Gajendra Moksham

 Gajendra Moksham is referred to repeatedly in various krithis by different composers. It can be referred to in different ways as " You who saved the elephant" , You who liberated even an elephant" etc etc. but the underlying story is the same. What is the story?

There was a king called Indradhyumna...noble and wise and a devotee of Vishnu. Once Sage Agasthya came to see him. The king did not get up. Agasthya was offended and cursed that he would be reborn as an elephant.  And so Indradhyumna was reborn as the elephant, Gajendra.

Similarly there was a Gandharva called Huhu who was a slight comedienne and like playing pranks. Once when a Sage was doing his ablutions in the river, Huhu dived into the water and grabbed the sage's legs like a crocodile. And Huhu the Gandarva was cursed that he would be reborn as a crocodile.

Now even as an elephant, Gajendra was noble and wise and a staunch devotee   of Vishnu. Once when he went into the river to drink water, Huhu the Gandarva who was now a crocodile grabbed his legs and kept pulling him into the water. As Gajendra was drowning, he kept pulling lotus flowers and throwing to the skies as an offering for Vishnu. Now Vishnu  never forsakes his devotees. He came with his Sudarshan Chakra and killed the crocodile. Of course if you are killed by Vishnu you get instant Moksham and both Gajendra and the crocodile were liberated from rebirth by Vishnu. And that is the story of Gajendra Moksham.

A little update from my friend and batchmate V Ramabhadran.

He tells me that the curse which Indhradhyumna got was itself a blessing since the King had some tamasic vasanas and the elephant body was best for exhausting them. He exhausted those vasanas and got Moksha in that birth. According to him the crocodile got back his Gandharva body and did not attain Moksha in that life. In that sense, his version differs from Prince Varma's version. I am sure there are other versions out there too. 

Story Courtesy: Prince Aswathy Thirunal Rama Varma ( from one of his Youtube videos)