70 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 8, Ch. 3
Him, for He is the origin of Maha-Visnu, who is the source of the living
entities within this material world. The Lord can observe the activities of
our senses, which can work and achieve material results because of His
mercy. Although He is the original source of everything, He is un-
touched by any of His by-products. In this way He is like a gold mine,
which is the source of gold in ornaments and yet is different from the or-
naments themselves. The Lord is worshiped by the method prescribed in
the Pafcardatras. He is the source of our knowledge, and He can give us
liberation. Therefore it is our duty to understand Him according to the
instructions of devotees, in particular the spiritual master. Although for
us the mode of goodness is covered, by following the instructions of
saintly persons and the spiritual master we can be freed from material
clutches.

“The self-effulgent material form of the Supreme Personality of God-
head is adored by nondevotees, His impersonal form is adored by those
advanced in spiritual knowledge, and His feature as the localized
Supersoul is appreciated by yogis. But His original form as a person is
understood only by devotees. That Supreme Personality of Godhead is
competent to dissipate the darkness of the conditioned soul through His
instructions in Bhagavad-gita. He is the ocean of transcendental
qualities and can be understood only by liberated persons freed from the
bodily concept of life. By His causeless mercy, the Lord can rescue the
conditioned soul from the material clutches and enable him to return
home, back to Godhead, to become His personal associate. Nonetheless, a
pure devotee does not aspire to go back to Godhead; he is simply satisfied
with executing his service in this material world. A pure devotee does not
ask anything from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His only prayer
is to be freed from the material conception of life and to be engaged in
the Lord’s transcendental loving service.”

In this way the King of the elephants, Gajendra, offered prayers
directly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without mistaking Him
for one of the demigods. None of the demigods came to see him, not even
Brahm or Siva. Rather, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana,
seated on Garuda, personally appeared before him. Gajendra, by lifting
his trunk, offered obeisances to the Lord, and the Lord immediately
pulled him from the water along with the crocodile who had captured his
leg. Then the Lord killed the crocodile and thus rescued Gajendra.
