A Pantheon of the Faithful

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit two beautiful Chola-era temples by the banks of the river Kaveri in Tamil Nadu. The legends behind these temples got me thinking and reflecting about the truly faithful. The first of these two temples is dedicated to Mahavishnu and is one of the 108 Divya Desams (glorified Vaishnavite spots). It extols Bhagwan Vishnu as Gajendra Varadar, the one who blessed Gajendra. It also happens to be one of my favourite stories from the Bhagavatam.King Indrajuman, though a great devotee of Vishnu, is cursed to be born as an elephant because he is perceived to have slighted Sage Durvasa. The sage, later realising the king’s innocence, blesses him that Vishnu himself will liberate the former from his elephant form. So, Gajendra, the elephant, is born on earth and lives with a herd. While bathing in a pond in the forest, a crocodile regularly bothers the herd. One such day, the crocodile catches Gajendra’s foot, who wails in pain. After much effort to pull away, Gajendra, in agony, prays to Vishnu. He plucks a lotus from the pond and offers it skyward, calling on Vishnu. ‘Govinda, Adimula, Padmanabha, Rishikesha, save me!’ Swiftly comes Mahavishnu, atop Garuda, and releases the Sudarshana Chakra, severing the head of the crocodile. Bhagwan blesses and liberates Gajendra, much to the king’s relief and delight. But here’s the kicker! The crocodile, too, gets moksha, having died at the hands of Sri Narayana. The crocodile was a gandharva, Kuhu, who was cursed to be in that form. The second temple is one of the panchabhuta sthalas for Lord Shiva in Tamil Nadu. This is dedicated to the water element, and it is believed that the Lord was worshipped by Parvati here under a jambu tree, and hence, his name as Jambukeswara. Another legend says that the Shivalinga manifested in the land of Jambu Maharishi, and hence the name. Either way, the stone reliefs on the temple show Parvati Devi and the sage worshipping Bhagwan beneath a black plum tree. But that’s not the legend I am drawn to.It is said that two of Shiva’s devotees, Malyavan and Pushpadanta, were engaged in a fight about who was the greater devotee. And in a fit, Malyavan curses Pushpadanta to become an elephant, and Pushpadanta, in turn, curses Malyavan to become a spider. Yet their devotion never ceases. Pushpadanta carries the water of Kaveri and showers it on the Lord through his trunk every day. He places flowers atop the Shivalinga with much devotion. Malyavan, in his manner of offering, builds a web every day to protect the Shivalinga from the sun and dust. One day, while Pushapadanta showers water over Shiva, he destroys Malyavan’s web. The spider, in absolute rage, climbs up the snout and bites the elephant’s trunk. Just as the elephant is about to collapse and die, Shiva comes in his real form and liberates both of them. So, along with Parvati Devi and Jambu Maharishi, the temple reliefs depict an elephant and a spider too..Though these two temples are just two amongst many, the legends of our gods liberating their devotees, who are in various forms, animals especially, give me a lot of hope.Humans are indeed the only species capable of ‘thoughtful’ or ‘intentional’ action. Animals, birds and every other organism act out of instinct. They have no concept of creating new karma. They are born only to exhaust the consequences of past deeds. Yet, the Lord accepts them and blesses them.I also feel moved to think that our scriptures have a place for every kind of devotee, irrespective of the nature of their birth. Some are born in lowly homes, some indulge in heinous acts, some are ignorant of the world’s ways, some are noble, some are widowed, some are rebellious, some defy every social structure there is—yet, all of them have a place in the Lord’s abode. Who would think that a crocodile, a spider, an elephant and in other cases, a rooster, a snake, a fish, all have devotion in some form?And if this is not proof enough, what is stopping us from being steadfast in our faith? The only prerequisite for our liberation is that we are truly, wholly and unconditionally faithful.

A Pantheon of the Faithful

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