42. mUlam enRu azhaiththEnO gajarAjanaip pOlE

In the eighth skandam of Bhagavata Puranam, the story of Gajendra the elephant, is written. In the Trikuta mountains, there was a beautiful lotus pond owned by varuna. One day, a herd of elephants led bt Gajendra and his consorts came there. They entered the pond, took a bath and played around. At that time, a crocodile caught the foot of Gajendra. Gajendra fought with all his strength but could not free himself. Later the other elephants too tried to help him but could not. The battle lasted for many years. Eventually, the elephant lost his strength and realized death was imminent. At that time, he also realized that neither could he save himself nor could he trust other beings like him and that the only true refuge was Sriman Narayana. He surrendered to the Lord and called out to the supreme "namo namaste akhila kAraNAya niShkAraNAya adhbuta kAraNAya ..."; the one who is the source of all (AdimUla).

Hearing this plea, all devatas stepped aside, whereas Sriman Narayana got on His Garuda and flew to the pond. There, He used His Sudarshana Chakra and cut the head of the crocodile, freed the elephant and protected him. He then personally accepted the flower that the elephant had plucked from the pond for Him.

Gajendra was a king called Indradyumna and the crocodile was a Gandharva called Hoohoo in their earlier births. Due to a curse, they were born as animals, and now both were freed from their curse. The both praised Sriman Narayana.

This event has been praised greatly by Azhvars and Acharyas in their works.

Thirukkolur Ammal is asking "Did I cry out to the supreme who is the cause for everything and attain His grace like Gajendra did?"