How Lord Ganesha was born?

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There are many interesting myths, and most of them do not agree with each other,

on the story of how Ganesa came to be born and how he got his elephant head.

According to one, Parvati, the consort of Siva – the destroyer in the Hindu

Trinity, was getting ready for her bath. She paused a moment. Yes, she could be

disturbed if somebody barged in, she thought. Taking the sandalwood paste and

sweat off her body she created a beautiful little baby boy. “Keep guard,” she

told him, “and do not let anyone enter.” Ganesa stood his ground. So duty bound

was he that he e even refused entry to Lord Siva. The Lord tried most means and

finally in indignation even told him that he was the husband. Ganesa would not

relent. A war was waged between the young boy and many attendants of Siva. Some

gods too came running to help. Finally Ganesa’s head was severed. Parvati,

hearing all the commotion, came running out and flew into a rage when she saw

the little boy’s head severed. Lord Vishnu, the protector, Siva and many others

of the pantheon did not know how to face the woman’s rage. Instantly Siva sent

emissaries

to look for the first sleeping figure with his head to the north. An elephant

was found. Its head was severed and attached to the little boy.So Lord Shiva

re-created his son with the head of the elephant. Hence the trunk of Lord

Ganesha. Parvathi was still not totally happy so Shiva granted Ganesha a boon

that before beginning of any undertaking or task people would worship Lord

Ganesh. Thus the reason for worship of Ganesha before start of any work.

Another version says that Lord Siva and Parvati were making love, when Lord

Vishnu looked for mischief. He pretended to be a thirsty old man and knocked at

Siva’s door, asking for water. The couple rose in a hurry to fulfil the request

of the old man. After drinking the water, Vishnu assumed the form of a little

child and lay on their bed where he mingled with Siva’s seed. This child came

to be called Ganesa.

According to one myth, Siva and Parvati assumed the forms of elephants and

wandered about many forests, trumpeting with others who were elephants by

birth. Their names were Matanga and Matangi. Their child was Ganesa.

There are many stories about how Ganesha got his elephant head, and about his

exploits and antics. He was created as an ordinary boy, but was decapitated in

battle. Shiva's emissaries were sent into the forest and told to get the head

of the first animal they found and to fit that head onto the boy's neck. They

found a little elephant, and it worked!

