Gajendra Moksha Stotram
verse 1
श्री शुक उवाच -
Śrī śuka uvāca -
एवं व्यवसितो बुद्ध्या समाधाय मनो हृदि
Evaṃ vyavasito buddhyā samādhāya mano hṛdi
जजाप परमं जाप्यं प्राग्जन्मन्यनुशिक्षितम
Jajāpa paramaṃ jāpyaṃ prāgjanmanyanuśikṣitama
Meaning
Shri Shuka said:
Thus resolved in his understanding, settling his mind in his heart,
he recited the supreme prayer he had been taught in an earlier birth.
verse 2
गजेन्द्र उवाच -
Gajendra uvāca -
ऊं नमो भगवते तस्मै यत एतच्चिदात्मकम
Ūṃ namo bhagavate tasmai yata etaccidātmakama
पुरुषायादिबीजाय परेशायाभिधीमहि
Puruṣāyādibījāya pareśāyābhidhīmahi
Meaning
Gajendra said:
Om. Salutation to that Bhagavan from whom all this, whose very essence is consciousness, has come;
to the Purusha, the primal seed, the supreme Lord: on Him we meditate.
verse 3
यस्मिन्निदं यतश्चेदं येनेदं य इदं स्वयं
Yasminnidaṃ yataścedaṃ yenedaṃ ya idaṃ svayaṃ
योस्मात्परस्माच्च परस्तं प्रपद्ये स्वयम्भुवम
Yosmātparasmācca parastaṃ prapadye svayambhuvama
Meaning
In whom this world is, from whom it is, by whom it is, who Himself is this world,
and who stands beyond this and beyond that beyond: to Him, the self-existent, I go for refuge.
verse 4
यः स्वात्मनीदं निजमाययार्पितं क्वचिद्विभातं क्व च तत्तिरोहितम
Yaḥ svātmanīdaṃ nijamāyayārpitaṃ kvacidvibhātaṃ kva ca tattirohitama
अविद्धदृक साक्ष्युभयं तदीक्षते स आत्म मूलोsवत् मां परात्परः
Aviddhadṛka sākṣyubhayaṃ tadīkṣate sa ātma mūlosvat māṃ parātparaḥ
Meaning
Who holds within His own Self this world set there by His own maya, at times shining forth, at times hidden away,
and with sight unclouded witnesses both states: may He, rooted in Himself, higher than the highest, protect me.
verse 5
कालेन पंचत्वमितेषु कृत्स्नशो लोकेषु पालेषु च सर्व हेतुषु
Kālena paṃcatvamiteṣu kṛtsnaśo lokeṣu pāleṣu ca sarva hetuṣu
तमस्तदाऽऽऽसीद गहनं गभीरं यस्तस्य पारेsभिविराजते विभुः
Tamastadā'''sīda gahanaṃ gabhīraṃ yastasya pāresbhivirājate vibhuḥ
Meaning
When by time the worlds, their guardians and all their causes have wholly dissolved into the elements,
there remained darkness, dense and deep: and beyond that darkness the all-pervading One shines.
verse 6
न यस्य देवा ऋषयः पदं विदु- र्जन्तुः पुनः कोsर्हति गन्तुमीरितुम
Na yasya devā ṛṣayaḥ padaṃ vidu- rjantuḥ punaḥ kosrhati gantumīrituma
यथा नटस्याकृतिभिर्विचेष्टतो दुरत्ययानुक्रमणः स मावतु
Yathā naṭasyākṛtibhirviceṣṭato duratyayānukramaṇaḥ sa māvatu
Meaning
Whose station neither the gods nor the rishis know: what creature, then, is fit to reach it or to speak of it?
