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One of his names means "the one who knits or binds the clouds" since myth has it that these elephants are capable of producing clouds. The connection of elephants with water and rain is emphasized in the mythology of Indra, who rides the elephant Airavata when he defeats Vritra. It is believed that the elephant guards one of the points of ...
Gajasura, an elephant demon from Hindu mythology; Gajendra, from the Sanskrit text Gajendra Moksha; Girimekhala, the elephant that carries Mara in Theravada Buddhism; Kasogonagá, a Toba deity described as either an elephant or an anteater. Supratika, a name for several elephants in Hindu mythology; Behemoth, a demon depicted as a round-bellied ...
The Hindu epic Mahabharata describes two more elephants by the same name – a mythical elephant that was an incarnation of a sage, and the one that belonged to Bhagadatta, the king of Pragjyotisha. Vinayaki is an elephant-headed Hindu goddess, a Matrika. The goddess is generally associated with the elephant-headed god of wisdom, Ganesha.
To the royal sages, the white elephant signifies royal majesty and authority; they interpreted the dream as meaning that her child was destined for greatness as a universal monarch or a buddha. [ 7 ] Elephants remain an integral part of religion in South Asia and some are even featured in various religious practices. [ 8 ]
The kalasha is believed to contain amrita, the elixir of life, and thus is viewed as a symbol of abundance, wisdom, and immortality. The kalasha is often seen in Hindu iconography as an attribute, in the hands of Hindu deities like the creator god Brahma, the destroyer god Shiva as a teacher, and the goddess of prosperity Lakshmi.
Indra and Sachi riding the five-headed divine elephant Airavata, folio from a Jain text, c. 1670–1680, painting in LACMA museum, originally from Amber, Rajasthan.. In Hindu puranas, the vehicle or mount of god Indra (Sakra in the Buddhist pantheon) is the white elephant named Airāvata, which possesses the ability to fly. [6]
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 Vishnu.
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable lists Maha-pudma and Chukwa are names from a "popular rendition of a Hindu myth in which the tortoise Chukwa supports the elephant Maha-pudma, which in turn supports the world". [14] The spelling Mahapudma originates as a misprint of Mahapadma in Sri Aurobindo's 1921 retelling of a story of the Mahabharata.