Few stories are special as they reflect devotion in its purest way. Where there is the devotee expresses his confidence and belief in the Almighty with total faith, the Almighty responds with immediate attention to the need of the devotee, proving that this bond of faith is unconditional and unseparable. One such story is the Gajendra Moksh from the Bhagavat puran which depicts the beautiful bond of Bhagwan Vishnu and Gajendra, who was in reality a king and a great devotee of Bhagwan Vishnu.
Maharaj Indradyumn was a saint devotee king. While looking after the welfare of the kingdom, he engrossed himself into meditation of Bhagwan Vishnu. It once happened that Rishi Agastya visited the king. But, Indradyumn was in deep meditation and did not notice the arrival of the great sage. Rishi Agastya feels neglected and curses him to become an elephant. But when Maharaj Indradyumn requests for forgiveness, Rishi Agastya says that Indradyumn would be relieved from the curse with the divine touch of Bhagwan Vishnu.
Indradyumn thus turned into an elephant and roamed in the wild forests becoming the king of elephants with the title Gajendra. Along with his herd, he roamed in the great forests at Mount Trikut. One day, he went to drink water from a lake in the forest. In that lake, a celestial Gandharv named Huhu, was living as a crocodile due to a curse given by Rishi Devala for disturbing his penance.
As soon as Gajendra stepped into the water, the crocodile caught hold of him and tried to drag him under water. Although the lashes of Gajendra made the crocodile loosen its grip, but as soon as Gajendra wanted to come out of the water, it caught him again. In this way, the fight between Gajendra and the crocodile went on for thousand years.
The strength of a crocodile is very strong in waters, and Gajendra was becoming tired of the relentless fight. He tried hard but could not overcome the crocodile. With last hope and total surrender, he calls out for Bhagwan Vishnu for help to save him from the vicious crocodile.
The Supreme Being is always there for the aid of his devotees. However, one needs to totally surrender to him to get his benevolence. Till thousand years, Gajendra depended on his own strength to fight his problem. But he then realises that he needed to surrender in total faith to Bhagwan Vishnu, and he left all his attempts and called out for the Almighty with pure devotion.
As soon as Gajendra renounced all attempts to fight and surrendered to God, the crocodile started losing its strength. Listening to his devotee’s call for help, Bhagwan Vishnu immediately rushed from Vaikunth to save his devotee. Aiming the Sudarshan Chakr at the crocodile, he kills it and relieved Gajendra from its clutches. Then, he approaches Gajendra and fondly touches its trunk by which Gajendra retains his original form of Maharaj Indradyumn. With the touch of Bhagwan Vishnu, the king attains salvation and reaches the abode of Vaikunth.
The story of Gajendra is significant in representing Gajendra as the human, the crocodile Huhu as the pains of athe human, and the lake as the world in which we take birth. This cycle is bounded with pure devotion and it teaches that when one has total faith in the Almighty, he is bound to get relieved through the pains with deriving strength from the devotion of the Almighty.