Like an actor moving through his many guises, His course cannot be traced: may He protect me.
verse 7
दिदृक्षवो यस्य पदं सुमंगलम विमुक्त संगा मुनयः सुसाधवः
Didṛkṣavo yasya padaṃ sumaṃgalama vimukta saṃgā munayaḥ susādhavaḥ
चरन्त्यलोकव्रतमव्रणं वने भूतात्मभूता सुहृदः स मे गतिः
Carantyalokavratamavraṇaṃ vane bhūtātmabhūtā suhṛdaḥ sa me gatiḥ
Meaning
Longing to see whose most auspicious station, sages freed of every attachment, wholly good,
keep in the forest a vow the world does not keep, unbroken, becoming the self of all beings and friend to all: He is my refuge.
verse 8
न विद्यते यस्य न जन्म कर्म वा न नाम रूपे गुणदोष एव वा
Na vidyate yasya na janma karma vā na nāma rūpe guṇadoṣa eva vā
तथापि लोकाप्ययसम्भवाय यः स्वमायया तान्यनुकालमृच्छति
Tathāpi lokāpyayasambhavāya yaḥ svamāyayā tānyanukālamṛcchati
Meaning
Who has no birth, no action, no name, no form, neither merit nor fault,
and who yet, for the dissolving and the arising of the worlds, takes these on by His own maya as each age requires.
verse 9
तस्मै नमः परेशाय ब्रह्मणेsनन्तशक्तये
Tasmai namaḥ pareśāya brahmaṇesnantaśaktaye
अरूपायोरुरूपाय नम आश्चर्य कर्मणे
Arūpāyorurūpāya nama āścarya karmaṇe
Meaning
To Him, salutation: to the supreme Lord, to Brahman, whose power has no end,
to the formless who wears immense forms, salutation to Him whose deeds are a wonder.
verse 10
नम आत्म प्रदीपाय साक्षिणे परमात्मने
Nama ātma pradīpāya sākṣiṇe paramātmane
नमो गिरां विदूराय मनसश्चेतसामपि
Namo girāṃ vidūrāya manasaścetasāmapi
Meaning
Salutation to the lamp of the Self, to the witness, to the Supreme Self,
salutation to Him who lies far beyond speech, and beyond mind and thought as well.
verse 11
सत्त्वेन प्रतिलभ्याय नैष्कर्म्येण विपश्चिता
Sattvena pratilabhyāya naiṣkarmyeṇa vipaścitā
नमः कैवल्यनाथाय निर्वाणसुखसंविदे
Namaḥ kaivalyanāthāya nirvāṇasukhasaṃvide
Meaning
reached by purity, by the discerning through action without craving for its fruit,
salutation to the lord of kaivalya, to the knowing that is the joy of nirvana.
verse 12
नमः शान्ताय घोराय मूढाय गुण धर्मिणे
Namaḥ śāntāya ghorāya mūḍhāya guṇa dharmiṇe
निर्विशेषाय साम्याय नमो ज्ञानघनाय च
Nirviśeṣāya sāmyāya namo jñānaghanāya ca
Meaning
Salutation to the peaceful, to the terrible, to the dull: to Him who bears the qualities as His own nature,
and salutation to the One without distinction, the same towards all, dense with knowledge.
verse 13
क्षेत्रज्ञाय नमस्तुभ्यं सर्वाध्यक्षाय साक्षिणे
Kṣetrajñāya namastubhyaṃ sarvādhyakṣāya sākṣiṇe
पुरुषायात्ममूलाय मूलप्रकृतये नमः
Puruṣāyātmamūlāya mūlaprakṛtaye namaḥ
Meaning
Salutation to You, knower of the field, overseer of all, the witness,
salutation to the Purusha, root of the Self, and to the root nature of all things.
verse 14
सर्वेन्द्रियगुणद्रष्ट्रे सर्वप्रत्ययहेतवे
Sarvendriyaguṇadraṣṭre sarvapratyayahetave
असताच्छाययोक्ताय सदाभासाय ते नमः
Asatācchāyayoktāya sadābhāsāya te namaḥ
Meaning
To the seer of all that the senses and their qualities present, to the cause of every perception,
to You who are spoken of through the shadow of the unreal yet are the ever-shining reality: salutation.
verse 15
नमो नमस्तेsखिल कारणाय निष्कारणायाद्भुत कारणाय
Namo namasteskhila kāraṇāya niṣkāraṇāyādbhuta kāraṇāya
सर्वागमान्मायमहार्णवाय नमोपवर्गाय परायणाय
Sarvāgamānmāyamahārṇavāya namopavargāya parāyaṇāya
Meaning
Salutation, salutation to You: cause of all, Yourself without a cause, cause beyond wonder,
to the great ocean that all scriptures sound out, salutation to the end of bondage, to the final resort.
