Subject: [world-vedic] Legends & Lord Ganesha From: "vrnparker" Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 06:49:07 -0000 To: vediculture@yahoogroups.com Legends & Lord Ganesha Thursday, 28 August , 2003, 16:25 How did Ganesha get his elephant-head? Why does he have a broken tusk? Insightful stories and legends spun around one of the most beloved deities in the Hindu pantheon of gods. The Birth of Ganesha According to one puranic story, the Devas approached Shiva for help against demons. Shiva consented to aid them and out of his mind appeared a glorious, glowing figure of a child with the head of a powerful elephant and a trident in one hand. The gods were overjoyed to see the mind-born son of Shiva who would henceforth protect them. Seeing this beautiful child, Parvati placed him on her lap and vowed that no endeavour, human or divine, would be successful without a prayer to the young one. Shiva then made him the leader of the ganas or celestial hordes, calling him Ganpati. In another purana the same story is modified. According to it, Shiva's maanasika putra was a dazzling human boy. Parvati, annoyed that the child was born without her intervention, willed that the head should be turned to that of an elephant. However, when she saw the elephant-headed child she felt great love for him, and stated that no endeavour, human or divine, would succeed without a prayer to Ganpati, whom Shiva had made the head of the ganas. How Ganesha got the elephant head A more popular legend deals with the birth of Ganesha to Parvati. Once while Parvati was going for her bath, she rubbed off the dust and oil from her body and out of it created the figure of a young boy. She infused life into the figure and told him he was her son and should guard the entrance when she went down to bathe. Soon after, Shiva came to see Parvati but the young boy blocked his way and would not let him in. Shiva, unaware that this lad was his son, became furious and in great anger fought with the boy whose head got severed from his body in the ensuing battle. Parvati, returning from her bath, saw her headless son and threatened, as Shakti, to destroy the heavens and the earth, so great was her sorrow. The gods and Shiva pacified her and the latter sent out his ganas, or hordes, to bring the head of the first living being with his head towards the north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom). They did so and the first living creature they found sleeping with its head to the north was an elephant. They brought the head of this animal and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati's son and breathed life into him. Parvati was overjoyed and embraced her son, the elephant-headed boy whom Shiva named Ganesha, the lord of his ganas. Ganesha and the Fruit of Wisdom Shiva and Parvati were playing with their two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya (or Murugan, as he is known to the Tamils). They had been given a fruit by the gods and both the sons wanted it. The divine couple explained to the sons that this fruit had in it the nectar of Supreme Knowledge and Immortality, and since both wanted it, the one who circled the world three times and came back first would get it as a prize. Kartikeya got on to his vehicle, the peacock, and flew into space, stopping at all sacred spots on the way and offering his prayers. Ganesha knew that, with his corpulent form weighing him down, his vehicle, the mouse, would go even slower than usual and he could never beat Kartikeya. But his wisdom taught him a solution. He walked around his parents, Shiva and Parvati, three times, with great devotion. When his parents asked him why he was not circling the globe, he answered - "My parents, Shiva and Parvati, are the whole world. Within them is the entire universe. I need go no further." Naturally he won the fruit. This incident highlights the importance of intelligence, of which Ganesha is a repository, as against strength or speed or physical achievements. The same story is altered in another purana according to which Shiva and Parvati asked both their sons to race round the world thrice. The one to win would be married first. Ganesha won by circumambulating his parents three times, who then married him to the daughters of Vishwaroopa, Siddhi (Achievement or Success) and Buddhi (Wisdom). In most parts of India Vinayaka is considered a celibate but in some parts of the country he is considered married to these beautiful girls, a symbolic marriage to emphasise the importance of wisdom and success in removing obstacles. Why Ganesha has a broken tusk? There are