Gajendra

To him, the Supreme Lord, the Absolute (Brahman) of unlimited potencies, obeisance; to the formless one of manifold forms, whose deeds are wonderful, obeisance.

He who has no birth or activity, no name or form, and neither virtue nor fault — yet, for the dissolution and creation of the worlds, he, by his own māyā, takes on these (names, forms, and activities) at the appropriate times.

Obeisance to you, the knower of the field, the overseer of all, the witness; obeisance to the Person, who is his own root, the root cause of material nature.

He within whom this (universe), placed by his own māyā, at times appears manifest and at times is hidden — he, the witness of unobscured vision, sees both (the manifest and the unmanifest); may he, self-rooted and higher than the highest, protect me.

Obeisance to the self-luminous one, the witness, the Supreme Soul; obeisance to him who is far beyond words, the mind, and the thinking intelligence.

Obeisance, obeisance to you — the cause of all, yourself without cause, the wonderful cause; the great ocean of all the scriptures and Vedic traditions; obeisance to you, who are liberation itself and the supreme refuge.

Obeisance to him who is attained by the wise through pure goodness and freedom from fruitive action; obeisance to the Lord of liberation, who is the very realization of the bliss of liberation (nirvāṇa).

Śrī Gajendra said: Oṃ. Obeisance to that Lord, from whom this (universe), whose essence is consciousness, has sprung. Let us meditate upon the Supreme Person, the original seed (cause), the Supreme Controller.

In whom this (universe) rests, from whom it arises, by whom it exists, who himself is this (universe), and who is higher than this and higher than its cause — to him, the self-existent one, I surrender.

When, by the force of time, all the worlds along with their rulers and all causes have completely attained dissolution, and dense, deep darkness alone remained — the all-pervading Lord shines forth beyond that darkness.

He whose state neither the demigods nor the sages can know — how, then, could any lesser creature hope to reach or to describe it? Just as (an audience cannot know) an actor performing in various guises, so his course is impossible to trace; may he protect me.

Obeisance to him who (through the modes) appears peaceful, fierce, and deluded, assuming the characteristics of the modes of nature; obeisance to the undifferentiated, the impartial; and obeisance to him who is pure, condensed knowledge.

The sages — most saintly, free from all attachment — who desire to see his most auspicious abode, practice in the forest unbroken, uncommon vows; being the well-wishing friends and the very self of all beings, (they hold him as their goal) — he is my goal.

Obeisance to you, the seer of all the senses and their objects, the cause of all cognition; you who are indicated by the unreal (illusion) as if by a shadow, yet who are the (real) semblance underlying existence.