Gaja-Vānara Yuddha
Chapter 253 of the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa tells of a great fight between elephants and vānaras (monkeys) over the trees of the first forests. It also tells why elephants no longer fly. In the first age elephants had wings and could fly. Indra cut off all their wings with his vajra (thunderbolt). After this the elephants stayed on the earth, and they were given into the care of King Lomapāda.
The fight in the first forest
In the earliest ages the vānara clans and the herds of elephants both lived in the great forests of the world. They fought hard for the same things, above all the forest trees, which gave food, shelter and land to both.
The vānaras were agile and had divine powers in their nature. The Purāṇa speaks of this in its Gaja Lakshaṇa and Pulaha Vaṃśa sections. They were strong rivals.
But the elephants had one great advantage that the vānaras could not match. They could fly. In that first age elephants had wings (pakshas). They could rise into the air like birds and come down on the treetops and forests from above. Once they held the sky, they could not be driven out.
Indra cuts the wings of the elephants
The matter came to a head. Elephants held both earth and air, and the vānaras could not stand against them. Indra stepped in with his great weapon, the vajra, the divine thunderbolt.
Indra came down and with the vajra cut off the pakshas (wings) of all the elephants. The wings fell, and the elephants were grounded. From that time they have had no power to fly. They became the huge, noble animals of the ground that we know. They keep their great strength and wisdom, but they are bound to the earth.
Lomapāda and the elephants
After the wings were cut and the elephants were grounded, Indra gave them to a king named Lomapāda. Lomapāda was to be their keeper and to have the benefit of them. The elephants were great beings of royal nature, noble wisdom and splendid strength.
In the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, the use of elephants in the service of kings goes back to this moment. Indra had taken away their freedom of flight and set them in the service of human kings under the care of Lomapāda.
Where this chapter stands
This chapter belongs to a group of chapters (248 to 253) on the divine origins of the main groups of animals in the world:
- Pulaha Vaṃśa (Chapter 248): the origin of the vānara clans from the daughters of Pulaha.
- Gaja Lakshaṇa (Chapter 251): the origin of elephants from the cosmic egg of Sūrya, the four jātis (kinds) of elephant, and the eight dik-gajas (elephants of the directions).
- Vānara origin (Chapter 252): Vāli as the son of Indra, and Sugrīva as the son of Sūrya.
- Gaja-Vānara Yuddha (Chapter 253): the fight between these two great kinds of beings, and how it ended.
Sources
- Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 253: Gaja-Vānara Yuddha
- Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 248, 251 and 252: the Pulaha Vaṃśa, the Gaja Lakshaṇa and the origin of the vānaras, as named in the chapter group above