Who does not love elephants? It is impossible to believe that any one of us does not respect elephants. India’s image for a long time was that elephants were walking on the streets. When I was growing up and until twenty odd years ago, we would see elephants walking on the roads. One would see them most often on a Wednesday, which happens to be the day one prays to Ganesha.
I remember that I would tell my colleagues that everything would be all right if we saw an elephant on the road. I run an NGO and sometimes we would go through hard times. And then we would see an elephant, and we would get our funding. My promise was that if we saw an elephant and our request was granted, we would feed an elephant. Feeding an elephant is a joyful experience. An elephant can eat a whole load of bananas, twelve dozen is what we thought would be enough, but 144 bananas were enough were only one elephant.
Lakshmi
The elephant and the Gods
The elephant was looked upon as a symbol of power. There are images of Lakshmi, flanked by elephants, who pour water on her as sits on a lotus. In Buddhist mythology, Buddha tamed a wild elephant, who was ordered to kill him. Krishna killed the royal elephant of Kamsa, who was sent to block his path. Shiva is called Gajantaka, who is depicted as dancing on the head of the elephant demon, Gajasura. He flayed its skin while he was alive and then draped the elephant hide around himself.
Buddha with Nalagiri
Gajantaka
Elephants were used by Kings in battles. There is a story about Dayanara man who could trap elephants with his music. A king decided to make Udayana his captive. His soldiers hid in a wooden elephant and then they managed to get close to Udayana and they captured him.
Indra with Airavarta
Indra the god of the heavens rode a white elephant with multiple trunks and multiple tusks. His elephant came out when the churning of the ocean took place. The name of this elephant was Airavarta is mentioned in the Puranas that these white elephants were called Diggaja or the elephants of the directions and they hold up the sky.
What have we done
Ganesha the much-loved God, was revived by the head of Airavata, the white elephant. The elephants are such an extraordinary animal. They are considered wise and loving. Children love them. They were and are still used to carry tree trunks in forests where access is difficult. However, we have tried to destroy them for their bones and ivory.
It is a sorry state of affairs that we have forgotten to love and respect these pachyderms.
Aim Hrim Klim
Lakshmi by Ankushsamant – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Buddha by Unknown author – Picture of a painting in a Laotian Temple, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Gajantaka (Shiva) by Ms Sarah Welch – Own work, CC0, Link
Indra by unknown from Tiruchchirappalli (made) – https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O41612/painting-indra-the-god-of-storms/, Public Domain, Link