Nandaka and Lohadānava

This account is in the section of the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa on elephant medicine, the Gaja-cikitsā (Uttarārdha, Chapters 45–49). It tells of a battle between Nandaka, one of the divine elephants of Indra, and Lohadānava, an iron-bodied dānava who made elephants ill. The account explains where the diseases of elephants come from and why the Gaja-śānti rite is needed.

Background

After the long teaching on the medical care of elephants, Pushkara tells this account to show the divine origin of the diseases of elephants. Certain lasting illnesses of elephants do not come from natural causes alone. They come from the harmful power of dānavas who were let loose in the earliest times.

Lohadānava

Lohadānava, the Iron Dānava, had great power. His whole body was made of dense iron-like matter, so ordinary weapons could not hurt him. He hated elephants in particular, since they carry the devas and are signs of royal power. He entered herds of elephants and sent strange diseases on them. The elephants lost strength. They grew wounds that would not heal. They turned violent and could not be controlled. Some wasted away for no clear reason.

The great elephants of the divine world were troubled and weakened by his shadow. These included Airāvata, the mount of Indra, and the eight dik-gajas, the elephants who guard the directions. The diseases he spread passed from the herds of the devas down to the herds of kings and householders on earth.

Nandaka’s battle

Nandaka was a divine elephant of huge size and pure white colour, full of great tejas. Indra sent him to face Lohadānava. The battle between the divine elephant and the iron dānava was huge. Nandaka could not wound Lohadānava with his tusks, because of the dānava’s iron body. Lohadānava could not easily overcome Nandaka, because of the divine protection Nandaka had.

At a key moment the light of Bhagavān Vishṇu entered Nandaka, through the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Then Nandaka drove Lohadānava back. The dānava was not fully destroyed. He was thrown into a deeper pātāla. From there he cannot enter the world directly, but he still has a harmful effect through indirect ways. These are the wrong placing of the planets (graha-dosha) and the neglect of the Gaja-śānti rites.

The origin of elephant diseases

Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma that the many diseases of elephants with no clear cause have their root in what is left of Lohadānava’s influence. These include skin diseases, running wounds, loss of appetite, madness and disorders of the legs. For this reason the medical treatment (gaja-cikitsā) must always go together with the gaja-śānti rite, which works against the asuric part of an elephant’s illness. Medicine alone heals the body. The śānti rite cleans the hidden cause.

The Gaja-śānti teaching

The account leads straight into the Gaja-śānti rite, with which it ends. Pushkara gives the offerings to be made when elephants fall ill without a known cause. They are made to Airāvata, to the eight dik-gajas, to Bhagavān Vishṇu as the supreme protector of the herds of the devas, and to Nandaka himself.

Sources

• Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapters 45–49 (Gaja-cikitsā and the Nandaka–Lohadānava account)