Gajendra Moksha (Vāmana Purāṇa)
Gajendra Moksha · gaja-indra moksha, “the release of the king of elephants”
Vajra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vajra.
Gajendra Moksha, the release of the king of elephants, is told in Chapter 58 of the Vāmana Purāṇa. Pulastya Maharshi tells it to Nārada as the first of the stotras that the great devotee Prahlāda chanted with śraddhā. On Mount Trikūṭa, the son of Meru, which rose out of the ocean of milk, lies a lake of golden lotuses. There a makara, hidden in the water, seized the mighty leader of an elephant herd as he played after drinking, and dragged him in. As his strength ebbed, Gajendra, through the bhakti to Nārāyaṇa’s feet he had practised in former births, took refuge in Hari and, holding a golden lotus in his trunk, praised Keśava. Bhagavān Vishṇu came swiftly on Garuḍa, drew both the elephant and the makara out of the lake, and cut the makara’s throat with his cakra. The makara was the gandharva Hūhū, who had taken that form by the śāpa of Devala; slain by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, he was freed and went to svarga. At the touch of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s hand Gajendra took a divine body. Madhusūdana gave the varas of remembering this account, the devas bowed, and Brahmā declared its phalaśruti: whoever hears it at dawn gains the highest siddhi, and his bad dreams are destroyed.
Nārada’s question
Nārada asked Pulastya Maharshi: “Brahmarshi, tell me the four stotras, beginning with Gajendra-mokshaṇa, that the supreme bhakta Prahlāda chanted with śraddhā.” Pulastya answered: “Tapodhana, first hear the account of Gajendra-mokshaṇa. By chanting it, hearing it or remembering it, bad dreams are destroyed. After that I shall tell you the Sārasvata and the Pāpa-praśamana stotras.”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
Mount Trikūṭa
There is a splendid mountain named Trikūṭa, full of every kind of gem. It is the son of Mount Meru, which shines with the light of the sun, and hosts of devarshis serve it. It rose out of the Kshīra Sāgara, the ocean of milk, and the waves of that ocean keep washing its smooth rocks. Murmuring with many streams, it is the home of gandharvas, kinnaras, apsarās, siddhas, cāraṇas, pannagas and vidyādharas with their wives, and the playground of tapasvins who have conquered their senses. Wolves and great elephants roam on it.
Its trees grow tall and are a feast to the eyes: punnāga, karṇikāra, bilva, āmalaka, pāṭala, mango, kaḍimi, kadamba, sandal, aguru, campaka, śāla, tāla, tamāla, sarala, arjuna, parpaṭa and many others. It shines with three peaks, with waterfalls streaming from summits made of many minerals, and it rings with deer, vānaras, lions, elephants in rut and other beasts of prey, and with the cries of cakora birds and peacocks.
- The first peak is made of gold. It is the abode of Divākara, the Sun, full of flowers spreading their fragrance.
- The second peak is made of silver. It is the abode of Candra, the Moon, lovely like a mass of white clouds or layers of mist.
- The third peak lights up the directions with the radiance of sapphire, diamond and cat’s-eye. It is the dwelling of Brahmā and the best of all. The ungrateful, the cruel, the nāstikas and the pāpīs who have done no tapas cannot see it.
On the top of the mountain is a lovely lake full of golden lotuses, sweet with the calls of water-cranes, royal swans and water-fowl. Water-lilies, blue lotuses, kalhāras, white lotuses and hundred-petalled lotuses bloom in it, all with a golden lustre, and the lotus leaves spread on every side like emeralds. Thick clumps of bamboo grow around it.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
The makara seizes Gajendra
In that beautiful lake lay a fearsome crocodile, like death to the elephants, hidden in the water with half-closed eyes, lying in wait. Once the leader of an elephant herd came there. His face shone with the gleam of his white tusks; mada streamed from his temples and filled the mountain with its scent. Thirsty, he walked like a mountain of collyrium, outdoing even Airāvata. With eyes rolling with mada he went eagerly down into the lake to drink.
