SB 8.3.7 By glorifying those who are close to the Lord our heart goes closer to the Lord

Transcript

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shreemadbhagavatam 837 so here Gajendra after glorifying the transcendental position of the Lord, now glorifies the transcendental position of those who are surrendered to that Lord. He is asking, he knows that I am asking for the mercy of a person who is not very easily accessible.
So who can see him? Those who want to see him, whose feet are supremely auspicious. What do those people do? Vimukta Sangha, Munaya, Susadhava. Vimukta Sangha, they are free from all materialist associations.
They are Munaya, they are deep thinkers. Susadhava, they are ornamental with good qualities. Charantya alokavratam avranam vane.
So they move around, move away from the general people. And the alokavratam, where they will not be seen, they live inconspicuously. So they will not be seen means it is not just loneliness, it is away from material enjoyment.
That means they stay as renunciates. And avranam vane, they do not commit any mistakes in their spiritual life. They do not commit any faults.
Bhuta atma bhuta. And they are equal to all living beings because they do not want anything from anyone. They can be disposed equally towards everyone.
And what is their equal disposition? Surudha. They are the well-wishers of everyone. Samegati hi.
Let that Lord be my destination. So he describes the glory of that Supreme Lord. And then he says that this is the Lord I want to eventually surrender to.
How is it possible that somebody who is so exalted, who can be attained only by such great souls, how will I be able to attain that Lord? So he describes it can happen only by his grace and his devotee’s grace. This is not mentioned over here directly. But this prayer conveys the point that he knows.
Gajendra is aware of the glories of the devotees. And he is recognizing that he is aspiring for that Lord who is aspired for by these great devotees. And he is further recognizing that this is not going to be easy.
So the Lord who is so great, how will he be able to achieve him? So those great souls, they are alokavratam. They turn away from everything material for enjoyment, whereas Gajendra himself was surrounded by everything material for enjoyment. So when we approach the Lord, it is important for us to be aware of our disqualification.
In fact, awareness of our disqualification becomes our qualification in many ways. When we know that we are incapable of approaching the Lord, that makes us humble. And that enables us to call out to the Lord.
When we know that we don’t deserve his mercy, then we can beg. Otherwise we demand and we don’t get, we complain. So by meditating on how the devotees are so exalted, and it is those devotees who seek to connect with the Lord, he recognizes that this Lord is so great.
So there are various ways to glorify a person. One way is by telling how great that person is. Another way is by telling how great the people associated with that person are.
So Gajendra is glorifying that Lord whom he has glorified in the previous verses by glorifying those who are connected with the Lord. And this is also important for our meditation, our chanting of the holy names. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that when we do Amanina Amanadena, then we will be able to Kirtaniya Sadahari.
Because when we respect others, then we are able to see Krishna and the connection of Krishna with others. So when we are able to respect those who are connected with Krishna and so are glorious, then Krishna becomes pleased by that, manifests His glories within our heart and attracts our hearts to Him. So by appreciating the glory of those who are close to Krishna, we become more qualified to glorify Krishna.
Not that we ever acquire qualifications, but our heart becomes softer by which Krishna manifests His glories and attracts our heart to Him. So by remembering the pure devotees, the spiritual master Shila Prabhupada, by whose grace we have got the holy name, we can get the grace of the holy name too.