Study a Verse

• Therefore, a devotee who engages in the service of the Supreme Lord and who constantly thinks of Him should never be considered to have a material body.
• Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.
• Thus oṁkāra is the representation of the Supreme Person.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Helplessness → Surrender and rescue. A mighty animal finally realizes the limits of strength.

Chapters 1–4 of Canto 8: Gajendra's struggle and prayers. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 3: Gajendra’s Prayers of Surrender

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

First he offered his respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and because of his awkward position in having been attacked by the crocodile, he expressed his inability to recite prayers nicely. Nonetheless, he tried to chant the mantra and expressed himself in appropriate words as follows.