When he had drunk, as the lord of the elephants sported in the lotus pool, the cruel water-beast, lurking unseen, seized him tight in its fangs. The she-elephants of his herd, standing beside the lake, could do nothing; they stood watching and crying out. The crocodile held the elephant’s leg and dragged him into the lake. Caught in that strong noose of the waters, he could not even try to free himself, and in his helplessness he stood still. Bound by that terrible hold, Gajendra trumpeted with all his strength and cried aloud.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
Gajendra takes refuge in Hari
Little by little his strength and his zeal failed, and unable to bear the dreadful calamity and the pain, he remembered Hari with all his heart. In former births he had practised bhakti to the lotus feet of Nārāyaṇa. Through the ripening of the puṇya of those past saṃskāras, that best of elephants, his inner mind wholly pure, fixed all his senses on Garuḍadhvaja, he whose banner bears Garuḍa, and with unwavering faith took refuge in him.
With undivided mind, holding a golden lotus at the tip of his trunk, in a humble and failing voice, he praised Keśava for his release from bondage: the bearer of the śaṅkha white as the foam of churned amṛta, of the cakra and the gadā; Keśava; the unborn one, shining with a thousand auspicious names; the leader of all the worlds. The words of Gajendra‘s stotra are not printed in the source.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
Bhagavān Vishṇu comes on Garuḍa
Vishṇu Deva, holder of the śaṅkha, cakra and gadā, whose coming is never in vain, was pleased with Gajendra‘s bhakti and made himself present at that lake. The support of the worlds, the great treasure of tapas, whose vāhana is the divine Garuḍa, came with great speed. He drew both the elephant and the crocodile out of the lake and cast them on the bank, and with his cakra he cut the makara’s throat. So he gave release from bondage to the lord of elephants who had taken refuge in him.
The makara was the gandharva named Hūhū, who had become a makara by the śāpa of Devala. Slain by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, he was freed from the śāpa and went to svarga. Gajendra too, by the touch of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s hand, took a divine body. So both the elephant and the gandharva were freed from their calamities and became muktas, and both worshipped Puṇḍarīkāksha, the lotus-eyed one.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
Madhusūdana’s varas
Then Madhusūdana, who loves those who take refuge in him, the great yogī, looked at Gajendra and spoke:
“Those who, with a pure inner mind and a steady intellect, praise you, me, this lake, the shrubs, the hollow bamboos and the reṇus here, this mountain peak that is the son of Meru, the slaying of the makara, the aśvattha tree, Bhāskara, Gaṅgā and Naimishāraṇya, and who, pure and with bhakti, hear this sacred account, their bad dreams are destroyed and good dreams come to them.
“Those men who wake at dawn every day and, with a collected mind, remember the avatāras Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Vāmana, Garuḍa and Nārasiṃha and their deeds, and Nāgendra, the cause of creation and dissolution, are freed from all pāpas and go to the worlds of puṇya.”
Having given these varas, Hṛshīkeśa, whose banner bears Garuḍa, stroked the elephant and the makara with his own hand. Gajendra, in his divine body, took refuge at the feet of Madhusūdana, and Śrī Nārāyaṇa Deva granted that king of elephants, wholly devoted to him, release not only from the makara but also from his pāpas. Then Bhagavān Vishṇu, of wondrous deeds, withdrew, while ṛshis, devas, gandharvas and yakshas praised him.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
The phalaśruti
Having beheld the release of Gajendra by Śrī Hari, whose ways are hard to know, the devas headed by Indra bowed with joined palms to him who loves his bhaktas, and the maharshis and cāraṇas, thrilled with wonder, sang his praise. Seeing the wondrous deed of Cakrapāṇi, the four-faced Brahmā, chief of the prajāpatis, said: “Those men who rise at dawn and hear this account of Gajendra-mokshaṇa every day obtain the highest siddhi, and their bad dreams are destroyed.”
The account of the release of the king of elephants is supremely sacred and gives puṇya. Whether one reads it, remembers it or hears it, all pāpas are destroyed in that very moment. This purifying account of Murāri is always worthy to be sung. Whoever reads it is freed from every bond of pāpa, just as the king of elephants was freed.
Namaskāra to Śrīvallabha, the beloved of Śrī: the unconquered, the most excellent, Padmanābha, Nārāyaṇa, the treasure of Brahman, the lord of the devas, the ancient Purusha, the lord of the worlds.
“Nārada,” said Pulastya Maharshi, “I have told you the stava made by Gajendra, the foremost of the stotras you asked for. By singing it, hearing it and remembering it, a man is freed from pāpa.”
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58