The Story of Ganesa: 3. Encounter with Siva | INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

The Story of Ganesa: 3. Encounter with Siva | INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

The Story of Ganesa: 3. Encounter with Siva

One of the asuras, Tarakasura, had propitiated Lord Brahma and received a boon from him. The Lord had assured him that his end would come about only at the hands of a son born to Lord Siva. The devas, after ensuring that Siva married Parvati, the daughter of Himavan, were now anxiously waiting for the birth of a son to the divine couple.

Tarakasura was overlording the world of asuras. He ruled with the help of three other asuras called Tripurasuras, who flew across the skies, dropping fireballs over villages, and creating havoc everywhere. The devas realised that only Lord Siva could check the three asuras.

Suddenly, a demon looking like an elephant, but with a hairy growth all over, made his appearance, terrorising everybody. He was Gajasura. A devotee of Siva, he had been blessed with a boon that he could be killed only by the Lord himself.

It was at this time that Sage Narada went up to him and gave this advice: “O! Rakshasa king! It’s better that you hide Siva from the devas!”

Gajasura was happy. He meditated on Siva, and the Lord agreed to his wish and entered his heart in the shape of a linga.

Meanwhile, the devas, who were eagerly waiting for a son of Siva powerful enough to kill Tarakasura, approached Narada who advised them to worship Lord Siva now enshrined in the heart of Gajasura. Accordingly, the devas went up to Gajasura and began chanting the name of the Lord. When he heard the Lord’s name, the Rakshasa king, too, joined them in chanting his name.

Now, the Lord decided to come out of Gajasura, who was not happy over the prospect of losing his life. “Why have you done this to me, O Lord!” wailed Gajasura.

“Don’t take this amiss, Gajasura!” Siva tried to console his devotee. “For your satisfaction, you shall see me wearing an elephant skin henceforth.”

Siva now prepared to assume his original form to proceed against Tripurasuras. He made the Earth his chariot; the Sun and the Moon were the two wheels of the charoit; the four Vedas were the horses, and Lord Brahma himself became the charioteer. The mountain Mahameru was his bow, while Lord Vishnu himelf was the arrow. For Siva’s escort came Nandi, Sringi, and Mrungi who were all his ganas in attendance. The Lord was, thus, all powerful for his fight with Tripurasuras. The devas numbering some hundred thousand, accompanied by their wives, followed Siva to watch the fight.

Sage Narada now went to warn Parvati. “Tarakasura is agitated. He has acquired a boon that no one else than your son born to Siva will be capable of killing him. He may, therefore, cause a lot of havoc among the devas. He has for his help Vajradanta, an asura with magic powers. Please be wary of his mischiefs.”

Parvati was worried. She thought an oil bath might bring her some relief, and so prepared herself for a bath. As she began applying a powder on her body, she took a handful of the powder and made a small figure with it. The figure soon assumed a handsome form. “My child, who are you?” she asked of him.

“You’ve already addressed me as your child, mother!” he replied. “Please accept me as your own child. My name is Ganapati.”

Parvati took him into her lap and kissed him and caressed him. After preparing some delicacies for him, she gave him a goad and a mace and said: “I shall now go for my bath. Keep guard over the place, and don’t let anybody in, not even an insect.”

Meanwhile, Tarakasura was contemplating plans to escape death. He thought of a foolproof method: after all, he could be killed only by a son born to Parvati. Why not kill Parvati herself, so that she would not give birth to a son?

He called Vajradanta and asked him to kidnap Parvati and bring her to him. Now Vajradanta had such powers that he could break the mightiest of mighty weapons. He took the form of a mouse, bore a hole in the mountain, and lived there calling himself Mooshikasura.

He sent two of his servants, Karni and Gokarna, to bring Parvati to him. They assumed the form of two strong and hefty youth and approached the entrance to Sivaloka, where Ganapati was standing guard. They invited him to play with them.

In turn Ganapati asked them to share the food Parvati had prepared for him. When they approached Ganapati, he threw some sweetballs at them. They had suddenly become so hard that Karni and and Gokarna were felled. As they got up and began to run away, Ganapati called them and said: “You both catch hold of your ears and say ‘Please forgive us’ bending your legs three times. Then give a slap to your-self!”

