When elephant Gajendra’s foot was firmly grabbed by a crocodile, the elephant cried out in pain. The Lord came to His rescue at once. When in pain, the elephant must have screamed ‘Aah.’ The Lord took this to be a reference to Him. The first letter in the Tirumantra is ‘a.’ This refers to Lord Narayana’s role as protector. So, when the elephant gave out a loud ‘aah’ in pain, the Lord felt that Gajendra was reminding Him of His role as protector!
As soon as he heard the elephant’s cries, the Lord rushed to save Gajendra. When the Lord arises from His throne, Visvaksena holds His hand and the Lord rises. This is does not mean that He needs anyone’s support or help. This is one of the ways in which respect is shown to the Lord by Visvaksena. But when He wanted to save Gajendra, He did not wait for such formalities, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. He mounted Garuda and took off at great speed. Parasara Bhatta, in his Sri Rangarajastava, says that he salutes the Lord’s speed! One of the names of the Lord in the Sahasranama is Sisirah, which means the One who moves speedily to help those in distress.
When He reached the spot where Gajendra was, and had saved him, the Lord consoled Gajendra and felt sorry that He had been far away when His devotee was in distress. The name dakshiNah in the Sahasranama indicates this. The name vidvattamah means that He knew how to treat the elephant’s injuries. Veetabhayah shows that His very speed rid the elephant of its fear.
Lord’s avatara shows the meaning of the word avatara. It does not just mean His descent in a physical form. It shows that He does not hesitate to descend to our level. Disregarding His greatness, He is by our side, to comfort and help us.