A good ruler who is a
big devotee (bhakta) of the deity Vishnu in Hindu mythology.
The sage Agastya, enraged that the monarch, deep in
concentration, fails to meet the sage with customary reverence, has cursed him
to become a gigantic elephant.
Agastya declares that the curse will be lifted when Vishnu
touches the elephant on the back after much begging.
As a consequence of the curse, Indradyumna spends many years
roaming the globe as an elephant.
His hind limb gets kidnapped by a big crocodile one time as
he is drinking at a lake.
The crocodile is really Huhu, a gandharva or heavenly
musician condemned to become a crocodile by another sage.
The elephant is unable to break free, and the crocodile is
unable to defeat the elephant after a thousand years of fighting.
Finally, Vishnu arrives, kills the crocodile, and transforms
Indradyumna back into his former self.
Gajendramoksha, or "liberation of the elephant
king," refers to Indradyumna's escape from both the curse and the
crocodile.
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