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GANESH CHATURTHI
Legend
There was a monster (Rakshasa)
called Gajasura. He was all powerful and an ardent devotee of Lord
Shiva. He underwent penance for many years to receive special boons
from Shiva. Lord Shiva, the god, who is easily pleased by prayers,
is deeply moved by Gajasura's devotion. He blesses the monster and
offers him a boon. But the devotee is not as innocent as Shiva. He
pleads with Shiva to reside in his belly. Left with no option but to
grant the boon, Shiva gets into Gajasura's stomach.
Meanwhile on Mount Kailash, Parvati - Shiva's wife, becomes anxious
not knowing the whereabouts of her husband for a long time. She
searches through the whole universe but to no avail. Finally she
approaches Lord Vishnu - the preserver of the world.
Vishnu assures Parvati to find Shiva out. He disguises himself in
the form of a street player along with andi - the sacred bull of
Shiva and sets out in search of Shanker (another name for Shiva).
They go to Gajasura's kingdom and Nandi performs a dance to please
the monster. The monster is delighted to see the bull ancing in his
honor and wishes to reward the bull. The bull asks for Shiva as a
reward. Hearing this, the monster realises that the entertainer is
none but Lord Vishnu himself. He also realises that Shiva cannot be
made to live in his stomach forever because he has his role to play
in the world. He lets Shiva out of his stomach. But he prays to him,
that he be made immortal in the memories of people.
To fulfill this wish, Shiva severs Gajasura's head and frees him
from the cycle of birth and death. He carries the head along with
him. On Mount Kailash, in the Himalayas, Parvati comes to know of
Vishnu's victory and is very happy. She makes arrangements to
receive her Lord and goes to bedeck herself. She wants somebody to
stand guard. So she creates a doll out of the dough that she uses in
her bath. She calls him Vinayak - the one who puts off all
obstacles. This boy having never seen Shiva, prevents his entry into
the palace. In a fit of fury Shiva beheads the boy and enters the
palace. Parvati is unaware of the happenings and receives Shiva with
warmth, for he had returned after a long period. During the course
of their conversation, Shiva mentions the incident at the palace
gates and tells her about severing the child's head. Parvati is
shocked to hear the news and pleads with Shiva to bring the child
back to life for he is like a son to her.
Shiva who has with him the head of Gajasura, immediately puts it on
the torso of the dead child. Thus the child comes back to life. That
day is Bhadrapad Chaturthi. Shiva blesses him with a boon that the
entire world would worship him on that day and also would propitiate
him before any auspicious event.
At the same time, all the Gods approach Shiva and request for a
leader. Shiva and Parvati have a son called Kumarswami or Kartik. To
select the best one of them as a leader of all the Gods, Shiva
conducts a test between the two. He says that whoever makes three
rounds of the earth sooner than the other, will be made the
Ganaadhipati. Kumarswami seated on a peacock, his vahanam (vehicle),
starts off for the test.
Vinayak is given a rat which moves swiftly. Vinayak realises that
the test is not so easy but he cannot disobey his father. He
reverently pays obeisance to his parents and goes around them three
times and completes the test before Kumarswami. He says, " my
parents pervade the whole universe and going around them, is more
than going round the earth." Everybody is pleasantly surprised
to hear Vinayak's logic and intelligence. Meanwhile, Kartik is
amazed to see Ganesh completing the holy bath at each river that he
reached at and ready for another round of the universe.
When he comes back to Kailas, Shiva had already declared Vinayak as
the winner. He is blessed as the Supreme God of the universe. After
this, Vinayak is called as Ganaadhish, Ganapati and Ganesh. All the
gods worship him. |