verse 16
गुणारणिच्छन्न चिदूष्मपाय तत्क्षोभविस्फूर्जित मानसाय
Guṇāraṇicchanna cidūṣmapāya tatkṣobhavisphūrjita mānasāya
नैष्कर्म्यभावेन विवर्जितागम- स्वयंप्रकाशाय नमस्करोमि
Naiṣkarmyabhāvena vivarjitāgama- svayaṃprakāśāya namaskaromi
Meaning
To Him who is the heat of consciousness hidden in the firesticks that are the gunas, whose mind blazes out when they are churned,
self-luminous, standing outside the scriptures for one who acts without craving: to Him I make my salutation.
verse 17
मादृक्प्रपन्नपशुपाशविमोक्षणाय मुक्ताय भूरिकरुणाय नमोsलयाय
Mādṛkprapannapaśupāśavimokṣaṇāya muktāya bhūrikaruṇāya namoslayāya
स्वांशेन सर्वतनुभृन्मनसि प्रतीत- प्रत्यग्दृशे भगवते बृहते नमस्ते
Svāṃśena sarvatanubhṛnmanasi pratīta- pratyagdṛśe bhagavate bṛhate namaste
Meaning
To Him who frees a bound creature like me from its snare, Himself free, abounding in compassion, never idle: salutation.
To You, Bhagavan, vast beyond measure, who by a portion of Yourself are known in the mind of every embodied being as the inward-turned seer: salutation to You.
verse 18
आत्मात्मजाप्तगृहवित्तजनेषु सक्तै- र्दुष्प्रापणाय गुणसंगविवर्जिताय
Ātmātmajāptagṛhavittajaneṣu saktai- rduṣprāpaṇāya guṇasaṃgavivarjitāya
मुक्तात्मभिः स्वहृदये परिभाविताय ज्ञानात्मने भगवते नम ईश्वराय
Muktātmabhiḥ svahṛdaye paribhāvitāya jñānātmane bhagavate nama īśvarāya
Meaning
Hard to reach for those bound to body, children, friends, home, wealth and kin; free of all attachment to the gunas,
contemplated in their own hearts by liberated souls: to Bhagavan whose very self is knowledge, salutation to the Lord.
verse 19
यं धर्मकामार्थविमुक्तिकामा भजन्त इष्टां गतिमाप्नुवन्ति
Yaṃ dharmakāmārthavimuktikāmā bhajanta iṣṭāṃ gatimāpnuvanti
किं त्वाशिषो रात्यपि देहमव्ययं करोतु मेsदभ्रदयो विमोक्षणम्
Kiṃ tvāśiṣo rātyapi dehamavyayaṃ karotu mesdabhradayo vimokṣaṇam
Meaning
Those who seek dharma, pleasure, wealth or liberation worship Him and reach the end they wish for.
He grants even such boons, and a body that does not decay: may He of abundant compassion grant me release.
verse 20
एकान्तिनो यस्य न कंचनार्थ वांछन्ति ये वै भगवत्प्रपन्नाः
Ekāntino yasya na kaṃcanārtha vāṃchanti ye vai bhagavatprapannāḥ
अत्यद्भुतं तच्चरितं सुमंगलं गायन्त आनन्द समुद्रमग्नाः
Atyadbhutaṃ taccaritaṃ sumaṃgalaṃ gāyanta ānanda samudramagnāḥ
Meaning
His single-hearted ones, who have given themselves wholly to Bhagavan, ask for nothing at all,
but sing His deeds, most wondrous and most auspicious, sunk in an ocean of joy.
