Gajendra - The great elephant devotee of the Lord

 An inspiring story from 8th Canto, chapter 2 onwards from Srimad Bhagavatam. 107th of 2021

Gajendra - the king of elephants, lived with his heard in Rutumat garden at the foot of Trikuta hill. 

He roamed freely in the forest with his herd. He was a very powerful elephant and all the animals of the forest were scared of him. 

One day Gajendra and other elephants found a beautiful lake filled with sweet water, lilies and lotus flowers. After quenching their thirst they started playing by splashing at each other. 

Their play and fun disturbed a huge crocodile which lived in the lake.

The powerful crocodile seized the elephant Gajendra by the foot and dragged him down. 

Gajendra struggled to defeat the crocodile, but the crocodile's strength was no match for him in water. Even Gajendra's relatives tried to help him by pulling him out off the lake...but they failed. 

So they all gave up and left Gajendra alone to fight with the crocodile......

The fighting of Gajendra with the crocodile went on

believe it or not!

for more than

1000 years!

Gajendra was not an ordinary elephant!

In his previous birth he was King Indra Dyumna of Pandya Dynasty and was a great devotee of Lord Narayana. While he was meditating one day at kulachala his guru Agasthya visited him. He was immersed in deep meditation and could not welcome Sage Agasthya. Angered by the king's behaviour his guru cursed him to be born as an elephant. When the king realised his mistake he pleaded for forgiveness from his guru. Agasthya pardoned him and said he will be redeemed of his curse only by the mercy of Lord Narayana. 

Even the crocodile was not an ordinary reptile. He was Huhu, a Gandarva in his previous life. Huhu was once playing with this wife in the lake. Sage Devala was offering prayers in the same lake. Huhu pulled his legs playfully into the water. 

Frightened sage realised that it was Huhu' mischievous play.....

Annoyed by his act the sage cursed Huhu became a crocodile. Huhu realised his mistake and begged for forgiveness. The sage told that he will be relieved by the mercy of Lord Narayana when he attacks His devotee Gajendra. Soon, Huhu developed scales and was transformed into a crocodile......

He waited in the lake.

Having been deserted by his relatives and wives..Gajendra started thinking of his position in life as being helpless when in distress. 

Pain and strain aggravated as he became weak mentally and physically....

At this stage....he recollected his past life and remembered a prayer he had learnt during his devotional service in that life. He started reciting the same prayer once again. 

Gajendra's prayer reached Sri Vaikunta - the abode of Lord Narayana - the supreme personality of Godhead. 

Hearing the prayer offered by the elephant Gajendra Lord Narayana appeared before him as Lord Hari - the destroyer of His devotees' misery, armed with His Chakra and with all his weapons, on Garuda the king of birds.

As soon as Gajendra saw Lord Narayana, he plucked a lotus flower from the pond and offered his respects. 

Lord Narayana pulled out both the crocodile and Gajendra to land. He severed the crocodile's head with his Chakra. 

The crocodile regained his original form as Gandharva. He offered his prayers to Lord Narayana and ascended to Gandharava -loka 

Lord Narayana granted Moksha (liberation) to Gajendra inspite of he being an elephant. Because Gajendra had completely surrendered to Him. 

Demi-Gods expressed their joy by showering flowers from the sky......