THE HOLY NAME · 32
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The elephant could not pronounce Sanskrit — and was heard anyway
The elephant could not pronounce Sanskrit — and was heard anyway
Listen to Gurudev
0:00— —0:00
"Have you ever heard an elephant recite Sanskrit prayers? And the answer is no… all the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, they're based on the mouth… they can't put their tongue on their teeth. An elephant can't actually offer prayers."
Don't think the purity of the Name depends on how correctly you pronounce it. Gurudev reminds us: an elephant has no mouth for Sanskrit — no teeth for the sound "ta", no lips shaped right — and yet in Srimad-Bhagavatam stand Gajendra's beautiful prayers. Because the Holy Name is not a sound produced by speech organs — it is Krishna Himself, descending in the form of sound. Picture the elephant: he did not recite by rule — drowning, helpless, he only stretched out his trunk with a lotus toward the Lord — and he was heard.
Today, drop the correct sound — hold the Name with Gajendra's humility and wait.
Source: Mysteries of Harinama · 2024-04-05
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