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Re:some thoughts on Gajendra moksha

From the Bhakti List Archives

bindinganavale suresh • September 22, 2000 


Dear Bhagavathas,  
                 I have heard of one more version of
the same.Iam sure you will all enjoy reading the
same:-

The elephant Gajendra and the crocodile were actually 
Gandharvas in their previous birth.Due to a curse one
was born as an elephant and the other a crocodile.Both
the souls were great devotees of Lord narayana as
gandharvas and the devotion continued even in their
rebirth as an animal.
The episode of the crocodile catching the elephant's
leg and isolating it from all help is interpreted as
follows:-

Both Gajendra and the crocodile were contemplating on
the Lord.But as an elephant,Gajendra could express his
devotion vocally and the crocodile had to be content
thinking of the lord only in mind.The crocodile
somehow
wanted to express its devotion to the lord and it
could
find no better person as the elephant devotee Gajendra
and so it caught Gajendra's leg tightly.This can be
symbolised as a seeker clinging on to the feet of his
Guru or a devotee of lord clinging on and serving the
feet of a prappana of the Lord.The cry of help by
Gajendra to the Lord was not for only him but also for
the crocodile as in reality the crocodile was only
expressing his helplessness in samsara through the cry
of Gajendra.Infact the cause for Gajendra's cry for
help to the lord was the crocodile itself.Therefore
when the Lord appeared,he first freed the crocodile
from the bondage of samsara.This symbolises the love
of the lord for his devotee's devotee.

In short the Gajendra moksha episode gives lot of
insight into the nature of prappathi and the quickness
with which it yeilds its result when it is performed
in its true sense.

Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu
B.N.Suresh

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