several legends as to how Ganesha broke one of his tusks, giving him the name Ekadanta, the one with a single tusk. The first pertains to his battle with Parashurama. Parashurama was one of the incarnations of Vishnu, born on earth to teach a lesson to the ruling classes, the kshatriyas, who had become very arrogant and were riding rough-shod over the ordinary people. As a human on earth, he meditated on Shiva and obtained the divine axe, parashu, with whose help he waged wars against all the erring princes and cleared the world of their evil. Deeply indebted to Shiva, he then came to Mount Kailas to pay obeisance to his mentor. Ganesha who was guarding the entrance to his father's chambers would not let him in, saying he had to wait till he obtained Shiva's permission. Parashurama felt that he, a devotee, needed no permission. When Ganesha refused to give in, Parashurama, hot-tempered at all times, struck Ganesha's tusk with his axe and broke it. Shiva and Parvati appeared before him and chastised Parashurama, who then worshipped Ganesha and obtained his forgiveness and blessings. Ganesha's vehicle, the mouse Gajamukha, a demon, did severe penance on the advice of Shukraachaarya, the guru of the asuras or demons, and obtained invincible powers from Shiva. He used these powers to harass the gods who then rushed to Ganesha for help. Ganesha battled with the demon but realized that, thanks to the powers given by Shiva, the evil one could not be killed. Ganesha then broke his right tusk and threw it at Gajamukha cursing him to change into a mouse. He then got on to the back of the mouse, and made it his vehicle, thereby keeping it under his control. According to another puranic story, Ganesha's rat was really the Gandharva Krauncha. Once, in the court of Indra, the king of the Devas, Krauncha insulted the sage Vaamadeva. He was then cursed by the latter and turned into a large rat. The rat, true to its nature, entered the ashram of sage Paraashara and caused great havoc to his dwelling as only a rat can. The Rishi then prayed to Vinayaka to save his simple dwelling. Ganesha appeared, made the rat his vehicle, and brought him under control. As will be noticed, whatever the puranic story, the purpose of making the rat his vehicle was to keep the rodent, whose nuisance value is high, under the control of Ganpati. Ganesha, the scribe for Mahabharata The most interesting story concerning Ganesha is the belief that he was the scribe who wrote the Mahabharata. Sage Vyasa, the author of this epic, was advised by Brahma, on whom he meditated, to ask Ganesha to be the scribe to whom he could dictate the epic in verse form. Ganapati appeared before Brahma and agreed to write, but on one condition, and that was that Vyasa would dictate continuously without pause. Vyasa agreed but he had his own condition, and that was that Ganesha should understand every word and thought and its implications before writing it down. Whenever Vyasa found Ganesha had completed writing a verse, he would dictate a verse with very complex meanings so that Ganesha had to stop and think it over. This gave Vyasa time to compose a few stanza mentally and dictate them when Ganesha was ready. Ganesha used his broken tusk to write the Mahabharata, the longest epic the world has ever known. Is it surprising then that with Vyasa as the poet, Ganesha as the scribe and Krishna as the main hero, this epic has few equals in the world. This story also has a lesson for mankind, that the Mahabharata should not be hurriedly read. It should be understood and digested, heard patiently and ruminated upon. In fact there is a superstition that the Mahabharata should never be read, only listened to, one small part at a time. Only then can one understand the depth of the meanings underlying the events in the epic. Ganesha and the Moon Once, Ganesha partook of a huge meal of modaka (a sweet greatly favoured by him) and was riding home on his vehicle, the mouse. Suddenly the mouse was tripped by a snake. Ganesha fell off his back and his over-full stomach burst open and out tumbled the modaks. Seeing this comic sight, Chandra, the Moon, burst into laughter. Ganesha got up, picked up the snake and tied it around his broken waist-line. (This snake belt can be seen in many sculptures of Ganesh). He then threw his broken tusk at the Moon and cursed him so that he would never again shine at night nor appear in the heavens. (In those times the full moon shone every day in the year). Without the Moon, there was no night, no moonlight and no twilight. People found they could not sleep in the bright sunlight which now