||Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 97 – The legend of Gajendra Moksham -3

Gajendra who was completely exhausted with pain could see the deafening strike of lightning in the sky; he could witness the supreme Lord Vishnu mounted on the celestial vehicle, holding disc, conch, mace, and lotus on four arms.  Gajendra gravely looked at the compassionate eyes and radiant face of Lord Vishnu; he agonizingly stretched his trunk and plucked a lotus flower from the pond and cried out “Oh! Narayana Oh! Akhilaguro Oh! Bhagavan, I shall prostrate before you” he raised the trunk towards the supreme Lord Narayana.  Instantly, the head of the crocodile was sliced down with the powerful disc of the Lord Narayana, and Gajendra was pulled out from the pond.  The crocodile liberated from the curse was attained the radiant form of an attractive celestial Gandharva and eulogized Lord Narayana with folded hands “ Oh! Natha, Oh! Govinda, Oh! Jagathkarana, Oh! Anandathmaka, Oh! Pankajavilochana, I shall take surrender at your lotus feet.  You are the creator of the Universe and its living beings with your Maya and you are performing various pastimes in it. Oh! Jagathprabho kindly blesses me with intense devotion and faith to worship at your lotus feet. Oh! Bhakthavathsala, I should not be in the association of evil-minded, I should be able to recite your endless myths and glories at all times.”

Maharishi Shuka Bhramam continued “Oh! Rajan, Gajendra/soul got liberated from the clutches of ignorance/crocodile, with the touch of supreme Lord Narayana. It is not the legend of Gajendra an elephant; it is the story of all the living beings on the Earth.  In the previous birth, Gajendra was the King Indradhyumna in the clan of Pandya.  King Indradhyumna was a righteous ruler, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.  He went to Mount Malaya and conducted penance.  Once, Sage Agastya arrived at Malayadhri and saw the King Indhradhyuma immersed in the meditation upon the Supreme Lord, eventually entered into a transcendental state, so he could not realize the presence of Agasthya mistook the King who did not show the minimum gestures of respect and cursed him to become an elephant.  The King opened his eyes and saw the Sage leaving the hermitage; he followed him and begged for forgiveness, and sincerely explained the situation and begged to pardon him.  Sage Agastya controlled his anger and advised the King that the curse cannot be taken back, but whatever happens that would elevate his soul and blessed him that he would attain liberation at the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.   Thus the King Indhradhyumna became King of the elephant in his next birth.  The crocodile was a celestial Gandharva Huhu in his previous birth.   The immature souls like Gajendra soak in material affairs and bondage and get stranded, finally locked themselves in extreme sorrows and agony like the crocodile in the worldly existence.   The elevation of the soul is possible only with the constant contemplation upon the supreme Lord, eventually, the soul would be liberated from ignorance of worldly bondage, like a lotus flower even though it has grown in the muddy pond, it remains pure and unblemished, not even the touch of water.”

Whoever recites or listen to the legend of Gajendra would attain the abode of Lord Vishnu and whoever remembers the oceans, hills, woods, mountains, and mother Earth, on a daily basis, immediately after waking up in the morning,  would definitely attain the abode of Lord Vishnu.