Ganapati saw them do that, and allowed them to run away. They ran to their master Vajradanta and told him of all that had happened. He was furious. He took the form of a mouse and went to the main door of Sivaloka and bore a hole to gain entry.

Ganapati quickly caught hold of the mouse by its tail, hit it three times on the head, and threw it far away. When Vajradanta fell down, he was no longer a mouse, but a rakshasa. He fell down near where his wife Dhavaladevi was sitting. She was a devotee of Lord Siva, who had assured her that Vajradanta would have a long life, and would not die. She reminded her husband of this boon and warned him not to harm Parvati who was the consort of Lord Siva.

After annihilating the three Tripurasuras, Lord Siva went back to his abode where, much to his surprise and annoyance, he was refused entry by Ganapati.

“Who are you?” he asked of the little boy at the entrance.

Ganapati merely laughed and said: “I’m my mother’s son. And who are you?” he asked in return. “You’ve an uncouth appearance, with your matted hair and the coiled serpent on your neck. I can’t allow you in. My mother has asked me not to let in even an insect. Please go away.”

“But I’m a god!” insisted Siva.

“I’ve nothing to do with gods and devas,” replied Ganapati. “My mother is Prakriti and whatever she has ordered will be carried out. That's my duty. I’m only obeying her command.”

At that time, the attendants of Siva and the devas who had all watched the fight between Siva and the three asuras reached there singing the glory of the Lord, recalling his daring deeds. They were surprised to see Siva engaged in a wordy duel with a little boy.

“You’re a little boy; what do you know of God?” Siva was heard asking Ganapati.

“It’s really strange that a grown-up like you does not know the Truth!” retorted Ganapati. “Have you heard of the Trimurthis? They are Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara. They together formed the colours red, blue, and white. Brahma and Vishnu did not obey Prakriti, so she opened her third eye, and looked at both of them who were turned to ashes. However, Maheswara was intelligent and wise. He assured Prakriti that he would obey her command, but before that, she should give up her third eye for him.”

Lord Siva and everybody else were listening to Ganapati with rapt attention. He continued: “Devi then took off her third eye and placed it on the forehead of Maheswara. He immediately looked at her. She was reduced to ashes. As the fire from the third eye engulfed Devi, some particles fell all over the universe which was thus gifted with a glow. From the glow was born Siva. Devi rose from the ashes in her original form of Prakriti and acquired the name Mahamaya. She now blessed Siva who requested her to bring Brahma and Vishnu back to life, which she did. The rest of the ashes manifested as Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Uma who were accepted as consorts by Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva respec- tively. Prakriti asked them to take care of the universe and disappeared.”

Lord Siva, who was listening to the narration, remarked: “All that you were saying is just a myth.”

“Ah! There you are mistaken!” commented Ganapati. “A while ago, you were saying that you are a god. Suppose I were to say it is a myth! Please understand that the entire universe can be attributed to the powers of Prakriti and none else. Won’t you agree?”

Vishnu interjected and began praising Ganapati. Brahma was left in wonderment over Ganapati’s argu- ments. There was a smile on the faces of the womenfolk in the crowd. But Siva was red with anger. “Don’t stand in my way, let me enter my abode!”

Ganapati stood firm at the entrance. “As long as there’s life in me, I shall not allow anyone to enter,” he said.

Siva beckoned to his assistants to push out Ganapati, who merely smiled. “You were calling me a little boy, yet you want your powerful attendants to use force on me! Is this proper? I’m the master of ganas like them.”

He then hit the ground with his goad and mace with such force that a thousand more forms of Ganapati manifested and they all carried a goad and a mace each in their hands. They got ready for a fight with Siva. His attendants ran away fearing for their lives.

Siva was still furious. He took up his trident, but Ganapati resisted. “As long as this mace given by my mother remains in my hands, nobody would be able to do any harm to me,” he warned Siva. He then dropped the goad and the mace from his hand.

Siva now aimed his trident against Ganapati’s neck. He called out: “O Mother!” before his head got separated from the body. The head rose towards the sky like a glow and disappeared.