The Tale Of Hinduism's Favorite God Ganesha's Birth

By Author: Chip Tolaney
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There is more than 1 story of Ganesh's birth. The widely-accepted story, from the text of the Shiva Purana, has his mother, Goddess Parvati, fashioning him as a beautiful little boy out of a lump of clay. Parvati, you see, was bored and alone, as her husband, Shiva (a.k.a. the Destroyer of Worlds) would often forsake her for long, million-year stints, meditating in the mountains. So what better company than a child for her to nurture and play with?

Ganesh grew up a powerful, adorable boy, the apple of his mother's eye. Their idyll though, was rudely shattered when Lord Shiva returned from the wild. Oblivious of his "son's" being, Shiv barged in, anxiously looking for his wife. He came upon Ganesha, standing guard dutifully, as instructed by his mother, who was taking a bath. Ganesha refused to let in the wild-eyed, dusty visitor, whereupon the enraged Destroyer chopped off the child's head. Hearing the noise, Parvati emerged... and you can imagine the scene that followed. A chastened Shiv, anxious to make amends, went to Brahma the Creator for advice. The child's severed head had flown too far off and was lost. Brahma ...
... suggested that Shiva replace the head with the first creature he could find whose head faced north. That happened to be a sleeping elephant! Parvati was mollified and she extracted two favors for her beloved son - that he be named the chief of Shiva's army of ganas (hence his other popular name, Ganapati, or leader of the Ganas) and be invoked by all before they began any enterprise.

In another, less known tale, Ganesha was born to Goddess Parvati as a consequence of her prayers to Vishnu, the Preserver. It was a merry occasion when all the Gods came to bless Parvati's beautiful son. Everyone except poor Shani (Saturn), son of Surya, the sun-god, who was saddled with the curse of destroying those upon whom his gaze fell. Foolishly, Parvati beseeched Shani's presence. When the dark god Shani looked at Ganesha, the baby's head flew off it is said, to heaven. Seeing the grief-stricken parents, Vishnu mounted Garuda, his eagle, and flew away in search of a substitute. On the banks of the Pushpabhadra River, he saw an elephant, whose head he brought back and joined to the body of Parvati and Shiva's son.

In a yet another legend about how Ganesha acquired an elephant head the head belonged to a wild demon, Gajasura, who was also a dedicated follower of Shiv. For all his awesome power as Destroyer of Worlds, Shiva was easily pleased by his worshipers and granted them boons thoughtlessly, which led him to into some bad situations. This is exactly what happened with Gajasura. When Shiv asked the demon what he wanted, Gajasura replied, "I want you to reside within my body." Stumped, Shiva had no option but to comply. Parvati, after some time, realized exasperatedly that her husband had gone missing again. After a fruitless search, she went to Vishnu for help. Vishnu (who knows All) realized he had to trick Gajasura. Taking Nandi, Shiva's bull, he went to home as a piper and staged a spectacular performance. Gajasura was enchanted by the bull's dance and offered to grant the piper a reward. "Just name your wish, it shall be granted," said Gajasura grandly. "Release Shiv from your belly - now!" Gajasura knew this was Vishnu in disguise; also, that his end was near. Letting Shiva burst out from his insides, the dying demon pleaded for forgiveness. His final wish? That he be remembered forever, by having his head worshipped. Once more, Shivrelented and placed the elephant head upon that of his own son, Ganesha.