality of Godhead for having let His devotee fall into such a dangerous condition. Rather, he considers that dangerous condition to be due to his past misdeeds and takes it as an opportunity to pray to the Lord and offer thanks for having been given such an opportunity. When a devotee lives in this way, his salvation—his going back home, back to Godhead—is guaranteed. We can see this to be true from the example of Gajendra, who anxiously prayed to the Lord and thus received an immediate chance to return home, back to Godhead.
TEXT 33
तं वीक्ष्य पीडितमजः सहसावतीर्य
सग्राहमाशु सरसः कृपयोजहार ।
ग्राहाद् विपाटितमुखादरिणा गजेन्द्रं
संपश्यतां हरिरमूमुचदुच्छ्रियाणाम् ॥३३॥
tam vīkṣya pīḍitam ajaḥ sahasāvatīrya sa-grāham āśu sarasaḥ kṛpayojjahāra grāhād vipāṭita-mukhād arīṇā gajendraṁ saṁpaśyatāṁ harīr amūm ucad ucchriyāṇām
tam—him (Gajendra); vīkṣya—after seeing (in that condition); pīḍitam—who was very aggrieved; ajaḥ—the unborn, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; sahasā—all of a sudden; avatīrya—getting down (from the back of Garuḍa); sa-grāham—with the crocodile; āśu—