THE EPISODES OF KALA & HASTI

As these two - Kala-serpent and Hasti-elephant merged with the Lord concurrently, it becomes expediment to narrate the stories together for better rapport.

Regarding Kala - the serpent, it was a brahmin in previous birth. And was an ardent devotee at it. He lived in the Himalayas and mastered the ancient Sanskrit lore to the envy of his caste people. One day he chanced to see a Gandharva worshipping the Sivalinga with gems. On enquiry, he learnt that worshipping the Lord with gems ensures Sayujya mukti, the highest of similar ones, like Salokya - living in the same place of the Lord, Sarupya - having the same form of the Lord; Sannidhya - living in the proximity of the Lord. As Sayujya alone releases one from the vicious circle of births and deaths by merging in the Lord, he wanted it and so prayed for the life of a serpent at the time of death that alone procures as many gems as possible from the sea - the source of all kinds of gems. 

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