Text 13] Gajendra Returns to the Spiritual World 133

who were praising the Lord for His wonderful transcendental ac-
tivities, the Lord, sitting on the back of His carrier, Garuda,
returned to His all-wonderful abode and took Gajendra with Him.

PURPORT

In this verse the word vimoksya is significant. For a devotee, moksa or
mukti—salvation—means getting the position of the Lord’s associate.
The impersonalists are satisfied to get the liberation of merging in the
Brahman effulgence, but for a devotee, mukti (liberation) means not to
merge in the effulgence of the Lord, but to be directly promoted to the
Vaikuntha planets and to become an associate of the Lord. In this regard,
there is a relevant verse in Srimad- -Bhagavatam (10.14.8):

tat te ‘nukampam susamiksamdano
bhufjana evatma-krtam vipakam

hrd-vag-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te
Jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

“One who seeks Your compassion and thus tolerates all kinds of adverse
conditions due to the karma of his past deeds, who engages always in
Your devotional service with his mind, words and body, and who always
offers obeisances unto You, is certainly a bona fide candidate for libera-
tion.”” A devotee who tolerates everything in this material world and
patiently executes his devotional service can become mukti- sa
daya-bhak, a bona fide candidate for liberation. The word daya-bhak
refers to a hereditary right to the Lord’s mercy. A devotee must simply
engage in devotional service, not caring about material situations. Then
he automatically becomes a rightful candidate for promotion to
Vaikunthaloka. The devotee who renders unalloyed service to the Lord
gets the right to be promoted to Vaikunthaloka, just as a son inherits the
property of his father.

When a devotee gets liberation, he becomes free from material con-
tamination and engages as a servant of the Lord. This is explained in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.10.6): muktir hitvanyatha riparh svaripena
vyavasthitih. The word svanipa refers to sdripya-mukti—going back
home, back to Godhead, and remaining the Lord’s eternal associate, hav-
ing regained a spiritual body exactly resembling that of the Lord, with
