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| The Story of Ganesa: 16. Agasthya and Vatapi Ganapati | INDIAN MYTHOLOGY |
The Story of Ganesa: 16. Agasthya and Vatapi Ganapati
Krishna and Balarama performed the wedding of their
sister Subhadra with the Pandava prince Arjuna. Krishna’s consort Satyabhama
gave a wedding gift to Subhadra - the Symantaka. Thus the precious gem came
into the possession of the Pandavas.
With the help of the wealth brought in by Symantaka,
Yudhishthira conducted the Rajasuya Yagna. The Kaurava prince Duryodhana became
jealous of the Pandavas and schemed to bring about their downfall. The Pandavas
had Dhaumya as their priest. From the moment the gem came to the Pandavas, he
was cautioning them that it had some malefic influence and they should,
therefore, discard it as quick as possible. Arjuna took the gem and went to a
forest, where he stuck the gem to an arrow and shot it far, far away.
However, the gem did not take away all of the
misfortunes of the Pandavas, for they lost everything in a game of dice with
the Kauravas and they had to spend fourteen long years in the forest as
insisted on by Duryodhana and his brothers. During their wanderings, the
Pandavas were met by sage Narada who advised them to worship Vighneswara who
alone, the sage said, would remove all obstacles in retrieving their lost
glory.
With the help of Dhaumya, the Pandava princes observed
penance and performed rites to propitiate INDIAN MYTHOLOGY 16. Agasthya and
Vatapi Ganapati Vighneswara before they ended their one year’s life incognito,
as had been stipulated by the Kauravas.
When the Kauravas refused to return the kingdom of
Hastinapura to the Pandavas, war became inevitable. The 18-day war saw the
annihilation of the Kaurava brothers, their army, and their cohorts.
Yudhishthira ascended the throne of Hastinapura, and he decided to conduct the
Aswamedha Yagna to establish Pandava suzerainty over the other kingdoms.
The yagna horse was sent to roam the land and Arjuna led
the retinue of soldiers that followed the horse. Dhaumya was also in the
entourage. Whichever kingdoms the horse tread, the rulers there accepted
Yudhishthira’s supremacy and agreed to be his vassals.
At one place, the horse suddenly stopped. A bewildered
Arjuna turned to Dhaumya, who merely said, “Let’s proceed, and I shall explain
everything by and by.” The Pandava prince walked behind the priest, and they
were followed by the soldiers. They soon came upon a huge city. Almost in the
middle of the city, there was a huge image of Vighneswara, carved out of a
rock. The figure looked beautiful. “Arjuna, this city is Vatapi, and this idol
is called Vatapimoorti. That is how the local people address Ganapati. You may
now worship the Lord and seek His blessings. This was installed here by sage
Agasthya; I shall tell you more about this wonderful idol as we walk along.”
And this was what Dhaumya told Arjuna:
River Ganga flowed into the begging bowl of sage Kaver,
and when the water spilled from the bowl, it flowed out as Kaveri. She assumed
the form of a beautiful girl whom the sage accepted as his daughter. One day,
sage Agasthya came that way and happened to see Kaveri and was attracted by her
beauty. He expressed a desire to marry her. To which Kaver responded by saying,
“Agasthya, we’ve also to ascertain the wishes of Kaveri.”
One day, Kaveri confided in Agasthya that she wished to
marry Sahyadri, the mountain range. So, Agasthya led her to Sahyadri. Kaveri
saw a beautiful lotus in a lake among the peaks, and got into the water to
pluck the flower. The moment she touched the lotus, Kaveri turned into a river
and flowed down from the Sahyadri peaks.
Agasthya now had only memories of the beautiful girl who
had given him company for some days. He began a severe tapas and when he
came out of his meditation, he had transformed himself into a Maharshi. In the
course of his wanderings, Agasthya came upon the spirits of his ancestors. He
was horrified to see them hanging upside down from the branches of a tree. “Who
are you?” queried Agasthya. “And how did you come to such a pass?”
One of them then replied: “Someone called Agasthya has
been born into our family. We’ve been cursed to this fate till he marries and
begets a child.” Almost at the same time, the Maharshi heard a mysterious voice
that told him of a daughter born to the King of Vidarbha who had fallen in love
with Kaveri. The king called his daughter Lopamudra and was very fond of her.
So, when Agasthya went and sought her hand in marriage,
the king hesitated. How could he give away his lovely daughter to someone who
survived on fruits and roots growing in forests and jungles? Of course, he knew
that if he did not agree to the Maharshi’s wish, the sage might even curse him
and his daughter. On noticing her father’s dilemma, Lopamudra pacified him.
“Don’t worry, father, please give me in marriage to Agasthya.”
After their wedding, Lopamudra started living in the
hermitage of Agasthya. He revealed to her why he had to take a wife who would
bear him children. Lopamudra then pointed at her ragged clothes and said, “By
marrying me, do you think you have shed your responsibilities? Please remember
that I had lived like a princess and it is your duty to get me clothes and
ornaments that befit a princess.”
Maharshi Agasthya was not sure how he would fulfil the
demand of Lopamudra. He approached some of the kings who were either not
willing to help him or were not in a position to extend any help. The sage felt
frustrated. As he wended his way through the forest, he came upon a rock on
which, he thought, he saw the image of Vighneswara. The Maharshi appealed to
the Lord to spell a way out of his predicament.
“O! Sage! You’re making your request to a mere rock!”
said Vighneswara.
“O Vighneswara! You’re the Lord to remove all obstacles.
Please bless me by appearing before me,” requested Agasthya prostrating before
the rock. “As you wish, Agasthya!” said the Lord before disappearing.
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