The Devotee’s Background
Once, in the heavenly garden of Trikūṭa Mountain, there ruled a majestic elephant king named Gajendra. Surrounded by his herd, he lived in grandeur, bathing in crystal lakes and enjoying the beauty of divine nature.
Yet, beneath his royal pride lay a spark of devotion. In a previous life, he had been a pious king named Indradyumna, who worshiped Lord Viṣṇu but was once cursed by a sage to be born as an elephant due to momentary pride.
Even so, his heart retained a trace of divine remembrance.
Thus, the Lord had arranged this new form to awaken in him the humility that leads to ultimate liberation.
The Battle in the Lake
One day, Gajendra and his herd entered a large lake to bathe. The clear water shimmered in sunlight, filled with lotus flowers and gentle ripples.
As the elephants played joyfully, a powerful crocodile living in that lake caught hold of Gajendra’s leg with its jaws.
Startled, Gajendra tried to pull away, but the creature’s grip only tightened. The water churned, the sky echoed with roars, and the other elephants fled in terror.
For a thousand years (by the measure of the gods), they struggled — the crocodile gaining strength in its watery home, and Gajendra, weary and helpless, losing his power.
Finally, exhausted and near death, Gajendra realized that worldly strength, pride, and companions could no longer save him.
The Awakening of Faith
At that moment of utter helplessness, something ancient stirred within his heart — a memory of the Lord.
The words of prayer he had learned in his previous life as King Indradyumna surfaced again.
Raising his trunk to the sky, he cried out:
“O Supreme Lord, the cause of all causes, I take shelter of You!
I have sought safety in my strength, my herd, and my power — but now I know that only You are my true refuge.”
He plucked a lotus flower from the lake with his trunk and offered it up, trembling with devotion.
This humble act, born from desperation and faith, pierced the veil of material illusion and reached directly to the heart of Lord Viṣṇu.
The Lord’s Descent
Hearing the cry of His devotee, Lord Viṣṇu at once rose from His eternal abode Vaikuṇṭha.
Seated on Garuḍa, holding His Sudarśana discus and conch, He descended like a flash of lightning.
Seeing the Lord’s radiant form approaching, Gajendra’s eyes filled with tears of relief and awe.
Before he could even speak, the Lord leapt from Garuḍa, raised His Sudarśana chakra, and with one swift motion cut the crocodile to pieces.
As soon as the crocodile was struck, he too regained his original celestial form — a Gandharva named Huḥhu, who had been cursed to become a crocodile for mocking a sage. Bowing to the Lord, he thanked Him and ascended to heaven.
Gajendra, freed from pain, fell at the Lord’s lotus feet. Tears poured from his eyes as he said, “My Lord, You have saved me not only from the crocodile, but from the greater crocodile of pride and illusion.”
The Lord smiled and said, “You have remembered Me in helplessness. From this day, you shall reside in My abode, free from all fear.”
Then, placing His hand upon Gajendra’s head, He carried his soul to Vaikuṇṭha.
The Law of Divine Attraction
The sages who witnessed this event proclaimed:
“Even an elephant, when calling the Lord with sincerity, can reach Him faster than the proudest scholar lost in logic.”
The Lord does not measure one’s devotion by birth, form, or intellect — He is drawn only to the cry of the heart.
Gajendra had once forgotten the Lord, but the Lord had never forgotten him. The moment Gajendra surrendered, that forgotten bond reawakened like an eternal magnet pulling the soul back to its source.
Reflection
The story of Gajendra reveals that helplessness before God is the highest strength.
When pride is crushed and the soul surrenders completely, divine mercy flows without obstruction.
As Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura wrote:
“When I fall at Your feet with no other shelter, then You lift me up, O Lord of mercy.”
This is the law of spiritual gravitation: just as a stone falls to earth by gravity, the soul falls toward God when stripped of all ego and self-reliance.
Every struggle, every loss of control, is secretly an invitation from the Lord to remember Him — as Gajendra did.
Source
Source: “Experiences in Bhakti: The Science Celestial,” by O. B. L. Kapoor — Chapter Three: Verification of the Law of Gravitation (place: Trikūṭa Mountain, celestial realms).
