(Kadamba Kanana Maharaja, 18 September 2012, Cape Town, South Africa)

Gajendra realized that this material world in itself has no value. There maybe so much enjoyment in the world but what is the value when all this enjoyment is temporary and when this enjoyment can never fulfill the soul? It’s never enough no matter how good.  So Gajendra was thoroughly realized on this matter and therefore Gajendra was interested in the spiritual world, in going back to Godhead. It is for that reason that Gajendra made it into Srimad Bhagavatam because generally the Bhagavatam is not a book which describes the life of animals but Gajendra became a role model, a personality of which we take shelter and of whose example we take inspiration.

This is spiritual life, that one must take shelter of exemplary personalities. Somehow or other we function like that. Alone on our own strength we cannot do so much. Therefore we must take shelter of others who are doing greater things than ourselves and that gives also, strength and inspiration to do it. That’s  a very important principle in spiritual life. Therefore Srimad Bhagavatam is giving many examples of great personalities that we hear about and all these personalities chose for Krsna and under trying circumstances, they left material security  and they just chose for Krsna. So that is also our situation because ultimately, this material word is the domain of death and therefore everyone in the material world is in a dangerous position.