Srimad Bhagavatam — Ashtama Skandha, Shloka 12
Gajendra’s Prayers and the Appearance of Lord Hari
Gajendra-stuti and Hari-darśana
नम: शान्ताय घोराय मूढाय गुणधर्मिणे । निर्विशेषाय साम्याय नमो ज्ञानघनाय च ॥ १२ ॥
namaḥ śāntāya ghorāya mūḍhāya guṇa-dharmiṇe nirviśeṣāya sāmyāya namo jñāna-ghanāya ca
I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Vāsudeva, who is all-pervading, to the Lord’s fierce form as Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, to the Lord’s form as an animal [Lord Varāhadeva], to Lord Dattātreya, who preached impersonalism, to Lord Buddha, and to all the other incarnations. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has no material qualities but who accepts the three qualities goodness, passion and ignorance within this material world. I also offer my respectful obeisances unto the impersonal Brahman effulgence.
In the previous verses it has been described that although the Supreme Personality of Godhead has no material form, He accepts innumerable forms to favor His devotees and kill the demons. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there are so many incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that they are like the waves of a river. The waves of a river flow incessantly, and no one can count how many waves there are. Similarly, no one can calculate when and how the different incarnations of the Lord appear according to the necessities of time, place and candidates. The Lord appears perpetually. As Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.7) :
FAQs
In this verse, Gajendra glorifies the Supreme Lord as śānta (peaceful) and ghora (awe-inspiring/terrible), indicating that the Lord transcends one-sided descriptions and reveals different aspects according to time, circumstance, and the devotee’s need.
Gajendra acknowledges that the Lord can appear ordinary or even “bewildered” through divine līlā and humanlike behavior, yet He remains the controller and foundation of all guṇas (material modes) and their functions.
Practically, it means cultivating spiritual vision—respecting all beings as under the Lord’s care, reducing envy and bias, and seeking steadiness in devotion rather than being driven by changing external labels and circumstances.