एवं व्यवसितो बुद्ध्या समाधाय मनो हृदि ।
जजाप परमं जाप्यं प्राग्जन्मन्यनुशिक्षितम् ॥ १ ॥
evaṁ vyavasito buddhyā
samādhāya mano hṛdi
jajāpa paramaṁ jāpyaṁ
prāg-janmany anuśikṣitam
labhate paurva-dehikam
yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ
saṁsiddhau kuru-nandana
hriyate hy avaśo 'pi saḥ
SYNONYMS
śrī-bādarāyaṇiḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; evam—thus; vyavasitaḥ—fixed; buddhyā—by intelligence; samādhāya—for concentration; manaḥ—the mind; hṛdi—in consciousness or in the heart; jajāpa—he chanted; paramam—a supreme; jāpyam—mantra he had learned from great devotees; prāk-janmani—in his previous birth; anuśikṣitam—practiced.
TRANSLATION
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.
PURPORT
Such remembrance is described in Bhagavad-gītā (6.43–44):
labhate paurva-dehikam
yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ
saṁsiddhau kuru-nandana
hriyate hy avaśo 'pi saḥ
It is imperative, therefore, that all devotees in Kṛṣṇa consciousness practice chanting some mantra. Certainly one should chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, which is the mahā-mantra, or great mantra, and also one should practice chanting cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu or the Nṛsiṁha strotra (ito nṛsiṁhaḥ parato nṛsiṁho yato yato yāmi tato nṛsiṁhaḥ). Every devotee should practice in order to chant some mantra perfectly so that even though he may be imperfect in spiritual consciousness in this life, in his next life he will not forget Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even if he becomes an animal. Of course, a devotee should try to perfect his Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this life, for simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa and His instructions, after giving up this body one can return home, back to Godhead. Even if there is some falldown, practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness never goes in vain. For example, Ajāmila, in his boyhood, practiced chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa under the direction of his father, but later, in his youth, he fell down and became a drunkard, woman-hunter, rogue and thief. Nonetheless, because of chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa for the purpose of calling his son, whom he had named Nārāyaṇa, he became advanced, even though he was involved in sinful activities. Therefore, we should not forget the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra under any circumstances. It will help us in the greatest danger, as we find in the life of Gajendra.