When the call of devotion is pure, it reaches the feet of the Almighty from wherever it comes and whoever calls. There are no conditions, rules nor desires, but only the Almighty’s compassion for the devotee. The story of Gajendra Mokhs is a perfect example for this genre wherein Bhagwan Vishnu rushes to the aid of devotee at his beck and call.
Maharaj Indradyumn was a saint devotee king who ruled righteously over his kingdom and 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 that he has been neglected by the king, and curses him to become an elephant. Knowing about his curse, Maharaj Indradyumn feels remorse and requests the Rishi to forgive him. 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 with his herd. 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.
The crocodile caught hold of Gajendra as soon as Gajendra stepped into the lake, and tried to drag him under water. Gajendra lashed it with his trunk and tried to loosen the crocodile’s grip, bit could not. Although the ashes of Gajendra made it loosen its grip, 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. The fight continued for thousand years and Gajendra lost all strength of fighting with the crocodile. He then understands that total surrender to the Almighty only would relieve him from this problem and with faith 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. As soon as Gajendra renounced all attempts to fight and surrendered completely to God, the crocodile started losing its strength. Listening to his devotee’s call for help, Bhagwan Vishnu immediately rushed to save his devotee and killed the crocodile with his Sudarshan Chakr 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 Vaikunth Dhaam.
While Gajendra represents the human, the crocodile is the pains and sins of human which are relieved by Bhagwan Vishnu with faith and pure devotion in him. Gajendra Moksh is a story of liberation of desires and establishing trust in the lotus feet of Bhagwan Vishnu.