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| The Story of Ganesa: 24. THE ORIGIN OF IMMERSION | INDIAN MYTHOLOGY |
The Story of Ganesa: 24. THE ORIGIN OF IMMERSION
In Vatapinagar, preparations began for celebrating the
Navaratri festival. One event was a competition for sculptors. An attractive
prize of one thousand gold coins and a diamond studded necklace was announced
for the best Ganesa sculpture.
The participants included even the royal sculptor, and
other well-known artists. Their works were exhibited in a big hall. A young man
called Vichitra brought the image he had made, but he was not allowed to keep
it in the hall, as he could not satisfactorily answer the queries made by the
organisers regarding his family, ancestry and his own qualification to make
sculptures. He said: “My only qualification is my devotion to the Lord. When I
was making this idol, I felt that I was receiving instructions from the Lord
himself.”
But the organisers were adamant. “We’ve seen you go
about with low caste people.” They refused permission to Vichitra, who now took
the image outside and kept it in the shade of a tree. Soon people gathered in
front of the idol and Vichitra, in answer to their curious questions, explained
to them how he made the beautiful image. Those who went round the hall also
came to where Vichitra had placed the image he made. Many of them were
fascinated on seeing the idol.
Somehow the organisers had failed to notice two young
women in brilliant clothes and jewellery who were in the hall viewing the
exhibits. Nobody had seen them enter the hall. They were seen spending a lot of
time in front of each and every exhibit. One of the organisers went up to them.
“We are from Kalanandapuri. We are ready to buy whichever is the best sculpture
here for ten thousand gold coins.”
Soon they were surrounded by the artists whose works
were on show in the hall. The younger of the two women told them: “My elder
sister, Prasanna Vadana, is a great devotee of Lord Ganesa in whose praise she
composes songs and sings them. It’s her interest in Ganesa idols which drew us
here.”
To this, the elder woman responded thus: “Don’t believe
all that she says; she is a chatter box. But she is a good dancer. And she
dances to my songs on Ganesa. But we have taken a vow, that we will sing and
dance only in front of Ganesa.”
On hearing this, the organisers and artists made way for
the two ladies to go round the exhibition. They neared the last few exhibits,
none of which seemed to have attracted them. At that time, they heard a commotion
outside. They went up to the door and saw some children singing in front of an
idol kept outside.
Suddenly a voice, which they did not know where it came
from, told them: “There’s an idol over there. Why don’t you take a look at it.
You may like it.” So they moved towards the crowd below a tree. The people made
way for them to take a good look at the idol made by Vichitra. One look at it,
and Prasanna Vadana’s face beamed with happiness. She placed a bag of gold
coins in front of the idol. The younger woman, Mohana, took off her necklace
and wound it around Vichitra’s hand like a bangle.
Some of the elders among the onlookers murmured: “Are
they in their senses? How strange, they didn’t like any of the idols in the
hall and preferred this one made by someone whose background nobody knows!”
Prasanna Vadana could guess what they had in mind. She
said: “What attraction the children here had for this idol, it is the same kind
of fascination we both have for it. Children are like the devas and their mind
is without any blemish. So, we value their opinion.”
Mohana, too, had something to add to what her sister had
said: “Mere stone or clay will not give a finesse to any sculpture. That will
come from other things like lime, charcoal and wax, which are applied on the
figure. And only expert artists know in what proportion such items have to be
used. The price we pay for this idol is so little when compared to the effort
that has gone into making this idol.”
The gathering now cheered Vichitra and they all sat
around the youth and his idol and began singing in praise of Lord Ganesa. While
Prasanna Vadana led the singing, Mohana danced to the music of the songs. At the
end of the bhajan, Mohana picked up the idol and walked towards the pond in the
temple complex. Prasanna Vadana followed her, and the two sisters began
climbing down the steps and soon they entered the water. As the people stood
there watching, the two young women disappeared in the pond. From then onwards
began the custom of immersing Ganesa idols in ponds, lakes, rivers, or in the
sea.
When the people turned back, they could see the strange
sight of Vichitra kneeling before a divine light that had by then appeared in
the place where he had kept his idol of Ganesa. They all then moved to the
temple where a sculpture depicted the Lord as the scribe who wrote down the
story of the Mahabharata as sage Vyasa dictated it. The sculpture was so full
of life and the devotees were uncertain whether the Lord was writing what he
heard from Vyasa or whether the sage was reciting what the Lord was writing.
The sculpture also showed Lord Brahma sitting cross-legged listening to his
consort Saraswati as she played on the veena. That is the greatness which Lord
Ganesa had given to the epic, the Mahabharata.
-THE END-
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