Shloka 26
Trikūṭa Mountain, Ṛtumat Garden, and the Beginning of Gajendra’s Crisis
स पुष्करेणोद्धृतशीकराम्बुभि- र्निपाययन्संस्नपयन्यथा गृही । घृणी करेणु: करभांश्च दुर्मदो नाचष्ट कृच्छ्रं कृपणोऽजमायया ॥ २६ ॥
sa puṣkareṇoddhṛta-śīkarāmbubhir nipāyayan saṁsnapayan yathā gṛhī ghṛṇī kareṇuḥ karabhāṁś ca durmado nācaṣṭa kṛcchraṁ kṛpaṇo ’ja-māyayā
Like a man bereft of spiritual wisdom and bound by family attachment, Gajendra, deluded by Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s external māyā, lifted water from the lake with his trunk, sprinkling it to bathe and give drink to his wives and calves; he did not heed the hardship of that labor.
FAQs
This verse shows that even a compassionate and capable being can fail to recognize imminent danger when covered by the Lord’s māyā; worldly strength and duty do not automatically grant spiritual clarity.
Because he lovingly cared for and served his family—giving them water and bathing them—yet remained unaware of the crisis approaching him, illustrating how attachment can coexist with ignorance of life’s deeper peril.
Do your responsibilities with compassion, but cultivate steady remembrance of God and vigilance about life’s real dangers—forgetfulness, pride, and complacency—so that duty becomes devotion rather than distraction.