Gajendra Moksha

Gajendra moksha describes about  the material bondage in Vaman Purana. It is not easy to feel the pain of the worldly fetters.  It is uncommon to make appropriate efforts to relieve oneself from this bondage and then finally getting free.

In the mountain named Trikoota there was a giant elephant named Gajendra who was the leader of all animals.  All the beautiful surrounding forest was under the command of Lord Varuna.  This forest was beautifully laced with lakes, rivers, gardens and fruit-yielding divine trees.  Apsaras used to visit this place and play cheerfully.

One hot summer day, Gajendra visited the garden of Lord Varuna with his family.  Having been troubled by heat, Gajendra entered into a lake to cool down his body.  All of a sudden Gajendra felt that his feet were tightly clasped by a powerful crocodile.  Gajendra struggled his best to set himself free but in vain.  An exhausted and frustrated Gajendra started to pray to Lord Vishnu.  The Lord immediately descended to save the elephant.  He pulled out the crocodile and torn its mouth with his Chakra and rescued Gajendra.

The crocodile was none other than Huhu, a Gandharva (demi-god).  Huhu was taking bath in a pond and Rishi Devala too wanted to take a dip in the same water.  Huhu did not like the idea and he played dirty tricks to turn away the Rishi.  The Rishi was enraged and cursed Huhu to turn into a crocodile.  Since Lord Vishnu touched the crocodile, it came back to its original state of Huhu.

Even Gajendra was rescued.  Gajendra was a Pandava king named Indradyumna who was cursed by Agastya. The king was a devotee of Vishnu.  He was engrossed in meditation of Vishnu when Agastya visited the king.  But the king was not aware.  Sage Agastya felt insulted and he cursed the king to turn into an elephant.

There are certain serious lessons hidden in this simple story.     

One may commit a mistake and get demoted to a lower rank just as a modern day official or a powerful person.  One has to pay a price for the mistake.

There is hope in despair.  A lowly life can be brought to an end.  How?  There are several means.  One of those is prayer and surrender to the higher forces.

One sincere prayer can save several lives.