InFacts about India-04 August 2022

🇮🇳 FACTS ABOUT INDIA🇮🇳
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Udai Singh II (4 August 1522 – 28 February 1572) was the Maharana of Mewar and the founder of the city of Udaipur in the present day Rajasthan state of India.
He was the 53rd ruler of the Mewar dynasty.
He was the fourth son of Maharana Sangram Singh (Rana Sanga) and Rani Karnavati, a princess of Bundi.

VEDIK GYAN:

*Gajendra Moksha* : According to the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa*

It is one of the famous exploits of the god Vishnu. In this episode, Vishnu came down to earth to protect Gajendra, the elephant, from the clutches of a Crocodile, alternatively known as Makara or Huhu, and with Vishnu’s help, Gajendra achieved moksha, or liberation from cycle of birth and death.

There was once an elephant named Gajendra who lived in a garden called Ṛtumat which was created by Varuna. This garden was located on Mount Trikuta, the “Three-Peaked Mountain.” Gajendra ruled over all the other elephants in the herd. One day as usual he went to the lake near by to pick lotus flowers to offer prayer to Lord Vishnu. Suddenly, a crocodile living in the lake attacked Gajendra and caught him by the leg. Gajendra tried for a long time to escape from the crocodile’s clutches. All his family members, relatives and friends gathered around to help him, but in vain. The crocodile simply would not let go. When they realised that ‘death’ had come close to Gajendra, they left him alone. He trumpeted in pain and helplessness until he was hoarse. As the struggle was seemingly endless and when he had spent his last drop of energy, Gajendra called to the god Vishnu to save him, holding a lotus up in the air as an offering.

Hearing his devotee’s call and prayer, Vishnu rushed to the scene. As Gajendra sighted the god coming, he lifted a lotus with his trunk. Seeing this, Vishnu was pleased and with his Sudharshana Chakra, he decapitated the crocodile. Gajendra prostrated himself before the god. Vishnu informed Gajendra that he, in one of his previous births, had been the celebrated King Indradyumna, a devotee of Vishnu, but due to his disrespect to the great Sage Agastya, he had been cursed to be reborn as an elephant. The prayer made by Gajendra on this occasion became a famous hymn in praise of Vishnu called the Gajendra Stuti .

*शुक्लांबरधरं विष्णुं शशि वर्णं चतुर्भुजं ।*
*प्रसन्न वदनं ध्यायेत सर्व विघ्नोपशान्तये॥*

This story was narrated by Shuka to King Parikshit.

LEARN Sanskrit
*वैषम्य* : Distress