Remembering Gajendra Moksha narration is most beneficial for all who are performing Kartik-vrata. It is written here in the importance of Gajendra Moksha narration that listening to these prayers will benefit the votary even if he is not able to understand the meaning. Listening to the prayers of Gajendra, the Lord Himself came in person and rescued him. Actually, the Lord does not require to come in person to rescue anyone but to give satisfaction to Gajendra He comes in person being seated on Garuda. The Supreme Lord wants to reach His devotee so rapidly that even the speed of Garuda, He felt less and He dismounted Himself from Garuda and rushed to Gajendra.

The Lord got satisfied by the prayers of Gajendra. If we can recite these prayers with the same earnestness and feelings as Gajendra then we should also get the grace of Supreme Lord. But we are unable to do so.

śrī-gajendra uvāca
oṁ namo bhagavate tasmai
yata etac cid-ātmakam
puruṣāyādi-bījāya
pareśāyābhidhīmahi

yasminn idaṁ yataś cedaṁ
yenedaṁ ya idaṁ svayam
yo ’smāt parasmāc ca paras
taṁ prapadye svayambhuvam

yaḥ svātmanīdaṁ nija-māyayārpitaṁ
kvacid vibhātaṁ kva ca tat tirohitam
aviddha-dṛk sākṣy ubhayaṁ tad īkṣate
sa ātma-mūlo ’vatu māṁ parāt-paraḥ

kālena paṣcatvam iteṣu kṛtsnaśo
lokeṣu pāleṣu ca sarva-hetuṣu
tamas tadāsīd gahanaṁ gabhīraṁ
yas tasya pāre ’bhivirājate vibhuḥ

na yasya devā ṛṣayaḥ padaṁ vidur
jantuḥ punaḥ ko ’rhati gantum īritum
yathā naṭasyākṛtibhir viceṣṭato
duratyayānukramaṇaḥ sa māvatu

didṛkṣavo yasya padaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ
vimukta-saṅgā munayaḥ susādhavaḥ
caranty aloka-vratam avraṇaṁ vane
bhūtātma-bhūtāḥ suhṛdaḥ sa me gatiḥ

na vidyate yasya ca janma karma vā
na nāma-rūpe guṇa-doṣa eva vā
tathāpi lokāpyaya-sambhavāya yaḥ
sva-māyayā tāny anukālam ṛcchati

tasmai namaḥ pareśāya
brahmaṇe ’nanta-śaktaye
arūpāyoru-rūpāya
nama āścarya-karmaṇe

nama ātma-pradīpāya
sākṣiṇe paramātmane
namo girāṁ vidūrāya
manasaś cetasām api

sattvena pratilabhyāya
naiṣkarmyeṇa vipaścitā
namaḥ kaivalya-nāthāya
nirvāṇa-sukha-saṁvide

namaḥ śāntāya ghorāya
ghūḍhāya guṇa-dharmiṇe
nirviśeṣāya sāmyāya
namo jñāna-ghanāya ca

kṣetra-jñāya namas tubhyaṁ
sarvādhyakṣāya sākṣiṇe
puruṣāyātma-mūlāya
mūla-prakṛtaye namaḥ

sarvendriya-guṇa-draṣṭre
sarva-pratyaya-hetave
asatā cchāyayoktāya
sad-ābhāsāya te namaḥ

namo namas te ’khila-kāraṇāya
niṣkāraṇāyādbhuta-kāraṇāya
sarvāgamāmnāya-mahārṇavāya
namo ’pavargāya parāyaṇāya

guṇāraṇi-cchanna-cid-uṣmapāya
tat-kṣobha-visphūrjita-mānasāya
naiṣkarmya-bhāvena vivarjitāgama-
svayaṁ-prakāśāya namas karomi

mādṛk prapanna-paśu-pāśa-vimokṣaṇāya
muktāya bhūri-karuṇāya namo ’layāya
svāṁśena sarva-tanu-bhṛn-manasi pratīta-
pratyag-dṛśe bhagavate bṛhate namas te

