The above picture is taken from a link my son sent me recently. It reminds me of Gajendra Moksha which happened in a different yuga. Maybe this crocodile , and yet another in a similar incident, were some celestial figures who were cursed by some Rishis for their bad behaviour to remain as crocodiles till Lord Narayana appeared and gave them their original form.
The story goes thus.
Once, Gajendra, the king of elephants was wandering in the forest with his herd. He felt very thirsty all of a sudden. After wandering for some distance the elephant herd came across an inviting pool of water. Gajendra entered the waters to appease his thirst.
A crocodile was lying low in the waters. The elephant was enjoying his drink without being aware of the crocodile .The crocodile, taking advantage of this, caught one foot of the elephant between its teeth and refused to let go, however hard the elephant tried to free himself. Even after a long fight with the crocodile the elephant was not able to free his leg. In despair the elephant called out to Lord Narayana to save him. Lord Narayana came at once flying on His vahanam Garuda. He saved the elephant by killing the crocodile with His discus.
The story goes thus. As soon as the discus touched its body the crocodile got back its original form – that of the gandarva Huhu. He had been cursed by a sage for some misdeed. With the Lord's blessing he went to Heaven. This was what the sage had also said, that the curse would be nullified when Lord Vishnu appeared before him.
The elephant, to show his gratitude, offered Lord Narayana a beautiful, sweet smelling Lotus from the lake.
The elephant, who was king Indrayumna in his previous janmam, had been cursed by a sage for being haughty and proud and that he would be born as an elephant in the next birth, and that he would be free of this curse when Lord Vishnu appeared before him. .
Maybe the two crocodiles in the above mentioned news items are also waiting for their release from their earthly bonds!!
The two links are:
4 comments:
I saw the gajendra moksham clay figurine in a golu. I never knew the story. Thanks for sharing it. hope we get to read more such stories.
Ok so both the creatures were freed?
That is a fantastic photo, and is indeed an exact depiction (with the addition of the baby elephant) of the Gajendra Moksham story.When you can, do read this story I wrote - it has the Gajendra Moksham story in it!
http://kaminidandapani.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/the-bharatanaty.html
Maiji - Congratulations on being featured in The Hindu. You truly deserved it. Happy to see and hear you in the Metroplus Show.
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