verse 21
तमक्षरं ब्रह्म परं परेश- मव्यक्तमाध्यात्मिकयोगगम्यम
Tamakṣaraṃ brahma paraṃ pareśa- mavyaktamādhyātmikayogagamyama
अतीन्द्रियं सूक्ष्ममिवातिदूर- मनन्तमाद्यं परिपूर्णमीडे
Atīndriyaṃ sūkṣmamivātidūra- manantamādyaṃ paripūrṇamīḍe
Meaning
That imperishable Brahman, supreme, highest of lords, unmanifest, reached only by inward yoga,
beyond the senses, subtle as it were, exceedingly far, endless, primal, wholly complete: Him I praise.
verse 22
यस्य ब्रह्मादयो देवा वेदा लोकाश्चराचराः
Yasya brahmādayo devā vedā lokāścarācarāḥ
नामरूपविभेदेन फल्ग्व्या च कलया कृताः
Nāmarūpavibhedena phalgvyā ca kalayā kṛtāḥ
Meaning
The gods beginning with Brahma, the Vedas, the worlds with all that moves and does not move,
were all made by a slight fraction of Him, through the divisions of name and form.
verse 23
यथार्चिषोsग्नेः सवितुर्गभस्तयो निर्यान्ति संयान्त्यसकृत् स्वरोचिषः
Yathārciṣosgneḥ saviturgabhastayo niryānti saṃyāntyasakṛt svarociṣaḥ
तथा यतोsयं गुणसंप्रवाहो बुद्धिर्मनः खानि शरीरसर्गाः
Tathā yatosyaṃ guṇasaṃpravāho buddhirmanaḥ khāni śarīrasargāḥ
Meaning
As the flames of a fire and the rays of the sun go out and return again and again into their own light,
so from Him flows out this stream of the gunas: intellect, mind, the openings of the senses, and the bodies they build.
verse 24
स वै न देवासुरमर्त्यतिर्यंग न स्त्री न षण्डो न पुमान न जन्तुः
Sa vai na devāsuramartyatiryaṃga na strī na ṣaṇḍo na pumāna na jantuḥ
नायं गुणः कर्म न सन्न चासन निषेधशेषो जयतादशेषः
Nāyaṃ guṇaḥ karma na sanna cāsana niṣedhaśeṣo jayatādaśeṣaḥ
Meaning
He is not god, not asura, not mortal, not beast; not woman, not of the third sex, not man, not any creature at all;
He is not a quality, not an action, not being nor non-being: may that whole which remains when all is denied prevail.
verse 25
जिजीविषे नाहमिहामुया कि- मन्तर्बहिश्चावृतयेभयोन्या
Jijīviṣe nāhamihāmuyā ki- mantarbahiścāvṛtayebhayonyā
इच्छामि कालेन न यस्य विप्लव- स्तस्यात्मलोकावरणस्य मोक्षम
Icchāmi kālena na yasya viplava- stasyātmalokāvaraṇasya mokṣama
Meaning
I have no wish to go on living here in this form, wrapped about within and without alike.
What I want is release from that covering over the Self's own world, the one thing time does not undo.
verse 26
सोsहं विश्वसृजं विश्वमविश्वं विश्ववेदसम
Soshaṃ viśvasṛjaṃ viśvamaviśvaṃ viśvavedasama
विश्वात्मानमजं ब्रह्म प्रणतोsस्मि परं पदम्
Viśvātmānamajaṃ brahma praṇatossmi paraṃ padam
Meaning
So I bow to the maker of the universe, who is the universe and is not the universe, who holds all knowledge,
the Self of the universe, the unborn, Brahman, the supreme state: to Him I have bowed down.
verse 27
योगरन्धित कर्माणो हृदि योगविभाविते
Yogarandhita karmāṇo hṛdi yogavibhāvite
योगिनो यं प्रपश्यन्ति योगेशं तं नतोsस्म्यहम्
Yogino yaṃ prapaśyanti yogeśaṃ taṃ natossmyaham
Meaning
Whose actions have been burnt away by yoga, in a heart made ready by yoga,
the yogis behold Him: to that lord of yoga I have bowed.
