Om Gana Dhakshaya Namah
Lord of All the Gods (Ganas)
High, high up in the magnificent Himalayas, on the snow-capped peak of Mount Kailash, is the home of the brave, strong and handsome Lord Shiva and his very beautiful, kind and caring wife Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati loved each other very much. They were blissfully happy together. Lord Shiva taught Goddess Parvati many things and she loved to listen to him and be his constant and devoted companion.
However, Lord Shiva, the protector of all that’s good and just was a very busy god. He would often have to leave the picturesque and peaceful Mount Kailash to fight battles against all the evil demons and bad monsters who were troubling the good people on earth and the gods in the heavens.
Lord Shiva always protects those who are kind, good and pure. Everyone even the gods pray to Lord Shiva whenever they are being troubled by anything bad and evil. Lord Shiva is so kind-hearted that he will never ever refuse to help.
Since everyone was always asking for some help from Lord Shiva, he would often have to go to battle and be away from his home for many days, months and sometimes even years. It was at these times that Goddess Parvati felt very alone. She loved Lord Shiva dearly and knew it was his duty to protect all that was good in the universe. However, whenever her husband went off to battle, Goddess Parvati felt very lonely and bored. For her the hours, days and months dragged very slowly when her husband was not with her.
One day after her bath with fragrant sandal wood and milk, a little of the sandal wood paste was left over in the golden bowl beside her. The beautiful goddess, to relieve her boredom, began playing with the sandalwood paste. She started to make a small doll for herself. When she completed it she was so happy with the tiny doll that she had made that she decided to use her magical powers to make that tiny, adorable doll come to life. She whirled her hand over the doll and hey presto in less than a moment the goddess had breathed life into the sandalwood paste doll. With just a touch the beautiful doll was now a gorgeous, smiling, happy, baby boy that she held lovingly in her arms. She named him Ganesha.
Ganesha was a handsome boy who grew up to be kind, caring and loving just like his mother the Goddess Parvati. Ganesha was a very obedient child and never disobeyed his mother. He loved his mother so very much that he would do anything she asked of him and always with a cheerful smile on his face. The little baby Ganesha grew up to be extremely strong and brave too. Goddess Parvati was very happy now that she had Ganesha for company. She would bathe him, dress him, teach him, tell him stories and play games with him. Goddess Parvati no longer felt bored or lonely.
One day when Goddess Parvati wanted to go for her bath, she asked her little son Ganesha to stand guard at the doorway to make sure no one entered while she was bathing. Ganesha always obedient, immediately stood outside guarding the entrance, with full attention, to make sure that absolutely no one disturbed his mother while she bathed.
Just at this time Lord Shiva returned home to Mount Kailash after years of battle and after defeating all the bad demons. Lord Shiva was over joyed to be coming home to his beautiful wife and was in a tearing hurry to see her. He rushed up the slopes of the mighty Himalayas and in minutes he was at his home in Mount Kailash.
To his surprise Lord Shiva saw a handsome, little boy standing guard outside the doorway. Lord Shiva did not know who the child was as the Goddess Parvati had created Ganesha when Lord Shiva was away fighting battles. But all the same Lord Shiva was intrigued by this little child who stood outside bravely guarding the door against all intruders.
Lord Shiva, smiled at the boy and walked right passed him to enter the house. But little Ganesha looked sternly at Lord Shiva and said, “Sir you cannot enter this door.”
Lord Shiva was taken aback. He could not fathom how this tiny, chit of a boy could have the audacity to try and stop him - the mighty and valiant Lord Shiva. He looked at the boy and said, “I am Shiva. You cannot stop me.”
Ganesha had been ordered by his mother not to allow anyone in. So he stood his ground and said politely, “You cannot enter no matter who you are.”
Lord Shiva, who is famous for his short temper, was slowly getting really irritated by this boy who was preventing him from entering his own home and keeping him away from seeing his lovely wife who he had not seen for so many years.
The mighty Lord Shiva strode past Ganesha pushing the little boy to one side. Ganesha was not one to give up. Determined to protect his mother he jumped in front of Lord Shiva. Spreading his hands and legs wide apart he blocked Lord Shiva’s entry.
Lord Shiva now really angry roared, “This is my house. Who are you to stop me?”
Little Ganesha stood his ground and still totally unafraid replied, “My mother has told me to guard the door. Till she comes out I will not let anyone enter. I will not disobey my mother. Do what you will. I cannot allow you to enter.”
This was just the last straw. Lord Shiva was unable to control his short temper for even a moment longer. Angrily he pulled out his sword from the scabbard tied at his waist and chopped off Ganesha’s head.
Just at that moment Parvati who had finished her bath came out dressed, looking absolutely exquisite. But instead of rushing to greet her husband Parvati seeing her beloved son lying headless at the doorway screamed in horror and broke down in tears. The Goddess sobbed inconsolably.
