GAjendra Moksham--A few Questions

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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

Gajendra Moksham-

 

A few Questions

 

Everybody knows the celebrated story of GajEndra Moksham. The

episode has been recounted with relish in Srimad Bhagavata and Sri Vishnudharma,

and sung with elation by Azhwars. It is a story, which we are supposed to

recollect first thing every morning, immediately after waking-up. The morals of

the story are many and continue to inspire us millennia after its enactment. It

is a simple enough tale-that of an elephant who stepped into a pond for slaking

its thirst, to have a bath, and to gather flowers for the Lord's worship, when

its leg was suddenly grasped underwater by a crocodile. Despite a thousand years

of struggle, the elephant could not free itself from the croc's mighty teeth and

appeals to the Lord, who arrives on the scene with His usual expedition and

saves the pachyderm by killing the crocodile. Though the story is simple, it

raises a few important questions, which our elders have thought fit to enlighten

us about.

 

First and foremost, when a whole family of elephants was bathing in the pond,

why did the crocodile seek out and grasp only Gajendra's foot? This seems a

valid question, as Gajendra was surrounded by a bevy of his wives, children and

relatives and for the crocodile to leave everyone and to home in on Gajendra

appears strange indeed.

 

The answer to this lies in a flashback, so to say. Gajendra in his previous

birth was a Pandian King named Indradyumnan, who was an ardent Vishnu-bhakta.

While meditating on the Lord one day, he failed to perceive the arrival of Sage

Agasthya, who mistook the king to be wantonly impervious. The offended sage

cursed the King to be born as an elephant, as only that creature would stay

unaffected and unconcerned by whatever was happening around it

 

We come next to the crocodile, which too was a famed Gandharva in its previous

birth. While engaged in water sport with his family in a pond, he pulled at the

foot of a Maharshi (who was performing sandhyavandanam) from underwater, under

the mistaken impression that it was his wife's foot. The startled Maharshi, who

discovered that it was no crocodile grasping his leg but only the Gandharva

Hoohoo (that was his name!) cursed him with a crocodile's janma. For both the

accursed AtmAs, salvation was to come through their mutual encounter in the

pond. Hence it was but natural that the long arm of fate led the crocodile

unerringly to the leg of the Gajendra, like a torpedo homing in on the hull of a

ship.

 

The second question is equally important. We are told that Gajendra was

battling the crocodile for a thousand long years, with the elephant gaining the

upper hand at times and the crocodile at others. However, as the crocodile was

in its natural element, slowly but inexorably Gajendra found himself being

dragged into the water. This went on for a thousand years, at the end of which

Gajendra appealed to the Lord for succour and was duly saved.

 

The question is, why didn't Gajendra seek the Lord's protection earlier? When

he could do it at the end of a thousand years after fighting a losing battle, he

could have done it pretty early on, avoiding all the pain and wasted effort!

 

We cannot blame the elephant for a failing, which we human beings find

difficult to conquer. We labour under the mistaken notion that it is we who

protect our kith and kin and ourselves. We realise not that it is the Lord who

is the Universal Saviour and Protector, and assume credit where none is due.

Only when we realise that every movement of even our little finger is impossible

without the Lord's will, do the scales fall from our eyes. "aham mat rakshaNa

bhara:...na mama SrIpatErEva":" says Swami Desikan, pointing out that the

responsibility of saving us is the Lord's and that we have absolutely no role in

it, but for praying for succour. We valiantly battle against our numerous foes,

external and internal, for a lifetime, without realising, like Gajendra, that we

are doomed to failure.

 

We also think many a time that our parents, brothers and sisters or other

relatives can save us, without grasping the plain fact that "oru jeevanukku oru

jeevan tanjam allan". One frail mortal cannot afford refuge to another, and

those whom we look up to for rescuing us from this sea of samsara, are

themselves sailing in a leaky boat likely to capsize any moment.

 

Thus Gajendra was confident in the early years of the struggle that his own

strength and the combined muscle power of all his kith and kin could pull him

out of the crocodile's grasping teeth. It was only when the concerted effort

failed to have any effect, that he realised the impossibility of the situation

and decided to appeal to the Omnipotent Lord for succour. And the moment the

pachyderm performed Sharanagati, Emperuman descended from the heavens to save it

from certain death.

 

Gajendra was indeed fortunate in realising the futility of self-protection,

after a relatively short period of a thousand years. For us, who have been

toiling in this samsara for innumerable millions of years, this realisation

seems hard to come by, despite any amount of lessons that the Lord teaches us.

 

We are told that all the time that the devout pachyderm was struggling for his

life and limb, the Lord did not bat an eyelid, till the animal's cry for succour

reached Him. Then He rushed in and saved the elephant. This is funny. If the

Lord indeed has boundless affection for His devotees, should He not rush to

their aid the moment they are in trouble, rather than waiting for a SOS call

from the afflicted person? How can He callously witness all their suffering and

then save them at the very end, like the policemen in cinemas who rush in with a

lot of bravado after the hero has successfully battled with and tied up the

gangsters?

