Below is the translation to Veda Paati's story, narrated in tamil, available in below platforms:
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Did I call you, “Oh Adhi moola (primeval source )” like the king of elephants
Swami RAmAnujA said gently, “Oh Child! What a beautiful story it was about that simple minded devotee Kuruvanambi? Each of your stories highlights a different kind of devotion from different devotees. Who is it about next?” The child began narrating the story of the mighty Gajendra!
This is a story that teaches all of us that if any living being, be it human or animal, calls out to Perumal for help in desperation, the Lord would waste no time in hopping on the back of the majestic Garuda, flying at top speed to save His devotee immediately!
There once lived a great Vishnu devotee, a Pandya King called Indradyumna. He was a very devout person who would not do anything unless he had completed his daily prayers. One such day, when he was deep in prayer, Sage Agasthya had visited him with his disciples. The King did not notice his visitors as he was completely engrossed in the thoughts of the Lord. Sage Agasthya mistook his silence as an action due to arrogance and cursed him. Indradyumna, as a result of the curse, became an elephant.
Indradyumna wandered in the forests of the Vindhya Mountains. Despite his condition, he never lost faith in the Lord. He would always pick flowers from the nearby ponds to offer to the Lord. The other elephants in the region were enthralled by the new elephant’s divinity and accepted him as their King, naming him Gajendra!
Meanwhile, there lived a crocodile in the river Poigai, in the Vindhya Mountains. This crocodile was a Gandharva called Huhu in his previous birth. In his previous birth, Huhu was one day playing in the river when one sage called Devala was performing tough penance standing on one leg. Huhu playfully pulled the leg of Devala. The enraged saint cursed Huhu to become a crocodile in his next birth.
Coming back to our story, Gajendra once saw a beautiful lotus in the river Poigai. He wanted to offer this to His Lord and excitedly walked into the river towards the flower.
All of a sudden, this cursed crocodile caught hold of Gajendra’s leg with his jaws. The panicked Gajendra tried to pull his leg out but to no avail. All the other elephants too tried to pull their King out of the grasp of the crocodile, but all efforts were futile. This struggle went on for several years. Poor Gajendra had lost all strength and hope.
Finally, Gajendra remembered his Lord. He grabbed a lotus flower in his trunk and pointing it towards the sky, let out a loud trumpet, “Adhimoolame (O Primary-Cause Lord)!”. The sound of this divine name reverberated so loud that all the Devas were alerted.
The Lord who was lying on His Adhiseshan, got up in a rush and summoned for Garudan. Flying as fast as he could, Garudan carried the Lord hastily to Gajendra. Perumal’s Sudarshana chakra instantly killed the crocodile and freed the elephant!
Perumal rushed to the aid of Gajendra whose leg was badly injured and bleeding. The Lord nursed it and relieved the pain of Gajendra. An emotional Gajendra had tears running down from his eyes, seeing the affection of Perumal towards His devotees.
All the devas witnessed this astounding event from the Devaloka! As soon as He was called “Adhimoolam”, the one and only reason and source of all living beings in the three worlds, the Lord rushed to the devotee’s side.
“Gajendra had such strong faith that if he called upon his Lord, He would come immediately to help him. I do not possess such faith. Why then should I be in this divya desam?” questioned Thirukolur Pen Pillai sadly.
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