There is one more story that we all have heard from the legends, When the Gods

lived on the earth, Mahadeva, the Lord of All, lived on the highest peak of the

Himalayas. With him lived his wife, Queen Parvati. They had no child.For

thousands of years they lived there, looking down upon the entire world, which

lay at their feet. But even the gods have their own sorrows, and it grieved

them that they had no child.Parvati thought that she should go and live among

mankind, and pay sacrifices as they do, and perhaps she may be blessed with a

child. So she went down from the mountains and lived in a forest. Every day she

fed thousands of Brahmans, and spent her days in the prayers and fasting for a

whole year. At the end of that time she bathed in the holy river Ganges, and

then returned to her home.At last her prayers were answered. A son was born to

her.There was great rejoicing among the gods. Mahadeva and Parvati invited them

all to a feast

to see their son, baby Ganesh.Parvati was very happy now, and she loved to show

her baby to the gods, and to hear their remarks. She laid Ganesh upon a golden

bed, with his head to the North.Ganesh was a beautiful baby, and as he lay

smiling on his golden bed, the gods came and gave him gifts.Now Sani was at the

party too, but before coming to the party he had a quarrel with his wife. iN her

anger she put a spell upon him so that whoever he looked at first would fall

headless. So Sani kept his eyes down and would look nobody.Parvati noticed that

Sani did not look at her baby, which seemed strange, so she asked him why he was

doing so. With his eyes upon the ground he told her of the spell his wife had

put upon him.Parvati laughed at the story. She was so proud of her son that she

wished everybody to see him and admire him. She did not believe the spell could

touch the son of Mahadeva, the greatest of the gods.She took Ganesh in her

arms, and held him out to Sani."Look," she

said, "is he not beautiful?"Sani said that he was afraid to look, but Parvati

would not listen.So Sani obeyed. As soon as his eyes rested on Ganesh the

child’s head separated from his body. It was caught up to heaven by Krishna.Oh,

the cries and tears there were then! Parvati was full of grief; she did not know

what to do. She threw herself down beside the lifeless body of her child, and

wept bitterly.Vishnu, in pity, mounted Garuda, the eagle, and flew off to fetch

the head of the first thing found. It happened to be an elephant.Vishnu brought

the elephant’s head, and clapped it on the body of Ganesh, and then brought him

to life again.Then all the gods withdrew and left the parents in grief.Parvati

was divided between sorrow and joy. She rejoiced to have her baby alive again,

but it was terrible that he should be so deformed.Mahadeva was grieved too, but

he told Parvati that it was her vanity that had caused all the trouble. If she

had not insisted upon Sani’s

admiring her child, it would not have happened.Parvati threw herself before

Mahadeva and begged him to bring Ganesh back his formed shape, but Mahadeva

reminded her that while he was all powerful in heaven, he could not undo what

was done on the earth.Parvati blamed herself bitterly for her fault, and prayed

that Ganesh might be gifted with wisdom and humanity, so that his deformity

might be forgotten.This Mahadeva could grant, and Ganesh was given Prudence,

Counsel and Policy.All men love Ganesh, and go to him for help and guidance. He

is the best loved of all the gods.Elephats have been rewarded with great

strength, gentleness and cleverness and have been made the servants of

Kings.Sani was punished with lameness. Though he did not wish to injure Ganesh,

it all happened because he had quarrelled with his wife, and quarrelsome couples

are warned by his example.It is now believed unlucky to admire children, or to

sleep with the head to the North.

Mother’s pride seemed to have definitely been detrimental to Ganesa’s look, if

we believe the following two stories. In one it is said that Parvati showed off

her son to Lord Saturn. Her pride caused the child’s head to fall out. It was

Lord Vishnu who came to the rescue and fixed an elephant head to bring the

child back to life again. Another version says Siva created Ganesa from

Parvati’s garment. So beautiful was the creation that Parvati could not take

her eyes off him. Jealous Siva immediately changed the face into that of an

elephant.

There is yet also a nother myth about How lord ganesh got his elephant head..The

legend goes that there was a monster called Gajasura, a powerful monster was

also a devotee of Lord Shiva. It seemed that the monster prayed for many years

and as a result Lord Shiva, who was touched, granted him a boon. But the

cunning monster asked Shiva to reside in his stomach. Since he had no choice,

Lord Shiva granted his boon and went inside the belly of the monster.Parvati,

Shivas wife, who was searching for her husband, became frantic with worry and

went to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu, who assured Parvati that he would

find Shiva, disguised himself as a street player and set out with Nandi, the

sacred bull of Shiva, to find Shiva. When they reached the monster Gajasuras

kingdom, Nandi danced to please the monster. The monster that was pleased to

see the bull dancing he decided to reward the

bull. Nandi, the bull, asked for Lord Shiva as a reward and this made Gajasura

realize that the street player was Lord Vishnu. He also realized that Lord

Shiva couldnt live in his belly forever and thus freed Lord Shiva. After that,

he prayed to Shiva to make him immortal. To grant him the wish, Shiva severed

Gajasuras head and carried the head with him. Meanwhile, Parvati who heard that

Shivas out of the monsters belly was joyful. In order to prepare for her Lords

return she went to have a bath, but before that she asked someone to stand

guard outside. She made a boy out of dough and named him Vinayak. But when Lord

Shiva returned, the boy refused to let him enter the palace, as he had never

seen him before. This made Lord Shiva furious and thus he beheaded the boy and

went inside. When he saw Parvati, he told her about his beheading of the boy.

This shocked and upset Parvati. She

told Shiva that Vinayak was like a son to her and that she wanted him back

alive. Thus Shiva put the head of Gajasura on the boys head and the boy Vinayak

came to life. Shiva also blessed him and announced that everybody would worship

him on that day. And thus the festival Ganesh Chaturti marks the day when

Vinayak came back to life.

Deepa H debu7366 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com

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