 

The answer to this lies in the following Ahirbudhnya SamhitA sloka:

 

"SarvagyOpi hi VisvEsa: sadA kAruNikOpi san

SamsAra tantra vAhitvAt rAkshA apEkshAm pratIkshatE"

 

Though infinitely powerful, omniscient and merciful, the Lord, in His role as an

impartial Arbiter, waits for a word, just a word from the devotee, seeking

assistance, before rushing to his aid.

 

That the Lord protects only those who apply to Him is further confirmed by the

LakshmI Tantram-

 

"aprArtthitO na gOpAyEt iti tat prArtthanA mati:

GopAyitA bhavEt Evam Goptrutva varaNam smritam"

 

The specific request to the Lord to save us, known as "Goptrutva VaraNam", is

one of the important elements of Sharanagati, without which the Lord protects us

not.

 

Now we come to another interesting question. It is said that when Gajendra's

impassioned plea for succour reached the Lord's ears, He rushed to the

elephant's rescue in a tearing hurry, without even realising that His upper

cloth had fallen off ("aria kulaya nilai kulaya"). The Lord felt dissatisfied

with Garuda's speed and spurred him on so much that the Divine Bird's sides

developed a permanent scar ("tvat anghri sammarddha kiNAnka sObhinA").

 

The question is, having waited a thousand years idly, why was the Lord in a

tearing hurry to save Gajendra? Would an hour or two have made any further

difference?

 

The fact of the matter is that the Lord cannot bear the suffering of a true

devotee for even a second more than necessary. The pain of the thousand years

was necessary to make the elephant understand that one is totally incapable of

saving oneself, and that others too of our race competent for the task. Once the

pachyderm learnt the lesson and appealed to the Lord for succour, Emperuman

could not bear even a second's delay in rushing to the aid of the Sharanagata.

 

Swami Desikan wonders at the constant battle-ready posture of the Lord,

sporting all His weapons all the time, obviously ever ready for the distress

call He might receive from devotees and fully equipped to rush to their aid at a

moment's notice-

 

"PAthu praNata rakshAyAm viLambam asahan iva

sadA panchAyudhI bhibhrat sa na: Sriranga nAyaka:"

 

Another question troubles us at times- having decided to help Gajendra, why did

the Lord personally rush to the scene to do it? Could He not have done it

sitting at Srivaikuntam itself and by merely willing the crocodile dead, thereby

liberating the elephant?

 

Equally, He could have sent His Chakra to attend to the chore. What was the need

for Him to indulge in overkill, as it were, by coming down all the way from His

abode to destroy a mere crocodile?

 

Vaikuntavasi Mukkur Sri LakshmINrsimhachar Swamy used to recount the story of a

rich man who kept asking the aforesaid question and was unsatisfied with all

reasonable answers. To teach him a lesson, his friend came running to him one

day and announced that the man's son had fallen into a well. Dismayed at the

news and in a panic, the rich man dropped whatever he was doing and rushed out

to the well, only to find the news to be false. When he remonstrated with the

friend for having misled him, the friend retorted, " Even though you have a lot

of servants, did you think of sending any of them for rescuing the boy? If this

is the depth of your attachment for your boy, just consider the urgency the

Lord, who is the Universal Father, might have felt for freeing Gajendra!"

 

Stories apart, the fact of the matter is that while the crocodile could have

very well been destroyed by proxy, Gajendra's happiness at the Lord's appearance

on the scene and his joy in feasting his eyes on the divine form, could not have

been achieved without Emperuman's personal presence. One of the important

purposes of the Lord's avataras is "ParithrANAya sAdhUnAm". While mere "thrANam"

or protection can be afforded even without the Lord being present, "ParithrANam"

or comprehensive protection includes affording the devotee the immeasurable

bliss of seeing the Lord, and could not be carried out without Emperuman

materializing in person.

 

The beautiful parable of Gajendra Moksham indicates to us that what the Lord is

concerned about is the depth of love the devotees have for Him, and not their

social, economic or other status. We are told by Sri Tondaradippodi Azhwar that

while exalted souls like Shiva and Brahma languish without a sight of the

Supreme Lord despite unrelenting penance for ages, a mere elephant could make

Him come running to its rescue, by the sheer strength of its devotion-

 

"PeNNulAm sadayinAnum Piramanum unnai kANbAn

eNNilA oozhi oozhi thavam seidAr veLgi nirpa

viNNulAr viyappa vandu Anaikku andru aruLai eenda

KaNNarA! Unnai andro kaLaikaNA karudumArE".

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

 

Dasan, sadagopan.