Makara and the King of the Elephants

The king of the Elephants was named Gajendera, and he lived with his herd ruling over them and keeping them safe. When the herd went to the river the bathe, Gajendera would stand guard to ensure that none of his people were hurt or caught off-guard as they cooled themselves in the waters of the river.

However, on this occasion, it was Gajendera who feel pray to a creature which some say could have been the Makara as it had the huge jaws of a crocodile, but it was so big that even the King of Elephants was unable to avoid falling victim to its grasp.

As the herd splashed around and cooled themselves, throwing water over themselves with their trunks, the giant crocodile-like creature was disturbed by the activity and attacked, grabbing tight to one of Gajendera’s legs.  

Gajendera was shocked and no matter how much he pulled and fought, he could not shake the creatures grip and was dragged further and further under the water. The King of the Elephants was an experienced warrior but even he could not fight his way out of the creature’s grip and, for once, he felt the tendrils of real fear.

In desperation, he called for help from his herd, but no matter what they did they could not free him from the creature’s grasp. By now, Gajendera was struggling to even keep his trunk above the surface of the water, and he began to succumb to exhaustion.

In one final attempt to get help, he prayed to Lord Vishnu begging for his help. Lord Vishnu heard this prayers and cries for help and rode to Gajendera’s rescue, using his discuss to behead the creature pulling the King of the Elephants to his doom.

The creature was defeated and Gajendera was able to return to protecting his herd thanks to the help of Lord Vishnu.