ātmātma-jāpta-gṛha-vitta-janeṣu saktair
duṣprāpaṇāya guṇa-saṅga-vivarjitāya
muktātmabhiḥ sva-hṛdaye paribhāvitāya
jñānātmane bhagavate nama īśvarāya

yaṁ dharma-kāmārtha-vimukti-kāmā
bhajanta iṣṭāṁ gatim āpnuvanti
kiṁ cāśiṣo rāty api deham avyayaṁ
karotu me ’dabhra-dayo vimokṣaṇam

ekāntino yasya na kañcanārthaṁ
vāñchanti ye vai bhagavat-prapannāḥ
aty-adbhutaṁ tac-caritaṁ sumaṅgalaṁ
gāyanta ānanda-samudra-magnāḥ

tam akṣaraṁ brahma paraṁ pareśam
avyaktam ādhyātmika-yoga-gamyam
atīndriyaṁ sūkṣmam ivātidūram
anantam ādyaṁ paripūrṇam īḍe

yasya brahmādayo deva
vedā lokāś carācarāḥ
nāma-rūpa-vibhedena
phalgvyā ca kalayā kṛtāḥ

yathārciṣo ’gneḥ savitur gabhastayo
niryānti saṁyānty asakṛt sva-rociṣaḥ
tathā yato ’yaṁ guṇa-sampravāho
buddhir manaḥ khāni śarīra-sargāḥ

sa vai na devāsura-martya-tiryaṅ
na strī na ṣaṇḍho na pumān na jantuḥ
nāyaṁ guṇaḥ karma na san na cāsan
niṣedha-śeṣo jayatād aśeṣaḥ

jijīviṣe nāham ihāmuyā kim
antar bahiś cāvṛtayebha-yonyā
icchāmi kālena na yasya viplavas
tasyātma-lokāvaraṇasya mokṣam

so ’haṁ viśva-sṛjaṁ viśvam
aviśvaṁ viśva-vedasam
viśvātmānam ajaṁ brahma
praṇato ’smi paraṁ padam

yoga-randhita-karmāṇo
hṛdi yoga-vibhāvite
yogino yaṁ prapaśyanti
yogeśaṁ taṁ nato ’smy aham

namo namas tubhyam asahya-vega-
śakti-trayāyākhila-dhī-guṇāya
prapanna-pālāya duranta-śaktaye
kad-indriyāṇām anavāpya-vartmane

nāyaṁ veda svam ātmānaṁ
yac-chaktyāhaṁ-dhiyā hatam
taṁ duratyaya-māhātmyaṁ
bhagavantam ito ’smy aham
(Srimad Bhagavatam 8.3.2-29)

Gajendra prays with humility, “Your devotees are always immersed in bliss derived from singing Your glories. One who has the wealth of sharanagati—complete surrender unto You—never asks for anything else. But being an animal I do not have such eligibility. You can give everything—dharma (piety); artha (wealth); kama (fulfillment of desires); moksa (salvation). You can award a transcendental body. You can also award Your abode and loving devotion unto You. I do not have eligibility for all these. What should I do? You please rescue me from the clutches of the crocodile.”

Even though Gajendra is desirous of getting the Lord’s abode and loving devotion, he feels himself ineligible to ask for those attainments. He has humility in his heart, because of which he said that he is not hoping to get those attainments and is praying for the deliverance from the clutches of the crocodile.

Gajendra says, "This insurmountable illusory energy consisting of three primeval qualities has caught me, because of which, forgetting You, I have become entangled in this material world. I do not pray to You to get back the elephant body to enjoy with wives and calves and stay entangled. You please rescue me from ignorance because of which I have considered this body to be my real identity and the persons related to the body to be mine."

Though internally he wants to attain the condition of a devotee of the Lord who is fully surrendered and does not want anything else other than being engaged in the singing of the glories of the Supreme Lord always, which is in turn the highest stage to be attained, he feels himself to be ineligible for such a prayer.

Towards the end, he refers to himself to be as the one whose senses are always engaged in sense enjoyment—kad-indriyāṇām—and says that it is impossible for a lowly creature like him to hope to attain such a stage.

Surmounting the ocean consisting of the three primeval qualities is very difficult. No one can surmount it by his own efforts.

daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante
māyām etāṁ taranti te
(Srimad Bhagavad Gita 7.14)

“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross over it.”

Gajendra is now thinking, "I am an animal. I do not know how to pray. My death is now in front of me. I spoke according to my limited intelligence.

He is in the mood expressed in the kirtana by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur:

mārabi rākhabī jo icchā tohār
nitya dāsa prati tuā adhikār

“You may protect me, or You may let me die. I am Your eternal servant; You have every right to do whatever You desire.”