Lord Shiva was surprised by her outburst. He tried to come near her to pacify her. The goddess turned to him, anger blazing in her eyes and screamed, “What have you done? You have killed my darling son. Bring him back to me NOW.”
She was beside herself with rage. Holding the lifeless body of her beloved son she turned to her husband and said, “For killing my son I will now destroy the whole universe.
Lord shiva could not allow the whole universe to be destroyed. He had never seen his wife so angry before. He realised that because of his short temper he had made a terrible mistake. Seeing his wife so upset he knew he had to remedy the situation very quickly. He knew that his wife had the powers to completely annihilate all creation and he had to prevent that from happening.
However, the problem he faced was that because, in his anger he had dealt such a hard blow, little Ganesha’s head had been shattered into tiny pieces and could not be put back together.
Seeing Goddess Parvati’s grief and consequent wrath, Lord Shiva knew he had to come up with a plan to bring the boy back to life. Without wasting a second he ordered Nandi, his most trusted and loyal bull, along with a band of soldiers to go out into the forests and bring back the head of the first living creature that they found in the forest.
Nandi and the soldiers rushed off immediately. It so happened that the first living creature they came upon was a magnificent elephant. A fight ensued and finally the head of the powerful elephant was cut off. Carefully picking it up they rushed back to Lord Shiva.
Shiva quickly fixed the elephant head on the body of the boy and with his great powers breathed life into little Ganesha. The little boy got up and rushed to happily hug his mother.
The goddess held her child close. There were tears of happiness in her eyes at seeing her son alive again. But it was not going to be this easy for her husband to placate her. She loved the little child with his adorable elephant head. However, she was determined that her child be properly and sufficiently compensated for losing his own handsome head.
Looking directly at Shiva she said, “Because of your misdeed my son will have to live with this elephant head instead of his own. I fear that because of his unusual looks my son may not be given his rightful place among the gods?”
Goddess Parvati is a very, very powerful goddess and her anger could destroy all creation. Lord Shiva knew this very well. Seeing his wife still so angry and upset he knew he would have to undo the wrong he had done in order to save the universe from Goddess Parvati’s wrath.
Thinking quickly Lord Shiva said to his wife, ‘I assure you that your son will not only get his rightful place among the gods but will be the God worshipped before the worship of any other god, including me. More than this, Ganesha, your son, will be worshipped first to ensure the success of any prayer or puja.”
Hearing this, Goddess Parvati was finally appeased.
From that day on it is Lord Ganesha who is worshipped first by the gods and the inhabitants of the universe.
The news spread of Ganesha’ birth and all the gods and celestial bodies came to see and bless the adorable child.
Seeing the happy and smiling Ganesha, Goddess Saraswati gifted him her pen and coloured inks making Ganesha the god of writers, authors and intellectuals. Brahma gave him the name Vighnaharta and with it the power to remove all obstacles. All the Gods from heaven granted little Ganesha a multitude of gifts.
He was blessed with so many powerful gifts that we worship him not just as the Lord of Lords but as the god of wisdom, virtue, strength, happiness, success and all that’s auspicious.
Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati’s adorable son is today worshipped in every temple no matter which deity the temple is dedicated to. Priests always worship Lord Ganesha first before commencing worship of any other god or goddess. This is because only Lord Ganesha has the power to ensure the success of a puja.
He is also everyone’s favourite. If we ask him he will remove all obstacles and difficulties from our road to success. whether it be an exam at school or a sports competition. A quick prayer to Lord Ganesha will always help you to succeed.
But how can a story about Ganesha, the bestower of eternal bliss (Muktidaya) and the abode of all happiness (Mundakarma) end leaving you with the sad thought that an innocent and spectacular elephant had to lose its life for Ganesha to live?
That powerful elephant was in fact Airavata, Lord Indra’s mighty elephant. Indra loved that elephant dearly and was sad when he lost him. Lord Shiva knowing this went to Indra and said, “Do not be sad Indra. Just throw Airavata’s headless body into the ocean and he will emerge from the waters whole once again.” This is exactly what happened. Much to Lord Indra's delight, Lord Shiva’s with his unimaginable powers brought Airavata back to life.
The kind and generous Lord Shiva added, “Not only do you get back your beloved elephant but, because it was my, valiant and much loved, bull, Nandi, who killed your elephant, I will also gift you an immortal bull as strong and as invincible as Nandi.”
So in the end Ganesha’s birth gave joy and happiness to the whole universe. After all Ganesha is “Sarvatman” the protector of the whole universe and "Manomay", winner of hearts.
LIFE LESSONS
1. Anger can make you do things you might regret. Lord Shiva in his anger cut off Ganesha’s head which was a very wrong thing to do.
2. Like Ganesha let us try to always obey our parents.
3. Like Lord Shiva let us always stand up for what is good and right and fight against what is bad and evil.
4. Like Lord Shiva let us always be mindful of the loss that someone might incur
because of us. Lord Shiva made sure that Indra's elephant got back its life and even gifted him a special bull.
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