Dik-Gajas in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa
The dik-gajas are the elephants of the directions (dik means direction and gaja means elephant). In Purāṇic teaching they stand at the edges of the world and guard its directions. Chapter 7 of the Madhyama Bhāga (middle part) of the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa gives the family line of these divine elephants.
It traces them from Sāma through the four chief dik-gajas, Airāvata, Kumuda, Añjana and Vāmana, who guard the four main directions. The chapter also gives elephants to all eight directions and lists the various elephant clans that fill the space of the universe.
The Ancestral Line
The line of the divine elephants begins with Sāma, the first ancestor of the elephant race. From Sāma came the four chief elephants who were given the task of guarding the four main directions of space. These four, Airāvata, Kumuda, Añjana and Vāmana, are together called the dik-gajas (elephants of the directions). They hold a basic place in the Purāṇic picture of the universe.
The Four Chief Dik-Gajas
Airāvata is the first of the dik-gajas and the divine elephant of Indra. He came out of the samudra-manthana (the churning of the ocean) as one of the fourteen divine treasures, and Indra at once took him as his mount. Airāvata is described as white like a mountain of snow, with four tusks, and able to make rain clouds with his trunk. He guards the east, the direction of the rising sun and the most auspicious of the eight directions.
Kumuda guards the west, the direction of Varuṇa and the setting sun.
Añjana guards the north, the direction of Kubera and the pole star.
Vāmana (not to be confused with the Vāmana avatāra of Vishṇu) guards the south, the direction of Yama.
Guardians of the Eight Directions
Besides the four chief dik-gajas, the Purāṇa gives elephants to all eight directions: the four main directions and the four in-between directions (north-east, south-east, south-west and north-west). These eight elephants together look after the space of the universe and give the frame within which the visible world exists. In temple images and in the Purāṇas, the eight dik-gajas are shown holding up the corners and sides of the structure of the world.
Their Role in the Universe
In the Purāṇas the elephant clans have two roles, one in the structure of the universe and one as a symbol. In the structure of the universe, the dik-gajas truly hold up the directions: they are the living pillars of space. As a symbol, the elephant stands for great power joined with graceful self-control, a being of huge strength that is still perfectly controlled and auspicious in what it does. This makes the elephant the right guardian for the directions: power serving order.
Sources
- Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 7