As Gajendra referred to the demigods as 'phalgu'—insignificant, they did not come to rescue him. They thought, "It is not so easy to please the Lord and make Him come there for rescue. This Gajendra is going to be killed by the crocodile."

But the Lord, attracted by the humility and devotion of Gajendra, appeared in front of him. If He desires, He can rescue even without coming personally. Then why did He Himself appear there? To satisfy the devotee, He personally comes. Gajendra was Indradyumna Maharaj, a devotee of the Lord in his previous birth. He had been cursed by Agastya Rishi. In that birth, he used to submit these prayers to the Lord. After fighting for thousands of years, in the a very precarious condition, facing all the difficulties, in the painful state of the body being attacked by the crocodile, he is uttering the self-manifested prayers. We cannot do this. When we get some difficulty in the body, we forget everything. But when the nature of the ātma becomes manifest, even amidst tremendous suffering one remains unmoved, for devotion is ahaitukī (causeless) and apratihatā (incessant).

Gajendra, even in that extremely painful state, submitted his prayers with great humility. To satisfy him, the Lord appeared there, holding His raised Sudarśana-cakra in His right hand. The Lord was so eager to reach His devotee that even the speed of Garuda—swifter than that of a sputnik—seemed slow to Him. Impatient with love, He leapt from Garuda and arrived at the spot where Gajendra was calling Him.

Seeing the Lord, the overwhelmed Gajendra, with great effort, plucked a lotus with his trunk and offered it toward the lotus feet of Lord Narayan. The Lord was pleased by his simple offering. He then caught hold of both Gajendra and the crocodile and, before the very eyes of the demigods who had remained indifferent, He split the crocodile’s jaws, delivering His devotee.

There is efficacy in going through Gajendra’s narration in Kartik-vrata. You may read these hymns of Gajendra from Srimad Bhagavatam. The Lord will be satisfied if you try to go through this.

Regarding Dāma-bandhan, it takes time. I do not know whether I will get time tomorrow.

All the vraja-gopis complained to Yashoda Mata, "You please keep your son under control."

Yashoda Mata replied, "He is good only."

Vraja-gopis said, "No, He is very mischievous. When we sleep at night, out of fear of thieves, we keep a lamp burning through the night. He, along with other mischievous cowherd boys, comes to our house and blows it out. Then He steals yogurt and butter from our house. Is this good? He does this every day."

Yashoda Mata got worried about this. She asked Krishna, "Did you do so?" Krishna said, "They all are lying." As Krishna did not appear so mischievous, Yashoda Mata became perplexed.

On the other side, the gopas went to Nanda Baba and said, "Please keep your son under control." Nanda Baba asked, "What happened? What has He done?" They said the same thing as the gopis said to Yashoda Mata.

Yashoda Mata and Nanda Baba both started worrying. Nanda Baba asked Krishna, "Have you done so?" Krishna replied, "They all are lying." Yashoda Mata and Nanda Baba thought, "Seeing Krishna, it does not seem that He is lying."

In reality, whatever the gopa-gopis make is for Krishna only. But when they go to Nanda Baba and tell him, "You please send your son to our house. We will feed Him,"

Nanda Baba says, "We have ten thousand cows. Our son will not eat anywhere else. Do we have any scarcity?"

What would the gopa-gopis do now? Yashoda Mata also said the same thing. Because Yashoda Mata and Nanda Baba refused to send Him to their house, the gopa-gopis were very disturbed. Seeing their disturbed state, Krishna also requested Yashoda Mata and Nanda Baba to allow Him to go to their houses and accept the eatables. They both chastised Him even more, saying that He had developed greed to eat at others’ houses. Now what will He do? To fulfil the desire of the gopa-gopis, He became a thief.

One day Yashoda Mata herself saw the mischievous acts of Krishna. That day there were no maidservants in the house, and Yashoda Mata herself was churning yogurt in a big earthen pot. While churning, she was singing the glories of Krishna about killing Putana and other demons. At that time Krishna came to her. He was hungry. He indicated to his mother, "You stop churning, I am hungry, suckle me."

Yashoda Mata said, "No, there are no maid servants. Who will take out butter? Do not disturb me. Keep silent."

Krishna was disturbed, "No, I am hungry. You stop this."

Ultimately, when Yashoda Mata did not stop, Krishna caught hold of her hand along with the churning rod to stop her. Krishna's eyes looked so beautiful. Yashoda Mata got attracted to see Him. Murmuring, "Oh, so much disturbance," she took Him in her lap and started suckling Him.