verse 28
नमो नमस्तुभ्यमसह्यवेग- शक्तित्रयायाखिलधीगुणाय
Namo namastubhyamasahyavega- śaktitrayāyākhiladhīguṇāya
प्रपन्नपालाय दुरन्तशक्तये कदिन्द्रियाणामनवाप्यवर्त्मने
Prapannapālāya durantaśaktaye kadindriyāṇāmanavāpyavartmane
Meaning
Salutation, salutation to You, whose threefold power drives on with a force none can withstand, in whom every faculty of thought has its quality,
protector of those who take refuge, whose power has no limit, whose path the blunted senses can never reach.
verse 29
नायं वेद स्वमात्मानं यच्छ्क्त्याहंधिया हतम्
Nāyaṃ veda svamātmānaṃ yacchktyāhaṃdhiyā hatam
तं दुरत्ययमाहात्म्यं भगवन्तमितोsस्म्यहम्
Taṃ duratyayamāhātmyaṃ bhagavantamitossmyaham
Meaning
This creature does not know its own self, struck down as it is by the 'I' that His power throws up:
to that Bhagavan, whose greatness cannot be crossed, I have come.
verse 30
श्री शुकदेव उवाच -
Śrī śukadeva uvāca -
एवं गजेन्द्रमुपवर्णितनिर्विशेषं ब्रह्मादयो विविधलिंगभिदाभिमानाः
Evaṃ gajendramupavarṇitanirviśeṣaṃ brahmādayo vividhaliṃgabhidābhimānāḥ
नैते यदोपससृपुर्निखिलात्मकत्वात तत्राखिलामरमयो हरिराविरासीत्
Naite yadopasasṛpurnikhilātmakatvāta tatrākhilāmaramayo harirāvirāsīt
Meaning
Shri Shukadeva said:
When Gajendra had praised Him in this way, without naming any particular form, Brahma and the other gods, each holding to his own distinguishing mark and identity,
did not come forward; and then, because He is the Self of all, Hari appeared there, containing all the gods within Him.
verse 31
तं तद्वदार्त्तमुपलभ्य जगन्निवासः स्तोत्रं निशम्य दिविजैः सह संस्तुवद्भि :
Taṃ tadvadārttamupalabhya jagannivāsaḥ stotraṃ niśamya divijaiḥ saha saṃstuvadbhi :
छन्दोमयेन गरुडेन समुह्यमान – श्चक्रायुधोsभ्यगमदाशु यतो गजेन्द्रः
Chandomayena garuḍena samuhyamāna – ścakrāyudhosbhyagamadāśu yato gajendraḥ
Meaning
Seeing him in such distress, and hearing his hymn, the dwelling-place of the worlds, with the gods praising Him alongside,
borne swiftly on Garuda who is made of the Vedic metres, discus in hand, came at once to where Gajendra was.
verse 32
सोsन्तस्सरस्युरुबलेन गृहीत आर्त्तो दृष्ट्वा गरुत्मति हरिम् ख उपात्तचक्रम
Sosntassarasyurubalena gṛhīta ārtto dṛṣṭvā garutmati harim kha upāttacakrama
उत्क्षिप्य साम्बुजकरं गिरमाह कृच्छा – नारायणाखिलगुरो भगवन्नमस्ते
Utkṣipya sāmbujakaraṃ giramāha kṛcchā – nārāyaṇākhilaguro bhagavannamaste
Meaning
He, seized within the lake by that great force and in anguish, seeing Hari upon Garuda in the sky with the discus taken up,
raised his trunk with a lotus in it and said, with difficulty: Narayana, teacher of all, Bhagavan, salutation to You.
verse 33
तं वीक्ष्य पीडितमजः सहसावतीर्य सग्राहमाशु सरसः कृपयोज्जहार
Taṃ vīkṣya pīḍitamajaḥ sahasāvatīrya sagrāhamāśu sarasaḥ kṛpayojjahāra
ग्राहाद् विपाटितमुखादरिणा गजेन्द्रं सम्पश्यतां हरिरमूमुच दुस्त्रियाणाम्
Grāhād vipāṭitamukhādariṇā gajendraṃ sampaśyatāṃ hariramūmuca dustriyāṇām
Meaning
Seeing him in such pain, the unborn One came down at once and in compassion lifted him straight out of the lake, crocodile and all,
and there, before all who watched, Hari freed Gajendra from the crocodile, whose jaws He split open with His discus.
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