Monday Morning Greetings 2026 #9 – What I Learned from the King of the Elephants

Last week I explained that after reading the first twenty verses of Gajendra Mokṣa in the Bhāgavatam, I was disappointed. The verses were descriptive, but I could not find the intellectual or emotional content there to inspire something for me to write about.

Was I wrong! I wish I had read just a few more verses that morning.

To make a long story short, all the animals in the forest were terrified by Gajendra, the king of the elephants, because he was so much bigger and stronger than they were. While bathing in the river, however, he got attacked by a crocodile. Despite his sizable advantage in physical stature, after a prolonged struggle he was facing imminent defeat. The water was just not his natural habitat. His strength gradually waned, while the crocodile, an aquatic, naturally gained strength. To save himself his only recourse was to take full shelter of God.

Gajendra’s fight is a metaphor for life. Just as the elephant needed a supportive environment to be successful in his fight, to strongly practice spiritual life in the face of life’s challenges we need to be economically (varṇa) and socially (āśrama) situated. I loved how Śrīla Prabhupāda put it.

“Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement has actually declared war against the illusory energy, in which all the living entities are rotting in a false understanding of civilization. The soldiers in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must always possess physical strength, enthusiasm and sensual power. To keep themselves fit, they must therefore place themselves in a normal condition of life. What constitutes a normal condition will not be the same for everyone, and therefore there are divisions of varṇāśrama — brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. Especially in this age, Kali-yuga, it is advised that no one take sannyāsa.” Bhāgavatam 8.2.30, purport

But what if, despite sincere effort, one cannot find a suitable economic and social situation? With one’s strength waning can one be successful in spiritual life?

The second aspect of the metaphor answers that.

Although Gajendra was wallowing in defeat because he was in an environment that was against his nature, his impending defeat was an impetus to take shelter of God. Similarly, the value of any socio-economic structure is the strength it gives us to take shelter of God. If our so-called defeat in life, however, inspires us to further take shelter of God, then how are we the loser?

Śrīla Prabhupāda brings the point home, and perhaps brings it one step further:

“We are always in danger because at any moment death can take place. It is not that only Gajendra, the king of the elephants, was afraid of death. Everyone should fear death because everyone is caught by the crocodile of eternal time and may die at any moment. The best course, therefore, is to seek shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and be saved from the struggle for existence in this material world, in which one repeatedly takes birth and dies. To reach this understanding is the ultimate goal of life.” Bhāgavatam 8.2.33 [emphasis mine]

And that is what I learned from the story of the king of elephants!