The Elephant and the Crocodile

The sages told the Pandavas of Gajendra, the king of elephants, and of how, in the moment all his great strength failed him, a single cry of surrender to the Lord saved him - the story that has become, for all who hear it, the very picture of helpless souls calling out to God.

Upon a beautiful mountain, in forests thick and green, there lived a mighty bull elephant who was the lord of a great herd. He was enormous and powerful, the strongest of all the elephants, and he roamed his mountain at the head of his herd in pride and contentment, fearing nothing, for there was no creature in those forests that could stand against him. He was called Gajendra, the lord of elephants, and in all his strength and splendor he had never known what it was to be helpless. That was about to change.