Once there was an elephant named Gajendra. He was the king of a huge herd of elephants and he had thousands of queen elephants with whom he used to bathe and play in a huge lake. Gajendra was proud about his status and on a summer day he was arrogantly bathing in the lake with his friends. Suddenly a crocodile from below caught him by the foot and tried to pull him to the bottom of the lake.
Gajendra fought hard to get rid of the crocodile but the battle continued for a thousand years. In the meantime, all his friends and queens deserted him.
Finally realization dawned on an exhausted Gajendra and he prayed to Lord Vishnu. Soon Lord Vishnu appeared before him and on seeing the Lord, Gajendra plucked a lotus with great effort and offered to him and said ‘Narayana, Preceptor of all, Bhagavan; I bow down to you.” Gajendra was instantly released from the grip of the crocodile.