shone even at night. The gods found life in the heavens as intolerable as human beings found the earth without the Moon. The gods rushed to Ganesha and pleaded him. The kind-hearted Ganesha relented but said that the moon would no longer shine in full glory every night. He would wax and wane from a bright fortnight to a dark fortnight ending with Full Moon and the New Moon alternatively. Also, it would not be lucky to see the Moon on Ganesh Chaturthi day (the fourth day of the bright fortnight) in the month of Bhaadrapad, as one who does will be the victim of scandal. The superstition exists to this day, and people carefully avoid looking at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi. The over-superstitious however look downwards on Chaturthi day or the 4th day of the bright fortnight not only once a year but every month to be on the safe side. Ganesha and the River Kaveri While Ganga is the biggest river of north India, Kaveri is the most important river of south India. Kaveri is also called Dakshina Ganga or 'Ganga of the south'. Many Indians lovingly address the Kaveri as 'Kaveri-amma' or 'Kaveri-taai' (mother Kaveri). Some people call the river Ponni. In Tamil, 'ponni' means 'gold'. To bring water to the arid areas of South, sage Agastya with the blessings of Brahma obtained water in his Kamandalu (the vessel used to hold water for rituals of worship) from Shiva. He then came down south wanting to find the ideal spot from which the river could flow, and reached the Kodagu (Coorg) hills. He called out to a little boy (Ganesha in disguise) and asked him to hold the vessel carefully while he searched around for a good spot. Ganesha, in his wisdom, selected the right place for the origin of the river, and left the Kamandalu on the ground at that spot. A crow came and sat on the vessel and when Agastya returned and saw it, he shooed it away. When it flew of, it upset the Kamandalu and the water gushing forth was the sacred River Kaveri flowing from the spot now known as Talakaveri. There is a shrine near the kundike and a big tank in front of it where devotees baths before offering prayers. There are two temples, a Shiva temple and with a rare and ancient Shiva Linga, and another temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha. This temple has a holy Ashwattha tree where according to legend the trimurti - Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh - gave darshan to sage Agastya. According to a different version of the above legend, Vishnu Maya became a dwarf and Agastya carried her in a small mud pot to south India. In south India, god Ganesha turned the pot upside down. Immediately, Vishnu Maya emerged out of the pot and assumed the form of the river Kaveri! Subject: [world-vedic] Eight holy shrines of Lord Ganesha From: "vrnparker" Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 06:50:32 -0000 To: vediculture@yahoogroups.com Eight holy shrines of Lord Ganesha Ganesha devotees consider eight shrines, the Ashta Vinayak, as the most important. These eight forms of Ganesha are swayambhu, self- made, and not made by man. This gives added religious significance for Ganesha worshippers, and to the faithful, the powers of these icons are limitless. These eight shrines are located in Maharashtra. The most popular is the one at Morgaon, south-east of Pune, where Ganesha, riding a peacock and taking the form of Mayureshwar or Moreshwar, is believed to have destroyed the demon Sindhu. Close to Pune, at Theur, is the image of Ganesha as Chintamani. Ganesha is believed to have got back the precious Chintamani jewel from the greedy Guna for sage Kapila at this spot. At Ranjangaon is the shrine of Ganapati as Mahaganapati. The legend here refers to Shiva worshipping Ganesha before fighting the demon Tripuraasura. At Siddhatek stands Ganesha as Siddhivinayak. It was here that Vishnu was reminded to pray to Ganesha before his fight with the demons Madhu and Kaitab. By doing so he achieved success, or Siddhi. This icon has a right-turned trunk. At Ojhar is the shrine of Vighnahara or Vighneshwara, a form taken by Ganesha to destroy a demon named Vighnaasura created by Indra. At Lenyadri nearby is Ganesha in the form of Girijatmak or Girijatmaja, son of Girija (Parvati). It is believed that Parvati performed penance here to beget Ganapati as her son. At Pali near the Mumbai-Goa road is the shrine of Ballaleshwar, where Ganesha saved his devotee, a boy, Ballal, who was beaten up by villagers for his single-minded worship of Vinayaka. At Mahad, near Khopoli, is the form of Ganesha as Varad Vinayak, the giver of bounty and success.