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| The Story of Ganesa: 17. Agasthya and the boy sculptor | INDIAN MYTHOLOGY |
The Story of Ganesa: 17. Agasthya and the boy sculptor
Sage Agasthya, stung by his wife Lopamudra's complaint
that he had not provided her with clothes and ornaments befitting a princess,
had come out of his hermitage in search of enough wealth to fulfil her desires.
During his wanderings, he came upon a piece of rock on
which, he thought, he saw an image of Vighneswara. Pleased with his prayers,
the Lord appeared before him. The sage now very much wanted to have the rock
carved into a statue of Vighneswara.
In the forest dwelled two rakshasas, Vatapi and Ilval,
who indulged in magic to rob the wayfarers of the money and other wealth they
carried with them. They accosted Agasthya and began playing tricks on him. The
sage, however, guessed who they were and thwarted their attempts. Soon, the
rakshasas were taking to their heels to save themselves from shame.
Agasthya then found their hide-out and came upon the
wealth they had collected from innocent people. He called everybody from the
neighbourhood and distributed a portion of the wealth to them. With the
remaining money, gold coins and ornaments, and precious stones, Agasthya thought
of raising a whole city which would give shelter to many people, who would then
lead a peaceful life.
Soon, a city rose around the rock on which the sage had
seen the image of Vighneswara. It was named after Vatapi. The sage had codes of
conduct and administration inscribed in every nook and corner of the city. The
people conducted their own affairs in a very democratic way. Ultimately,
Vatapinagari became an ideal city.
Agasthya now turned his attention to carving a statue of
Vighneswara. He found that his wife Lopamudra was a good artist. She inspected
the rock and drew a picture of the Lord which could be the model for the
statue. However, Agasthya could not find a competent sculptor to carve the
image. The sage spent days looking at the picture and at the rock.
Some sculptors, on seeing the rock, commented that it
was no ordinary rock, and it had some particles of diamond, which gave a
peculiar sheen to the rock. They said, only the devas or yakshas would be able
to sculpt and that, too, with special chisels which had some divine quality.
Agasthya now meditated on Lord Vighneswara. He sat
before the rock and made an earnest plea: "O Lord! My desire to have your
image carved out of this rock has remained unfulfilled. O Vighneswara! It's your
responsibility to see that my desire gets materialised."
As there was no immediate response to his prayers,
Agasthya continued to sit in front of the rock without getting up for a drop of
drink or a morsel of food. One day, he woke up from his reverie on hearing
someone address him: "O sage! What is that you chant in front of this huge
stone?"
Agasthya saw a young boy standing before him. He was
somewhat fat and had a paunch. He was holding in his hand something shining. It
could be a knife or a chisel. "I've come here in search of work," the
boy added.
"Are you a sculptor?" queried Agasthya.
"I've been very eager to have a statue carved out of this huge stone in
front of us - a statue of Lord Vighneswara. Here, look at this picture."
The sage then unscrolled the picture of the Lord made by Lopamudra. "But
tell me, who are you? What do you do for a living?"
"Oh! I wish to eat to my heart's content, and for
that I go about sculpting figures," replied the young boy with a smile.
"I'm called a boy-sculptor."
Agasthya took a good look at the boy and said, "But
this stone is too huge for a little boy like you. How can I ask you to do the
job for me?"
The boy now began to laugh. "Look at this chisel. I
can do wonders with it," responded the boy and showed the implement in his
hand. It was glistening like a diamond. He then hurled the chisel against the
huge stone. The chisel hit it with a thunderous noise, and where the chisel
hit, the stone had broken into pieces.
"This stone has an unusual quality. As the chiselling
goes on, it will illumine with a powerful glow which will blind anybody near
it. So, O sage, I would advise you to go home and be rest assured that the
statue would be ready by tomorrow morning."
Agasthya was also feeling tired and so he decided to go back
to his hermitage. As he was about to leave, he handed the picture in his hand
to the young sculptor, who said, "I've already seen it, there's no need
for me to take another look at it."
Agasthya went back, taking with him whatever items he
was left with after distributing the wealth recovered from the hide-out of the
two giants. On seeing them in her husband's hands, Lopamudra felt ashamed and
apologised to the sage. “When I’m wedded to a hermit, I must also decide to
lead the life of a hermit's wife. I should not have desired for riches and
luxury. Please forgive me."
Agasthya told her about the young sculptor and said,
"He has promised to carve out the figure of Vighneswara just as you have
drawn His image."
"And you say, the statue would be ready by tomorrow
morning?" Lopamudra said unbelievingly. The sage lay down, but no sleep
would come to him. He tossed this way and that for a long time, and then got up
and went to where the young sculptor was at work. He could not believe his
eyes. It was not one pair of hands that was at work, but several pairs and they
all were holding glistening chisels. Agasthya fell down unconscious.
When he woke up, he saw the boy-sculptor standing near
him, smiling. It was already dawn. "You may go and ask whoever had drawn
the picture to come here and see whether the statue looks like the image that
has been drawn."
"I told you it was drawn by my wife," said the
sage. "There! She’s coming to meet us. Let's listen to what she
says."
Lopamudra was wonderstruck at what she saw. Whoever was
the sculptor, had captured all the details she had drawn in her picture of Lord
Vighneswara. She stood silently in front of the statue for sometime forgetting
herself.
Agasthya turned to the young boy and said, "Pray,
what kind of remuneration can I offer you for the job you have done?"
The boy-sculptor did not reply him directly but looked
at Lopamudra. "Mother, just give me one of the laddus you have
brought."
Lopamudra placed the tray she was carrying at the feet
of the young boy and prostrated in front of him. "O Lord Vighneswara!
Please accept our humble offering and bless us!"
The sage, too, prostrated in front of the young boy.
"O! Remover of Obstacles! I had always taken pride in my yogic powers.
Yet, I was unable to recognise You when You appeared to me yesterday. Please
forgive me."
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