In the meantime, she had kept one pot on the oven to boil milk. While she was suckling Krishna, the milk swelled up and started spilling over. Yashoda Mata hurriedly told Krishna, "You go down. Everything will be spoiled. You go down."

Krishna said, "No, I am hungry. I shall not go down."

Then, forcefully keeping Him down, she went to attend the milk. Krishna became very angry, thinking, "I am so hungry, and mother has put me down to attend to the milk."

He decided, "I shall destroy everything. I shall break the earthen pot." He also had the fear that if mother saw Him doing so, she would punish Him. He brought one stone and broke the earthen pot silently so that mother would not hear the sound of it. There were many pots there of butter, yogurt, and other things. Krishna was so angry that He broke all the pots. There were pots which were kept hanging also so that Krishna could not touch them. But is it possible to restrict Krishna? The one in whose stomach the whole brahmanda rests — can He not touch those pots? He climbed upon the mortar and, with a stick in His hand, broke all those pots also. He Himself was eating and also feeding the monkeys. Krishna was accepting all different preparations because they were from different cows to fulfill their desires. Outside people may see that He is spoiling everything.

Yashoda Mata, on her return, saw that nobody was there and the earthen pots were broken. She then understood why all the gopa-gopis used to complain to her about Krishna. She decided, "As Krishna has become so naughty, I have to punish Him. Where is He?" She then saw Him mounting on the mortar, facing backward, doing all the mischief. She took one cane in her hand to beat Him.

Out of affection, she does not see Him as the Supreme Lord; she sees Him as her small child. She is thinking, "If I do not punish and restrain Him, then His future will be bad." She is going towards Krishna slowly. She was about to catch hold of Him, and at that moment Krishna saw her and made a great leap from the mortar and ran. Yashoda Mata, thinking, "Today I should not spare Him," also started running behind Him. Krishna was swiftly running, but mother was fat. She had difficulty in running. But she had decided, "I shall catch hold of Him and punish Him; otherwise His future will be bad." The Supreme Lord's future will be bad! She tried hard but could not catch hold of Him. She was now tired and perspiring. Though nobody can catch hold of Krishna, attracted by the pure affection of His mother, knowing that she wanted to catch Him, He reduced His speed of running. Mother caught hold of Him and, with the stick in hand, started threatening Him, saying, "You go to others’ houses to steal and do all these nuisances." Seeing the stick, Krishna started crying loudly; tears started rolling down from His eyes. He, by whom the god of death is afraid, all the demigods including Brahma and Mahadeva are afraid—yet by seeing the stick of Yashoda Mata, He was crying tremendously, shouting in a loud voice.

Satyavrata Muni, in Damodarastakam, described the catching hold of Krishna by Yashoda Mata a little differently. He described that Mother Yashoda, running swiftly behind Krishna, caught Him from behind; whereas in Srimad Bhagavatam, it is written that ultimately Krishna accepted the binding.

When Yashoda Mata saw that Krishna was crying so loudly, she thought, "If out of fear my most beloved child Krishna flees from this place, then I shall die. This child has no sense. He is so small, He has no knowledge. By beating Him what benefit shall I get?" She threw the cane away, took the child in her lap, and tried to pacify Him. Afterwards she thought, "I shall have to fasten the child. There is no other way." She tried to fasten the child by taking the measurement of His stomach. But every time the rope was two fingers short. She thought, "What is this? Why is this happening?"

She kept on joining new rope to the existing one and it became more than one mile long, but she still could not fasten Him. All the gopis were laughing, seeing her trying to fasten Him. Yashoda Mata could not understand what was happening there. Ultimately, seeing the tiredness and tremendous affection of the mother, Krishna accepted the binding. She could bind Him with the first rope that she had tried before.

Each time the rope was two fingers short. One finger indicates the grace of Krishna and the other the sincere effort of service. Yashoda Mata did not stop her service. It is said, harī se lāgā rah re bhāī, terī banat banat ban jāī — if one continues sincere efforts of service, he will surely succeed in getting the grace of the Lord. Ultimately, Krishna is subdued by her devotion. Without the grace of Krishna, you cannot get Him. But to get the grace, you must have the serving mood. If we have the serving mood, then Gurudev and Krishna will grace us. They are all-merciful; They are gracing, but we have to attract Their grace by sincere effort of service.